Media
Latest News
June 13, 2013
Washington, D.C.- Rep. Jim Costa announced today that Fresno, Merced, and Madera Counties has received more than $3.4 million under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program as compensation for lost property tax revenue from non-taxable federal lands. Though the guaranteed funds for the PILT program expire this year, Costa has urged the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Conference Committee to extend the program. Fresno, Merced, and Madera Counties depend on these funds to help keep teachers, police, firefighters, and nurses on the job.
Washington, D.C.- Rep. Jim Costa announced that Central Valley Opportunity Center Inc. has been awarded $1.8 million to provide educational and employment training to farmworkers in Merced, Madera, and Stanislaus Counties. The U.S. Department of Labor released these funds through the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP).
Washington, D.C.- With an overwhelming bipartisan vote, Congressmen Jim Costa and Doug LaMalfa's legislation that would protect consumers from utility fee hikes was approved by the House of Representatives by a vote of 423 to 0. The Public Power Risk Management Act of 2013 removes barriers that place municipal utilities, including irrigation districts such as Merced, Modesto, and Turlock Irrigation Districts, under restrictions that prevent them from taking responsible actions to hedge against price volatility in the energy market.
Washington, DC – This week, Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus (VRC) co-chairmen and co-founders, Reps. Jim Costa and Ted Poe, introduced legislation that would protect the Crime Victims Fund from budget sequestration which is threatening to severely reduce services for victims of crime. The fund is backed solely by criminal fines, forfeitures and other penalties, not federal tax dollars, and it has no impact on the national deficit.
Legislation Invests in Ending Homelessness among Veterans
FRESNO, CA- Rep. Jim Costa announced today that the Fresno Housing Authority and the Fresno Veterans Affairs Medical Center have been awarded $378,840 to provide case management and rental assistance to 70 homeless veterans. The Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program is jointly operated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Since the HUD-VASH program began in 2009, there has been a 17 percent drop in chronic homelessness amongst veterans nationwide.
Washington, DC - Rep. Jim Costa announced today that Valley water projects would receive more than $3.4 million in WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grants from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The grants will help fund infrastructure improvements that will increase efficiency and reduce pumping.
Washington, DC - Rep. Jim Costa, the highest ranking Californian on the House Agriculture Committee, voted to move H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, to the House floor. At nearly midnight, the House Agriculture Committee gave overwhelming support with a vote of 36-10 to take up where the last Congress left off and advance a five year Farm Bill that will set the nation's agriculture and nutrition policies.
Washington, DC- Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) and Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) today introduced bipartisan legislation to increase competition, stabilize food prices and enhance American energy security and global competitiveness. The Domestic Alternative Fuels Act, H.R. 1959, would allow ethanol produced from domestic natural gas to be included under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and compete with corn-based ethanol.
Washington, DC- Congressman Jim Costa introduced critical legislation, the More Water and Security for Californians Act, which would significantly increase the water supply in the Valley. Farmers and growers who receive water from the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP) would see greater water security under Costa's legislation.