Ways And Means Blog
Stark Continues to Call Out Republicans For Their Pledge Against America’s Health
October 6, 2010 2:53 PM

 

Rep Pete Stark (D-CA), Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, continues to blast House Republicans’ “Pledge for America.” Unveiled two weeks ago, the Republican pledge would do away with important reforms included in the Affordable Care Act.  In a series of daily releases called “Pledge Against America’s Health,” Chairman Stark illustrates the impact that this GOP agenda would have on millions of Americans and businesses.

How the GOP pledge harms America's health…

*Allow insurers to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions:http://go.usa.gov/ach

*Eliminate a program to help employers retain coverage for early retirees: http://go.usa.gov/ac2

*Shut down healthcare.govhttp://go.usa.gov/al8

*Gut programs to fight Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse: http://go.usa.gov/xuT

*Increase the uninsured by 29 million: http://go.usa.gov/xMU

*Kick people out of new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans: http://go.usa.gov/x60

*Eliminate the small business tax credit: http://go.usa.gov/xsj

*Re-open the Medicare Part D donut hole: http://go.usa.gov/xGe

*Repeal investment in health IT: http://go.usa.gov/xGF

 

-by Lauren Bloomberg

 

 

House Passes Landmark China Currency Bill: Why it Matters
September 30, 2010 4:28 PM

 


For years, the Chinese government has intervened in world markets, causing its currency (the renminbi – “RMB” or “yuan”) to be undervalued by as much as 25 to 40 percent.  This unfair trade practice translates into a significant subsidy, artificially making Chinese imports into the United States much cheaper and U.S. exports to China much more expensive.

What does this mean for the United States? 

China’s currency manipulation reduces American exports, causes the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs, and contributes to our large trade deficit with China. 

Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, estimates that China’s exchange rate policy reduces U.S. GDP by 1.4 to 1.5 percentage points annually and reduces U.S. employment by 1.4 or 1.5 million jobs

“[China] follows a mercantilist policy, keeping its trade surplus artificially high. And in today’s depressed world, that policy is, to put it bluntly, predatory.”  (See his New York Times piece and comments at an Economic Policy Institute Forum)

So what is the U.S. government doing about this?

The Bush Administration, the Obama Administration, and Members of Congress have tried to persuade the Chinese government to allow its currency to respond to market forces but no significant progress has been made.  This month however, the House of Representatives has taken unprecedented steps to address the issue. 

Chairman Levin held two days of hearings, including one with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, which prompted a Committee markup of H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act which would give the Administration effective tools to address the unfair trade practice of currency manipulation by foreign countries, including China.


Last night the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the legislation with a vote of 348-79 signaling a mounting concern among U.S. lawmakers regarding China’s violation of its international obligations.

Upon passage, Chairman Levin stated:

“This is an important moment for this Congress and for the American people.  China’s persistent manipulation of its currency contributes to the outsourcing of American jobs and poses a very serious problem that requires real action.  Under our leadership, real action is now being taken in Congress to stand up for American workers and businesses. 

“China clearly has an economic strategy to bolster its businesses and workers.  Our nation needs to implement an active economic strategy to enforce the rules of trade and allow our businesses and workers to compete and win in the international marketplace.  This bill is consistent with America’s international obligations and is a significant step to bring about China’s compliance with theirs.”

 
 

The bill makes clear that additional tariffs can be imposed to offset the effects of a “fundamentally undervalued” currency under U.S. trade remedy laws (known as the countervailing duty laws). The bill contains two key provisions:

  • reverses a current Commerce Department practice that has precluded it from treating foreign government currency practices as an export subsidy;

  •  directs Commerce on how to measure the subsidy provided to foreign producers through currency undervaluation. 

The bill’s original sponsor Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) emphasized the importance of the legislation on American families on the House Floor:

 
 

Click here for more information about H.R. 2378

-by Lauren Bloomberg

 

Once Again, Senate Republicans Block Jobs Program
September 29, 2010 11:27 AM

 

 
 
Once Again, Senate Republicans Block Jobs Program

Last night, Senate Republicans again decided to put politics ahead of job-creation by blocking an extension of the TANF Emergency Fund, a program that has proven successful in creating nearly 250,000 jobs around the country. 

Following the latest GOP action, Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Jim McDermott (D-WA) pointed out:

 
“Congressional Republicans are so desperate to stop an economic recovery that they are blocking a jobs program that even Haley Barbour thinks is a good thing.  Without an extension, States are going to be forced to start cutting a program within days that has created hundreds of thousands of jobs.  It doesn’t matter that Republican Governors want the program extended, Republicans in Congress would rather score political points than support anything that might help the economy.”

Twice this year the House of Representatives voted to extend this fund, which has helped States provide assistance to low-income families and create jobs programs. The TANF Emergency Fund was created as part of the Recovery Act and has encouraged 37 States to establish or expand programs that help people find employment by temporarily subsidizing their wages.
 
The TANF Emergency Fund has the strong support of several Republican leaders outside of DC.  Haley Barbour, the Republican Governor of Mississippi and former chair of the Republican National Committee, called it a welfare to work program.  His support was featured in a recent PBS: Need to Know segment, “One step forward: A jobs program provides hope for the unemployed,” devoted to the program’s success in Mississippi.   
 
As we know, this isn’t the first time the GOP has assailed the program.  Congressional Republicans have consistently voted against extending it while spreading deceptive claims that undermine the program’s proven success.  

-by Lauren Bloomberg

 

 

LEVIN: Healthcare Reform Strengthens Middle Class
September 29, 2010 9:57 AM

 

Healthcare Reform Strengthens Middle Class
by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin

A few months ago, on the eve of Congress's vote on healthcare reform, I received a letter that summed up what this is all about: strengthening the basic economic security of the middle class.

The letter's writer, a woman from Warren, is a teacher whose daughter was born with a serious medical condition requiring surgery when she was just eight days old. That necessary surgery left the newborn with what will be a lifelong ailment.

Because of healthcare reform, that little girl, who is now three, will never be denied insurance because of her pre-existing condition. Her mother wrote: "Every parent should have peace of mind to know everything with their child is going to be okay."

That's what healthcare reform is about: the middle class's economic security.

Though much of the new law will be gradually phased in, last week, on September 23, a slate of new consumer protections began to take effect for the next plan year.

Starting Thursday, rescissions -- the practice of dropping coverage from paying customers when they get sick and need it most -- became a thing of the past. No child can be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions. And adult children are allowed to remain on their parents' insurance plans up until their 26th birthday.

All insurers are prohibited from imposing lifetime caps on coverage -- enabling people to receive the treatment they need without having to worry about reaching a limit or facing financial ruin from medical bills. And every new plan must have an effective and efficient external appeals process, so that if you want to appeal a decision your insurer makes, your concerns aren't lost in corporate bureaucracy.

So many hard-working American families are struggling. Over the last two years, we've been trying to right the ship, and we've made some progress, reforming Wall Street and ending taxpayer bailouts, supporting a "Make It In America" manufacturing strategy, and enacting healthcare reform.

Opponents of health care reform would take away consumer protections -- siding with the insurance industry instead of the middle class. We can't afford that.

These reforms -- the Patients' Bill of Rights chief among them -- are vital for working Americans. Starting next year, insurance companies will be required to put more of your premium dollars into providing health care, instead of spending it on exorbitant CEO pay. In 2014, once the health insurance exchanges (where consumers can comparison shop for coverage) come into operation, no American will be denied coverage, as insurance companies will no longer be able to discriminate against adults with pre-existing conditions. To see how healthcare reform will impact you directly, visit www.healthcare.gov.

We need for America to get back to basics and focus on the middle class's quality of life. Healthcare reform is vital to restoring that standard of living.

Only then -- only by siding with the middle class in action, not just word -- will our country truly be healthy.

Cross-linked from the Huffington Post

Originally appeared in Sunday's Macomb Daily. 

 

Sebelius: Health Insurers Finally Get Some Oversight
September 29, 2010 9:39 AM

 


 In case you missed HHS Secretary Sebelius's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal yesterday...

 

Health Insurers Finally Get Some Oversight
In the past, these companies ran wild with no accountability
By KATHLEEN SEBELIUS

In the last two weeks, my department has been accused of "thuggery" (this editorial page) and "Soviet tyranny" (Newt Gingrich). What prompted these accusations? The fact that we told health-insurance companies that, as required by law, we will review large premium increases and identify those that are unreasonable.

There's a long history of special interests using similar attacks to oppose change. In the mid-1960s, for example, some claimed Medicare would put our country on the path to socialism.

But what is really objectionable about these comments is not who they're attacking, but what they're defending. These critics seem to believe that any oversight of the insurance industry is too much, and that consumers would be better off in a system where they have few rights or protections.

Over the past decade, Americans have seen what happens when insurance companies have free rein. The cost of health insurance has more than doubled, while millions of hard-working Americans lost their coverage or drained their savings to keep up with premiums. Employers—big and small—have struggled mightily to absorb these cost increases and have been losing the fight.

As insurance commissioner and governor of Kansas, I saw firsthand how these rate hikes burdened people. I spoke with families who watched their insurance go up 20%, 30%, even 40% a year without explanation. I met with small business owners who had stopped offering health insurance to their employees because they couldn't afford the annual double-digit premium increases.

A woman who wrote to me recently summed up the frustration that many feel. "As a self-employed, hard-working person," she wrote, "I have no good options for health coverage."
Yet even as our insurance markets have failed Americans time and time again, special interests successfully blocked reform.

That's changing with enactment of the new health insurance law. Under the Affordable Care Act, 46 states have already received grants to beef up their premium-review and oversight capabilities. And additional funding is on the way.

The law also gives clear instructions to the new state-based health insurance marketplaces called exchanges that will be created in 2014. As the exchanges decide what plans to include, they must incorporate recommendations from states about whether particular health insurance issuers should be excluded based on a pattern of excessive or unjustified premium increases.

We are already seeing this new level of accountability pay off. Last week, North Carolina's largest insurer announced a "one-time refund that will return $155.8 million to more than 215,000 individual Blue Cross Blue Shield customers as a result of the Affordable Care Act." This rebate will put an average of $720 back into the pockets of each of those policyholders. In addition, thanks to diligent work by North Carolina's insurance commissioner, they'll see their premiums rise by less than 6% in 2011—the smallest rate increase in four years.

A day after Blue Cross Blue Shield's announcement, seniors with private Medicare plans got some news that most Americans haven't heard in years: Their premiums will actually go down 1% next year, even as many of them enjoy better benefits.

The Affordable Care Act is bringing some basic fairness to our health insurance market. So when I learned that a handful of insurers around the country are blaming their significant rate increases on the new law—even though the facts show that the impact of the law on premiums is small, just 1% to 2% declining over time—I let them know that we'd be closely reviewing their rate hikes.

It's understandable that some insurance companies and their allies don't welcome this change. They've made large profits from the status quo. And it's not surprising—though still disappointing—that House Republicans have recently pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act and get rid of these new consumer protections.

If critics really want to go back to the days when insurance companies ran wild with no accountability, they should have the courage to say so openly instead of hiding behind distracting attacks. In the meantime, we're going to keep standing up for American families and small business owners who deserve a system that works for them.
 

 

 

 

NEW REPORT: Tens of Millions Will Benefit From Health Reform Tax Credits in 2014
September 14, 2010 12:19 PM

 


FamiliesUSA released a report today examining who will be eligible for help from the premium assistance tax credits.

The report finds that:
 
  • Nationally, 28.6 million Americans will be eligible for these new premium tax credits in 2014.
  • 95 percent of those eligible for the premium tax credit will be in families with a worker who is employed full- or part-time (27.2 million).
  • Of those eligible, 48 percent will have previously been uninsured (13.7 million).
  • 65.6 percent of those who will be eligible for the premium tax credit (18.8 million) are from families with annual incomes at or above 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($44,100 for a family of four in 2010).
  • Over 50 percent of those who will be eligible for the premium tax credit will work for small businesses with fewer than 100 workers (15.1 million).
     
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health lauded the report: "This study gives us a snapshot of the 28.6 million Americans who are eligible to receive help from the premium tax credits in 2014.  More than half will work for small businesses, almost all of them will be from working families, and 48 percent will have been previously uninsured.  Congressional Republicans would repeal these tax credits – raising health care costs for working families and jeopardizing coverage for tens of millions of Americans."
 
Click here to read the full FamiliesUSA report
Click here for more information about benefits in the Affordable Care Act 
 
-by Lauren Bloomberg

 

 

The Week Ahead
September 13, 2010 4:21 PM

 

Committee Members return to Washington this week, and to a busy hearing schedule beginning on Wednesday with a full committee hearing on China’s Exchange Rate Policy.  The purpose of the hearing is to consider whether China has made material progress in allowing appreciation of the exchange rate and what action Congress and the Administration may need to take to address China’s exchange rate policy and its effect on the U.S. and global economic recoveries and on U.S. job creation.

On Thursday the Committee will meet again for a second full committee hearing on China’s Exchange Rate Policy, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as the Committee’s witness.  Upon announcing the hearing, Chairman Levin explained that “The issue of China’s persistent exchange rate program must be resolved as we seek to address these imbalances.  Despite the Administration’s success in placing global imbalances, including our imbalance with China, on the G-20 agenda, China’s currency remains substantially undervalued.  It is vital that we hear Secretary Geithner’s views about U.S. policy and how best to proceed.”

- by Cameron Brenchley

 

Medicare Is Stronger Than It Has Been In Years
September 3, 2010 10:06 AM

 

In today’s Washington Post, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick explains how under the Affordable Care Act, “Medicare is stronger than it has been in years, and seniors will get new benefits.”

The Medicare Board of Trustees estimated last month that the Affordable Care Act produces savings that extend the life of the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for 12 years, to 2029. The actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an independent office, reached the same conclusion. And the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the law will reduce the federal deficit by more than $100 billion over the next 10 years and more than $1 trillion in the following decade. Those are real savings that help today's and tomorrow's Medicare beneficiaries.

Berwick also notes that the Affordable Care Act will improve delivery systems that previously focused rewards on quantity of services, and instead “will help us pay for quality and outcomes, not volume.”

The act encourages some of the most comprehensive payment and delivery system reforms in Medicare's 45-year history. It establishes a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within CMS to help find ways to modernize our health-care system to make it safe, patient-centered, reliable, sustainable and efficient. These approaches, endorsed by health-care organizations, employers and economists, will help make the health-care system of higher quality and more affordable for America's families and businesses.

Click here for more information on the Affordable Care Act and how it is providing better care and lower costs for America’s seniors.

- by Cameron Brenchley

 

ICYMI: Van Hollen Op-Ed on Helping Small Businesses Create Jobs
August 27, 2010 2:23 PM

 

Check out today's Politico op-ed by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Assistant to the Speaker and Ways and Means Committee Member, on how the President and Democratic Congress are helping small businesses.

 

Helping small businesses create jobs
By: Rep. Chris Van Hollen
August 27, 2010 
 
When President Barack Obama was sworn into office, our economy was in freefall – we were losing jobs at a rate of 700,000 a month with no end in sight. 

To address the crisis, stem job losses and save our economy from collapse, the new president and Congress took a series of immediate and decisive steps. Despite consistent opposition from congressional Republicans, these measures were passed and stopped our economy’s downward spiral. 

Today we are moving in the right direction – markets have stabilized and we have seen six consecutive months of job growth in the private sector. Still, the pace of job growth is too slow and more remains to be done. Small businesses are likely to drive the next phase of the recovery – they are our engines of economic growth. So Democrats are going to continue to make the needs of small business owners a priority. 

Working with the Small Business Administration, we’ve helped drive 29 percent of Recovery Act contracts from the stimulus to small business owners, who have a proven track record of creating jobs. Recovery Act grants have proved a lifeline for small businesses. 

I’ve heard it firsthand, from constituents like Stephen Hoffman, chief executive officer of Sanaria, who has been able to keep employees and focus on creating a malaria vaccine that could save millions of lives. Sanaria is just one of thousands of small businesses across the country helped by this legislation. 

The Recovery Act stands to ultimately offer $30 billion in new contracting opportunities to small companies. Passing the Recovery Act in February 2009 – which gave 95 percent of working families historic tax cuts and small businesses $15 billion in tax incentives – was just the first step of this Congress to stabilize the economy. 

Access to capital is key to small businesses growing and hiring new employees. That is why the House passed legislation like the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act and the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act – bills that will give billions in private sector lending opportunities and lower taxes so entrepreneurs can attract capital and launch new companies. 

Unfortunately, Senate Republicans are using procedural tactics to block these pro-growth initiatives. Both bills deserve an immediate up or down vote. 

The HIRE Act also supports small businesses. It gives a payroll tax holiday to employers who hire people unemployed for more than 60 days. This law is expected to help businesses hire 300,000 workers. HIRE also funds a variety of projects that should ultimately allow small businesses to expand.
In addition, new legislation to prevent hundreds of thousands of teachers, firefighters and police officers from being fired, keeps teachers in classrooms, cops on the beat and their families above water. This important investment in our communities, which helps our recovery, was fully paid for, in part, by closing a perverse tax loophole that rewards large corporations that ship U.S. jobs -- rather than U.S. products -- overseas. 

The focus of the president and Democrats in Congress has been on rebuilding our economy and supporting small business. Small businesses are now receiving $40 billion in tax credits to help them provide health insurance to employees. 

The Wall Street Reform bill now ensures that small businesses will never again have to pay for the irresponsible actions of certain big banks. 

Our “Make it in America” agenda is a plan to boost manufacturing and innovation, strengthen the U.S. workforce and create a level playing field for American companies to compete worldwide. The goal is to expand the number of secure, well-paying jobs and reward those businesses that grow by putting Americans to work -- rather than those that outsource U.S. jobs. 

We have already sent the first item to the president’s desk: the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act, which makes it cheaper for American companies to get the materials they need to manufacture U.S. goods by eliminating certain tariffs, ultimately making them more competitive. And we will continue to move this agenda forward in the fall. 

We do not want to return to the policies that brought our country to the brink of economic collapse. Democrats are committed to moving the United States forward; supporting innovation and job creation, and preventing a return to the economic policies that benefited big corporate special interests at the expense of U.S. taxpayers and workers. 

We have made important progress. But we won’t stop until every American who wants to work has the opportunity to do so. 
 
 

 

 

Third Round of “Donut Hole” Checks on the Way
August 10, 2010 11:04 AM

 

Health Care Reform Image

Earlier today Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the third round of $250 tax-free “donut hole” rebate checks have been mailed to seniors who fell into the Medicare Part D coverage gap earlier this year.

Secretary Sebelius noted that “These checks are an important first step in helping [Medicare beneficiaries] afford the medications they need – and are evidence of how Americans are already seeing the very real benefits of the Affordable Care Act. From strengthening the long-term future of Medicare as evidenced by the recent Medicare Trustees report, to saving seniors and the disabled money on everything from prescription drug costs to preventive services, the Affordable Care Act is helping to preserve and protect Medicare.”

HHS points out that “more than a quarter of Part D enrollees hit the donut hole and often stop following their drug regimen as a result of the added cost burden.”  Chairman Levin said earlier this summer that the $250 rebate checks help eliminate these tough life and death decisions and “provide peace of mind for many seniors who are struggling financially in this tough economic climate.”

In an earlier post, we noted that the one-time rebate checks, provided under the Affordable Care Act, are the first step in completely closing the prescription drug coverage gap that has affected millions of seniors.  Beginning in 2011, seniors in the “donut hole” will receive a 50% discount on brand-name prescription drugs, and the “donut hole” will be completely phased out by 2020.

Click here for state-by-state fact sheets on the immediate benefits of the Affordable Care Act.

- by Cameron Brenchley

 

New Jobs Report Shows 7th Consecutive Month of Private Sector Employment Growth
August 6, 2010 3:45 PM

 

According to the employment report released today from the Department of Labor, results for July represent the seventh consecutive month of private sector job growth.  The report shows an overall increase of 71,000 private sector jobs.  Early last year, the economy lost an average of 750,000 jobs each month. This year the private sector has created 630,000 jobs. Click here for a chart.

While the private sector has shown modest job gains in recent months, additional action is needed.  This is why the House is returning to session next week to pass legislation that will save and create 290,000 American jobs (140,000 teacher jobs saved and 150,000 jobs created or saved, including police officers, firefighters and nurses)

-by Lauren Bloomberg

 

The Week in Review
July 30, 2010 6:39 PM

 

 On Monday, Chairman Levin released draft legislative text of the Domestic Manufacturing and Energy Jobs Act of 2010.  The draft legislation would make a significant investment in domestic manufacturing to create jobs and see to it that the clean energy technologies of the future are made here in the United States.  The bill would also provide long-term certainty that the United States will continue to support renewable energy and energy efficiency, and will encourage manufacturers to build facilities in the United States.

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Trade held a hearing on Enhancing the U.S.-EU Trade Relationship.  Subcommittee Chairman John Tanner explained that “The Transatlantic alliance is fundamental to U.S. economic and security interests.  Whatever our differences, we are all committed to the same values, and that is what makes the U.S.-EU relationship strong.”

On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support held a hearing on to Review the Use of Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration Projects to Promote Child Well-Being.  The hearing focused on State use of Title IV-E child waiver demonstration projects to enhance the outcomes of children that are known to the child welfare system.  Click here for Subcommittee Chairman Jim McDermott’s opening statement.

On Friday, Chairman Levin introduced H.R. 5982, the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2010. The bill would have provided nearly $20 billion in tax relief to small businesses and closed loopholes that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas.  The legislation would have also eliminated an information reporting requirement for businesses that the independent Taxpayer Advocate recently indicated could pose potential “administrative challenges to taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).” 

The bill was defeated by House Republicans, and following its defeat Chairman Levin stated: “By defeating this bill, Republicans made clear that they care more about some companies that ship jobs overseas than small businesses that face a potential burden by this reporting requirement.  Despite all of their rhetoric about the need to eliminate this reporting requirement, Republicans walked away from small businesses when it mattered most.”

The Obama administration also announced on Friday that the U.S. is initiating consultations with Guatemala under the CAFTA-DR Labor Chapter to address concerns about Guatemala’s failure to enforce its labor laws.  Click here for reaction from Chairman Levin and Trade Subcommittee Chairman John Tanner.

Pic of the Week

Picture 131

Ways and Means Committee Member Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) joined a number of Committee Members (including Chairman Levin and Xavier Becerra pictured at left), Speaker Pelosi, House Democratic Leadership, and other House Democrats at an event on Wednesday commemorating the 75th anniversary of Social Security.

- by Cameron Brenchley

 

CBPP: Emergency Fund for Job Creation and Assistance is a “bright spot” in the recovering economy
July 29, 2010 11:45 AM

 

 The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a new report on Monday, underscoring the need to extend the Emergency Fund for Job Creation and Assistance program that is set to expire on September 30, 2010.  The program helps States immediately support job programs and is estimated to have helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs (including private sector) in States across the country since its inception in 2009. Yesterday, Chairman Levin introduced legislation to extend the program for a year.

Calling the program a “bright spot” in the recovering economy, CBPP illustrates the impact of allowing the program to expire in States across the country:

“… some of these programs have already stopped taking applications in anticipation of the fund’s September 30 expiration, and most programs will shut down or significantly scale back their operations on that date (see Figure 1). Unless Congress extends the fund, tens of thousands of people across the country will lose jobs — potentially raising the unemployment rate in places with particularly large programs, such as Illinois and Los Angeles. Such job losses are both troubling and unnecessary: the House has twice passed extensions that were fully offset to avoid increasing the deficit, but the Senate has thus far failed to act.”

States can draw on the Emergency Fund, created by the 2009 Recovery Act, to create subsidized jobs in the private and public sectors for low-income individuals who otherwise would be unemployed. Officials in the 37 states (including the District of Columbia) operating these jobs programs estimate that by September, they will have placed more than 240,000 unemployed parents and their teenage children in subsidized jobs funded in whole or in part by the fund (see Figure 2 and Appendix A). That number would grow substantially if states had another year to operate their programs.

Examples of [the program] at work include:

  • South Carolina is using the program to provide jobs to parents who would otherwise be receiving cash assistance through the state’s regular TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) program.
  • Illinois has placed more than 20,000 individuals in jobs, far exceeding its original goal of 12,000 placements.
  • Alabama is using the program to provide jobs to TANF recipients statewide, but has found it especially helpful in rural communities where very few job opportunities exist.
  • North Dakota is providing jobs for unemployed non-custodial parents who don’t have the financial resources to meet their child support
  • A rural community in Tennessee created 400 new jobs and helped reduce the county’s unemployment rate from 27.3 to 18.6 percent over an eight-month period.

Emergency Fund for Job Creation and Assistance program has the strong support of several Republicans.  Haley Barbour, the Republican Governor of Mississippi, called it a welfare to work program and urged for an extension.  In fact, despite Congressional Republican objection, a number of Republicans outside the Washington beltway have lauded the program as an effective mechanism to create jobs and help families.

  • On a bipartisan basis, the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Association of Counties have all urged Congress to continue the program as a way to create jobs and help families.
  • Kevin Hassett of the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) writes, “Given the state of the labor market, it is hard to imagine how any sensible person could oppose [extending the emergency fund].”  “If they are to be more than the party of no, Republicans need to rally around the Democrats who have shown such reserved pragmatism.”

Click here to view the letters.

- by Lauren Bloomberg

 

Affordable Care Act Spurring Cooperation to Improve Care
July 28, 2010 2:35 PM

 

Today’s Los Angeles Times has a good article explaining that the Affordable Care Act is spurring doctors and hospitals across the country to team up in order to improve care and control costs:

“As Congress debated the healthcare bill, many critics lamented it would do little to transform a system in which doctors and hospitals bounce patients around in an uncoordinated, costly, sometimes tragic process.

“But something unexpected has happened since President Obama signed the legislation in March. Spurred in part by the law, many independent providers across the country are racing to mold themselves into the kind of coordinated teams held up as models for improving care.

“In some places, the scramble is so intense that physician groups and hospitals are putting aside rivalries and signing new partnerships almost daily.”

The LA Times notes that the health care debate “may have helped spark doctors, hospitals and others to rethink what they do, raising the prospect of better outcomes for millions of Americans.”

"There are a lot of people who have reached the conclusion that they need to change the way they practice medicine," said Dr. Mark B. McClellan, a former Medicare and Medicaid chief in the George W. Bush administration and a leading advocate of more care coordination.”

- by Cameron Brenchley 

 

Levin rolls out draft of Domestic Manufacturing and Energy Jobs Act
July 26, 2010 5:48 PM

 


Chairman Levin today unveiled draft legislation designed to encourage innovation, domestic manufacturing, and renewable fuel development. Central to the Domestic Manufacturing and Energy Jobs Act of 2010 is its emphasis on investments in domestic manufacturing to create jobs and see to it that the clean energy technologies of the future are made here in the United States. 
 
Upon releasing the draft Chairman Levin noted that, “As the world moves toward renewable energy and a greener economy, it is necessary to accelerate a new era of American manufacturing and innovation. With the U.S. government as a full, active and effective partner, the private sector can expand our green manufacturing capacity, ensuring that these jobs and products will be created in the U.S., competing globally and protecting our environment.  The governments of other countries are racing ahead to dominate in this area.”   
 
Today’s draft provides vital tax incentives to modernize U.S. manufacturing facilities and encourage demand of renewable energy and energy efficient products.  Additionally, the draft bill would provide long-term certainty that the United States will continue to support renewable energy and energy efficiency, and will encourage manufacturers to build facilities in the United States.

Click here for additional information, including draft legislative text, summary and estimated revenue effects.

-by Lauren Bloomberg  

 

The Week Ahead
July 26, 2010 5:23 PM

 

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Trade will hold a hearing on Enhancing the U.S.-EU Trade Relationship.  In announcing the hearing, Chairman John Tanner explained that “Just as the European Union strives to create ‘an ever closer union’ among its people, we should strive to create an ever closer relationship between the United States and the European Union.”

The Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support will hold a hearing on Thursday to Review the Use of Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration Projects to Promote Child Well-Being.  The hearing will focus on State use of Title IV-E child waiver demonstration projects to enhance the outcomes of children that are known to the child welfare system.

- by Cameron Brenchley

 

The Week in Review
July 23, 2010 2:50 PM

 

Early this week the Senate voted to overcome a GOP filibuster and moved to a vote on unemployment insurance (UI) benefit extension legislation.  Senate Republicans had been stonewalling for weeks, leaving millions of unemployed Americans without their benefits.  Click here to read Chairman Levin’s response to the Senate’s vote to overcome the filibuster.

On Tuesday morning the Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing on the Immediate Need for Charitable Assistance in the Gulf Coast Region In Chairman Lewis’ opening statement he said that, “Our sole focus is on helping the people and the wildlife in the region and ensuring that charities are doing the same.  We will review what charities have done, and what is still left to do….My questions are simple.  What are charities seeing?  How are they responding?  What challenges stand in the way of feeding and sheltering those in the region?”

The Subcommittee on Health also held a hearing on Tuesday to examine Efforts to Promote the Adoption and Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology.  In Chairman Pete Stark’s opening statement he said that “Widespread adoption of Health IT is central to fully realizing the benefits of delivery system reforms, comparative effectiveness research, and improving the quality and value of medical care.” Click here for more information about the Health IT hearing.

On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly voted for H.R. 4380, the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010.  The legislation contains hundreds of tariff suspensions and reductions which would help American companies grow and support further job creation.  Upon passage, Chairman Levin noted that This vote is a victory for jobs in America, and for U.S. manufacturers and workers who need this action to keep growing and to compete internationally.”

Even after Senate Democrats thwarted a Republican filibuster on UI legislation early in the week, Senate Republicans refused to yield their debate time so the final vote could be taken.  On Wednesday evening their debate time expired and the Senate passed the measure, sending it back to the House of Representatives.  The House considered the UI bill first thing Thursday morning and after six weeks of Senate Republican obstruction, the House passed the bill and sent it to the President’s desk.  President Obama signed the bill Thursday evening and unemployment checks will be sent out as early as next week.  Click here for a video of Chairman Levin's floor speech during debate of the UI legislation.  Click here to read Subcommittee on Income Security & Family Support Chairman Jim McDermott’s statement upon passage.

The full Committee met on Thursday to examine Transfer Pricing Issues.  In Chairman Levin’s opening statement he noted that “multi-national companies are potentially gaming the current system to shift assets and funding within foreign-based entities to avoid paying U.S. taxes. If companies are moving money overseas, they are moving jobs overseas precisely at a time when we must be using the U.S. tax code to promote job creation and strengthen economic security for workers and businesses here in America.”

Pic of the Week

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Chairman Sander Levin walks to the Capitol to vote on legislation.  During a floor speech this week arguing for the passage of an UI extension, Chairman Levin said: “For six weeks Republicans in the Senate blocked unemployment insurance. They stood not on the side [of], but in the way of millions of Americans, and during those six weeks over 2.5 million unemployed Americans exhausted their benefits and they struggled to stay afloat while continuing to look for work in this difficult economy.”

- by Cameron Brenchley

 

Supporting American Manufacturing Jobs
July 20, 2010 4:10 PM

 

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This week the House is scheduled to take up an important bill that will help spur economic growth and support thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs.  As early as tomorrow the House could consider H.R. 4380, the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010, which contains hundreds of tariff suspensions and reductions on products where there is no domestic production or domestic opposition.

Chairman Levin notes that This bill is a shot in the arm for U.S. manufacturers who need these products to keep making their goods and supporting American jobs.” 

In a letter of support, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), explains:

The [Miscellaneous Tariff Bill] MTB is one of the most important short-term actions Congress can take to preserve and expand good American jobs, cut the costs of doing business in the United States and boost American manufacturing exports. U.S. manufacturers large and small use the MTB’s tariff suspension provisions to obtain raw materials, proprietary inputs and other products that are not available in our nation.

 

“Without the MTB, the cost of these companies’ products will inevitably increase, forcing them to pass higher costs on to consumers and making their products less competitive. These higher costs translate into lost jobs for American workers.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also supports passage of the legislation, writing: “Given its importance for preserving American jobs, the MTB should receive the same strong bipartisan support it has in the past, and the Chamber urges you to support its swift approval.”

In addition to support from NAM and the Chamber of Commerce, a coalition of over 140 businesses wrote a letter in support of H.R. 4380.

Click here for additional information on the MTB process.

- by Cameron Brenchley

 

ICYMI: NYT Editoral - "Reform Moves Ahead"
July 19, 2010 8:36 PM

 

 
Editorial from today's New York Times:
 
REFORM MOVES AHEAD
 
Less than four months after Congress approved historic health care reform legislation, the Obama administration has been making good progress in bringing some early benefits to fruition and issuing rules to guide the reform process. Despite all of the critics’ hype and scare tactics, some polls suggest that the public perception of reform is slowly improving.
 
That hasn’t stopped the critics. More than a score of Republican attorneys general and governors have filed suit to nullify two important requirements of the new law — that everyone obtain insurance or pay a penalty, and that states expand their Medicaid programs. The White House will have to keep pressing back and keep explaining why reform is in the clear interest of the nation.
 
Most of the major elements of the reform law don’t go into effect until 2014, but some important benefits start this year. Administration officials had two early successes: pressuring insurance companies to immediately end their indefensible practice of rescinding coverage after a policyholder becomes sick and to immediately start covering children with pre-existing conditions. Officials also persuaded insurers and a handful of employers to allow parents to keep their dependent children on family policies until age 26.
 
A few hundred thousand Medicare beneficiaries who have reached the “doughnut hole” in Medicare drug coverage have gotten or will soon get small, $250 checks to help pay their drug costs; millions more will get checks when they reach the gap later this year. The administration has already proposed language for contracts that will be signed with the manufacturers of brand-name drugs to provide 50 percent discounts next year to patients who hit the gap. A small blizzard of regulations, each requiring painstaking drafting, has been issued, including new rules issued Wednesday requiring insurers to eliminate cost-sharing for recommended preventive care, such as screening tests and vaccinations.
 
Not everything has moved smoothly. The new law requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on medical care. But agreeing on a definition of care (versus administrative and other costs) has proved difficult. A plan to open temporary high-risk pools for people unable to obtain insurance because of pre-existing conditions appears to be running behind schedule.
 
On the employer front, the administration has notified nearly four million small businesses that they might be eligible for a tax credit to help defray the cost of insuring their workers. And it is accepting applications from employers for a separate program to help defray the costs of insuring early retirees.
 
President Obama was right to bypass Senate opponents and appoint Dr. Donald Berwick, a respected expert on health care quality and costs, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. With no chief to sign off on crucial decisions, the agency has been reluctant to create and staff a new innovation center, to provide guidance on a vast expansion of Medicaid, and to issue a slew of regulations to reshape Medicare.
 
State leaders also have a lot to do to get ready for reform and ensure that their citizens get the full benefits. They will need to set up new health insurance exchanges, more closely monitor and regulate insurers, and expand Medicaid. While some politicians have de"cided to keep battling reform, at least 21 states have officially designated a task force or committee to oversee implementation. That is responsible government.
 
-by Lauren Bloomberg

 

The Week Ahead
July 19, 2010 1:17 PM

 

As early as Tuesday, the Senate could consider an extension of Unemployment Insurance benefits to millions of Americans whose benefits have been in limbo due to Senate Republican intransigence.  The House passed legislation earlier this month that would retroactively restore Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits and continue the EUC program through November. In addition, the legislation would restore full Federal funding for the permanent-law Extended Benefits program (through November).  The House will act, as needed, to ensure this important extension quickly becomes law.

The Committee will hold three hearings this week, beginning with a Subcommittee on Oversight hearing on Tuesday morning examining the Immediate Need for Charitable Assistance in the Gulf Coast Region.  The hearing will focus on the escalating demand for charitable assistance to help residents and wildlife in the Gulf Coast region and examine how donations contributed to charities for the region are being used.

Tuesday afternoon, the Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on Efforts to Promote the Adoption and Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology.  The hearing will focus on efforts to promote the adoption of health information technology, specifically through Medicare incentives designed to encourage the meaningful use of electronic health records.

On Thursday afternoon the full Committee will meet for a hearing on Transfer Pricing Issues.  When Chairman Levin announced the hearing he said, “In this global marketplace, we need to have a tax code that enhances the competitiveness of our companies and is enforceable by the IRS.  The transfer pricing rules have been frustrating for all parties involved and I look forward to an informative debate at this hearing.”

Click here for additional background information on transfer pricing issues.  

- by Cameron Brenchley