Velázquez Announces New White House Guide to Help Investments Under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens) yesterday announced a new guide from the Biden Administration aimed at helping communities across New York navigate the investments under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
This guide outlines eligibility criteria, application deadlines and contact information, as well as additional resources to help navigate programs
“With our nation’s infrastructure in need of upgrading, the Administration and a bipartisan coalition in Congress seized the opportunity to make a significant investment in our infrastructure,” said Velazquez. “I was proud to vote in support of President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and secure funding to invest in the future of our communities. Now, it’s time to get to work assisting and distributing these funds to local leaders and organizations in New York who can complete crucial infrastructure projects. This new guidebook from the Administration is an essential resource that will help our communities looking for help navigating these funds.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed by President Biden in November 2021, address America’s crumbling infrastructure and allocates funding to repair, upgrade and maintain New York’s roads, bridges, public transit, airports, broadband connectivity, water systems and other long-neglected infrastructure, while encouraging domestic job creation.
The full guide from the Biden Administration is available here.
Sepúlveda Appointed Chair of Senate Cities 1 Committee
Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda (D-Bronx) announced yesterday that Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins appointed him Chair of the Cities 1 Committee and his first meeting was also yesterday..
“The legislative purpose of this committee has a transcendental impact on many important aspects of New York City. As members of this committee, my colleagues and I are tasked with working diligently to establish pieces of legislation that are relevant to the challenges we currently face as New Yorkers,” said Sepúlveda.
SepúlvedaI reported that at the first public meeting the committee debated his legislation, S2771, which requires that the Department of Homeless Services notify community boards anytime a transitional housing project is to be established in their community.
“This particular piece of legislation was drafted after many community board leaders and members of the community expressed the need of having a notification system prior to implementing these types of projects,” he said.
You can view this public committee meeting on the New York Senate website via: https://www.nysenate.gov/calendar/meetings/cities-1/february-07-2022/citites-1-meeting.
Clarke Introduces Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022
U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-Brooklyn) along with U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) yesterday introduced the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022, a landmark bill to bring new transparency and oversight of software, algorithms and other automated systems that are used to make critical decisions about nearly every aspect of Americans’ lives.
The bill requires companies to conduct impact assessments for bias, effectiveness and other factors, when using automated decision systems to make critical decisions. It also creates, for the first time, a public repository at the Federal Trade Commission of these systems, and adds 75 staff to the commission to enforce the law.
“When algorithms determine who goes to college, who gets healthcare, who gets a home, and even who goes to prison, algorithmic discrimination must be treated as the highly significant issue that it is. These large and impactful decisions, which have become increasingly void of human input, are forming the foundation of our American society that generations to come will build upon. And yet, they are subject to a wide range of flaws from programing bias to faulty datasets that can reinforce broader societal discrimination, particularly against women and people of color. It is long past time Congress act to hold companies and software developers accountable for their discrimination by automation,” said Clarke.
“With our renewed Algorithmic Accountability Act, large companies will no longer be able to turn a blind eye towards the deleterious impact of their automated systems, intended or not. We must ensure that our 21st Century technologies become tools of empowerment, rather than marginalization and seclusion,” she added.
Clarke, Wyden and Booker updated the 2019 Algorithmic Accountability Act after speaking with dozens of experts, advocacy groups and other stakeholders on how to improve the bill.
QBP Richards & Borough Cabinet To Hear Presentation on Senior Services, Marijuana Reform
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. and the Queens Borough Cabinet today will hold a virtual meeting today featuring a presentation from the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA), the City agency that coordinates the delivery of services to senior citizens.
The meeting will also include a presentation from Queens Defenders on the recently approved Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA), which legalizes adult-use cannabis in New York State.
This meeting is slated for 9:30 a.m., today, Feb. 8. It will be live-streamed to the public on the Borough President’s website at www.queensbp.org.
