ASC's Intersections Newsletter — August 29th, 2024
Nora’s Note
Making strides toward equality. This week, the world celebrated Women's Equality Day, commemorating the 1920 adoption of the 19th Amendment. Women now own over 42% of businesses in the US, contributing $579.6 billion in revenue to the economy and creating more than 1.4 million jobs between 2019 and 2023. Yet challenges remain, particularly for women of color in the US, including a persistent gender pay gap, barriers to access to capital and low representation in leadership roles. As a women-owned and founded business for more than 30 years, ASC is proud to have developed strong working partnerships with women- and minority-owned businesses across the industry, ensuring progress continues to be made for equality, together.
Transportation
Over 400,000 students in L.A. have enrolled in Metro’s unlimited free ride program. Initially created in 2021 as a pilot program, LA Metro Board of Directors officially made GoPass permanent in April 2024 and eligible to over 1,600 participating K-12 schools and community colleges across the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. Metro leadership hopes the program will help students recognize the benefits of public transportation by using Metro GoPass. Read more about LA Metro’s hopes for the future of the program. (Source: The Los Angeles Times)
Route Fifty: Cars that talk: Feds announce plan to accelerate connected vehicle deployment
AmNY: Applications open for NYC off-hour delivery incentive program
GovTech: EV Incentives Can Address Equity and Polluting Vehicles
Climate
Composters add pickup services for hard-to-recycle items, addressing gap. The importance of recycling hard-to-recycle materials is highlighted by various organic haulers working hard to reduce landfill waste. Recycling services reject many items that should not be disposed of normally, resulting in organic haulers collecting plastic, toothpaste tubes, batteries, and more. These services make it convenient for people to be able to recycle correctly and increase sustainability efforts. Read more about how third-party recyclers are raising efforts to collect hard-to-recycle materials. (Source: Smart Cities Dive)
Associated Press: Federal government grants first floating offshore wind power research lease to Maine
Sahan Journal: Immigrant farmers, solar company pioneer new methods at Big Lake farm
Utility Dive: EIA expects 62.8 GW to come online in 2024, led by solar, energy storage
Economic Development
Food prices are high. To help, states are cutting the grocery tax. A bipartisan group of US states are considering eliminating state taxes on groceries. Illinois’s and Oklahoma’s taxes are coming off the books in the near future, and other states have referendums on the ballot or legislative agendas that include ending state taxes on groceries. Legislators hope to ease economic pressure on families whose grocery bills are their third largest household expense, on average. Read more to learn about how inflation is affecting economic growth across the US. (Source: Route Fifty)
Utility Dive: IRA’s labor standard requirements could create 3.9M ‘high-quality’ jobs
Gothamist: NJ Gov. Murphy to forgive $100M in medical debt for almost 50K residents
The Conversation: Biden administration’s negotiated price cuts for 10 common prescription drugs likely to save Medicare billions, beginning in 2026
Digital
AI-powered search drives intelligent Texas child support tool. The Texas Office of the Attorney General improved child support casework by creating an AI-powered knowledge base, reducing legal research time. At TASSCC 2024, the Chief Intelligence Officer and Chief Data Officer showcased a search engine built on Microsoft Azure that enhances accuracy and saves valuable time, potentially thousands of hours. Read more about how AI-powered search tools and a centralized knowledge base improved child support casework efficiency. (Source: GovTech)
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