Sam Graves-This Week in Washington April 30th

Below is the most recent version of Sam Graves' Legislative Newsletter. Sam is a great Congressman and we should be proud of his leadership here in Clay County!

This Week in Washington- April 30th, 2009 It was another very busy week in Washington. The H1N1 flu is still spreading, but hopefully the number of cases will begin to level off soon. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius was confirmed by the Senate as the new Health and Human Services Secretary and has begun coordinating the federal response. It is a serious situation, but there is no need for panic. We should and will do whatever is necessary to make sure Americans are safe.

Legislation
The House passed and I supported H.R. 627- the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights. It would curb arbitrary interest rate increases and ensure that cardholders who pay their bills on time do not face unfair penalties and fees. It passed with bi-partisan support on a 357-70 roll call vote.

The House also passed a final budget compromise between the House and Senate. Unfortunately, the $3.5 Trillion-dollar budget does not compromise at all. It makes no tough decisions, instead putting massive debt on our children and setting up tax increases for us all. It will double the national debt in 5 years and triple it in 10 years. It is an irresponsible budget and I voted against it.

The final piece of legislation that was considered this week was H.R. 1913, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This bill would expand the definitions of hate crimes. I believe that all crimes should be punished- including crimes committed because of the victim’s race, color, religion or national origin. This bill would treat “hate crimes” differently than any other type of crime. Crime is crime and it should be punished.

There is also some concern that this bill means that law enforcement will be trying to discern what an assailant was thinking. I don’t think we should punish thoughts, I think we should punish deeds. It is an unprecedented expansion of federal authority and I voted no.

The Small Business Committee this week held a hearing on the effect of climate change legislation on small businesses. Cap and trade comes at a time when most small businesses are already struggling to make ends meet. Testimony from witnesses indicated that this legislation would have a decimating effect on manufacturers who are already facing stiff competition from overseas firms. It would increase costs on fuel and fertilizer for farmers and ranchers. We should be working on legislation that will help create jobs, not legislation that will harm small businesses and consumers.

I was tapped on Thursday to help lead a panel that will look specifically for solutions to the challenges of rural America. Along with Frank Lucas of Oklahoma and Doc Hastings of Washington we will work to find new ways to create jobs and other opportunities for rural America. If you have any ideas for solutions, please let me know.

Doug Ervin's April 30th Capital Connection

Doug Ervin is my house representative in the 35th District here in the state of Missouri. He has an email newsletter that he sends out ever so often. Here is the most recent copy:

With just two weeks left in the First Regular Session of the 95th General Assembly most of the priorities passed by the Missouri House of Representatives remain lingering or stalled in the Missouri Senate. At this time, the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate have Republican majorities.

This session the House has identified a number of priority issues and passed the bills that express the intent of those priorities.

These priorities include:

• Drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Adjust income tax brackets to give tax relief to middle class
• Eliminate the franchise tax on small businesses
• Expansion of the Castle Doctrine and the Business Premises Safety Act
• Economic development
• Four-day school week
• Prohibit illegal aliens from enrolling in higher education
• Independence Day Sales Tax Holiday
• Declare Missouri sovereignty under the 10th Amendment
• Judicial reform
• Guarantee the right to pray in public places
• Create the crime of coercing an abortion
• Tax Payer Bill of Rights
• The Fair Tax

These bills have been passed by the House and are now in the Missouri Senate. With the exception of the economic development bill, none of the other bills have been passed out of Senate committees and are not available for debate by the Missouri Senate, much less have the opportunity for the Missouri Senate to vote on these bills and get them to the Governor’s desk.

This legislative agenda addresses the interests and needs of Missouri families. This agenda puts Missouri on the path to prosperity from reductions to the state income tax liability for Missouri families, reducing the tax burden of our small businesses, and improving our economic development toolkit to assist qualifying businesses to stay and locate in Missouri preserving and creating family supporting jobs.

This agenda preserves our constitutional rights relating to public prayer to the protection and preservation of our 2nd Amendment rights to asserting our state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment.

The Missouri House believes taxpayers should be protected from the false philanthropy of bureaucrats and politicians with the taxpayer bill of rights and reforming our tax code to reward saving and individual industry while promoting tax simplification through the fair tax.

With two weeks left and the lack movement by the Missouri Senate on these issues time is running out. Next week will be consumed with finalizing the state budget for the next fiscal year which must be completed by the constitutional deadline of 6pm on Friday, May 8. After that the General Assembly must adjourn for the year by the constitutional deadline of 6pm on Friday, May 15.

It is now crunch time. No bill should be considered dead until the gavel falls on May 15, but these bills must be passed out of committee and put on the Senate calendar to have any chance for debate and passage.

Time to start blogging!

A good friend of mine says, "Hey Andrew you need a blog, it's really not that hard, and you keep sending me these essays in my email." Yep, so I now have a blog, check out my Political Meanderings in Clay County Missouri http://claycountypolitics.blogspot.com/

--
Andrew

"I swear by my Life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another wo/man, nor ask another wo/man to live for the sake of mine." source John Galt from Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged