Government Briefs 05.01.14

Suffolk County

Schneiderman to Address League

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman will be the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons on Sunday. Mr. Schneiderman, who is in his sixth and final term in the Legislature, will discuss East End issues and trends over brunch at the Southampton Cultural Center on Pond Lane.

The event, which is open to the public, will start at 10:30 a.m. and include a brief business meeting at which league members will adopt the 2014-15 budget, elect officers and directors, and adopt a local program. Emma Newburger, an East Hampton High School senior, will receive the league’s $1,000 Betty Desch Student Leadership Award scholarship.

Federal

Gillibrand in Time’s Top 100

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, joining such figures as Robert Redford, Pope Francis, Jeff Bezos, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, and Edward Snowden, to name just a few on this year’s list.

A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ms. Gillibrand has fought to reform the military’s handling of sexual assault cases and championed legislation to remove such cases from the military chain of command. She is also pushing to expand paid family medical leave, make child care more affordable, allow graduates to refinance federal student loans, and combat sexual assault on college campuses, according to a release from her office this week.

“Don’t ever underestimate her,” Alfonse D’Amato, a former Republican senator for whom she interned, wrote in a brief tribute for the magazine. “If Kirsten Gillibrand wants to be a rock star, she’ll be a rock star. But she’d make a great president. When she draws a line in the sand, everyone knows not to cross it.”

Sandy Claim Deadline Extended

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has extended the deadline for homeowners to file flood insurance claims related to Superstorm Sandy until Oct. 29. Under a previous extension, the deadline for claims had been yesterday.

In a release issued yesterday, Representative Tim Bishop, who supported the move, said, “This extension will allow Long Islanders additional time to fully and accurately document losses and account for additional expenses that were discovered after the rebuilding began.”

The National Flood Insurance Program requires that homeowners making claims submit detailed documentation supporting those claims, including such things as invoices and canceled checks.

Support for New Farmers

An informational “webinar” on the federal Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, administered through the Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will be held on Tuesday. The program offers assistance to collaborative state, local, tribal, or regional networks or partnerships, such as cooperative extensions. It aims to “enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers” through money to train and educate farmers who have been in the business for 10 years or less, according to a release from Mr. Bishop’s office.

According to his office, “priority will be given to projects led by or including non-governmental community-based or school-based agricultural educational organizations.” Tuesday’s webinar will focus on funding available for “socially disadvantaged and military veteran farmers.”

More information about the program can be found at nifa.usda.gov/fo/beginningfarmersandranchers.cfm. Applications are due June 12.