Lobbying For Stops On High-Speed Rail Line

LAKELAND -- Now that plans for a high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa are under way, communities are lobbying for a stop on the rail line.

Transportation officials said they have to limit the number of stops on the high-speed rail system. If there are too many stops, the average speed of the system won’t be fast enough to make the rail system worthwhile.

Lakeland Mayor-elect Gow Fields said he believes there will ultimately be only one stop in Polk County, and he wants it in his city.

“It’s very important we have a stop in Polk County,” Fields said.

If Lakeland does get a high-speed rail stop, the next logical question is: Where it will go?

The interchange for Kathleen Road and Interstate 4 is one prime spot, with plenty of land. Plus, the spot is a quick trip by bus to the city’s Citrus Connection bus terminal.

“People that don’t live here, that get off high-speed rail in Lakeland -- well, they can’t get off where they are going next,” Fields said. “They will have to have mass transit available to them to get to their next destination.”

Besides Lakeland, the Florida Department of Transportation said another site considered for Polk County could be the I-4 exchange with the Polk Parkway, which is also the future home of a huge University of South Florida Polytechnic campus.

Some residents would like the stop at U.S. Highway 27 and I-4, about 3 miles west of the Osceola County line and ChampionsGate, while others would like to see the stop built at Socrum Loop Road, in Lakeland.

Sujoy Daskundo, a manager at the Days Inn and Suites on Socrum Loop Road, said a train stop in the area could bring a boost to business for the neighborhood.

“Next door, we have Applebees, you have Cracker Barrel, Five Guys -- everything,” he said. “All the gas stations, so everything, all the businesses. There will be a flow of money going again.”

The Department of Transportation will make the final decision about the location of the stop. However, officials said they do not know when they will make that call.

Source:cfnews13.com/

Lobbying culture a threat to financial stability: report

THE financial industry's lobbying about US mortgage rules may have contributed to the recent financial crisis and may pose a threat to the industry's stability, according to a report published by three International Monetary Fund economists.

The economists found that institutions that lobbied the most also had more lax lending standards, tended to securitise more of their mortgages and had faster-growing loan portfolios.

The delinquency rates were also higher in areas in which these companies' lending grew fastest, the report showed.

"Our analysis suggests that the political influence of the financial industry can be a source of systemic risk," Deniz Igan, Prachi Mishra, and Thierry Tressel said in the conclusion of their report.

"It provides some support to the view that the prevention of future crises might require weakening political influence of the financial industry or closer monitoring of lobbying activities."

Regulators worldwide are pressing companies to improve risk oversight after the world's biggest banks and brokerages reported more than $US1.7 trillion in write-downs and credit losses since 2007 tied to the global financial crisis.

In the US, the Government has extended the $US700 billion financial rescue program until October.

The authors favoured a "moral hazard" interpretation of their findings, where financial companies lobby seeking looser lending standards because they expect to be bailed out during a crisis or because they favour short-term gains.

The report noted that 16 of the 20 lenders that spent the most on lobbying between 2000 and 2006 received funds under the US Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act.

Spending by finance and real estate industry companies accounted for about 15 per cent of overall lobbying in any election cycle, the report said.

Spending on lobbying was $US479,500 per company in 2006, compared with $US300,273 for defence companies and $US200,187 for construction companies, the authors said.

Source:smh.com.au/

Water regulator bows to lobbying on bill price cuts

UK householders have been denied steep cuts to their yearly water bills after Ofwat, the water regulator, today published proposals to reduce prices by £3, after original plans to lower rates by £14.

Under recommendations for prices over the next five years, to be implemented across 22 companies, the average water bill will fall to £340. In July, Ofwat proposed draft reductions that would have cut the average yearly bill to £330.

Since publication of the draft recommendations, Britain's water companies have been lobbying Ofwat, complaining that steep price cuts would harm their ability to maintain and invest in their networks, and could force them to raise fresh capital from investors or cut their dividends.

While the average reduction in prices across Britain's 22 water and sewerage companies is £3, there are huge variations across different regions. For example, Northumbrian Water companies will see their bills rise by £17 over five years, but Severn Trent's will cut its customers' bills by £13.

Steve Bloomfield, head of utilities for Unison, the union, said today: “The fact that water prices will be frozen for the next five years will be welcomed by many people. But we think that Ofwat could have gone further by offering help to vulnerable people, who are already struggling to pay their bills."

The Consumer Council for Water said that it would give Ofwat a mark of "seven out of ten" for its final decisions on water price limits.

It said that although there was some good news for water customers, since average bills will stay about the same, it was concerned that the regulator had eased off on water companies’ efficiency targets – causing higher bills for some water customers.

The council added that today's announcement suggested that Ofwat had been arguably unrealistic in its draft decisions back in July.

Regina Finn, Ofwat’s chief executive, said: "People can shop around for the best deal on many things, but not water. Our job is to do this for them. Customers have told us that they want us to keep water and sewage charges flat while maintaining a safe, reliable supply of water. That's what we've delivered.”

The regulator’s decision will see more than £22 billion invested in maintaining and improving services to customers, with household bills remaining broadly flat until 2015.

The City welcomed the better than expected ruling, with shares in all the major water companies rising. Severn Trent gained 38p to £10.44, United Utilities rose 8.6p to 492.7p and Northumbrian Water was up 14.2p at 270.1p.

Peter Atherton, a utilities analyst for Citigroup, said that the final ruling was positive, compared with the draft. Lakis Athanasiou, an analyst for Evolution, said that he no longer expected any rights issues from the sector.

Source:timesonline.co.uk