Congressman Bob Filner's
Congressional Update

September 2010

In this Issue

• Jobs, Foreclosures and Small Businesses Top Agenda at Banking Forum

• Imperial Valley College awarded more than $435,000

• Fighting efforts to upend Social Security

• Castle Park High School participates in UCSD’s Innovative ScienceBridge Program

• Commemorating the 65th Anniversary of the End of World War II

• Protecting the Jobs of Teachers, Firefighters and Police Officers

• More than $487 million in Recovery Funds for Education Released to California

• Congratulating New U.S. House of Representatives Page

• Constituent Mail Bag

• Useful Website: Recovery.gov

Jobs, Foreclosures and Small Businesses Top Agenda at Banking Forum

Last month, I brought together banks, small businesses, housing advocates and government agencies for an economic roundtable to address job creation, small business expansion, foreclosures and increased bank lending opportunities.

Instead of bailing out the people who really needed it, Washington chose to bail out Wall Street and it left our community banks out of the equation and our small businesses and homeowners twisting in the wind. That’s why I brought everyone to the table to talk about options for making sure people can stay in their homes and small businesses have access to the capital they need to expand and create jobs.

It was an open and honest discussion between national and local banks, non-profits, small businesses, the federal Small Business Administration, the Treasury Department and a homeowner currently facing foreclosure.

Imperial Valley College awarded more than $435,000

I announced last month that Imperial Valley College has been awarded $435,532.00. The funding comes under the Student Support Services Program for low-income, first-generation or disabled college students.

We have to make sure there is a support system for our students who come into college at comparative disadvantage. This funding will go to support these students so they are able to graduate from college and go on to start promising careers.

The purpose of the Student Support Services Program is to provide academic and other support services to low-income, first-generation or disabled college students to increase students’ retention and graduation rates, facilitate their transfer from two-year to four-year colleges and foster an institutional climate supportive of the success of these students.

The funds were awarded as part of a competitive grant from the Department of Education. The authority for the program comes from the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Fighting efforts to upend Social Security

The day before the 75th anniversary of the enactment of Social Security, I joined seniors advocates in front of the National City Social Security office to fight for Social Security to be strengthened not slashed.

Some in Congress are taking out the old playbook and want to gamble seniors’ money on Wall Street. After 75 years of providing reliable benefits for seniors, the program we depend on to ensure we aren’t impoverished as we grow old is once again in jeopardy.

The new plan to undermine Social Security is similar to the one advanced in 2005. It would cut Social Security retirement and survivor benefits for middle class workers. It would divert trillions of dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund into private accounts and subject worker’s basic retirement security to Wall Street’s ups and downs.

Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935, Social Security was created at a time when the American economy had crumbled and was struggling to recover. Thanks to Social Security, millions of seniors today live their lives with dignity and independence instead of poverty and despair.

Castle Park High School participates in UCSD’s Innovative ScienceBridge Program

I visited Castle Park High School to see a demonstration by students participating in UCSD’s ScienceBridge program which seeks to bring science education to high schools across the Sweetwater School District.

The students I met are not only getting a first-rate science education, they are also learning skills for cutting-edge jobs in the biotechnology industry and bringing science experiments to other high school students.

The students at Castle Park High School are part of an innovative program created by UCSD where the high school students produce test lab kits at no cost for other high school science students in the district. The program was designed to bring cutting-edge research into the classroom and give students the opportunity to learn about biotechnology and science production.

Commemorating the 65th Anniversary of the End of World War II

Last month, I visited celebrations commemorating the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II to present a Congressional Resolution supporting the Spirit of ‘45, a year-long national campaign to raise public awareness of the anniversary of the end of World War II.

The Spirit of ‘45 campaign encourages communities to hold commemorative events, as well as to collect first-hand memories of those who experienced August 14, 1945 — memories that will be preserved on a web site and shared with schools, libraries, museums, memorials and the public. Stories can be submitted via the www.spiritof45.org website.

I introduced H.Con.Res. 226, Supporting the Observance of "Spirit of '45 Day," on January 13, 2010. The resolution passed the House of Representatives on July 26, 2010 and the Senate on August 5, 2010.

Protecting the Jobs of Teachers, Firefighters and Police Officers

We need to keep our teachers in the classroom and our police officers on the street – not in the unemployment line. That’s why I voted to save and create almost 320,000 jobs – including saving the jobs of 160,000 teachers and preventing the layoffs of tens of thousands of police officers, firefighters, and nurses.

The House was brought back into session last month to take up the bill to give emergency aid to help states keep teachers in our classrooms and first responders on duty. The Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act is not only completely paid for, it reduces the deficit by $1.4 billion over 10 years—in part by closing a loophole that actually encourages corporations to ship American jobs overseas. The bill we voted on was a win-win – it is paid for by closing a tax loophole that encourages sending jobs overseas and helps keep our teachers and first responders on the job.

My district, which includes southern San Diego County and all of Imperial County, is projected to receive $33.1 million which would save or create 464 education jobs. California will receive a total of $1.2 billion dollars, protecting 16,500 jobs in education across the state.

The legislation provides a total of $10 billion in funding to save teachers’ jobs. It also provides $16.1 billion in health assistance to the states that, by reducing shortfalls and stimulating the economy, will save and create 158,000 jobs, including preventing the layoffs of police officers and firefighters, as well as creating private-sector jobs throughout our economy.

The funding in the bill is supported by a majority of the nation’s Governors, including many Republican Governors, and by numerous organizations, including the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of Counties and the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations.

More than $487 million in Recovery Funds for Education Released to California

Last month I announced that the U.S. Department of Education released $487,549,876 in additional American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to California.

Our education system has been cut to the bone in many places. That’s why we have made it a priority to secure funding to get our teachers back in the classroom. We can’t afford to shortchange our students when it comes to their education; the future of our state depends on them!

According to the Department of Education, in addition to the more than $487 million announced today, the ARRA has provided $10,362,084,158 in funding through 12 different programs to the state of California. Including the recently announced funds, the total comes to $10,849,634,034 for education in California.

Congratulating New U.S. House of Representatives Page

I recently met in my Chula Vista office with Haley Alderete, who was recently selected to serve as a U.S. House of Representatives Page in Washington, D.C. Haley is a junior with a 4.32 GPA at High Tech High Chula Vista, where she served as Treasurer on the Associated Student Body and as captain of the Debate Team. Haley lives in Chula Vista and is a member of the city’s Youth Action Council. I had the honor of sponsoring Haley for this highly competitive House Page program for the Fall 2010 semester which begins on Monday, September 6, 2010.

Constituent Mail Bag

From San Diego:

Please extend the Bush Tax cut. Let each one decides where he/she wants to spend the money. This is the best way to ensure money goes where the value is the highest. This is the best for economic recovery.

Thank you for serving.

Congressman Filner replies: 

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

As you may know, President Obama's FY 2011 budget proposes $1.7 trillion in tax relief – extending the 2001, 2003 tax cuts for middle-class families, including the child tax credit, reductions in rates, and marriage penalty relief for middle class Americans, while allowing "tax cuts that affect families earning more than $250,000 a year" to expire. This would mean no tax change for 98% of American families and at least 97% of small businesses.

And for the wealthiest 2% of Americans with an average income of $800,000 per year, the top marginal tax rate would return to the level at the end of the 1990s, a time of remarkable job growth and economic strength!

I will keep your comments in mind as Congress considers tax issues.

Useful Website: Recovery.gov

Recovery.gov gives taxpayers user-friendly tools to track Recovery funds - how and where they are spent - in the form of charts, graphs, and maps that provide national overviews down to specific zip codes.

In addition, the site offers the public an opportunity to report suspected fraud, waste, or abuse related to Recovery funding.

Recovery.gov is operated by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which was created by the Recovery Act.

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