Archive for May, 2011
Today in Congress
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011Recapping yesterday’s action:
No action at all yesterday. Both houses were out of session for Memorial Day.
Looking ahead to today:
Six bills are scheduled for floor action today, all under suspension of the rules, which means there’s a maximum of 40 minutes of debate, no amendments are permitted, and a 2/3 vote is required to pass. Normally, suspension of the rules is reserved as an expedited procedure used for bills that are non-controversial and have broad, bipartisan support. The other use for suspension of the rules is to dispense with bills you’ve decided for some reason you’d like to hold a vote on, but would also like to ensure will lose. And that’s what’s happening with the first of the bills being considered today: the “clean” debt ceiling increase.
A “clean” bill is one with no special conditions or riders pertaining to other subjects attached to it. So the “clean” debt ceiling increase bill would simply raise the debt limit, period. None of the concessions Republicans have demanded in exchange for their votes, like cuts to Medicare or Medicaid, the elimination of entire federal government departments, etc. And that’s why the bill isn’t expected to get enough Republican votes to pass the 2/3 threshold.
And when it doesn’t, count on Republicans to point to the failed vote and say that it means there’s no appetite in Congress for raising the debt limit without major cuts as a concession. Nevermind the artificially-imposed barrier to passage.
The other five suspensions, listed below the fold, are mostly of the first kind. That is, non-controversial bills with broad support. So aside from the first bill, which is designed to fail, the rest of the short work day should be relatively unremarkable.
Today’s floor and committee schedules appear below the fold.
Spring Fling 2011
Monday, May 30th, 2011
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Annual activity fair comes to Delaware Tuesday and Downtown on Wednesday. Games, giveaways and useful information!
Get ready for warm weather with Spring Fling!! Spring Fling will be held at the Delaware Campus on Tuesday, May 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and on the Downtown Campus on Wednesday, May 18 in the main courtyard, during the same hours. Spring Fling features contests, games, balloon art, caricature artists, vendors, and a delicious cookout by the Hospitality Management students. Student organizations and college departments will provide information and giveaways. Spin the Cougar Wheel for and you might win a pair of concert tickets to one of 12 concerts at the LC and Newport Music Hall! All money raised goes to Operation Feed. We have some big names this year, including Willie Nelson, Black Joe Lewis, Ted Nugent, Death Cab for Cutie and Alice Cooper. |
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Senior’s Winning Poster on Display
Monday, May 30th, 2011
Singing on the Great Day by Matthew Houston
An Illustration senior’s first-place entry in a recent poster contest is on display through Sunday, May 29 in a central Ohio gallery.
The digital print Singing on the Great Day by Matthew Houston can be seen at Hammond Harkins Galleries. Next, Houston’s poster will move to a permanent display at the State Library of Ohio.
Houston submitted the top entry in the recent Forever Free Emancipation Poster contest held in conjunction with an Abraham Lincoln exhibition at the state library. CCAD students were invited to submit posters that would visually communicate emancipation to a slave in 1863 unable to read.
The state library also will permanently display the second- and third-place contest posters by Fine Arts graduate Jerrica Fields (CCAD, 2011) and Joshua Kingsbury, a sophomore studying Animation.
Read the full press release announcing the students’ winning designs.
Columbus College of Art & Design Blog
Sharita Charlton- LogisticsART Graduate
Sunday, May 29th, 2011
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Dance on Camera Tours to Jacob Burns Center Pleasantville, NY
Sunday, May 29th, 2011
Jacob Burns Center in Pleasantville, New York makes its annual tribute to dance, with films that run the gamut from classical ballet to the avant-garde, the studio to the streets, emerging talent to international legends. Anne Bass’s documentary “Dancing Across Borders” opens their season on May 7th, followed by screenings on the 9th and 12th.
“Dancing Across Borders,” “Breath Made Visible,” and “Urban Ballet” are selections from the 38th annual Dance on Camera Festival, co-produced by Dance Films Association and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Also to be presented will be “Only When I Dance,” “Craneway Event” and the heartening “NY Export: Opus Jazz,” initiated by NYC Ballet dancers Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi.
“Only When I Dance,” a 2009, UK/Portuguese production directed by Beadie Finzi, follows two teenagers who desperately want to dance their way out of Brazil and into a North American ballet company. This documentary sensitively conveys the young people’s hopes and dreams, and the extraordinary natural gifts and willpower it takes to make them come true. May 8 at 9:15; May 11 at 7:30; May 13 at 5:15
Sunday, May 9 at 12:15pm will be the screening of “Craneway Event” completed in 2009 by British artist Tacita Dean. Dean uses 16mm color film to capture a rehearsal of Merce Cunningham Company in an abandoned Ford Motor Company plant. “Layering Cunningham’s interactions with the dancers, the dancers’ movements, activities on the dock outside the window, and the changing patterns of light in the enormous space, Dean has created a document of random movement and chance encounters that evoke the legendary choreographer’s own sensibility.”
Carolyn Brown, original member of the Cunningham company, will introduce the screening and afterward sign copies of her 2007 memoir “Chance and Circumstance: Twenty Years with Cage and Cunningham.”
“NY Export: Opus Jazz” will be shown May 10, 7:15. Directed by Henry Joost/Jody Lee Lipes, broadcast on PBS in 2010, this screen adaptation is a stunning achievement!
DFA’s Dance on Camera touring program has acquired 112 partners over the last 12 years. This has been made possible in part with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the members of DFA, and the Susan Braun Trust. Becky Kendall from Momentum Dance Company reported on her first showing this April of Dance on Camera in Anchorage, Alaska, “The film night was extremely successful and our venues organization would love to make it an annual event! We really loved the films and the whole process was just wonderful.”
In 2010, DFA has already toured to 15 venues. Somi Roy will include DFA’s Festival in his Re:Play Festival in Manipur, India June 9-13, 2010.
On June 12th, DFA will have a screening and live performance event featuring the World Class Dancers at Alvin Ailey Center in New York as part of National Dance Week NY.
To see full schedule, see Touring Page.
Enjoy the May flowers. Keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Deirdre Towers
Artistic Director
Dance Films Association
Department of Art at The Ohio State University
One Way In: The Advantages of Introducing System- Wide Coordinated Entry for Homeless Families
Sunday, May 29th, 2011By centralizing intake and program admissions decisions, a coordinated entry process makes it more likely that families will be served by the right intervention more quickly. This brief will go over coordinated entry principles and models.
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Ohio Senators Prepare Changes To State Budget Plan
Saturday, May 28th, 2011Ohio senators are closely scrutinizing the accountability of charter schools, changes to public employee pensions and plans to privatize certain state assets as they prepare to put their mark on the .6 billion state budget.
www2.nbc4i.com – Govt_politics
Cuts to block grants threaten services across metro Detroit (Free Press, May 23, 2011)
Saturday, May 28th, 2011Metro Detroit communities suffering from dwindling tax collections, shrunken rainy-day funds and reduced state revenue sharing face more salt in their wounded coffers with federal Community Development Block Grants down 16% from last year.
The grants have paid for home rehabilitation for low- to moderate-income families, grass mowing and snowplowing at senior citizens’ homes, and road, sidewalk and façade improvements since 1974.
In Livonia, grants help pay for a free service that shuttles about 400 residents 60 and older to and from the senior center, stores and doctor appointments.
Michigan’s share of CDBG funds is 8 million, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“This is less than 1977,” Gordon Lambert, chief of operations of Oakland County Community and Home Improvement Division, said of the estimated .5 million the county is to receive, down 9,042.
The money totaled .3 million in 1977.
“It’s going to have a significant impact in what we do,” he said. “These funds are specifically earmarked for low- to moderate-income people. (They) are gonna get less. There is no other way around it.”
Sustaining services a priority in face of cuts to federal grants
Federal grant money helps Care House in Mt. Clemens pay for two people who interview children about suspected sexual or physical abuse or violence they have witnessed.
The ,000-,000 has come from Community Development Block Grants for nearly a decade, helping to offset the cost as donations dwindle, Executive Director Dorie Vazquez-Nolan said.
She is among those who may have to make cuts as communities revamp CDBG plans based on an estimated 16% funding cut in the 2011 federal budget.
Funds are allocated to 1,209 units of government nationally, which use the money to provide housing and expand economic opportunities, mainly for low- and moderate-income people. Communities also can pass some of the funds to organizations.
Services are the last place Vazquez-Nolan planned to cut if the nonprofit received fewer CDBG dollars. Instead, she said she’d look at private grants.
“I have taken a pay cut by working four days a week for several months,” she said. “We went from trash collection every week to every two, switched Internet and telephone companies, and are shopping for better rates on our liability. We’re looking to cut or change or reduce there before cutting service to families.”
According to a recent survey by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, metro Detroit communities are to receive about .4 million of the .3 billion in CDBG funds. The total is .9 million less than last year.
“There were proposals to cut it by 60%. Sixteen percent is still a significant cut,” said Naheed Huq, SEMCOG’s manager of community and economic development.
The total state allocation is 8 million.
Money is allocated to small or affluent communities such as Bloomfield Hills, which planned ,000 for housing rehabilitation, and to large or poor cities such as Detroit, which is estimated to receive .5 million — .6 million less than last year. Detroit recently came under fire for misusing federal block grants, such as spending more than 0,000 on furniture, but it is unclear how much CDBG money was misused.
Even the State of Michigan’s CDBG allocation is dropping .3 million to .6 million, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates.
Livonia is expected to receive 9,245 in CDBG funds — ,966 less than last year. The city planned for about a ,000 cut.
Livonia uses the money for no- or low-interest loans for housing rehabilitation for low- to moderate-income families.
With fewer dollars, communities may not be able to help as many families.
“Not to be able to loan another five or six families, in this current fiscal year, is quite disheartening,” said Jim Inglis, executive director of the Livonia Housing Commission.
The cuts come at a time when communities have dwindling revenues and can’t dip into general or rainy-day funds.
Federal rules prohibit communities from using the CDBG funds to plug their budgets.
“We have a waiting list on the minor home repair. Now, this reduced funding will make the list grow,” said Rochester Hills Finance Director Keith Sawdon, who said the city planned for about a ,000 cut from its approximately 6,000 allocation last year.
Twenty-one names are on the waiting list. If funding drops by 16%, Sawdon estimates names on the list would grow by four.
In Southfield, officials planned for 0,170 in CDBG funds, said Fred Zorn, deputy city administrator. HUD says the city is estimated to receive 6,018.
Some funding may be cut entirely, such as ,000 for HAVEN, which provides domestic violence counseling, ,000 for the Accounting Aid Society, and ,000 for Common Ground, a crisis services agency.
Southfield’s Chore program, which helps about 230 senior citizens a year, is not expecting its CDBG funds to be cut.
That’s good news for Virginia Taby, 91, who said she has benefited from the program for about five years. Earlier this month, a crew cleared a clogged sewer drain at her home of nearly 60 years.
“It really helps,” the retired cafeteria worker said of the program, which costs little to nothing for her and others on fixed incomes.
Farmington Hills estimated a 20% cut, with 5,000 planned for housing rehabilitation, said Charmaine Kettler-Schmult, community development coordinator. Last year, the city helped 30 families, Kettler-Schmult said.
Marina Neumaier, Novi’s assistant director of finance, said the city helped 18-20 households last year. Cuts to its planned 4,142 in CDBG funds mean it would not be able to provide as many health and safety improvements to the homes of people who otherwise can’t afford them.
“That program has been of such value within our community,” she said, recalling when the city helped an elderly woman with a new furnace when her old one leaked carbon monoxide.
Canton planned for a 10% cut from its 9,836 total in 2010, but it may not be enough, accounting manager Carolyn Cox said. HUD estimates show the township is to receive 2,164.
About 0,000-0,000 is dedicated to housing rehabilitation, helping seven to 10 families annually. With the cuts, she said, either fewer people will be helped or there will be less money for each home.
“There are just so many more people in need, and we’re getting less money and we have more to do,” she said.
Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties also are to receive fewer funds, but officials said they plan to just give each community or program less money.
“We’re gonna try to bring more partners to the table and pull off economic development projects,” Pat Dostine, spokesman for Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, said of the county’s anticipated -million cut in CDBG funds.
Mike Rozny, manager of community development for Macomb County, said he told communities to base their allocations on 2009 figures, which were lower than 2010.
“We’ve been doing a number of things to try and stretch these dollars, but there’s a point at which you can’t do much more,” he said.
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Picture yourself at the Taft for historic photo exhibition TruthBeauty, opening May 22
Friday, May 27th, 2011
Picture yourself at the Taft for historic photo exhibition
TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, traces the rise of photography to a respected fine art form
To download images from this exhibition, please visit http://www.taftmuseum.org/pages/tb_img.php.
TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945
May 22-August 8, 2010
Explore the evolution of photography from a tool of documentation to a respected fine art form through the works in the exhibition TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, which opens at the Taft Museum of Art on Saturday, May 22.
The photographs of the pictorialist movement are among the most spectacular works in the medium’s history. The works in TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, rival paintings with expertly crafted, one-of-a-kind images. Included are works from the George Eastman House by Julia Margaret Cameron, Frederick Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, Clarence White and Edward Steichen and early works by Edward Weston and Ansel Adams.
“Today we have no problem recognizing photography as an art form,” says Lynne Ambrosini, the chief curator at the Taft. “But in its early days in the mid-19th century, before photography found acceptance, most photographers tried to make photos that looked like paintings, with romantic subjects staged in softly atmospheric settings, full of poetry or mystery.”
When photography was invented in the early part of the 19th century, most people considered it a faddish mechanical trick, far from fine art. Some early photographers, however, sought to elevate the medium to the status of painting by emulating the compositions, symbols, visual effects and moods of painting. Photographers also used pre- and post-exposure techniques such as soft focus, darkroom manipulation and even scratching the photograph or negative with fine needles.
During the opening weekend of TruthBeauty, the Taft will celebrate International Museum Day. Admission to the Museum will be free on Saturday, May 22, the first day this exhibition is open to the public. The Museum will offer tours of the special exhibition at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. and a tour of the permanent collection with Director/CEO Deborah Emont Scott at 2:30 p.m. Memberships to the Taft will be available for a “pay what you can” rate on that day (new members only). Since Sunday is the Taft’s free day, admission to the opening weekend of TruthBeauty will be free to the public.
Tracing this influential vein of photography, TruthBeauty includes vintage masterpieces from well-known photographers including Alvin Langdn Coburn, F. Holland Day, Robert Demachy, Gertrude Käsebier and Heinrich Kühn. Also featured are surprising early works by Imogene Cunningham, Adams, and Weston, who are widely known as modernists but began as pictorialists.
“Once modernism came to the fore in the 20th century, the old pictorialist photographs met with scorn. In recent decades, however,” Ambrosini says, “they have been rediscovered with delight, and yes, they are most certainly Art with a capital A.”
TruthBeauty features 116 photographs, which range from late-19th-century portraits and landscapes to later modernist architectural studies and still lifes. This exhibition explores a number of themes, including a look at precursors of pictorialism, photographic journals, women in pictorialism and print processes.
This is a smaller version of the exhibition by the same name produced by the Vancouver Art Gallery. Both versions were curated by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, from which the works in the exhibition were selected.
Free Sundays are made possible through a grant from The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation so everyone can explore the historic collection, see traveling exhibitions and enjoy this Tristate landmark at no cost.
Programs and Events
Tour: Lytle Park in Black and White with Melvin Grier and Cate O’Hara
Friday, June 4, 1-3 p.m.
Put on your walking shoes and strap on your camera for a look at cityscapes old and new. Associate Curator of Public Programs Cate O’Hara and photojournalist Melvin Grier will lead a short exploration of the city views in the exhibition TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, followed by a tour of the buildings that make up the Lytle Park neighborhood, from the 1820 Baum-Taft House to the unfinished Great American Tower. Participants should bring a camera to capture the architectural details and juxtapositions that make the neighborhood vibrant. Shutterbugs can share their photographs online to compare how cropping, light, shadow, color and camera angle can alter a view.
Cost for this program is for members, for nonmembers (includes Museum admission). Advance paid registration is required. Call (513) 684-4515 or register online at www.taftmuseum.org.
Gallery Talks: TruthBeauty
Take an insider’s look at the special exhibition TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, and the permanent collections of the Taft. These programs take place in the galleries in front of the works of art and require walking and standing for approximately one hour.
With Lynne Ambrosini, chief curator
Saturday, June 5, 1:30 p.m.
Friday, June 11, 1:30 p.m.
With Jymi Bolden, photographer
Thursday, July 1, 1:30 p.m.
With Tamera Muente, curatorial assistant and exhibitions coordinator
Saturday, July 17, 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 5, 1:30 p.m.
Cost for these programs is FREE with Museum admission. Reservations are required. Call (513) 684-4515 or register online at www.taftmuseum.org.
Families Create!: Photo Fun in the Sun
Saturday, June 12, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Visit the exhibition TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, and use the sun’s light to create unique photographs. Explore the world of art through gallery visits and activities designed for children ages 5-12 with an adult to learn, create, interact, and have fun together.
Cost for each program is for members and Cincinnati Arts Association members, for nonmembers (includes Museum admission). Reservations are required. Call (513) 684-4524 or order online at www.taftmuseum.org.
Sponsor: Charles H. Dater Foundation; Weston Art Gallery Families Create! Sponsor: Whitney and Phillip Long; Fine Arts Fund Partner: Duke Energy Corp.
Shutterbugs in Cinema: Motion Pictures and Still Photographers
Inspired by the exhibition TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, enjoy three classic films in different genres. Each explores how life and art intersect through the lens of the still photographer as leading man. Cincinnati Public Radio film critic Larry Thomas will introduce each movie and lead a discussion afterward. The exhibition will be open until each film begins at 6 p.m. Optional box dinner is available with advance purchase.
June 24, 6 p.m.-Rear Window, 1954
July 8, 6 p.m.-Funny Face, 1957
July 22, 6 p.m.-The Bridges of Madison County, 1995
These movies are free, with an optional box dinner available for , with advance purchase required. Reservations are recommended. Call (513) 684-4515 or order online at www.taftmuseum.org.
Teen Studio Workshop: Digital Photography
Saturday, June 26, 1-3 p.m.
Learn ways to enhance your photographs and find out about editing software. Participants will visit the special exhibition TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, and take photographs using elements of composition and other techniques seen in the exhibition. Following a critique session, participants will learn how the editing software Picasa can improve their final images.
Cost for this program is for members, for nonmembers. Reservations are required. Call (513) 684-4524 or order online at www.taftmuseum.org.
Fine Arts Fund Partner: The Cincinnati Insurance Company
Adult Studio Workshop: Digital Photography
Sunday, July 11, 1-3 p.m.
Bring a fully charged digital camera, a blank memory card, a card reader and your imagination! Instructor Lisa Britton is a professional photographer who teaches at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
Cost for this program is for members, for nonmembers. Reservations are required. Call (513) 684-4524 or order online at www.taftmuseum.org.
Fine Arts Fund Partner: The Cincinnati Insurance Company
Lecture: Seeing but Not Believing: The Creative Artist and Photography by Dennis Kiel
Thursday, July 15, 7 p.m.
Dennis Kiel looks at a select group of pictorialist photographers and their attempt to establish photography as art, or, to quote Alfred Stieglitz, the father of American photography, “to compel its recognition . . . as a distinct medium of individual expression.” Kiel is chief curator at the Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography and Film in Charlotte, NC, and formerly associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibition TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, will remain open until the lecture begins.
Cost for this program is FREE for members and students, for the public (includes exhibition admission). Reservations are recommended. Call (513) 684-4515 or order online at www.taftmuseum.org.
Sponsor: Stanley and Frances D. Cohen Lecture Series
Picture It: A Festival of Photography
Sunday, August 8, 12-4 p.m.
Experience the world of photography-from historic daguerreotypes to digital media-when the Taft Museum of Art transforms its garden and galleries for a celebration of photography. Look for demonstrations, photo-op scavenger hunt, hands-on activities, tours of TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945, vendors, food and performances.
This program is FREE. No reservations are taken. For information, call (513) 684-4515.
Sponsor: Charles H. Dater Foundation; Fine Arts Fund Partner: Enquirer Media. Organized in cooperation with Stout & Gallant Associates, Inc.
For reservations and more information visit www.taftmuseum.org.
FACT SHEET
TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945
May 22-August 8, 2010
Organized by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film
Number of Works 130
Media 116 photographs, 14 publications
Major Artists Julia Margaret Cameron, F. Holland Day, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Gertrude Käsebier, Clarence White, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, Ansel Adams
Subjects Still lifes, portraits, figures, images of women, landscapes, cityscapes
Some Major Themes Precursors of Pictorialism
Rise of Pictorialism
Photographic Journals
Women in Pictorialism
Print Processes
Connections to the Taft The Pictorialists sought to elevate photography to the same status as painting, drawing and watercolor. They emulated popular styles of painting through the use of a variety of photographic techniques, including soft focus, dramatic light effects and bold technical experimentation. Many of the photographs resemble the styles of 19th-century landscapes and portraits in the Taft collection. The time period of the exhibition generally mirrors the range of 19th-century works in the Taft collection.
Exhibition Venues Vancouver Art Gallery, February 2-April 27 2008 (modified version)
George Eastman House, February 2-June 20, 2009 (modified version)
McNay Art Museum, February 3-May 2, 2010
The Taft Museum of Art, May 21-August 8, 2010
The Phillips Collection, October 9, 2010-January 9, 2011
The Taft Museum of Art is at 316 Pike St., in downtown Cincinnati. The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is for adults, for students and seniors and free for children under 18. Call 513-241-0343 or visit the website at www.taftmuseum.org for additional information.
The Taft Museum of Art is supported in part by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to the Fine Arts Fund. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
The Taft Museum of Art is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is affiliated with the Association of Midwest Museums and the Ohio Museums Association.
Mission Statement
The Taft Museum of Art welcomes people of every background to experience world-renowned collections in a beautiful historic house. Through its innovative exhibitions, programs, and activities, the Museum creates opportunities for enjoyment and discovery.
Diversity Statement
The Taft Museum of Art respects the dignity of all people and values what each member of our team brings to the organization. Accordingly, the Museum is committed to building an inclusive environment that welcomes and values diversity. This includes our staff, board of directors, volunteers and visitors. As an organization we recognize the importance of attracting and retaining talented people of different backgrounds. We understand how a diverse work team of staff, board of directors and volunteers benefits our organization by enabling us to draw upon a richness of resources. We want all our team members to feel appreciated for their uniqueness, so we work to foster an environment that provides everyone equal access to information and opportunities. This ensures that each person learns, grows, excels and maximizes his or her personal contributions. The Museum will thus be able to tap into a greater wealth of knowledge, perspectives, and experiences to develop and deliver programs and services to an increasingly diverse audience.
Contact: Tricia Suit
Marketing and Communications Manager
(513) 684-4526, tsuit@taftmuseum.org
Department of Art at The Ohio State University
Blumenthal’s first bill deals with veterans benefits (Connecticut Post, May 25, 2011)
Friday, May 27th, 2011WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whose election campaign last year emphasized the needs of veterans, introduced legislation on Wednesday that would expand education and employment opportunities for vets.
The bill, which he titled the “Honoring All Veterans Act of 2011,” was the first legislative initiative by the freshman, though he has co-sponsored proposals introduced by other senators.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Blumenthal cited a study by the Department of Veterans Affairs that found more than 76,000 veterans are homeless on any given night and nearly twice that number will be homeless at some point during the year.
“The unemployment rate among veterans has doubled in the past three years, Blumenthal said. “Twenty-seven percent of veterans in their early twenties are unemployed. This number is almost twice the unemployment rate of their peers who have not served in the military.”
An enlisted Marine during the Vietnam era, Blumenthal’s campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2010 almost foundered over disclosures he had occasionally claimed to have actually served in Vietnam. He had to apologize for his misstatements, which dogged him on the campaign trail. Blumenthal’s son, Matthew, is serving in Afghanistan as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
Blumenthal said his bill would:
- Provide funds for campus programs aimed at helping veterans;
- Help employers hire veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder;
- Help military families on the verge of losing their homes by permanently extending their foreclosure protection;
- Require the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve coordination in the transition from active duty status to veteran status.
National Alliance to End Homelessness