#INTERIM BUDGET 2019

[odinsblog]

WHAT WE FOUND

The debt limit has been lifted 78 times since 1960 — 49 times under a Republican president and 29 times under a Democrat — according to the Treasury Department.

Three of those times were during the Trump administration. In 2017, 2018, and 2019 Congress approved measures to lift the ceiling shortly before it was reached.

All three times, Congress didn’t vote to raise the limit by a specific amount, the way they usually do, and the way they most recently did in 2021 when Biden was in office. Instead, they voted to suspend the limit altogether, allowing the Treasury to borrow the funds it needed at will.

Then, when the suspension was over, a new ceiling was automatically installed based on how much the Treasury had borrowed in the interim.

As a result, the debt ceiling rose by several trillion dollars during Trump’s term.

NONE of the suspension bills included the kinds of cuts to federal spending that Republicans are now calling for. In fact, spending increased by roughly $3 trillion during Trump’s time in office, due in large part to the federal government’s pandemic response.

Some of the bills included spending “offsets,” but budget analysis groups like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget labeled these largely as “budget gimmicks” that had no real impact on spending.

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[beardedmrbean]

Even liberal San Francisco voters are getting tough on crime and public disorder.

Residents of the City by the Bay approved ballot measures Tuesday to set minimum police staffing levels, allow officers to chase suspects under reasonable suspicion they have committed or will commit a felony or nonviolent misdemeanor — with the help of drones — and set up public safety cameras that could use facial recognition technology to apprehend perps.

Another proposition that passed requires anyone who receives employment assistance, housing, shelter, utilities or food from city coffers to submit to drug screenings — and denies them those benefits unless they enter a treatment program.

The San Francisco Police Department had prohibited officers from pursuing nonviolent offenders unless there was an imminent risk to public safety.

Mayor London Breed, a Democrat, backed the ballot measures as she eyes re-election to a second full term in November — while facing challenges from Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit executive, and current and former city officials including ex-interim mayor Mark Farrell.

“We want San Francisco to be exactly what the people who live here want to see,” Breed said at a cocktail bar surrounded by supporters as the results rolled in Tuesday night, according to Politico. “And that is a safe, affordable place to call home.”

Voters also overwhelmingly approved tighter ethics rules for city employees regarding the receipt of gifts and mandating the teaching of Algebra I in schools by eighth grade.

Ballot measures allow voters to directly change laws during elections without the help of their elected officials.

Following a spate of state and local changes to crime policies in recent, San Francisco has been dogged by retail crime sprees, burglaries, rampant open-air drug use and public defecation.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, during a high-profile TV debate this past November against former San Francisco Mayor and current California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pointed to the city’s downfall as proof of failed liberal policies.

Dozens of big-name businesses have departed the city’s formerly bustling downtown area since 2020, the year after Breed was elected. Drug overdose deaths also hit a record high last year, with 806 recorded.

The descent into lawlessness was turbocharged by the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread rioting following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in summer 2020, as San Francisco and other cities embraced calls to defund law enforcement.

Breed supported a $120 million cut from the city’s police budget in 2020 — but reversed course the following year and pleaded with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to restore funding.

“I’m proud this city believes in giving people second chances,” she said in December 2021. “Nevertheless, we also need there to be accountability when someone does break the law … Our compassion cannot be mistaken for weakness or indifference … I was raised by my grandmother to believe in ‘tough love,’ in keeping your house in order, and we need that, now more than ever.”

The pivot to the center came just in time, as disgruntled San Francisco voters went on the following year to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a progressive prosecutor and former public defender.

Before that, parents had ousted three members of the city’s school board for pushing a progressive political agenda and keeping classrooms closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

A former city supervisor, Breed was elected mayor in 2018 to finish out the term of the late Ed Lee, who died in office. She was later elected to a five-year term in November 2019.

She is still working to regain the trust of law enforcement officials, however, with the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association saying in November that her “commitment to dismantling the criminal justice system has remained a focal point.”

Breed is battling a high disapproval rating, with 71% of likely general election voters taking exception to her job performance, according to a San Francisco Chronicle poll last month.

The city’s ranked-choice voting system could also throw a wrench into Breed’s re-election bid if she does not receive at least 50% support in the initial round, as second- and third-place candidates often receive more votes than those at the top of the ticket.

[cleanwaterchronicles]

Road salt, a stealthy pollutant, is damaging Michigan waters

In a dim hangar outside of Traverse City, towering piles of white crystals cast a glow in the twilight. 

Salts like those stored at the Grand Traverse County Road Commission maintenance facility keep Michigan roads, parking lots, and sidewalks clear of ice in the winter, a prudent safety measure for motorists and pedestrians. The mobility benefits of salt for a car-centric society, though, have an undesirable environmental side effect that has built up over decades of use: extensive damage to ecosystems and infrastructure.

Chloride -- the catch-all term for salts -- does not discriminate. It hurts mayflies and freshwater mussels, taking out species at the base of the freshwater food chain. It acts as a chemical instigator, loosening metals and nutrients that are otherwise bound in sediment and freeing them to flow downstream, thus feeding toxic algae in troubled places like Lake Erie. As with sun on skin, excess salt accelerates infrastructure aging. The metals and concrete in bridges, roads, and cars deteriorate faster when exposed to salts.

The state issued its first water quality standards for chloride in 2019. Not written with infrastructure in mind, the standards are intended to protect fish, insects, and other freshwater species. But the state has not yet translated those standards into a plan for limiting chloride in the eight stream sections that already exceed the limit.

Developing those pollution diets takes years. In the interim, state regulators this year are directly asking municipalities with storm sewer systems to outline steps for controlling salt runoff from roads. Roads, however, are only part of the problem. Salt applied to parking lots and sidewalks also enters streams and groundwater. But regulators say that municipalities do not have the staff or budgets to oversee salt application on private property. In part, this is a consequence of state court rulings that have deterred cities from creating agencies to manage pollutants that are flushed from paved surfaces.

The best way to deal with salt pollution is to bar it entry -- not to allow it in the water in the first place. By and large, that outcome will rely on the widespread and voluntary adoption of salt-reducing practices by road agencies, shopping mall owners, apartment complex managers, and homeowners. Reducing salt use also hinges on societal shifts: public acceptance in urban areas of slower winter driving speeds and less driving in hazardous weather.

“You can think of chloride as a permanent pollutant in the water,” said Christe Alwin of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. “Once it’s there, there’s very little opportunity to treat it.”

 

(Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue)

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the landmark federal law that intended to give new life to waterways that were fouled by all manner of chemical and bacterial pollutants. The goal was to make rivers and lakes fishable and swimmable once again. The law, part of a package of national environmental reforms in the early 1970s, was transformative. By mandating pollution controls on wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities, it marked a new era of environmental stewardship -- an era in which rivers and lakes were viewed not as dumping grounds but as civic assets that fostered recreation, ecological rebirth, and economic development.

Despite undeniable progress, substantial impediments to clean water remain. The law did little to stanch the flow of dispersed pollution that comes from roads, lawns, and farms. More waters today are fishable and swimmable, particularly in major metropolitan regions. But many, especially streams and rivers that drain agricultural regions, still are not. The consequences are measured in toxic algal bloom dead zones, human sickness, and the rising cost of water treatment. 

Urban Areas on a High-Sodium Diet

A little salt can cause a lot of harm. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends water quality standards for rivers and lakes to prevent death and damage to fish, mussels, insects, and other aquatic species. For chloride, the EPA determined the threshold at which long-term damage could occur to be 230 milligrams per liter. That equals about one teaspoon of salt in five gallons of water.

Michigan has been slow to react to the salinization of its fresh water. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy finalized water quality values for chloride only in 2019, three decades after the federal EPA published guidelines. Based on the numbers, EGLE determined last year that eight stream sections exceed the state threshold for chronic exposure, which is 150 milligrams per liter. 

Those streams -- largely in the urban areas of southeast Michigan -- include the Shiawassee River (Genesee County), Thread Creek (Genesee County), Sashabaw Creek (Oakland County), Bishop Creek and the Upper Rouge River (Rouge River watershed), Belle River (St. Clair County), Rush Creek (Ottawa County), and County Line Drain (Arenac/Iosco County), which also exceeded the sulfate standard.

The next step for those stream sections is a regulatory tool known as a total maximum daily load, or TMDL, which caps pollution discharges. However, there is no timeline yet for developing the pollution diet for those streams, according to Kevin Goodwin, an aquatic biology specialist at EGLE.

It’s no mystery where most of the salts are coming from. Water softeners and fertilizers are sources of chloride, but the major contributor, Goodwin and others said, are the salts spread on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks to keep the pavement free from ice.

Salinization of streams is a problem across the United States, where at least 20 million tons of salt were used in 2021 for highway deicing. The U.S. Geological Survey studied 19 streams in eight states and the District of Columbia, including five Great Lakes states. The researchers found that chloride levels related to road salt increased in 84 percent of sampled streams. Increases were especially notable in urban areas with a large percentage of paved surfaces.

Those findings have been replicated at the state and local level. EGLE found chloride hot spots that align with high concentrations of highways and housing developments. The Huron River, a 900-square-mile watershed in southeast Michigan that flows through Ann Arbor, is one such area. For the last two decades the Huron River Watershed Council has tested streams for pollutants. Volunteers and staff now regularly take water samples from about 40 or 50 sites in the watershed, according to Ric Lawson, a watershed planner. 

“We see that we have much higher [chloride] levels in our urban drainages,” Lawson said. 

Following up on its stream samples, the Huron River Watershed Council did additional investigation at sites with abnormally high chloride levels. Were those salts coming from a particular source? Were there, as Lawson put it, any “smoking guns?”

In short, the council didn’t find any -- no leakage from a salt storage facility, no obvious surface runoff. No smoking guns. “So it does appear it’s been broad-based, long-term application,” Lawson said, referring to the salt source. “And probably, the salts moving through groundwater are how it's getting to the surface waters.”

Broad-based is the classic definition of non-point pollution. It’s the type of threat that the Clean Water Act, which focused on pollution coming from a pipe, is not at all equipped to address. The law exempts most sources of such pollution from regulation and oversight. That’s why non-point pollution is a long-term problem. Curbing it requires, in the case of salt, a voluntary change in practices.

Less Bounce, Less Scatter

Michigan’s ground transportation network is a lattice of roughly 122,000 miles of roads. To maintain these surfaces, the state’s road agencies balance three competing objectives, said Gregg Brunner, director of the Bureau of Field Services for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Mobility, cost, and environmental protection.

Salt -- the sodium chloride form, in fact -- is the cheapest, most effective deicing agent available, Brunner said. On that measure it beats out magnesium chloride and potassium chloride.

A non-chloride option -- calcium magnesium acetate -- is on the market. But it costs about 40 times more than sodium chloride, which is mined locally, from deposits beneath Lake Erie.

The primary objective for MDOT and other road maintenance agencies is to use less of it. In pursuit of that goal, they participated in a work group to help EGLE develop salt management guidelines. Published in 2021, the guidelines are a compilation of voluntary “best management practices” that road agencies should strive to implement. The County Road Association of Michigan, which represents the 83 county road agencies, published a similar guide based on a survey of its members.

Read the complete article here

Source: Bridge Michigan

[grewone]

How GREW is Supporting Government of India’s Vision for a Green Future

In the recent times, we have noticed a steady push towards renewable energy from the Government of India. As a key player in the renewable energy sector, GREW, a flagship venture of the Chiripal Group, supports this mission and is taking all steps necessary to help the country transition to a carbon-neutral future. With state-of-the-art solar panels and an ambitious three-stage fully backward integrating manufacturing approach, GREW is poised to significantly contribute to India’s solar independence.

Government Initiatives Promoting Solar Technology in India

The Indian government has launched several impactful initiatives to promote solar technology in India. As on date, many of the top solar companies in India are using solar modules imported from China. The Indian Government is trying its best to reduce the nation's dependence on China while also increasing the solar adoption. 

As one of the leading solar companies in India, GREW stands dedicated to aiding the country on its mission to carbon neutrality. Read on further to know some of the prominent initiatives taken by the Government to promote solar and how GREW is supporting them.

PM Kusum Yojana: Empowering Farmers with Solar Energy

Launched in 2019, the PM Kusum Yojana (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) provides farmers' with subsidy as well as technological support with regards to the installation of solar plants in their lands. This scheme focuses on reducing farmers' dependence on conventional electricity sources and diesel for irrigation. The scheme also aims to provide capital as well as minimum support price to further ease the adoption of solar technology. 

As one of the most prominent solar module manufacturers in the country, GREW supports the government's broader goal of increasing renewable energy capacity.

Pradhanmantri Surodaya Yojna: Accelerating Solar Adoption

The interim budget of 2024 was a significant moment in India’s solar journey. The Finance Minister announced an important step forward in the Pradhanmantri Surodaya Yojna. The scheme stated that more than 1 crore homes in India would adopt solar technology in their operations. This would generate a net savings of around 18,000 crores across households. Solar module manufacturers across the country are excited by this development since it would incentivize the use of solar technology. 

In addition to the aforementioned schemes, the government has implemented several other initiatives to promote solar energy. The Solar Park Scheme aims to establish large-scale solar parks, providing a platform for private investments in solar energy projects. The Rooftop Solar Programme incentivizes the installation of solar panels on residential and commercial buildings, further expanding the country’s solar capacity.

How GREW is contributing to India's Carbon Neutrality Goal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already made a commitment on the global platform to make India carbon neutral by 2070. Renewable energy will play a crucial role in helping India achieve this bold and ambitious target. Our three stage fully backward integration manufacturing plan is a key effort in this direction and highlights our commitment to sustainability. 

Our solar module manufacturing factory in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir is a 3.2GW facility that will take India’s solar sector to the next level. We have already set up a fully operational 1.2GW facility in Jaipur with another 1.6GW factory on the pipelines.

These module manufacturing facilities will manufacture ingots, wafers, and cells, and ensure complete control over the quality and supply chain. 

State-of-the-Art Solar Modules

GREW offers two types of high-efficiency solar modules: the p-type and the n-type. The p-type (mono-perc solar module) boasts a 23% power output, while the n-type module offers up to 24.5% efficiency. 

Conclusion

India's journey towards solar independence is a collective effort involving government initiatives, private enterprises, and public participation. Looking for the best solar panels to help achieve India's objectives? GREW is the partner you need.

For more: How GREW is Supporting Government of India’s Vision for a Green Future

[ananovareviews]

15.56 Crore Loans amounting to Rs. 7,23,000 crore disbursed under Mudra Yojana

 The Government envisages a National Programme on ‘Artificial Intelligence.’ Under MUDRA Yojana, 15.56 crore loans have been disbursed, amounting to Rs. 7,23,000 crore. While presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parliament today, the Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways, and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal, said India is among the most youthful nations globally. Through Pradhan…

[mariacallous]

Scientist Nickolay Denkov became Bulgaria’s new prime minister on Tuesday after the joint government established by rival political forces GERB/United Democratic Forces and We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria was approved by parliament.

Denkov, a member of We Continue the Change, said that the cabinet will work towards Bulgaria entering the Schengen zone by the end of 2023, systematic changes in border control management, a low state budget deficit and mto reduce easures inflation, as well as starting a “campaign against the disinformation around Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro”.

Last December, Croatia joined EU’s Schengen zone while Bulgaria and Romania’s applications were denied due to the resistance from Netherlands and Austria, which were demanding reforms to tackle corruption.

Denkov responded to criticism of the unlikely coalition government, which has mainly come from the president and pro-Kremlin parties.

“There is nothing more natural than the Bulgarian parliament electing a regular government to take on its constitutional duties. I am really surprised that this is a problem for some parties – maybe it’s all part of their propaganda, but that also goes for some institutions such as the presidency,” he said.

From the beginning of their negotiations, both We Continue the Change and GERB did not offer their party leaders (Kiril Petkov and Boyko Borissov) as potential prime ministers in order to demonstrate willingness for a dialogue.

Tense talks after the April 2 elections led to an experimental 18-month governing format in which first nine months will be under the rule of We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria, headed by Denkov, and the second nine months by GERB/United Democratic Forces, with Denkov resigning and Mariya Gabriel stepping in as prime minister.

Sixty-year old Denkov was deputy education minister from 2014-2016, and caretaker education minister in 2017 as well as from May to December 2021. He then headed the education ministry in the 2021-2022 Petkov cabinet.

Before entering politics with We Continue the Change, Denkov was known mostly for his career in science. He is a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Sofia, where between 2008 and 2015 he headed the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy.

His vice-premier and successor-to-be, GERB’s Mariya Gabriel, was a member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2017 and vice-president of the European People’s Party group from 2014 to 2017. Since 2019, she has been GERB’s European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

Gabriel has been connected to several controversies. On May 14, she confirmed she has no PhD in political science despite claiming to have one in a promotional video from 2009 when she was running to be an MEP.

She has also been the subject of investigations into claims that between 2010 and 2017 while she was an MEP, she was renting a municipality-owned apartment that was supposed to be for socially disadvantaged individuals. Gabriel stated in 2017 that she was using the apartment as a storage space.

In the new Denkov-Gabriel cabinet, We Continue the Change co-leader Assen Vassilev returns as minister of finance, a position he held as an interim minister in 2021 and as part of Petkov’s cabinet in 2021-2022, when Bulgaria cut ties with Russia’s giant Gazprom.

Another key appointment is Todor Tagarev, an outspoken military expert on Russian meddling in Bulgarian politics, as minister of defence. He previously held the same post in 2013.

Curiously, the new energy minister has the same name as the new government’s biggest opponent, President Rumen Radev. Radev the minister is deputy chairman of the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria.

Julian Popov will be environment minister and is looked upon as a possible source of reformist thinking. He is a senior adviser to the European Climate Foundation, as well as chairman of the Building Performance Institute Europe.

[notvirginawoolf]

[remoteworkflow]

I thought you'd like this Board on Pinterest...Big inspiration, motivation, thinkers https://pin.it/z52ovf5vv3durf. the social secret's they don't wont you to NO!

#MGTOWMONEY: 63% of #Millenials 'regret'.....? - YouTube.....

[vilaspatelvlogs]

एक फरवरी को पेश होगा आम बजट, जानिए कैसे अंतरिम बजट से होता है अलग

एक फरवरी को पेश होगा आम बजट, जानिए कैसे अंतरिम बजट से होता है अलग

बिजनेस डेस्क, अमर उजाला, नई दिल्ली Updated Wed, 20 Jan 2021 06:03 PM IST एक फरवरी 2021 को पेश होगा आम बजट – फोटो : PTI पढ़ें अमर उजाला ई-पेपर कहीं भी, कभी भी। *Yearly subscription for just ₹299 Limited Period Offer. HURRY UP! ख़बर सुनें ख़बर सुनें वित्त वर्ष 2021-22 के लिए आम बजट एक फरवरी 2021 को पेश होगा। इस साल पेश होने वाला बजट वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण के कार्यकाल का तीसरा बजट होगा। इस…

[amoljoshi009]

The Union Budget 2019, proposed income tax rebates that will benefit 3 crore middle class, allowing them to save tax of as much as Rs 12,500 per year

[ibefworld]

Interim Union Budget 2019-20 | Interim Budget 2019

Highlights of Interim Union Budget 2019-20: Overview of the economy, Major Expenditure Items, Poor and Backward Classes, Support for Farmers, Infrastructure, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Traders, Tax Proposals, Vision for the Next Decade.

[mylucky137276]

India needs fewer but stronger, mega banks: FM Jaitley after RBI meet

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addressed the customary post-budget meeting of the central board of the Reserve Bank on Monday. InterimBudget

Post the meeting, Jaitley said India needs fewer and mega banks which are strong.

"India needs fewer and mega banks which are strong because in every sense from borrowing rates to optimum utilisation the economies of scale as far as the banking sector is concerned are of great help," Jaitley said.

On interim dividend, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank will take the decision based on the report by Bimal Jalan-led Committee.

Das also said that the RBI will discuss the issue of transmission of rate cut with bank chiefs on February 21.

Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank cut the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 per cent.

[beardedmrbean]

When state lawmakers this past week put the brakes on a plan to rescue BART and other ailing transit systems, a key concern was that the proposed toll increases at Bay Area bridges to pay for the bailout would wallop low-paid workers who cross those spans to get to their jobs.

But the question of who would bear the burden of a $1.50 bridge toll hike — the working poor or the well-off — is hardly settled, as both sides of the debate point to data and arguments that back their claims. The answer will be key to selling the bailout plan as legislative advocates strategize a fresh pitch for early next year.

In a letter this month to Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders, seven Bay Area congressional representatives with deep reservations about the toll hike plan demanded an analysis of its impact on “low-income or car-dependent commuters.”

The congressional delegation cited Metropolitan Transportation Commission data that 59% of bridge toll payers come from Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties and research that delinquent toll fines are concentrated in impoverished ZIP codes. The Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored public-policy advocacy organization opposing the toll hikes, said its research found toll payers are “statistically lower income, have lower levels of education and are disproportionately people of color.”

Not so fast, said SPUR, an urban-planning research group backing the toll hikes. In a new analysis this month, SPUR said “transit riders are more likely than bridge drivers, and the population as a whole, to have low incomes, to be people of color, or to be members of other disadvantaged groups,” while “drivers crossing bridges as a whole are financially better off.”

Who’s right? The two sides say it depends on how you slice the numbers, though there’s little dispute the transit systems face a sobering financial reckoning.

The Bay Area’s bridges and transit systems have been on divergent paths since the pandemic. Road and bridge traffic has largely returned to pre-pandemic gridlock, but many transit riders haven’t come back since the lockdowns, in part due to the remote work rise and what surveys show are crime and cleanliness concerns. Caltrans data show monthly traffic on the Bay Bridge hit 3.7 million in June, close to the 4 million a month in June 2019. BART had 4.2 million monthly riders in June, 41% of the pre-pandemic 9.8 million.

That has crippled the finances of transit agencies that rely on fare revenues to run their trains and buses, and have hollered they’re heading off a “fiscal cliff” in coming years as federal pandemic aid runs out. Transit agencies say that will force drastic service cuts without a financial bailout.

State officials made additional transit funding available in the current state budget. And SB 532 by state Sen. Scott Wiener proposed additional help from a $1.50, five-year toll hike on seven state-owned Bay Area bridges — the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward and Bay Bridge — but not the Golden Gate.

The toll hike was to provide interim transit funding while regional authorities consider asking voters to bless a 2026 long-term funding measure to help stabilize transit finances. But Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, said this week in the face of growing opposition to the bill that it needs more time and won’t be considered until next year.

A $1 increase already is scheduled starting in 2025, the fourth hike on those bridges in six years, which voters approved in 2018 to fund road and transit improvements.

A Bay Area Council analysis using MTC and U.S. Census data found that 63% of Northern California workers who must cross a state-owned bridge to get to work are employed in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The group found median incomes were $3,400-$15,000 lower for the bridge commuters driving in from more affordable communities than for workers who didn’t have to cross bridges to get to work.

SPUR in its recent analysis said MTC and Census data “provide an incomplete picture” of bridge-crossers. So the group teamed up with data company Replica to analyze information from the census, traffic counts, cell phones, credit card transactions, Fastrak and toll payments, and other public and private sources to assess toll hike impacts.

SPUR’s analysis found household incomes of bridge drivers on average are $22,000 more than incomes of BART riders, with more than 40% topping $150,000 a year. And more people took BART to work (26%) than bridges (17%) last fall. Two-thirds of bridge crossers traveled just once a week, with just 5% crossing five times a week, indicating most bridge crossers aren’t regular commuters.

SPUR added that the findings show a toll hike could be tailored to ease the burden on those regular drivers, with perhaps weekly toll caps or means-based discounts.

Bay Area Council spokesman Rufus Jeffris said the group doesn’t dispute SPUR’s findings, “we just looked at a different subset of bridge crossers that we think is more reflective of the people who would be most impacted by a toll increase, frequent commuters who are the ones that most regularly use the bridges.”

At the Berryessa BART station in San Jose, Parag Phadke, who had ridden BART home from the San Francisco airport and admitted he’s an infrequent bridge crosser, said he’d be fine with a $1.50 toll hike to help keep the transit system afloat but that it should be put to a vote.

“BART’s not cheap either,” said Phadke, 53. BART from SFO to Berryessa costs those ineligible for discounts nearly $15, while it currently costs $7 to cross the bridges that would be subject to the toll hike. An extra $1.50 would still be less than the $8.75 Fastrak cost to cross the Golden Gate.

Wiener said the bridge toll plan, which would only cover half of transit agencies’ projected shortfalls, remains an option to be considered.

“Everything’s on the table,” Wiener said in an interview.

The impact of tolls on lower-income motorists isn’t the only thing giving lawmakers pause about approving more transit bailout money. Critics also cited concerns that transit ridership won’t return to pre-pandemic levels and the agencies need to adjust and also demonstrate progress on addressing crime and cleanliness concerns that surveys show suppress ridership.

Sen. Dave Cortese of San Jose, who supported both Wiener’s transit bailout and the BART extension to downtown San Jose, said “the original plan is dead” given other lawmakers’ concerns. And it’ll be hard to get lawmakers and voters to agree on more money for transit systems whose ridership isn’t what it once was.

“The world is changing,” Cortese said.

[sharmaheena850]

No tax liability if your income is up to Rs 9.5 lakh, but conditions apply

Stressing that tax concessions have been provided with a view to help poor and middle-class people living on a tight budget, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that now individuals earning up to Rs 9.5 lakh can escape liability by taking advantage of saving schemes.  

Replying to the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, the Minister said he did not propose any change in the tax rate but only provided few rebates which will boost spending and help the economy.

The Finance Bill, which contains tax proposals, was passed by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote, completing the budgetary process in the lower house.

In a swipe at the Congress, the Minister said that unlike the previous UPA dispensation, the present Modi government in the interim budget did not reduce levies of SUVs which are used by rich persons.

In the Finance Bill 2019, the Minister proposed to raise tax rebate for people having annual income up to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500, which will effectively ensure that they don't have to pay any tax.

In the Bill, standard deduction has also been raised from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, besides a host of tax benefits to home buyers. Read More

Article Source -> Business Standard

[monicasharmalove]

No tax liability if your income is up to Rs 9.5 lakh, but conditions apply

Personal Finance News:

Stressing that tax concessions have been provided with a view to help poor and middle-class people living on a tight budget, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that now individuals earning up to Rs 9.5 lakh can escape liability by taking advantage of saving schemes.  

Replying to the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, the Minister said he did not propose any change in the tax rate but only provided few rebates which will boost spending and help the economy.

The Finance Bill, which contains tax proposals, was passed by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote, completing the budgetary process in the lower house.

In a swipe at the Congress, the Minister said that unlike the previous UPA dispensation, the present Modi government in the interim budget did not reduce levies of SUVs which are used by rich persons.

In the Finance Bill 2019, the Minister proposed to raise tax rebate for people having annual income up to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500, which will effectively ensure that they don't have to pay any tax.

In the Bill, standard deduction has also been raised from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, besides a host of tax benefits to home buyers.

The concessions proposed in the Finance Bill, Goyal said, are aimed at helping "poor and middle-class people living on a tight budget...This is interim budget. We have not brought any tax proposal...we will bring them in July," he said.

The next government, which will be formed after the upcoming general elections, will come out with a full budget in July. The next government will also come up with a Finance Bill containing the tax proposals for 2019-20.

[bhaskarhindinews]

Rahul gandhi beat PM narendra modi on twitter, became number one

ट्विटर पर राहुल ने मोदी को पछाड़ा, बने नंबर-1

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ट्विटर पर राहुल का जलवा।

बजट पर किए ट्वीट को सबसे ज्यादा लोगो ने पसंद किया।

पीएम मोदी को पछाड़ा।

लोकसभा चुनाव के लिए राजनीतिक दलों ने अपनी कमर कस ली है। 2014 के लोकसभा चुनाव में भाजपा को जिताने में सोशल मीडिया का काफी योगदान रहा। वहीं 2019 के चुनाव से पहले भी सोशल मीडिया का जलवा देखने को मिल रहा है। सियासी दलों के नेताओं से लेकर कार्यकर्ताओं तक सोशल मीडिया पर सक्रिय हो गए है। सभी अपनी पार्टियों के गुणगान और एक-दूसरे को नीचा दिखाने में कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ रहे हैं। वहीं मोदी सरकार के अंतरिम बजट की सोशल मीडिया पर काफी चर्चा रही। ट्विटर पर इसको लेकर काफी बहस हुई। नेताओं और हस्तियों के अंतरिम बजट पर किए गए ट्विट के मामले में राहुल गांधी नंबर-1 पर रहे। राहुल गांधी, भाजपा, नरेंद्र मोदी और पीएमओ के ट्विटर अकाउंट को पीछे छोड़ दिया।

ट्वीटर के मुताबिक अंतरिम बजट को लेकर जो ट्वीट हुए, उसमें कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष राहुल गांधी का ट्वीट पहले स्थान पर था। किसानों को प्रतिदिन 17 रुपए देने की आलोचना करते हुए राहुल ने जो ट्वीट किया, उसे 13,594 बार रिट्वीट और 40 हजार लाइक मिल चुके हैं।

Dear NoMo, 5 years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs. 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for. #AakhriJumlaBudget

28.2K people are talking about this

दूसरे मामले में भाजपा दूसरे स्थान पर रहीं। राहुल के ट्वीट का जवाब देते हुए बीजेपी ने जो ट्वीट किया, उसे करीब 9,023 बार रिट्वीट किया गया। तीसरे स्थान पर एक पत्रकार का ट्वीट रहा।

As expected, you haven't understood a thing from the Budget. Rs 6000 to farmers is not their net income but a relief measure to supplement their income; along with host of other steps taken for their welfare. Surprised, you did not tweet 70 paisa/hr! Would've been more RG like.

Dear NoMo, 5 years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs. 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for. #AakhriJumlaBudget

10.4K people are talking about this

प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी का ट्वीट चौथे नंबर रहा। पीएम मोदी के ट्वीट को 7,504 बार रिट्वीट किया गया। उनके ट्वीट को 27,756 लोगो ने लाइक किया है।

This is a #BudgetForNewIndia and for all Indians. Watch my take. https://www.pscp.tv/w/byQO-jMyMjExNTJ8MUJkR1lPTVJxQXp4WFyaJ2shR4TcEz4DWNu4vSctkyXFRfGQzqNXHV1rkgEy …

Narendra Modi @narendramodi

This is a #BudgetForNewIndia and for all Indians. Watch my take.

10.5K people are talking about this

अंतरिम बजट को लेकर 31 जनवरी से लेकर 3 फरवरी 2019 तक कई ट्वीट हुए। कुल 8 लाख ट्वीट हुए। बजट वाले दिन करीब 7000 ट्वीट प्रति घंटे के हिसाब से हुए। Source: https://www.bhaskarhindi.com/news/rahul-gandhi-twitter-pm-narendra-modi-budget-59486