Bipartisan agreement on need for water upgrade, but not on cost
WASHINGTON – When lawmakers begin in earnest to consider President Joe Biden’s expansive $2 trillion infrastructure plan, one area of bipartisan agreement may be its call for upgrading drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
The biggest question, however, is whether the ambitious $111 billion Biden calls for is too high a price tag for Republicans.
Republican lawmakers were publicly quiet Wednesday about the water section of the proposal, reserving their criticism for the overall package and tax hikes. But privately, they expressed pessimism that the ambitious water investment would pass muster in an already mammoth proposal.
Biden’s plan proposes a $111 billion investment in improving drinking water infrastructure and replacing lead service lines over eight years, including $45 billion in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and in Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act grants.
The $45 billion would help eliminate lead pipes and service lines serving what the administration estimates is between 6 million and 10 million homes, as well 400,000 schools and childcare facilities.
Biden also proposed upgrading drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems by increasing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to $56 billion.
Finally, the Biden plan includes $10 billion in funding to monitor and remediate PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in drinking water, as well as to improve small rural water systems and household wells and wastewater systems.
—CQ-Roll Call
51 dead after train derails in eastern Taiwan
At least 51 people were killed when a train collided with a truck and derailed in eastern Taiwan on Friday, officials said, noting that the death toll may rise as recovery efforts continue.
The Taiwan Railways Administration said late Friday that the derailment in Hualien County involved a maintenance truck sliding from a slope near a construction site above the railway.
The head of an eight-carriage train with 492 passengers and four crew members travelling from Taipei to eastern Taitung County hit the vehicle shortly before entering a tunnel, officials said.
TRA officials told a news conference that it was suspected that the parking brake was not holding the vehicle and that they were working to gather more concrete details of the crash.
The derailment occurred on the first day of a four-day break for Taiwan's annual tomb-sweeping tradition. In early April, many Taiwanese people return to their hometowns to pay tribute to their ancestors and clean up family tombs.
The train driver and his assistant were both killed. The 51 victims included one French national, officials said.
The accident also left at least 146 people injured.
Taiwan's Premier Su Tseng-chang sent his condolences to the families of victims. "I want to express my deep sympathies to the victims' families and to the passengers who were injured," Su told a news conference in Taipei.
—dpa
University of Michigan Board of Regents pass censure, call for resignation of peer
DETROIT – The University of Michigan Board of Regents passed a resolution on Friday to censure and ask for the resignation of fellow regent and Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser after controversial comments made at a Republican Party event.
After the introduction of a resolution by Board Chair Denise Ilitch condemning Weiser's comments and calling for his resignation, Weiser accepted responsibility but refused to step down.
"I regret my poorly chosen words that were offhand remarks made at a private Republican Party meeting," said Weiser, the lone Republican on the board. "I pledge to be part of a respectful dialogue going forward and challenge my colleagues and others to do the same. I will not be canceled."
Calls for Weiser's resignation came after he referred to the state's top three leaders as "witches" during a meeting of the North Oakland Republican Club on March 25. Weiser said the GOP needs to make sure Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are "ready for the burning at the stake."
As the university regents are elected through partisan, statewide races, the university cannot fire an elected official. Further complicating matters, the board lacks a process for ousting a fellow member, leaving impeachment or gubernatorial action as the only options under state law.
The comments, made just months after federal authorities thwarted an alleged plan to kidnap the governor and an insurrection at U.S. Capitol, have come under fire for further encouraging those who wish to demonize political leaders — potentially leading to acts with intended violence.
Also during the meeting, Weiser was taken off of the board's finance committee and the university's Dearborn and Flint campuses committee.
While the special meeting to censure the mega-donor was unprecedented, regent Mark Bernstein said it's unavoidable and the only thing worse would be to not call for his resignation.
—Detroit Free Press
NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang hospitalized with kidney stone
NEW YORK – Democratic mayoral contender Andrew Yang was hospitalized Friday morning after being diagnosed with what “appears to be a kidney stone,” his campaign said in a statement.
Yang, the frontrunner in the mayor’s race who ran for president last year, received the diagnosis after going to the emergency room with abdominal pain, his campaign said.
His wife, Evelyn tweeted an update: “In the hospital with Andrew where we had our babies. Andrew is doing well on meds, with the best care team ever. We are joking about how this kidney stone is our third baby. Apparently it’s the closest men can get to labor . Thank you all for your well wishes.”
His campaign did not disclose where Yang is being treated and said in a written statement that his public events for Friday, which included attending a Broadway show with his wife, Evelyn, had been canceled.
Campaign co-manager Chris Coffey said Friday morning that Yang is “undergoing tests now” and that he experienced “severe pain this morning.”
“We’ll update more when we know more,” he said in a text.
Yang had planned to hold a press conference at noon Friday touting the reopening of Broadway theaters with an announcement that he and his wife planned to take in a concert from Lillias White at Green Room 42. In recent weeks, he’s made a habit of cheerleading various reopening dates, such as the return of movie theaters and baseball’s opening day Thursday.
—New York Daily News
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