Bean Buzz September 2009
PUBLISHED: September 16, 2009
The Bean Buzz
What has Melissa been up to?
· Supporting Financial Regulatory Reform
· Reforming Health Insurance
· Listening to Constituents
· Safeguarding Drinking Water
· Reforming Credit Cards
· Honored by U.S. Chamber of Commerce
· Promoting Fiscal Responsibility
· Introducing Family Work Flex Act
- Supporting Clean Energy
· Working to Increase Accountability
· Helping Small Business Access Credit
Supporting Financial Regulatory Reform
Melissa joined President Obama at the White House to support his proposed reform of the regulations governing financial services. "President Obama's plan balances the need to monitor systemic risk with a structure that will allow risk-taking and innovation," said Melissa. "Reforming our financial regulations is vital to preventing a repeat of last fall."
From her leadership position on the New Democrat Coalition, Melissa has become recognized as a national leader on financial regulatory reform. Many of the reform principles that she proposed as co-chair of the New Dems Financial Services Task Force were included in the President's recent proposal.
Reforming Health Insurance
Melissa passed along the following message to supporters after watching President Obama speak to a joint session of Congress on health insurance reform:
"Like many of you, I was glad to see the President clarify his vision and make a strong case for both the moral and fiscal necessity of health care reform. He demonstrated a practical approach to the long-standing challenge of providing affordable healthcare choices to our nation's families and businesses. We have much work ahead to develop and amend legislative initiatives to achieve his commitments to insurance reform, securing and expanding affordable coverage, cost curve containment, quality improvement and deficit neutrality.
"As always, I'm ready to do my part."
Listening to Constituents
On August 19, Melissa had two town hall meetings with 6,000+ 8th district constituents. Close to every registered voter in the district was autodialed. Two more town halls were conducted September 15th. Most questions at these town halls were about health insurance reform. Topics included increasing premiums, pre-existing conditions, and moving customers with health conditions in an older shrinking pool with ever-higher premiums.
On September 2, Melissa took questions at a breakfast sponsored by the Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce. Again, most questions and comments concerned the health insurance reform proposals being developed in Congress.
Safeguarding Drinking Water
Melissa amended a national water policy bill to require a comprehensive analysis of the effects of drugs in our drinking water.
"We know that millions of Americans are drinking tap water that contains measurable quantities of prescription drugs and other complex chemical compounds, but we have no long-term plan to address the problem," Melissa said. "Understanding what levels of these drugs pose a threat to human health is the necessary first step."
Reforming Credit Cards
Melissa supported the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights which President Obama signed into law to prohibit arbitrary interest rate increases, require disclosure and transparency from credit card companies, prevent deceptive marketing, and promote small business credit information security.
"Credit cards are a vital financing tool for families and small business owners, particularly during the current credit crunch," Bean said. "Most Americans have seen their interest rates rise unexpectedly on their cards. This bill requires advanced notifications of interest rate increases and allows that new rate to only apply to new purchases, not existing balances. This is responsible regulation that asks both companies and consumers to adhere to sensible credit card practices."
Honored by U.S. Chamber of Commerce
For the fourth year in a row, Melissa has received the Spirit of Enterprise award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber presents the award annually to members of Congress based on their support for key business issues.
Promoting Fiscal Responsibility
Melissa joined President Obama at the White House for proposal of a tough pay-as-you-go law that would require the government to offset any change in mandatory spending with either an increase in revenue or a spending cut somewhere else, to prevent runaway increases in the federal deficit. In July, the House passed this proposal as H.R. 2920.
"As we move beyond the economic crisis, we must get mandatory spending programs under control to avoid burdening future generations with government debt," Melissa said. "The discipline and enforcement of statutory PAYGO has proven successful in the past and is needed again to reduce the runaway deficits we've inherited."
Introducing the Family Work Flexibility Act
Melissa introduced this act to provide incentives to companies that invest in telecommuting equipment. Working from home reduces harmful carbon emissions, helps businesses save money in office and efficiency costs, and strengthens families by eliminating travel time, allowing them to spend more time with their children.
"As a working parent, I understand the challenges of balancing work and family responsibilities," Melissa said. "This family friendly bill will enable more employees to put their skills to work at home, providing them the flexibility they need to care for their families. Just as important, a worker who telecommutes just one day per week takes 3.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions out of the atmosphere every year. Encouraging telecommuting will help our families, our businesses and our planet."
Supporting Clean Energy
Melissa voted in support of the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, which will reduce carbon emissions from major U.S. sources by 17% by 2020 and over 80% by 2050, as compared to 2005 levels, through establishment of a carbon cap-and trade system. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the bill will reduce annual federal deficits by $24 billion by 2019.
Melissa says, "This forward-thinking policy moves our nation away from the status-quo, ‘drill-only' dependence on foreign oil, in a way that is affordable to American families and businesses while protecting our planet. This bill measurably reduces carbon emissions, the leading cause of climate change, with a balanced approach that gives businesses allowances and time to transition to new technologies."
Working to Increase Accountability
Melissa continues to be committed to increasing accountability and fiscal responsibility in Washington. She has reintroduced legislation to increase legislative transparency by allowing easier access to the voting records of elected officials and to chart common-sense fiscal solutions by creating a bi-partisan commission to tackle entitlement and federal budget reform.
Helping Small Businesses Access Credit
As a member of the Small Business Committee, the Congresswoman has been a leading voice for the importance of access to credit for the small business community. Recently, she worked with President Obama to ensure that small business has access to affordable 7(a) and 504 SBA loans for community businesses, a vital force in our nation's economy.
Caring For Community
Take a look at the new section on www.melissabean.com: "Caring for Community"
Caring for Community grew out of Melissa's conviction that as a community we share common goals and we are all better served by working together to improve not only our own lives but the lives of our neighbors. We encourage you to explore the Caring for Community page where you may read about the 2008 Winning Women Award winners, nominate a 2009 Winning Woman and find not-for-profit agencies in your community.
Resources
Our website now includes a section listing community resources regarding children, disability, veterans, culture, animals, education, crisis support, immigrants, substance abuse, seniors, health, and recreation. We encourage you to support these worthwhile organizations which enrich our community.
Winning Women
For the third year, the Winning Women Task Force is honoring leading local women for their commitment to serve our community. Visit our website to read about the 2008 winners, and the upcoming event for 2009.
Bean Team Volunteers
Signature gathering for the Primary Election
We are gathering signatures on petitions in order to get Melissa on the ballot for the primary election on February 2, 2010. We need lots of valid signatures before mid-October so your help would be great! A copy of the petition form can be downloaded off of our website at www.melissabean.com . Please call Pat at 847-304-0056 or email pat@melissabean.com if you would like to volunteer or have questions.
Summer Parades
Lots of Bean supporters have had fun (and not gotten too hot or too wet) marching with Melissa throughout the summer. Thanks for walking with us.
Volunteers - The Backbone of the Campaign
We count on our great volunteers to help us with things like mailings, phone banks, marching in parades, and collecting signatures for nominating petitions - and lots more! We'd love to have you join us an hour a week, a day a week, or whatever works for you. Give us a call at 847-304-0056 to join a great group of Melissa supporters.
Events
Melissa attends Wonder Lake cookout and McHenry parade
Melissa enjoyed a summer cookout with supporters before walking in McHenry's Fiesta Days parade. Melissa and about 40 of her supporters enjoyed hot dogs, ice cream, and music at a park in Wonder Lake July 19. The music was provided by The Frothy Boys, a McHenry-based 1950's a capella group.
After the cookout, Melissa joined more supporters marching in McHenry's Fiesta Days parade.
As always, please don't hesitate to call or email us.
