President Obama Signs Georgia Disaster Declaration for 5 Counties

The President yesterday declared a major disaster exists in the State of Georgia and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding beginning on September 18, 2009, and continuing.

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas, and Paulding Counties.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Gracia B. Szczech as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time)

For further information: FEMA (202) 646-4600.

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Georgia farm organizations to share nearly $1 million to promote, support and enhance Specialty Crops

Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin says that nearly $1 million in federal funds are on the way from Washington for competitive grants that promote the marketing and enhancement of “specialty crops” in the state. The funds, distributed as part of the 2008 Farm Bill, are designated under the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

Irvin says $909,576.44 in U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) funds will be awarded on a competitive basis for developmental projects that support and enhance the competitiveness of Georgia Specialty Crops. Awards will be presented for projects that can successfully measure the greatest return on investment of the federal dollars. Grants of $10,000 up to $150,000 will be awarded for up to three years.

The Georgia Specialty Crops eligible for these competitive grants include: fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, Christmas trees, turfgrass (sod) in addition to nursery and greenhouse crops.

Organizations eligible to apply include non-profit organizations, corporations, commodity associations, state and local governments, colleges and universities. Applicants must live, conduct business or have an educational affiliation in Georgia. The application deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, July 17, 2009.

Grants will not be awarded for projects that solely benefit a particular commercial product or provide a profit to a single organization, institution, or individual. Single organizations, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate as project partners.

To request an application for this grant program e-mail inquiries to grants@agr.state.ga.us or write Georgia Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crops Block Grant Program, 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30334.

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Attorney General Holder Announces Recovery Act Grant to Save or Create Justice Related Georgia Jobs

/PRNewswire / -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that more than $36 million in Recovery Act funds will go to the State of Georgia to maintain or increase public safety in the state, while creating or retaining jobs within the law enforcement community. These Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program funds are part of more than $4 billion in Justice Department Recovery Act funds available to assist state, local and tribal law enforcement and for other criminal justice activities that help to prevent crime and improve the criminal justice system in the United States while supporting the creation of jobs and much needed resources for states and local communities.

As submitted in their application, the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council plans to promote safe communities and stable families where children can thrive; provide a safe environment where Georgians live, work, and play; provide a safe, secure state by effectively managing and rehabilitating offenders; promote homeland security and emergency preparedness for natural and man-made disasters or acts of terrorism; and reduce loss of life and injury on Georgia's roads. Georgia is required to provide a portion of the $36.2 million to the local jurisdictions.

"By addressing Georgia's economic challenges while simultaneously meeting the state's public safety priorities, these funds represent the best of what the Recovery Act can do for our communities," Attorney General Eric Holder said. "This vital funding will help fight crime and build safer communities, and we look forward to continued work with Georgia to address these criminal justice goals."

The procedure for allocating JAG grants is based on a formula of population and violent crime statistics, in combination with a minimum allocation to ensure that each state and territory receives an appropriate share of funding. Sixty percent of the allocation is awarded directly to a state and 40 percent is set aside for units of local government. States are required to sub-grant a portion of the funds to local units of government, such as a city, county, township or town. Faith-based and other community organizations are also eligible to receive pass-through funding from the state, as are Tribal governments.

In addition to the $36.2 million to the state, seven local units of government will receive Recovery Act JAG awards: $222,330 to Athens Clarke County Unified Government, $48,474 to Cherokee County, $670,806 to Clayton County, $128,245 to Hall County, $155,917 to Newton County, $28,626 to Thomas County, and $131,871 to the City of Smyrna. All other local Recovery Act JAG awards will be announced at a later date. The deadline for local units of government to submit their Recovery Act applications to the Department of Justice has been extended to June 17, 2009. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, established the previous deadline of May 18 to encourage early submission of applications in an effort to provide economic stimulus as soon as possible. Because this is a non-competitive formula grant program, the extension of this deadline does not impact either eligibility or funding determinations. For more local solicitation information, visit http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/recoveryJAG/JAGrecoveryLocal.pdf.

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HHS Makes Estimated $1 Billion in Recovery Act Funds Available to Improve Child Support Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced
the availability of Recovery Act funds for state programs that
establish, enforce, collect and distribute child support.

Currently, the federal government provides incentive payments to states
based on the strength of their child support enforcement programs.
States are required to use these incentive payments to strengthen their
child support enforcement programs. Under a new provision in the
Recovery Act, these incentive payments will be matched by the federal
government. The change will make approximately $1 billion in new
resources available to states across the country.

"Every child deserves the support of both parents," said HHS Spokeswoman
Jenny Backus. "The Recovery Act will increase resources for child
support enforcement and will help parents make ends meet and children
receive the money they are due."

The Recovery Act temporarily reverses a provision in the Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005 that ended the practice of providing federal
matching funds for the state expenditure of incentive payments.

The new Recovery Act provision is effective Oct. 1, 2008 through Sept.
30, 2010. States will receive the additional match funding based on any
incentive funds used during FY 2009 and FY 2010, including incentives
earned and not spent in prior years. States will access the additional
funds as they currently do, through grant awards based on quarterly
expenditures.

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Prepackaged Bankruptcy Wouldn't Help Big Three Automakers, Says Bankruptcy Expert

If the Big Three automakers can't come up with a plan for Congress by Dec. 2 on how they'll use $25 billion in federal funds, one proposed alternative is for the companies to undergo a so-called "prepackaged" bankruptcy. But bankruptcy expert Frederick Tung of Emory University School of Law says he finds it hard to see how a prepackaged bankruptcy could help.

"With a prepackaged bankruptcy, the management of the company has already worked out details of the restructuring with constituencies, which includes bondholders, banks, suppliers, unions and employees, and other interested parties" says Tung. "But it doesn’t look like automakers have worked out anything with anyone; all they've done is gone to Capitol Hill and asked for $25 billion."

Under a prepackaged bankruptcy, says Tung, the automakers would have two questions to work out before they file for bankruptcy: What operational fixes will they make, if any? How will they reduce their debts?

"The latter process is simply a negotiation among all the debt holders to try to get them to take less than full payment," Tung says. "On the operational side, it doesn't sound like the management of these companies think they need to make any changes to the path they're on. It doesn't seem like they've talked to any of their creditors to make any adjustments on their debt. So if they don't have a deal beforehand, they can't do a prepackaged bankruptcy."

The other major question, says Tung, is how are automakers going to get the cash to run the business going forward? "Without that piece, bankruptcy is not only not helpful, but in my opinion would likely put the company into a free fall."

Are they playing chicken?

“I would have thought that automakers would have taken a more constructive tone with Congress," says Tung. In his blog entry on theconglomerate.org, Tung says automakers "seem to be playing chicken with Congress, on the 'too-big-to-fail' theory." Congress apparently didn't buy it.

"Needless to say, that's a dangerous game," Tung writes. "Especially during the interregnum, the specter of political gridlock looms large."

Tung teaches and writes in the areas of corporate and securities law and bankruptcy, both domestic and international. Professor Tung has served as a lecturer in law at Peking University. He also practiced corporate and bankruptcy law with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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