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Weldon Initiatives
As
your Representive, I am aggressively pursuing legislative initiatives
in Congress designed to help District 15 take advantage of emerging
economic opportunities, as well to address some of the financial
challenges faced by our families.
Below are a few of my initiatives I thought you'd like to know about:
Affordable Homeowners Insurance Act of 2007. As a Florida resident, I understand first hand the toll the hurricane
insurance crisis is exacting on our communities. That's why I will
soon introduce the Affordable Homeowners Insurance Act of 2007. This
bill will allow families to access retirement income penalty-free to
cover hurricane-related expenses. Among other things, this could help
drive down costs of insurance premiums, help stabilize the insurance
industry, and provide a financial safeguard for families in the event
of a major disaster.
Homeowner Affordability Act of 2007.
The volatile housing market is making it hard for many District 15
families to take part in the American dream. This measure will help
more families purchase a home by allowing relatives to contribute to a
loved one's down payment up to 20% of a home's total cost without a tax
consequence.
Space Port Equality Act of 2007.
In the future, a commercial space flight industry will employee
thousands of workers and be a major contributor to our economy and
national security. Seeing the potential benefit to Florida's economy,
Senator Martinez and I recently proposed the Space Port Equality Act.
This bill will encourage the development of a commercial space port
industry by allowing the construction of commercial space ports to be
financed 100% tax free -- the same favorable tax treatment enjoyed by
airports and other transportation interests.
The Blue Water Highway Act of 2007.
Port Canaveral is poised to benefit from an emerging industry known as
short sea shipping, which involves shipping cargo by sea vessels up and
down coastal and inland waterways, or blue water highways, instead of
by truck or rail. A current port entry tax, however, prevents short sea
shipping from emerging as a viable alternative to truck and rail. My
bill simply eliminates this tax, thereby removing a major financial
obstacle to commercial interest in the Blue Water Highway. For more information, click HERE.
Below, you can also access information regarding funding requests for local intiatives important to District 15:
Accomplishments
FY 2009 FUNDING REQUESTS
• Meeting Local Transportation Needs – Local officials requested
that funding be included for the Palm Bay Parkway construction, Ellis
Road – I-95 Interchange planning, John Young Parkway widening, and Palm
Bay Road streetscaping. Rep. Weldon submitted these requests the
committee to consider.
• Meeting Our Drinking Water Needs – Rep. Weldon requested funding
match state and local funding to enhance drinking water in
East-Central, Florida. These projects are water supply priorities for
Brevard County and the St. Johns Water Management District.
• Ensuring Battlefield Superiority for Our Troops
Enhancing Time Sensitive Targeting for Military Aircraft – Rep.
Weldon has requested a plus up in the underlying Administration budget
for this program. The DOD budget request represents a shortfall and if
not closed military aircraft will not have this new capability until
after the targeted date of 2012. This added funding will keep this
technology on track so that military aircraft will have this technology
as soon as it is available.
Anti-Mine Systems – The Department of Defense (DOD) has invested
in the development of an airborne laser mine detection system. This
system can clear an area of mines in a fraction of the time it take
using traditional methods. Rep. Weldon has requested an increase above
the President’s budget for this account to keep the project on track
for timely completion and procurement.
Finding Terrorists – Rep. Weldon requested additional funding to
assist our troops on the front line by ensuring they have advanced
technology to know where the enemy is and be able to target them.
Enhancing Avionics Integration - Rep. Weldon requested additional
funding above the President’s request to enhance the integration of
avionics across military aviation platforms. The added funding will
move this initiative forward in a timelier manner.
Replacing Obsolete Guard Radios – Rep. Weldon requested funding to
help replace existing guard radios, which are too often old, bulky and
require extensive resources to keep operational.
Protecting Our Troops and Allies – A consortium has been created,
led by Space Florida, to develop a network of small satellites to
provide the military with superior Blue Force Tracking capability for
the war-fighter and commanders.
MP- RTIP/JSTARS – Rep. Weldon requested that the Congress provide
the funding for this program that was requested by the DOD in 2008, but
which the Congress chose not to fund.
• Economic Vitality and Competitiveness
Canaveral Harbor – Port Canaveral officials requested that Rep.
Weldon secure federal matching funds to enable planning for the
widening and deepening of the inlet channel. This will enable the port
to remain competitive and accommodate larger ships that are calling on
the port. Additional federal matching funds would be used to deepen
the existing channel and West Turning Basin.
Enhancing Satellite Facilities at the Cape – Funding was requested
for the construction of a permanent Satellite Operations Support
Facility which will enable the consolidated location of all of these
personnel.
Restoring and Maintaining Brevard’s Beaches – At the request of
Brevard County, Rep Weldon asked the Congress to provide the federal
matching funds to enable the South Reach of the Brevard Beach project
to receive it’s periodic renourishment which is a part of the 50-year
federal-local agreement. Funding was also requested to enable the
final planning for addressing the highly eroded the Mid-Reach section
of the beaches. The county and state will provide matching funds.
Job Training Program for Displaced Workers – Rep. Weldon requested
funding to help train dislocated, unemployed, underemployed and
disadvantaged residents in guaranteed jobs. This is program is modeled
on the successful MOST program.
Enhancing Higher Education and K-12 – WBCC requested funding to
help ensure that the community and local educators can take full
advantage of the digital transition. Rep. Weldon requested funding to
help WBCC enhance digital datacasting services for students and
classrooms.
• Serving the Medical and Developmental Needs of Disabled Children - Rep. Weldon forwarded to the committee for their consideration, requests from The Space Coast Early Intervention Center (SCEIC) and the Child Medical Services (CMS) of Brevard. The SCEIC requested federal funding to enable them to offer enhanced, inclusive after school program for children ages 6-9. This program is focused on providing much needed intervention for disabled children. CMS Brevard requested funding to help build a medical facility for disabled children. The state has already invested over $5 million in this much-needed facility.
• Serving At Risk Youth - Boys and Girls Club of Indian River County (BGCIRC) requested matching funds to help renovate facilities for use in after school and summer school programs. Rep. Weldon also requested matching funds for the YMCA’s Achievers program which uses mentoring, workplace exposure, and college preparatory training to help put at risk youth on the right path.
• Restoring Depleted Fisheries – Funding was requested to match funding from Hubbs SeaWorld to design a state-of-the-art hatchery to produce 8 million fish per year to restock wild marine fish populations. This project is based on the successful initiative in California that restored depleted fish populations off the California coast.
Related
Documents:
Press Release
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Government Accountability Office Report: Space Gap Likely To Widen
5.10.2008
Press Release
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NASA Reveals Massive Layoffs
4.3.2008
Press Release
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House Democrats Write $50 Billion Foreign Aid Check
4.2.2008
Press Release
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Weldon Introduces Bill to Protect $1,000 Child Tax Credit
9.27.2007
Recent Vote
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Democrats Cut Medicare
8.1.2007
More Documents...
Related Files:
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