Temporary Programs to Extend Unemployment Compensation

[From Summary] The federal/state unemployment compensation (UC) system is designed to provide temporary and partial wage replacement to workers who have become involuntarily unemployed. UC also helps to stabilize the economy by providing unemployed workers with additional purchasing power, which serves as an economic stimulus when unemployment rises during recessions. The UC system generally provides sufficient duration of benefits during periods of economic prosperity, as most UC beneficiaries experience fewer weeks of unemployment than their maximum entitlements and return to work before their benefit rights are exhausted. However, during periods of economic decline, people tend to remain unemployed longer because of the greater difficulty in finding new jobs, and a rising proportion of jobless workers exhaust UC benefits without finding new work. Thus, programs have been established to increase the number of weeks of assistance during periods of high unemployment

Public Engagement – Back to Basics

Citizens of a community are ‘engaged’ when they play an effective role in decision making. That means they are actively involved in defining the issues, identifying solutions, and developing priorities for action and resources. A shift from traditional reins of power and trusting that citizens can and will effectively engage in the issues will likely result in a partnership between local officials and citizens that is nearly always healthy for a community. In most municipalities, public engagement is happening. The fact that it is happening is good but how can it be made more effective? Do local officials want to make it more effective? Do the senior management want the same? Do they have a full understanding of what it is and what it entails?This paper will qualify the definition, principles and benefits, as well as challenges, of public engagement from a municipal perspective. Best practices from other municipalities will be outlined and details on various levels of engagement and corresponding tools and techniques to employ will be referenced.Keywords: public engagement, municipality, tools and techniques, best practice

Socio-Economic Benefits of Trail Development in Conception Bay South

More and more communities are discovering that quality of place is an important factor in where people choose to live, work, and invest. Furthermore, access to interesting and scenic trails is a key component in the quality of place equation. Trails contribute to personal interaction, neighbourhood socialization, and community unity.The railroad played an important role in the rich heritage of Conception Bay South. Preserving 18 kilometers of railway within the boundaries of Conception Bay South as a public trail (dubbed the T’Railway) will offer future generations the opportunity to experience the history of the Province and provide a means to incorporate the Town’s local character and regional influence.This paper will qualify the socio-economic benefits that can be realized with strategic, well-planned trail development specifically pertaining to the T’Railway in Conception Bay South. An overview of the Town of Conception Bay South, its vision for development, and the history of the T’Railway will be provided. It will be followed by a review of case studies and reports detailing the tourism potential and high-level economic and social benefits of trail development.Keywords: trail development, economic benefits, socio-economic benefits, trail programming, railway redevelopmen

Analyses intracellulaires des interactions et de la signalisation de la polycystine-1

La polykystose rénale autosomique dominante (PKD) affecte 1/500 personne, cause des kystes rénaux et mène à l’insuffisance rénale. Elle dépend d’un mécanisme de dosage d’un des gènes PKD1 ou PKD2 encodant respectivement la polycystine-1 et la polycystine-2 (Pc1, Pc2). Les polycystines forment un complexe via leurs motifs coiled-coil. Un BAC-Pkd1 murin a été modifié par recombinaison homologue pour produire un transcrit pleine longueur (BAC-Pkd1TAG). La surexpression de Pkd1 chez les souris Pkd1TAG induit la PKD. Pour définir le rôle intracellulaire du domaine coiled-coil de Pc1, le domaine a été supprimé de Pkd1 par recombinaison et a servi à générer quatre lignées de souris Pkd1Δcoiled-coil (1-10 copies). Ces souris ne développent pas de PKD. Le motif coiled-coil est donc requis pour induire la maladie. Chez la souris, l’inactivation de Pkd1 (Pkd1-/-) cause une PKD et une mortalité périnatale. Nous avons donc produit des souris Pkd1-/-; Pkd1TAG et Pkd1-/-; Pkd1Δcoiled-coil. Celles-ci sont protégées d’une mortalité périnatale et de PKD, mais les lignées à 1-3 copies agissent comme des hypomorphes fonctionnels. Les cellules rénales Pkd1Δcoiled-coil montrent que Pc1 suit une maturation et un transport intracellulaire suffisamment efficace, que l’interaction est conservée entre Pc1-Pc2 et que l’expression de Pc2 est inchangée sauf chez les hypomorphes où Pc2 est surexprimé. Le motif coiled-coil de Pc1 et ses interactions semblent induire une polykystose rénale et jouer un rôle dans l’homéostasie rénale.Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) affects 1/500 person, causes renal cysts and leads to kidney failure. It depends on a dosage effect mechanism of one of the PKD1 or PKD2 genes encoding polysystin-1 and polycystin-2 (Pc1, Pc2), respectively. The polycystins form a complex via their coiled-coil domains. A murine Pkd1-BAC was modified by homologous recombination to produce a full-length transcript (Pkd1TAG-BAC). Overexpression of Pkd1 in Pkd1TAG mice induces polycystic kidney disease (PKD). To define the intracellular role of the coiled-coil motif of Pc1, the motif was deleted from Pkd1 by recombination and used to generate four Pkd1Δcoiled-coil mouse lines (1-10 copies). These mice do not develop PKD. The coiled-coil motif is therefore required to induce the disease. In mice, the knock-out of Pkd1 causes PKD and perinatal mortality. We therefore produced Pkd1-/-; Pkd1TAG and Pkd1-/-; Pkd1Δcoiled-coil mice. These are protected from perinatal mortality and PKD, but 1-3 copy lines act as functional hypomorphs. Pkd1Δcoiled-coil kidney cells show that Pc1 is sufficiently efficient in maturation and intracellular trafficking, that the interaction is conserved between Pc1-Pc2 and that Pc2 expression is unchanged except in hypomorphs where Pc2 is overexpressed. The coiled-coil motif of Pc1 and its interactions appear to induce polycystic kidney disease and play a role in renal homeostasis

Unemployment Benefits: Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) Program

The Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUC), was signed into law March 9, 2002, as a part of P.L. 107-147. TEUC provides up to 13 weeks of additional federally funded unemployment compensation (UC) to individuals in all states who exhaust their regular UC benefits. TEUC also provides a second 13 weeks of benefits to individuals who exhaust their benefits in a high-unemployment state. On January 8, 2003, Congress passed S. 23 (P.L. 108-1) extending the TEUC program through May 31, 2003, and phasing-out benefits through August 30,2003. This report will be updated as events warrant

Border and Transportation Security: Overview of Congressional Issues

This report provides a summary of selected border and transportation security (BTS) concepts and issues that may be of interest to the 109th Congress. It is the product of contributions from CRS staff in the table contained later in this report labeled Key Policy Staff: Border and Transportation Security

Department of Homeland Security: Consolidation of Border and Transportation Security Agencies

This report includes conceptual definitions for “border management” and “border security;” descriptions of the missions of the principal border management agencies; brief discussion of seaport and transportation security, since both are integral to border security; and a brief exploration of issues raised by transferring the Federal Protective Service, the Office for Domestic Preparedness, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to this new directorate. The report concludes with an analysis of issues concerning the consolidation of various border and transportation security agencies in the new Department of Homeland Security. This report is intended as an analysis of border and transportation security issues attached to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security

Border Security: CRS Experts

This report includes a table which provides access to names and contact information for CRS experts on policy concerns relating to border security. Policy areas identified include: mission; border surveillance; foreign cooperation; immigration and foreign visitors; intelligence in border and transportation security; operational functions; trade and imports; and transportation systems

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) provides assistance to previously employed or self- employed individuals rendered unemployed as a direct result of a major disaster and who are not eligible for regular federal/state unemployment insurance (UI). DUA is federally funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but is administered by the state UI agencies

Southwest Border Violence: Issues in Identifying and Measuring Spillover Violence

[Excerpt] There has been a recent increase in the level of drug trafficking-related violence within and between the drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. This violence has generated concern among U.S. policy makers that the violence in Mexico might spill over into the United States. Currently, U.S. federal officials deny that the recent increase in drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico has resulted in a spillover into the United States, but they acknowledge that the prospect is a serious concern. Currently, no comprehensive, publicly available data exist that can definitively answer the question of whether there has been a significant spillover of drug trafficking-related violence into the United States. Although anecdotal reports have been mixed, U.S. government officials maintain that there has not yet been a significant spillover. In an examination of data that could provide insight into whether there has been a significant spillover in drug trafficking-related violence from Mexico into the United States, CRS analyzed violent crime data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report program. The data, however, do not allow analysts to determine what proportion of the violent crime rate is related to drug trafficking or, even more specifically, what proportion of drug trafficking-related violent crimes can be attributed to spillover violence. In conclusion, because the trends in the overall violent crime rate may not be indicative of trends in drug trafficking-related violent crimes, CRS is unable to draw definitive claims about trends in drug trafficking-related violence spilling over from Mexico into the United States. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant