English-speaking Belize makes it easy for you to make a move overseas.
Caribbean Paradise: The Easiest Country in Central America
International Living Postcards—your daily escape
Dear International Living Reader,
Belize is one politically stable little Central American country that makes it easy – whether you’re looking for an escape a few months a year or a full-time getaway.
It’s easy to enjoy yourself here. With miles of tropical coastline, the second-longest barrier reef on earth, some of the best diving and snorkeling on the planet, lush forests and mountains, immense natural preserves, vast river and cave systems, and a wealth of important Maya archeological sites, there is always something to do in Belize.
The fact that it's affordable only sweetens the deal.
On the island of Ambergris Caye, for instance, an air-conditioned, two-bedroom, one-bathroom 900-square-foot house near the main village of San Pedro costs just $135,000. A mile and a half south of the village at Royal Palm Villas, one-bedroom ocean-side condos with 24-hour security, pool, and air-conditioning list for $149,000.
(For the sake of comparison: You’ll pay more than $800,000 for a fairly average condo in Bermuda...and more than $600,000 for something similar in St. John on the U.S. Virgin Islands. )
Formerly British Honduras, Belize is a true Caribbean paradise. And it offers several important pluses for anybody looking to ease into a move abroad.
First, English is the national language. You'll be talking to store keepers, real estate agents, taxi drivers, bank tellers, and waiters in a language you already understand. Even more importantly, any contract you enter into if you decide to rent a place or purchase a home will be written in English, which just simplifies your life.
Second, the Belize dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar at two-to-one, and the U.S. dollar is commonly accepted in Belize. That means no tricky currency conversions to deal with.
Third, the tax situation in Belize is easy to manage. No taxes on foreign-derived income. No capital gains tax. No corporate tax. No inheritance tax. Simple.
Fourth, the population of Belize is a little over 300,000. That's not the population of the largest city in Belize... that's the entire country. And Belize is only 180 miles long and 68 miles wide. What that means is that it's easy to find the people, offices and resources you need to get things done.
Fifth, Belize has its Qualified Retirement Program, and you don't have to be retired to take advantage of it. If you’re at least 45 years old and have a monthly income of at least $2,000 from a pension or annuity (including Social Security), you can qualify. This allows you to bring all your personal goods to Belize tax-free.
Dan Prescher International Living
P.S. Belize is a country we cover regularly here in the Postcards and in our monthly print publication. Recently, for instance, we ran a piece in the magazine from a woman who’s living full-time on the island of Ambergris Caye. You can read her story – and lots more in-depth Belize coverage – as a subscriber toInternational Living. Grab a no risk subscription, here.
We start the story in mid-stream ... on page 12 of 108 total pages "In the Matter of the Arbitration AAA # 12 300 00230 08, (Robert Layman Termination) Town of New Fairfield". The story ends on page 108 wherein:
AWARD
The Employer’s termination of the grievant, Bob Layman, effective close of business on March 28, 2008 for the reasons stated in termination letter dated March 31, 2008 was not for just cause provided in Section 4.4 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Employer must immediately offer the grievant reinstatement his former position as Mechanic.
The Employer must make the grievant whole for lost wages and benefits resulting from his termination, less interim earnings, including any unemployment compensation benefits received.
Evidence of the grievant’s termination must be expunged from his personnel record. ___________________________
The story continues as follows highlighting Truck 27. The most interesting bit of information to note is footnote [10] and the short video ... draw your own conclusions:
Truck 27 The grievant described this as the truck whose suspension was “torn out in a snow storm.” The grievant stated that he told Hodge that he would try to repair it but that he had warned him that it would
take a few weeks, as it was “no small job.” In the meantime, there were several small storms and, whereas Truck 27 was a “spare,” “four front line trucks were down.” He finally got back to Truck 27 and made a list of parts and began ordering them from four different vendors but some manufacturers were closed for the holidays. According to the grievant’s statement, Hodge, and then Rzasa, constantly called to check up on his progress, telling him “his best wasn’t good enough.” He promised that the parts would be in on a certain Friday and that the truck would be completed by the following Wednesday and, according to Layman, he
accomplished this goal.[10]
The January 10 letter stated, in pertinent part that:
As you know, all divisions within the Public Works Department are required to submit a weekly work schedule in order to keep the First Selectman informed of daily job activities and overall departmental progress. On several occasions over the past three weeks I have asked that you submit this weekly schedule for the Vehicle & Maintenance Division. To date no schedule has been turned in. Your recent refusal to comply with this directive is considered insubordination and will not be tolerated further. As a result this written warning is being placed in your personnel file.
In addition to the weekly work schedule, you will also be required to submit an eight-hour daily activity sheet for each workday. These
[10] Someone (not the grievant’s handwriting) wrote some editorial comments in the margins of this document. On the final page this person wrote “B.S.” and ”Hmmmm.Bla, Bla, Bla….” The grievant testified to the belief that Hodge made these editorial comments, because the handwriting seemed to match samples in the grievant’s personnel file. Hodge denied having written these words on the grievant’s explanation. Though not a handwriting expert, this arbitrator scrutinized the document Layman cited as showing the same handwriting as the editorial comments but did not see then as similar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOW YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF ... WHAT HAS THIS COST THE TOWN AND WHAT WILL THE TOTAL COST BE TO THE TAXPAYERS? HOWEVER, IF MEMORY SERVES, MR. HODGE WILL MAKE UP THIS LOST THROUGH PROFITS FROM OTHER LITIGATION.
NOW LETS THINK THIS THROUGH ... BONDING IS A TWENTY YEAR PROPOSITION ... THIS IS 2010 ... ADD 20 YEARS AND BINGO ... 2030!!! OH DID I MENTION NEW FAIRFIELD BONDS ARE FIXED, NO PROVISIONS FOR NEGOTIATION LIKE NEWTOWN!!!
Data in the News - Sept. 25, 2008
[Redding] Enrollment decline: Schools here mirror trend(9/25/08) At the moment, Region 9 (Joel Barlow High School, which has Easton and Redding students) is “trending up” in terms of enrollment because the decline in students won’t “catch up” until a few years from now.
It is estimated that among the three districts, the student population will reduce between the 2007-08 school year and 2015-16 by approximately 560 students. The Redding Pilot
Between 2006/7 and 2007/8, Connecticut's public schools reported a drop in enrollment of approximately 4,000 students for grades 1 through 12. A review of preliminary public school reports by the Connecticut State Data Center's Manager Orlando Rodriguez indicates that the 2007/8 school year marks the beginning of a long-term decline in the state's school age population.
Two students arrested at New Fairfield High School on charges of drug and paraphernalia possession
Published: 10:35 p.m., Thursday, December 17, 2009
New Fairfield High School and charged with drug and paraphernalia possession while in school, police said.
The students, both males and unidentified because they are youthful offenders, were taken into custody at 12:20 p.m. and transported to the police station, police said.
On student was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and the other student with possession of drug paraphernalia. Parents were contacted in both instances and the students were picked up.
Additional information was not available from the schools Thursday.
"To protect student confidentiality, details could not be disclosed at this time," said New Fairfield School Superintendent Joe Castagnola.
Connecticut Gov. vetoes GASB opt-out, while S&P holds Texas ratings steady Financial Week reports on states' reactions to GASB 45, noting that while Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell recently vetoed "legislation that would have given its state comptroller, not GASB, the right to set generally accepted accounting principles," Texas Governor Rick Perry signed legislation allowing that state's governments to opt out of reporting requirements under GASB 45. "And since credit rating agency Standard & Poor's announced that not following GASB rule 45 should not affect Texas' bond ratings," the article says, "it's possible that other states may follow suit." GASB officials are quoted as saying accounting should not be driven by politics, while an official at the National Association of State Retirement Administrators says there is a "perception by some that GASB might be removed from the day-to-day realities of governmental budgeting."
QUESTION:If Standard & Poor's position is that not following GASB rule 45 should not affect bond ratings, then New Fairfield's bond rating should be O.K. ... or is it?
QUESTION: Now what impact on our taxes is GASB rule 45 going to have, if the Town follows rule 45?
In addition to pensions, many state and local governmental employers provideother postemployment benefits (OPEB) as part of the total compensation offered to attract and retain the services of qualified employees. OPEB includespostemployment healthcare, as well as other forms of postemployment benefits (for example, life insurance) when provided separately from a pension plan. This Statement establishes standards for the measurement, recognition, and display of OPEB expense/expenditures and related liabilities (assets), note disclosures, and, if applicable, required supplementary information (RSI) in the financial reports of state and local governmental employers. The approach followed in this Statement generally is consistent with the approach adopted in Statement No. 27, Accounting for Pensions by State and Local Governmental Employers, with modifications to reflect differences between pension benefits and OPEB. Statement No. 43, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans, addresses financial statement and disclosure requirements for reporting by administrators or trustees of OPEB plan assets or by employers or sponsors that include OPEB plan assets as trust or agency funds in their financial reports.
GASB 45, or GASB Statement 45, is an accounting and financial reporting provision requiring government employers to measure and report theliabilities associated with other (than pension) postemployment benefits (or OPEB). Reported OPEBs may include post-retirement medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, life, long-term disability and long-term care benefits that are not associated with a pension plan. Government employers required to comply with GASB 45 include all states, towns, education boards, water districts, mosquito districts, public schools and all other government entities that offer OPEB and report under GASB.
GASB 45 was instigated by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in July 2004 because of the growing concern over the potential magnitude of government employer obligations for post-employment benefits. GASB 45 will:
Recognize the cost of OPEB benefits in the period when services are received.
Provide information about the actuarial liabilities for the promised benefits.
Provide information useful in assessing potential demands on future cash flows.
GASB 45 applies to the financial statements issued by government employers that offer OPEB and that are subject to GASB accounting standards. GASB 45 does not apply to private employers or trusts that are established in order to pre-fund OPEB benefits and for trusts that are used as conduits to pay OPEB benefits.
NEWTOWN -- By renegotiating capital bonds, Newtown's finance director saved the town more than $1.4 million. This more than makes up for the state cut in municipal aid this year.
"Bob Tait saved the town $1,430,973.91 on bond refunds over the next three years," said former first selectman Joe Borst at the swearing-in ceremony for new town officials.
The town borrows money for large capital projects that it can't pay for up front.
It notifies banks across the state of the amount it wants to borrow, and the banks respond with their respective interest rates.
When interest rates plummeted, the town seized the opportunity to get a second loan, with a smaller interest rate, to pay off the first loan.
"When the opportunity comes, when you have old bonds at a high-interest rate, you can refund those bonds and save a lot of money," Tait said Monday. "I think a lot of towns were doing it."
He said some of the bonds went back to 2004.
"It reduced our debt service budget," Tait said. "We are paying on a lower rate, so our debt service went down."
The town tries to keep its debt service at less than 10 percent of its annual budget.
Tait said the $1.4 million is spread over three years -- $350,000 will be saved in the 2009-10 budget, $542,000 in the 2010-11 budget, and $538,000 in the 2011-12 budget. The savings are all in interest.
The $350,000 in this year's budget will be put back into the town's fund balance, to be used to pay for budget shortfalls.
"It relieves a little bit of pressure because on the other side of the budget -- on the expenditure side -- because we are getting less money," he said. "Our state grants are decreasing because the state is going through a hard time as well."
State aid to Newtown for 2009-10 went down $250,510 -- most of it because the state made less money this year from gambling revenue at the casinos.
Town revenue is also down this year, because fewer people are getting building permits and the town clerk convenience tax is decreasing area-wide, both of which Tait said are related to the housing market.
"It does cover it -- the short fall in state grants," Tait said, but he said it is not time to celebrate yet. "The state may reduce (municipal funding) even further."
Now go to the Inflation Calculator from the BLS that the following link: Inflation Calculator from BLS <== click here
Key in the date your purchased your home and what you paid for your home.
Press the calculate button on the BLS calculator. Now see how well you have done.
Alternate method ... key in $1 in the year you purchased your home to see what inflation (a hidden tax) has done to you. Now key in the taxes your paid in the first year you owned your home and see what the taxes would be with inflation today. Now how do you feel? Which has gone up the most? See why you don't uncork the champagne. Has your investment in education (your kids and your neighbors) been worth it?
FOUR WAY TO SPEND MONEY ........ BY MILTON FREIDMAN
THERE ARE 350,0000 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT JOBS WITH SALARIES OVER $100,000 ... WITH A VERY VERY LOW TURN OVER RATE; WHICH MEANS THAT WE ARE PAYING TOO MUCH. WORST YET THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ADDING OVER 10,000 JOBS EACH MONTH TO THE GOVERNMENT.
The old reliable source for states and localities to borrow money for "making money" is the municipal bond market. But Old Reliable has fallen on hard times. For nearly two years — starting in early 2008 — the market has suffered "body blows," as J. Ben Watkins, puts it. Watkins, who heads up Florida's Division of Bond Finance and sits on the Government Finance Officers Association's debt committee, notes that, among the debacles were the collapse of the auction-rate securities market and of bond insurance companies. I talked to him recently about how states and localities were coping with the recent problems and what they were doing to get things back on track. Here are excerpts from that interview.
In the late winter of 2008, the auction-rate securities market collapsed. Issuers faced exorbitant penalty rates to keep their variable-rate bonds afloat. What steps are they taking to right things?
Many issuers had been living off the extraordinarily low, short-term interest rates of variable-rate bonds. These are bonds that have their interest rates reset at weekly auctions — so, you get lower rates but you take on the risk that those rates can go up. Now those issuers are on the flip side, experiencing a meltdown, and they've got to figure out how to fix it. Some have been able to refinance the debt with fixed-rate, long-term bonds, but not everyone has had access to the market. That's because the bond insurance companies that guaranteed their debt and conferred their triple-A rating on those credits, lost their triple-A rating — and you've got to have a triple-A rating to attract investors in variable-rate debt.
Two years ago, half of the bonds that came onto the market were insured by bond insurance companies. Now, with the big bond insurance companies of the business, less than 10 percent of the bonds coming to market are insured. How are issuers dealing with that?
Before the meltdown of the bond insurance companies, an A-rated bond could gain access to the market by wrapping the deal with the bond insurer's triple-A rating. That's no longer a viable option. In Florida, we handle all of the state's issuance — from government obligation (GO bonds) to lottery bonds to school bonds. The GOs, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the state, fly off the shelf. But it's more of a challenge for bonds rated below double-A. We just executed a revenue-bond deal for a parking garage for Florida International University — a credit backed by a mandatory student fee and not the full faith and credit pledge of the state. Normally, we would have sold this kind of bond with insurance. Now we can't. So where we used to sell everything on a competitive basis — we took bids and whoever provided the lowest interest rate won — we are using the negotiated sale, where we offer the bonds to a selected underwriter and negotiate the terms of the issue. When it's a credit that requires explanation, we'll more typically sell those on a negotiated basis. It's one of the ways we have adapted to the new world. It's also a fundamental shift in policy that's precipitated by the credit crisis.
In the 1990s there was a lot of controversy over "pay to play" for negotiated deals. Is that still a concern?
Rules were put in place to prevent "pay to play" and they have been effective. In general, though, there is more opportunity for other considerations to come into play when selling on a negotiated basis rather than on the lowest possible cost. But transparency is a great sanitizer. When you put all the detailed information out in the open, it has a salutary effect.
The Bond Buyer reported recently that November was the third strongest month of issuance in muni bond history and that 2009 is barreling towards a $400 billion year. What's the effect of that on you as an issuer?
I really expected credit to be tight this year but things have gotten progressively better. We're benefiting from the investors' flight to safety. A lot of money has been flowing into the muni space to be invested. So there's more liquidity and a lot more transactions are getting done. For a while during the year, it was mainly plain vanilla bonds, such as general obligation bonds, because the credit structure is so simple. It was a bifurcated market. Bonds down the credit spectrum, such as an A-rated housing or health care bond that's not as straightforward a credit as a GO, didn't have the same access to the market. Now the overall market is capitalizing on the flight to safety. Today we see a lot more transactions that are off the run — like housing or health care — getting done. And it's been a good market for issuers who had to fix problems with their auction-rate bonds. They can refinance them now at low fixed-rate rates.
What does the future look like?
We're going back to what the muni market was like 20 years ago — where we issue long-term, fixed-rate debt, where credit worthiness matters and so does financial management.
SUNSHINE CORNER
You'd have to be deaf and blind not to know that the unemployment rate slipped down to 10 percent in November. It's certainly no cure-all for what ails state and local revenues — or those without a job — but it's finally a move in the right direction. In addition to the downward trend in unemployment, there is, according to a Conference Board report, a positive move in employment. The Board's Employment Trends Index, which aggregates eight labor-market indicators, strengthened for the fourth consecutive month in November. "This month's large increase in the ETI suggests that job gains are imminent," said Gad Levanon, Associate Director for Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board. That said, he didn't see that happening until the second half of 2010. Where are some other bright spots? According to the Institute for Supply Management, a reading of 41.2 over time in the manufacturing ISM index typically indicates an expansion of the overall economy. In November, the level of that index was 53.6, which economists see as consistent with continued growth in manufacturing output.
The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey reports that U.S. employers expect to increase their hiring plans in the first quarter of 2010 — only a moderate increase but an increase nonetheless.
Consumer confidence, according to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index showed slight signs of life in November — it rose to 49.5 percent from 48.7 percent the previous month. But, given that over the last 30 years, the index has averaged about 95 percent, it's not that much to get excited about: Consumers are still looking quite depressed but at least the direction of the mood has improved.
Retail sales, that ever-important indicator that the sales tax could respond, sent some mixed messages — most of them discouraging. However, the Retail Metrics and Thomson Reuters measures of in-store retail sales edged up in November, although both of those results were below expectations. An International Council of Shopping Centers post-Thanksgiving shopping survey showed that 42.2 percent of shoppers reported having completed their holiday spending, far below the 48.3 percent at the same point last year. This suggests, ICSC analysts say, that December sales could get an extra lift from the slower completion rate.
Consumer confidence is more than twice as strong as it was a year ago, according to the most recent results of theRBC Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household Index. Driven by a strong upswing in expectations for the near-term economic future, the RBC Index for December 2009 stands at 39.0. A year ago, in December 2008, it stood at 15.3.
NEW FAIRFIELD -- The man credited with turning around the town's school system has announced he will be retiring.
After six years at the helm, Superintendent Joseph Castagnola told the Board of Education on Thursday that he will retire at the end of the school year.
"We've done a lot of good things and it's time for me to do something else," he said. "I feel that I still have something to offer, so we'll see what happens. I have no real plans at this point. I'm just keeping my options open."[HEY JOE, THE SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECT, IS IT O.K.?]
Before Castagnola's tenure, officials said there was a lot of turnover of both teachers and administrators in the district.
"He's been responsible for turning the ship around in terms of attitude," said education board chairman Kim Hanson. "Our retention rate has been remarkable since he's been on board. He's just a really nice guy who is a joy to work with."["I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern ship building has gone beyond that." -Captain Smith, Commander of Titanic]
Hanson added, "We have a climate where we actually encourage discovering problems so we can fix them. It may sound like a subtle change, but it's actually quite significant.[All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster. -BARACK OBAMA]
"Joe has brought stability to the district and shown real leadership. He'll be leaving some enormous shoes to be filled." [And I think there is too much bloviating around from politicians. -BARNEY FRANK]
"If we asked any questions he would always come back to us with an answer," said Chapman, who was recently elected to the Board of Selectmen. "It's nice to know that he follows up on our concerns."[ 'For Sale: Parachute. Only used once, never opened, small stain.' -Anon]
Castagnola said his door was always open to anyone, whether a parent with a concern or a teacher with an issue that needed to be addressed. He said he also tried to impress on others that "no one individual has the answers to everything."["A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking." -Arthur Block]
"I always stressed team-building," he said. "If there's an issue, let's bring it to the table and be honest about it. When you put a lot of heads together, you can usually come up with a pretty good solution."
Castagnola, who was named Connecticut Superintendent of the Year in 2004 -- about a month before he arrived in New Fairfield -- said he has volunteered to help the school board search for his replacement.
"The school system is in a good place right now," he said. "I've continually talked about the concept of getting from good to great. It's important to me that whoever takes over has a similar philosophy."
Castagnola said while he would help in the search, he stressed to board members that the decision will be theirs.
"At the end of the day, it has to be a good match," he said. [Like the evening news ... 'Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.' - Anon]
Hanson said when the Board of Education last negotiated Castagnola's contract, members realized he might soon want to retire and included a provision that he could stay on as interim superintendent for up to three months afterward.[Something like: 'Nouvelle Cuisine, roughly translated, means: I can't believe I paid ninety-six dollars and I'm still hungry.' -Mike Kalin]
"To ensure a smooth transition, we wanted to have that option," Hanson said.
House Advances Measure to Create Hundreds of New Low Power FM Radio Stations
The Local Community Radio Act of 2009 is on its way to a full House vote after sailing through the Energy and Commerce Committee with little opposition. The measure would repeal legislation which requires the FCC to protect full-power broadcasters from interference from Low Power FM stations being placed on third-adjacent channels. We speak to Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle, a co-sponsor of the bill; and Cory Fischer-Hoffman, campaign director of the Prometheus Radio Project. [includes rush transcript]
Guests:
Rep. Mike Doyle, Democratic Congress member from Pittsburgh. He is the lead co-sponsor of the Local Community Radio Act.
Cory Fischer-Hoffman, Campaign director of the Prometheus Radio Project.
RUSH TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution. Donate- $25, $50, $100, More...
AMY GOODMAN: We end today looking at a bill making its way through Congress that would allow for the creation of hundreds of new Low Power FM stations. The Local Community Radio Act of 2009 is on its way to a full House vote after sailing through the Energy and Commerce Committee with little opposition. The measure would repeal legislation which requires the FCC to protect full-power broadcasters from interference from Low Power FM stations being placed on third-adjacent channels.
Democratic Congress member Mike Doyle of Pittsburgh is co-sponsor of the bill. He joins us from Washington, DC. We’re also joined in the firehouse studio by Cory Fischer-Hoffman, campaign director of the Prometheus Radio Project.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Let’s begin with you, Cory. Explain the bill that just passed.
CORY FISCHER-HOFFMAN: So, the Local Community Radio Act would repeal unfair restrictions that were placed on the service back in 2000 because broadcasters were claiming that low power radio stations would cause interference on full-power stations. However, there has been conclusive evidence from a 2003 MITRE report study that shows that interference is not an issue. And so, these restrictions would be removed through the Local Community Radio Act, opening up the airwaves to hundreds, potentially thousands, of more community radio stations across the country.
AMY GOODMAN: Mike Doyle, talk about the significance of the passage from subcommittee through the full committee, now going to the House floor, and how you got involved with this as a congressman from Pittsburgh.
REP. MIKE DOYLE: Well, in my city of Pittsburgh, there are no chances for local community broadcasts like this. This is a unique opportunity to give a voice to people who don’t have a voice right now on the radio. There simply weren’t slots at third-adjacent in the city of Pittsburgh, so larger areas that have lots of big AM and FM full-power stations, it’s impossible for local community radio stations to have a slot on the dial because of this so-called interference issue, which the MITRE study proved to not be an issue at all.
It’s been a long process. We’ve been fought every step of the way by the big broadcasters, who didn’t want this bill to pass. But finally, I think the overwhelming evidence of the study and, on three separate occasions, unanimous votes by the FCC saying that Congress should move forward on this finally brought us to a point where we were able to get this bill up in subcommittee and full committee and pass it. And I’m excited to say that we hope to have this bill on the House floor by the end of the month. And it’s really important that people get in touch with their Congress people in their districts and make sure that they vote for this legislation.
AMY GOODMAN: Cory, talk about the whole movement for Low Power FM—who can apply, for example, for these licenses?—why people should call their Congress members now, why you feel this is important. Who gets these radio stations?
CORY FISCHER-HOFFMAN: Absolutely. Well, low power radio stations are licensed only to non-commercial community organizations, like churches, schools, nonprofit groups. So, just last week, the Prometheus Radio Project, the organization that I work with, got a call from an immigrant organization in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a community that’s absolutely infamous for its anti-immigrant ordnances. So community groups, as Representative Doyle said, that have been marginalized from controlling the media could have access to the airwaves for the first time.
And so, we see organizations like CHIRP, the Chicago Independent Radio Project, which has organized for local, vibrant media coverage in their own community, so that they can promote independent musicians, they can have local news and affairs. They are organizing to get one of these licenses.
There are already over 800 existing Low Power FM radio stations licensed to community organizations across the country, like the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Radio Conciencia in Southwest Florida, for example, is broadcasting information in Spanish, but also in Haitian Creole, in Kaqchikel, in Quiche, a number of indigenous languages, so that the communities there have access to information as they organize against sub-poverty wages in the fields of Immokalee, Florida.
AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Doyle, this bill is unusual in the level of bipartisan support it has. Why does it appeal to Congress members across the aisle?
REP. MIKE DOYLE: Well, I think it appeals to members of Congress—Republican, Democrat and liberal conservative; it is an odd group of bedfellows here—because it gives access to groups that have been marginalized on both sides. If you’re interested in civil rights, this is a great bill, because it gives voice to civil rights groups. Religious groups of all persuasions would have access to the airwaves. Local college campuses would have access to the airwaves—labor unions, community groups. It just spans the whole docket, Republican, Democrat, left to right, of groups out there in the local communities that didn’t have a voice previous to this. I think that’s its appeal. And that’s why we’re very optimistic that when we get it on the House floor, we can get it passed.
But I want to take this opportunity to let viewers know that they can go on the internet to www.freepress.net/lpfm and put their zip code in, and they’ll get information on who their member of Congress is. And we urge people to contact them, because this will come up on the House floor in the next couple of weeks, and we have to make sure we get a large vote for it in the House to give it momentum in the Senate.
AMY GOODMAN: And what is happening in the Senate right now, Congressman Doyle?
REP. MIKE DOYLE: Well, there’s a companion bill in the Senate. We’re very optimistic that if we can send this bill by the end of the month to the Senate with a big vote, that it’s going to give us the momentum we need to get the Senate to act. We have strong backers in the Senate. The time has come to give low power to the people, and this is our opportunity to do it. So while we have this momentum, we want to move forward and see if we can get this done by the end of the year.
AMY GOODMAN: Cory Fischer-Hoffman, you’ve dubbed this month “Actober”?
CORY FISCHER-HOFFMAN: Absolutely. We’re asking everyone, as Representative Doyle said, to contact their Congress people. You can go to Free Press’s website, an organization that has been key in this fight for low power radio, as well as the Future of Music Coalition, who’s been organizing with us. We’re asking people to contact their representatives and say, “Please support HR 1147. We want to have a local voice in our community. We want to be able to share local news and information.”
We know that this is essential not only to have local news and information, but also to broadcast perspectives that aren’t often heard on the mainstream media. For many of your viewers and listeners,Democracy Now! is broadcast on numerous Low Power FM radio stations. So it’s absolutely essential that people take action this month and push this legislation forward.
AMY GOODMAN: And who are the forces arrayed against you, against the media democracy movement?
CORY FISCHER-HOFFMAN: Well, in the past, the National Association of Broadcasters, representing some of the biggest industry side and corporate media, have been opposed to this legislation. And while they haven’t come out in support of it, we’ve seen a lot of the opposition neutralized, because the 2003 MITRE report shows conclusively that their technical concerns of interference are really not valid concerns. So, while we feel like their concerns were really around not wanting small local community groups to compete with these big stations, we feel like this legislation is wildly popular. It’s bipartisan. It’s moving forward with a broad base of support within the media justice movement, and we see its passage on the horizon.
AMY GOODMAN: And you predict, Mike Doyle, in Congress, these forces that have been traditionally arrayed against, coming out now as this bill goes to the floor and how you deal with the commercial broadcasters as media concentrates at the same time as it looks like you’re making a move towards decentralization?
REP. MIKE DOYLE: Well, we just want to—we want to err on the side of caution. It’s correct that the forces arrayed against this bill have been silent during the markups in subcommittee and full committee. They have not taken an active role in opposing the bill, even though they don’t support it. We’ve tried to work with groups like National Public Radio to make some changes in the bill to try to gain their support, and they’ve been appreciative of those changes. But we don’t want to take anything for granted. We don’t want a situation where that bill gets on the floor, and NAB, if they are working members and we’re not aware of it—I just think we’re trying to err on the side of caution.
We believe we have a broad coalition of members of Congress that want to support this bill and that we’re on our way to a big vote. There’s no outward indication of opposition from the traditional groups that have opposed it in the past, so that’s all good news. But we want to make sure, once that bill gets on the floor, that we don’t get caught napping. So we’re asking all our supporters to make sure they contact their members of Congress and make sure they support 1147 when it gets to the floor.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Low Power FM. I want to thank you both for being with us. Cory Fischer-Hoffman, campaign director of the Prometheus Radio Project, which is based in Philadelphia, and Congress member Mike Doyle, Democratic Congress member from Pittsburgh, the lead co-sponsor of the Local Community Radio Act, thanks for joining us from DC.
