A Look Ahead in Congress
Campaign season is right around the corner for all the 435 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of the Senate who are up for reelection. In fact, the Congress is now rushing to complete its work before the Memorial Day break. When they return, there will only be a few weeks of real legislative time before they adjourn for the month-long summer recess, and that's followed by a short Fall season before they go home to campaign. It should come as no surprise that the unfinished agenda includes no action on a real prescription drug benefit, Social Security or Medicare programs, and no action on the year 2003 budget.

Extremely severe Welfare Bill Clears U.S. House of Representatives
By a large party line vote of 229-197, the House of Representatives approved the Bush Administration's welfare bill (H.R. 4737). The legislation includes extreme new work requirements that will force states to implement massive workfare programs. The bill would require 70% of welfare recipients to engage in "work activities" for 40 hours each week, all with no increase in federal spending on the welfare programs.

Wake Up Washington our States are in Budget Crisis!
New York State along with all other states are facing fiscal crisis. State budgets are expected to remain depressed through 2003. New York State Legislators and Union activists are calling on Congress to temporarily increase the federal share of Medicaid (FMAP) as a means of alleviating the state fiscal crisis. We are lobbying in support of the State Budget Relief Act (S. 2221), which will provide, through the Medicaid program, over $17 billion in federal relief to the states over three years.

Do Nursing Homes Need More Help?
You bet they do and that's why Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Brad Carson (D-OK) have drafted a new bill in Congress that addresses the widespread problem of insufficient staffing in nursing homes. The bill would establish a federal staffing standard requiring nursing homes to have enough staff (nurses and certified nursing assistants) to provide at least 4.1 hours of nursing care per day for each resident. The bill also provides a permanent increase of 1.5 percent in the federal Medicaid payment to states in order to fund the increased cost to the Medicaid program.

Two Less Congressional Districts for New York
The New York State Legislature has finally adopted a new plan for our Congressional Districts. The plan will combine Representatives Ben Gilman and Sue Kelly's district, along with combining the districts of Louise Slaughter and John LaFalce. Because of the drop in New York State's population the number of Congressional districts drop from 31 to 29.

DID YOU KNOW:
When John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960, New York elected 43 congressmen and California 30. In the next Congressional elections, New York will elect 29 congressmen and California 53.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's first job after law school was as an attorney for the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., a close ally for labor that advocates for childcare and benefits to strengthen families.

WHY PEOPLE?
PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality) is our federal political action program. PEOPLE is your voice in Washington D.C.
We fight for better wages, job security, safe workplaces, health care, social security and making sure we get our fair share of the federal budget for programs for our members. JOIN PEOPLE TODAY!
Call the Political Action Department at 1-800-342-4146 ext 1404 for more information.