Bronner Group, LLC

01/27/2020

Gov. Holcomb Names Grennes as Commissioner of Indiana Department of Revenue – WBIW

Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced that Bob Grennes will serve as the next commissioner of the Indiana Department of Revenue, effective February 1. Grennes has served as the chief operating officer the Indiana Department of Revenue since 2017, where he has worked to improve operations and customer service. Grennes also serves on the steering committee of a modernization project that would allow Indiana taxpayers to use state-of-the-art technology to file returns, make payments, and manage their accounts. Bronner wishes incoming Commissioner Grennes much success in his new endeavor.

 Posted in State Gov. Holcomb Names Grennes as Commissioner of Indiana Department of Revenue  January 17, 2020 (INDIANAPOLIS) – Gov. Eric J. Holcomb today announced he has selected Bob Grennes to serve as the commissioner of the Indiana Department of Revenue. Bob Grennes “Bob is a hard-working...

01/26/2020

Chicago’s 911 emergency center to get a $75 million upgrade

Chicago’s 20-year-old computer-aided dispatch system is receiving a major upgrade that will dramatically improve the speed and quality of emergency response. TriTech/Central Square was selected to install the new system which, among other new features, will automatically locate the caller and the nearest first-responded as well as prioritize which incident is most urgent. Due to the vast size of the project the upgrade is expected to take three years before it is completed and will include a large amount of training and the need for change management services which Bronner has been engaged to perform.

The 20-year-old computer-aided dispatch system that forms the guts of Chicago’s 911 center will be replaced by a new system that accepts texts, photos and videos from emergency scenes.

01/25/2020

Brandeis University released a large update to their Child Opportunity Index alongside an accompanying report which ranks neighborhoods by level of child opportunity from low to very high in the 100 largest U.S. Metropolitan areas. The data shows that children’s neighborhood conditions vary widely across the United States. The research also shows that a child’s race or ethnicity strongly predicts whether he or she lives in a place with access to good schools, healthy foods, parks and playgrounds, and living-wage jobs.

http://www.diversitydatakids.org/about-us/news/press-release/diversitydatakidsorg-announces-child-opportunity-index-20

01/16/2020

During the Boston 2020 State of the City Address, Mayor Martin Walsh announced and unprecedented plan to invest $500 million in funding for low- and middle-income housing in the city over the next five years. The investment would be a five-fold increase over current funding for affordable housing programs within the city. The Mayor labeled the investments ‘transformative’, promising the renovation and construction of thousands of affordable homes for seniors, the preservation of current public housing, and the introduction of city-funded rental vouchers for low-income families.

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/01/07/mayor-walsh-lays-out-unprecedented-500m-plan-for.html

01/14/2020

Bloomington Fast-Tracks Community Land Trust Strategy for Affordable Housing

The City Council of Bloomington, Minnesota recently agreed to loan $7 Million in conjunction with the Housing and Redevelopment Authority to Aeon, a nonprofit developer, as a community land trust. The nonprofit will agree to purchase land and retain the title, but will sell families houses built on the land. By utilizing a trust. Bloomington hopes to mitigate the risk of escalating rents by selling the property to a nonprofit organization, which will repair and rehabilitate existing structures and rent them out at affordable prices. Aeon plans to save at least 60 percent of the existing units for those who have incomes at or below 60 percent of the median income for the area, and the remaining 40 percent for those at or below 80 percent of that median income.

The City Council moved quickly to set up a fund to buy an apartment complex for low-income residents before private developers could purchase it. Prioritizing that has made all the difference.

01/13/2020

Over the past year the St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) engaged Bronner to conduct an extensive strategic planning process to develop a five year strategic plan that aimed to build on the organizations strengths and successes, establish yearly milestones to monitor progress of key priorities, and determine organizational priorities. The strategic plan identifies the organizations mission, vision, values, and goals for the next five years. Additionally, the plan identifies key objectives and actions for SLHA to meet their goals in an efficient and effective manner.

https://www.slha.org/about/strategic-plan/

01/12/2020

On December 29 the bipartisan Grant Reporting and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) Act was signed into law. The act will transform federal grant reporting by requiring the executive branch to create a comprehensive and standardized data structure covering all data elements reported by grantees. The legislation will modernize and improve grantee reporting by requiring grant financial data to be reported in an electronic format using the developed data standards. When fully implemented, the GREAT Act will help provide decision-makers with critical information about grantee performance and ensure grantees can spend less time on reporting and more time delivering services.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/150/text

01/10/2020

HUD seeks to roll back Obama rule on housing desegregation

On Tuesday, January 7th HUD announced a proposed change to the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule. The change would redefine fair housing standards and shift the focus from reducing discrimination to improving housing choice by cutting regulatory burdens and eliminating the assessment tool used to map racial segregation under the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. HUD argues that simplifying the process to meet fair housing requirements will allow cities to better meet their civil rights obligations. However, housing advocates warn that the change would weaken fair housing enforcement leading to an increase in racial segregation. The public will have 60 days to submit comments once it is published in the Federal Register.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration took steps Tuesday to roll back an Obama-era rule intended to ensure that communities confront and address racial segregation in housing, saying local...

01/09/2020

Significant Homeless Decision Stands

In Martin v. City of Boise the Ninth Circuit held that if a homeless person has no option of sleeping indoors a city cannot cite him or her for violating an ordinance disallowing sleeping outside in a public space. After the Supreme Court refused to review the case in December the significant holding is final. A dissenting opinion to the Ninth Circuit’s decision to refuse to rehear the cased identified practical problems for local governments including the challenge of reporting an accurate number of homeless individuals within a municipality on any given day.

The Ninth Circuit's decision leaves local governments with one less tool to deal with homelessness.

11/26/2019

www.huduser.gov

HUD released the third report on the impact of the Rent Reform Demonstration project led by MDRC. This important research project is testing an alternative approach to the current Housing Choice Voucher (i.e., Section 8) method for establishing the tenant share of rent payments. At the core of the study, rather than the current annual re-certification cycle, the alternative approach uses a three-year re-certification cycle with hardship provisions. The initial study tested the ability of the alternative approach to incentivize long term employment while offsetting any increased costs through reduced administration costs. The results to date show positive results in Lexington and San Antonio, with mixed results in Louisville and Washington DC. The best outcome observed was in San Antonio where “the new rules group, on average, earned $2,293 more than the control group (a gain of nearly 11 percent).” Bronner has been part of the MDRC team since the inception of this ongoing study.

11/25/2019

U.S. Treasury to begin data collection on Opportunity Zone investments

In an effort to improve reporting and analysis of Opportunity Zones the U.S. Department of Treasury announced that it will begin collecting information on investments made in Opportunity Zones. As part of this effort the department released a draft tax form that will be used to collect data on the investments. The form gathers information on the total qualified Opportunity Zone property and will allow the federal government to better track investments in Opportunity Zones and assess the effectiveness of those investments.

On October 31, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced it will begin collecting information on investments made in Opportunity Zones. As part of this effort, the department released a draft tax form it will use to collect data on these investments.

11/24/2019

Hyperloop study shows potential for big economic gains, fast travel from Cleveland to Chicago

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) held their first public meeting this week to discuss initial findings from their ongoing feasibility study for a Cleveland-Chicago Hyperloop route. Initial findings address potential routes, travel times, and freight and passenger capacity. Engineers on the project are predicting travel times between 31 to 47 minutes for the 344-mile trip between cities.

A preliminary summary of a yearlong, $1.3 million feasibility of a Cleveland-Chicago hyerloop route shows potential for quick travel and big economic gains.

11/22/2019

A Guide to Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience | CISA

The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released “A Guide to Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience” which serves as an overview of the U.S. approach to critical infrastructure security and resilience. The guides provides a step-by-step approach to developing, implementing, and refining cybersecurity policies and programs and acts as a useful resource for local governments on how they can greatly enhance the effectiveness of critical infrastructure protection.

The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) developed “A Guide to a Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience” guide to serve as an overview of the U.S. all-hazards approach to critical infrastr...

11/20/2019

‘A great deal of stigma’: Charlotte Housing Authority to change its name to ‘Inlivian’

Joining a growing trend of re-branding Housing Authorities, the Charlotte Housing Authority recently announced their new name, Inlivian. Chief Executive A. Fulton Meachem Jr. believes the new name better reflects the role of the organization as an ‘entrepreneurial agency focused on solutions’ and will help overcome the negative connotations and limitations of the old name. In recent years housing authorities across the United States have attempted to improve their image utilizing the rebranding process. An outcome of Bronner’s strategic planning process with Fort Worth Housing Authority was the rebranding as Forth Worth Housing Solutions.

Charlotte Housing Authority is now Inlivian. The affordable housing organization says the new name change better reflects its mission and role as a developer and provider of mixed-income housing and supportive services.

11/17/2019

Risk and Reward: A Framework for Federal Innovation - Partnership for Public ServicePartnership for Public Service

In their recent report on Federal Innovation the Partnership for Public Service investigated innovative federal organizations to see what made them successful and developed a framework for other agencies looking to innovate and meet the constantly evolving needs of the public. The report outlines 10 organizational characteristics that can foster innovation at the federal, state, and local level including removing barriers to effectiveness, making small bets on new ideas, scaling up successful innovations, aligning innovative efforts with strategic goals, and more.

The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that strives for a more effective government for the American people.

11/15/2019

Ohio Establishes ‘Cyber Reserve’ to Combat Ransomware

The growing threat of cyber-attacks is forcing State and local governments to develop innovative defense solutions. In response, Ohio has created a new civilian unit of cyber professionals, the Ohio Cyber Reserve, that are on-call to assist local governments experiencing ransomware or other cyber-attacks. The development of a new unit of cyber professionals comes after a recent increase in ransomware attacks hitting local governments across the US and Ohio in particular.

The civilian unit of the National Guard will be on call to assist local governments that come under cyberattack.

11/13/2019

Oregon to Launch Statewide Procurement Marketplace in 2020

In Spring 2020, the OregonBuys Marketplace will standardize purchasing across all the state’s agencies giving Oregon a better view into buying activity across agencies. Previously Oregon’s approximately 85 agencies were using manual procurement processes. The new system will provide full procure-to-pay functionality automating everything from approvals to solicitations, potentially providing Oregon with significant cost savings.

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11/11/2019

HUD opens public comment period for Opportunity Zones grant resource

HUD is looking for public feedback on a new Opportunity Zone Grant Certification Form. The form would collect data from Opportunity Zones to be used towards preference points in federal grants which increase likelihood of award. HUD is encouraging counties to share their local perspective by December 9th when the public comment period will close.

On October 10, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a Notice of Proposed Information Collection on a new Opportunity Zone Grant Certification Form.

11/08/2019

Mississippi Audit: Agencies Not Complying with Cybersecurity Law

A recent report from the Mississippi state auditor’s office found widespread noncompliance with routine cybersecurity protections which could open the state up to threats as attacks targeting government agencies has increased in recent years. All units of government need to be vigilant in preventing cyber-attacks and phishing scams.

A recent report from the state auditor's office showed widespread noncompliance with routine cybersecurity protections. The gaps could open the state to unnecessary threats as hackers aggressively target government.

11/06/2019

Is Government Procurement Ready for Emerging Tech?

State CIO leaders are eager to explore how new technologies can help state departments, but current procurement processes which favor companies with several years of experience are not set up to easily adapt to new vendors offering up the latest tech and innovations including AI.

Massachusetts CIO Curt Wood is eager to explore ways new technologies can be incorporated into the enterprise, but current procurement processes aren’t set up to easily adapt to new vendors offering the latest tech.

11/04/2019

City Tech Collaborative Launches Advanced Mobility Initiative Roadmap

The City of Chicago is looking to redefine modern transportation utilizing the recently updated Advanced Mobility Initiative Roadmap which outlines a comprehensive, collaborative approach on integrating policy and technology innovations to address complex urban challenges including multimodal connectivity, public transit access, freight, smart infrastructure management, electric mobility, and even drone adoption.

Following the launch of the Advanced Mobility Initiative in April 2019, City Tech Collaborative has developed a first-of-its-kind roadmap to drive urban mobility innovation. Adding to a growing portfolio of solutions to make cities work better for their residents, the Advanced Mobility Initiative wi...

11/01/2019

Evaluation of HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD): Final Report | HUD USER

HUD recently released the results of an evaluation of the Rental Assistance Demonstration program launched in 2012 built to address the critical capital needs of severely distressed public housing. The report supplies evidence of the success of the program, stimulating billions of dollars in capital investment, improving living conditions, and enhancing the financial health of affordable housing resources.

The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Final Report analyzes whether RAD preserves affordable housing by improving physical conditions and stabilizing the financial footing of properties. The report also examines how tenants and PHAs are impacted by the program. This evaluation meets Congress’s...