- Budget relief to states and local school districts and medicaid budget relief.

- $10 Billion for Grants to School Districts to delay teacher layoffs.

- $16 Billion to help fund Medicaid Budgets

- Estimated to save up to 300,000 teachers, police and other public workers jobs.

Summary From the Congressional Finance Committee-

Consumer Protections with Authority and Independence- Creates a new independent watchdog, housed at the Federal Reserve, with the authority to ensure American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, and protect them from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices.

Ends Too Big to Fail- Ends the possibility that taxpayers will be asked to write a check to bail out financial firms that threaten the economy by- creating a safe way to liquidate failed financial firms, imposing tough new capital and leverage requirements that make it undesirable to get too big, updating the Feds authority to allow system-wide support but no longer prop up individual firms; and establishing rigorous standards and supervision to protect the economy and American consumers, investors and businesses.

Advanced Warning System- Creates a council to identify and address systemic risks posed by large, complex companies, products, and activities before they threaten the stability of the economy.

Transparency & Accountability for Exotic Instruments- Eliminates loopholes that allow risky and abusive practices to go on unnoticed and unregulated - including loopholes for over-the-counter derivatives, asset-backed securities, hedge funds, mortgage brokers and payday lenders.

Federal Bank Supervision- Streamlines bank supervision to create clarity and accountability. Protects the dual banking system that supports community banks.

Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance- Provides shareholders with a say on pay and corporate affairs with a non-binding vote on executive compensation.

Protects Investors- Provides tough new rules for transparency and accountability for credit rating agencies to protect investors and businesses.

Enforces Regulations on the Books- Strengthens oversight and empowers regulators to aggressively pursue financial fraud, conflicts of interest and manipulation of the system that benefit special interests at the expense of American families and businesses.

Creation of a $50 billion dollar fund being debated to handle bank failures.

- Estimated Cost: $85 Billion

- Hiring tax credits to allow employers an exemption of payroll taxes if they hire new employees.

- Infrastructure (Build America Bonds, 1 year extension of highway trust fund)- total for this is $15 billion.

- Extension of the Patriot Act for 1 year.

- Increase in medicare payments for doctors.

- Tax extenders ($35 billion, just date changes to extend from 2009 to 2010).

- Unemployment insurance 3 month extension, COBRA 3 month extension, Doc Fix 7 month extension ($35 billion total)

- Extension of the flood insurance program

- Small business (waiving fees for small business loans)

- Satellite Homeowner Act 5 year fix

- $1.5 billion in disaster relief for farmers

Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to establish a combined efficiency and renewable electricity standard that requires utilities to supply an increasing percentage of their demand from a combination of energy efficiency savings and renewable energy (6% in 2012, 9.5% in 2014, 13% in 2016, 16.5% in 2018, and 20% in 2021-2039). Provides for: (1) issuing, trading, banking, retiring, and verifying renewable electricity credits; and (2) prescribing standards to define and measure electricity savings from energy efficiency and energy conservation measures.

- Amends the Clean Air Act (CAA) to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) set forth a national strategy to address barriers to the commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture and sequestration; (2) establish an approach to certify and permit geologic sequestration; and (3) promulgate regulations to minimize the risk of escape to the atmosphere of carbon dioxide injected for purposes of geological sequestration. Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator to promulgate regulations for sequestration wells.

- Amends PURPA to provide for the development of electric vehicle infrastructure. Requires the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to establish: (1) a large-scale vehicle electrification program; and (2) a program to provide financial assistance for the manufacture of plug-in electric drive vehicles. Requires the Administrator to establish a program under which a state may create a State Energy and Environment Development Account.

- Safe Climate Act - Amends the CAA to require the Administrator to promulgate regulations to: (1) cap and reduce GHG emissions, annually, so that GHG emissions from capped sources are reduced to 97% of 2005 levels by 2012, 83% by 2020, 58% by 2030, and 17% by 2050; and (2) establish a federal GHG registry.

- Provides for trading, banking and borrowing, auctioning, selling, exchanging, transferring, holding, or retiring emission allowances.

- Requires the Administrator to: (1) establish a strategic reserve account and place into that account specified amounts (ranging from 1% to 3%) of the emission allowances for each of calendar years 2012-2050; and (2) auction such strategic reserve allowances once each quarter of each of such years.

Too Many Details to List. Mobile users please check out the Links on Visible Vote on Facebook.

Topics: National and community service, Military personnel and dependents, Armed forces and national security

There are currently 2 bills introduced in Congress to define marriage as a union between man and woman. We will be monitoring to see if one makes it out of committee and is voted on. The details for each bill are as follows. We will post both bills on our discussion forums on Facebook.

HR. 1269 Marriage Protection Act of 2009
- Amends the federal judicial code to deny federal courts jurisdiction to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of, or the validity under the Constitution, of the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act declaring that no state shall be required to give effect to any marriage between persons of the same sex under the laws of any other state.

HR. 37 Proposing Amendment to the Constitution of the US relating to Marriage
- Requires marriage in the United States to consist only of a legal union of a man and a woman.
- Prohibits any federal or state court from having jurisdiction to determine whether the Constitution or any state constitution requires the legal incidents of marriage to be conferred upon any union other than a legal union between one man and one woman.
- Prohibits requiring any state to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state concerning a union between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage, or as having the legal incidents of marriage, under the laws of such other state.

Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2009 or the DREAM Act of 2009 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of an unlawful alien\'s eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence.

- Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to conditional permanent resident status, an alien who: (1) entered the United States before his or her 16th birthday and has been present in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding enactment of this Act; (2) is a person of good moral character; (3) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act; (4) at the time of application, has been admitted to an institution of higher education or has earned a high school or equivalent diploma; (5) from the age of 16 and older, has never been under a final order of exclusion, deportation, or removal; and (6) was under age 35 on the date of this Act\'s enactment.

-Sets forth the conditions for conditional permanent resident status, including: (1) termination of status for violation of this Act; and (2) removal of conditional status to permanent status.

-Authorizes an alien who has satisfied the appropriate requirements prior to enactment of this Act to petition the Secretary for conditional permanent resident status.

-Provides for: (1) exclusive jurisdiction; (2) penalties for false application statements; (3) confidentiality; (4) fee prohibitions; (5) higher education assistance; and (6) a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report respecting the number of aliens adjusted under this Act.

- NOTE: This bill failed last year which you can see in the news articles.

- Authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that: (1) constitutes a crime of violence under federal law or a felony under state, local, or Indian tribal law; and (2) is motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation of the state, local, or tribal hate crime laws. Directs the Attorney General to give priority for assistance to crimes committed by offenders who have committed crimes in more than one state and to rural jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraordinary investigation or prosecution expenses.

- Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to assist state, local, and Indian law enforcement agencies with such extraordinary expenses. Directs the Office of Justice Programs to: (1) work closely with funded jurisdictions to ensure that the concerns and needs of all affected parties are addressed; and (2) award grants to state and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.

Topics: Crime and law enforcement, Voting rights, Government information and archives, Correctional facilities and imprisonment, Congressional elections