|
Rep. Levin Unveils Bill to Help Small Businesses
On March 15, Rep. Levin released a discussion draft of legislation to provide tax relief to small businesses and extend effective financing measures to create jobs and improve America’s cities and towns. The measure is called the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to consider the legislation later this week.
“Small businesses are an important engine of our economy and this bill combines a number of proposals to help them grow and free up resources to hire new workers,” said Rep. Levin. “This bill also extends effective financing measures like the Build America and Recovery Zone Bonds so that they can continue creating new jobs while making critical improvements to our communities.” For more information, click here.
House Lawmakers Introduce Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act
A group of 18 Members of the House of Representatives, including Rep. Levin, recently cosponsored bipartisan legislation [H.R. 4755] to help restore and protect the Great Lakes. The proposal builds on President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), which is an effort to target the most significant problems of the Great Lakes, including invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment. Although the existing GLRI is an excellent down payment, a longer-term effort is needed. H.R. 4755 calls for $475 million a year for 5 years to continue the work of the GLRI. The legislation would also renew and strengthen the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which helps clean up toxic sediments within the Great Lakes Basin. For more information on the bill from the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Ehlers of Michigan, click here.
EPA to Conduct Further PCB Cleanup in St. Clair Shores
On March 11, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would return to St. Clair Shores, Michigan, and conduct additional PCB cleanup work. Rep. Levin and Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow wrote to Administrator of EPA Region 5, Bharat Mathur, last November following sediment testing that revealed that high levels of PCBs have once again seeped into the Ten Mile Drain in St. Clair Shores. PCBs were first discovered in the Drain and adjacent canals in 2002.
“It is so important that the EPA is coming back in to help the community deal with this problem,” said Rep. Levin. “We cannot let this situation fester and allow the PCBs to re-contaminate the canals and threaten Lake St. Clair.” To read a recent Macomb Daily article on this matter, click here.
The Week Ahead
The House of Representatives is preparing to take final action this week on legislation to reform the nation’s health care system. Congress has been working for over a year on an effort to give middle class families and small business owners the health care security they’ve been losing as health insurance costs continue to skyrocket year after year. The House approved its health reform bill last November, and the Senate approved its own version in late December. Later this week, the House is expected to vote on a final health care package that would end the worst practices of health insurance companies, extend affordable health care to millions of Americans who currently lack coverage, and help curb the extraordinary growth of health insurance costs.
(####)
|
