The preservation of federal priorities connecticut and the cdbg small cities program
This article examines the impact of state assumption of federal grant programs on the state of Connecticut. The administrative process created by Connecticut to implement the Small Cities CDBG program is examined and followed by a comparison of programmatic activities before and after state assumption. Unlike many other states, Connecticut adopted priorities similar to those of the federal government. Connecticut's preservation of federal priorties is most likely due to the choice of state implementing agency and a unique policy bias at the state level.
The Small Cities Block Grant Program: An Assessment of Programmatic Change under State Control
In response to President Reagan's "Program for Economic Recovery," on August 13, 1981, Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. This act consolidated over 50 categorical programs into nine block grants: four in health services, three in social services, one in education, and one in community development. While the act fell short of Reagan's initial proposal of consolidating over 90 categorical programs into four block grants, the act did facilitate the president's long-term goal of moving toward a state-oriented federalism. That is, under the block grant approach many programs will now be under the administrative control of state governments rather than the federal government. For example, state governments may now assume administrative responsibility for the small cities portion of the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG). By mid-1982, 36 states had accepted jurisdiction of the Small Cities program.' Created under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, the small cities CDBG program is limited to cities of less than 50,000 population and now receives 30 percent of total CDBG funds. Prior to the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, small cities CDBG grants were allocated by HUD on the basis of applications from nonentitlement communities (i.e., discretionary funding). As part of the overall thrust toward greater decentralization, the legislation authorizing state assumption of this program imposes few restrictions on what states may do. The law requires states to give "maximum feasible priority" to meeting the two basic objectives of the 1974 Community Development Act-benefitting low and moderate income families and preventing slums and blight.2 Regardless of this provision, such a change provides significant latitude for the small cities block grant program to reflect the preferences and priorities of state and local officials.
Arab Uprisings and the Outstanding Return to Democracy: Tunisia as a Model
In the wake of the Middle Eastern crises, the Tunisian case in focus has been doted as a unique phenomenon being that it was the Genesis of the revolution that ultimately spread across the Middle East like wild fire, but has eventually heralded a new dawn as democracy has incidentally returned to the Empire. This literature therefore looks closely at the extent to which the ‘DignityRevolution’ has been instrumental in the Middle East uprisings, which have brought an end to dynastic autocracies. The literature zeros in on the Tunisian uprising which has attracted global concerns, sympathy and has sparked interests in the international arena. The literature finds that the people hold colossal prospect in the uprising and its resultant effect, as it paved the way for the revolutionist to generate, gather and disseminate information on the condition of the entire region to the international community. The people in this context were of utmost importance and played a very crucial role in the creation of awareness, mobilization of protesters and utmost determining the direction of the uprising and also ensuring a speedy return to democratic rule. The paper submits that the role of the people in ensuring that the ruins of the uprising is not left littering around and democracy restored is highly commendable and should be a model for all other Arab countries involved in the revolution.