June 2, 2006

Congress Setting a Suburban Agenda

COLUMBUS, OH - Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Upper Arlington) today submitted the following editorial:  

Many Americans express their disaffection with politics by suggesting that so little of what comes out of Washington impacts them personally.  They go to work each day, pay their taxes, take care of their families, and largely fail to see any tangible connection between the legislation considered in Congress and their day to day lives.

However, a series of measures introduced in Congress as part of a Suburban Agenda should change this mindset.  These common-sense proposals, covering areas of health, education, the environment and taxes are specifically tailored to positively impact Americans who ask little of their government, but who could nonetheless use a helping hand now and then.

The Suburban Agenda includes the School Safety Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act, a bill helping to ensure that our nation's classrooms remain safe havens for our children.  The Act will allow school boards to screen criminal records of applicants for coaching and teacher positions to make sure out-of-state pedophiles and felons are not put in charge of our kids' classrooms.  While all states require background checks on school applicants, pedophiles and other felons are often still hired due to current limitations on information sharing among states.  In Michigan alone, schools unwittingly hired 2,500 people convicted of sexual assault, murder and other felonies.

As parents, we work endlessly to safeguard our children and keep them out of harm's way.  Despite all our protective efforts, however, cyberspace remains a dangerous place for kids.  According to a May 3, 2006, "ABC News" report, one in five children is now approached by online predators.  MySpace.com, a social networking site, now contains the photos and messages of more than 10 million American kids, and, disturbingly, has become as popular of a site with child predators as it is for children.  The Delete Online Predators Act prohibits anyone under 18 from accessing chat rooms and certain sites on school or library computers, and requires the Federal Trade Commission to create a special website for parents and teachers warning of the potential dangers of these social networking web pages.

The House will also be considering legislation to help more Americans afford some of life's big ticket items.  Under the 401 Kids Family Savings Accounts Act, parents would be able to establish savings accounts and contribute up to $2000 annually for their children at birth for the purposes of financing college, buying a home, and saving for retirement.  The bill builds upon the wildly successful college 529 plans, and withdrawals from the 401 Kids Accounts used for college tuition, purchasing a first home or retirement would be exempt from federal and state income tax.

The Suburban Agenda includes the Open Space and Farmland Preservation Act, legislation seeking to establish grant programs to protect more suburban green and open space, and particularly farm land, from development.  According to the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), central Ohio is losing more than 47 acres per day to development.  The bill establishes a federal challenge grant program to assist local communities and eligible private organizations in their efforts to purchase conservation easements on some of their more valuable and treasured green spaces. 

I am in the process of drafting a bill to be included in the Suburban Agenda to increase portability of health care coverage for Americans.  Today, the average working family member in a suburban home will change jobs an average of seven times over their career, making portability and affordability of health insurance essential.  Under current federal law through the COBRA program, Americans who lose or leave their jobs can continue their family coverage for 18 months.  My bill will remove this 18 month limitation and give families the option and peace of mind of indefinite COBRA coverage.

Other Suburban Agenda items include a measure to encourage the creation of electronic medical records, thereby improving health care, cutting administrative costs and reducing medical errors by 80%.  The disastrous Hurricane Katrina was illustrative of the need for electronic medical information -- while civilian patient records in New Orleans were wiped out, the electronic records of veterans were fully protected and available at any VA hospital.   It also includes legislation to combat the proliferation of gangs in our country.  Shockingly, with over 800,000 members in America, gangs are now larger than the seventh largest army in the world.

While I assure you that our focus on the various components of the Suburban Agenda will in no way divert our attention from the pressing needs of urban and rural areas, items contained in the Agenda make sense, and can improve the quality of life of all Americans.