News

Pickering’s Mississippi E-Memo
Congressman Chip Pickering
Friday – November 3, 2006 - #67

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AWARD: The Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC) has awarded Congressman Chip Pickering their Honor Roll of Legislative Achievement in Economic Development. He was chosen based on his voting record of business-related issues that promote progrowth and job creation economic policies. (For more information: www.sedc.org)

UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN: A Department of Labor report today announced the unemployment rate in the United States has reached a five-year low of 4.4% in October with the addition of 92,000 new jobs last month. The U.S. economy has created nearly two million new jobs over the last 12 months (6.8 million since August 2003). Meanwhile, Mississippi's unemployment rate dropped four-tenths in September to 6.8%. Unemployment in September 2005 had reached 10.5% following Hurricane Katrina. The Mississippi Department of Employment Security reports job gains in education and health services. The lowest unemployment rates in the state are 4% in Lafayette County, 4.1% in DeSoto County, and 4.2% in Rankin County. (For more information: www.dol.gov and www.mdes.ms.gov)

CHIP PICKERING ONLINE NEWS:

Local law agencies receive grants for bulletproof vests (Scott County Times: 11/1)
Ethanol on its way to Warren County (Vicksburg Post: 10/27)
Pickering Column: Health Technology Reforms (Release: 10/27)

RENEWABLE FUEL PUBLIC COMMENT: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a national renewable fuel program (more commonly known as the Renewable Fuel Standard Program, or RFS program). The proposed program will be applicable for 2007 and later and is designed to encourage the blending of renewable fuels into our nation's motor vehicle fuel. Specifically, this rule proposes the renewable fuel standards, responsibilities of refiners and other fuel producers, a credit and trading system, compliance mechanisms, and recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The proposal also contains preliminary analyses of the economic and environmental impacts of the expanded use of renewable fuels. A renewable fuel is a motor vehicle fuel produced from plant or animal products or wastes, as opposed to fossil fuel sources. Renewable fuels would include ethanol, biodiesel and other motor vehicle fuels made from renewable sources. Under the proposal, both renewable fuels blended into conventional gasoline or diesel and those used in their neat (unblended) form as motor vehicle fuel would qualify. Comments on the proposal can be submitted until November 11, 2006. (For more information: www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels)

PICKERING STAFF: Visit www.house.gov/pickering/policy to get office contact information.

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