the Senate CONGRESS 1/30 the House

01/30/2014 Nativegrl77

The Senate stands adjourned until 10:00am on Thursday, January 30, 2014.

Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of S.1926, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act.

The time until 11:15am will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees. The final 10 minutes will be equally divided and controlled between Senators Menendez and Toomey or their designees with Senator Toomey controlling the final five minutes.

At 11:15am, there will be up to 4 roll call votes in relation to the following:

– Toomey amendment #2707, as modified

– Coburn amendment #2697

– Merkley amendment #2709, as modified and

– Heller amendment #2700.

Following disposition of the Heller amendment, the Senate will recess until 2:00pm. At 2:00pm, there will be a roll call vote on passage of S.1926, as amended. There will be two minutes of debate prior to each vote and all after the first vote will be 10 minutes in duration.

During Leader remarks, Senator Reid moved to proceed to Calendar #297, S.1950, a bill to improve the provisions of medical services and benefits to veterans. At 10:39am, the Senate resumed consideration of Calendar #294, S.1926, Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014. The time until 11:30am will be equally divided between the two Leaders or their designees.

At 11:15am, there will be up to 4 roll call votes in relation to the following:

– Toomey amendment #2707, as modified (substitute);

– Coburn amendment #2697 (NARAB alternative);

– Merkley amendment #2709, as modified (forced planned insurance); and

– Heller amendment #2700 (state authority—private flood insurance).

Following the votes, the Senate will recess until 1:50pm for the DPCC luncheon.

At 1:50pm the Senate will vote on the following:

– Passage of S.1926, Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, as amended.

All of the above listed votes are subject to majority vote thresholds. There will be 2 minutes for debate equally divided prior to each vote. All votes after the first will be 10 minute votes.

11:19am The Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on Toomey amendment #2707, as modified (substitute);

Not Agreed To: 34-65

11:49am The Senate began a 10 minute roll call vote on Coburn amendment #2697 (NARAB alternative);

Not Agreed To: 24-75

Senator Merkley withdrew amendment #2709, as modified.

12:10pm The Senate began a 10 minute roll call vote on Heller amendment #2700 (state authority—private flood insurance

Not Agreed to: 49-50

At 1:55pm, the Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on passage of S.1926, Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, as amended.

Passed: 67-32

This will be the last vote of the week.

Senator Reid filed cloture on the conference report to accompany H.R.2642, the Farm bill.

By consent, the cloture vote will occur at 5:30pm, Monday, February 3^rd.

If cloture is invoked, there will be 20 minutes remaining post-cloture at 2:15pm, Tuesday, February 4^th, with the time equally divided between the two Leaders, or their designees.

Upon the use or yielding back of that time, all post cloture time will be considered expired and the Senate will proceed to vote on adoption of the conference report.

The Senate is considering the conference report to accompany H.R.2642, the Farm bill.

There will be no further roll call votes this week.

WRAP UP

Roll Call Votes

1) Toomey amendment #2707, as modified (substitute) to S.1926, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act; Not Agreed To: 34-65

2) Coburn amendment #2697 (NARAB alternative); Not Agreed To: 24-75

3) Heller amendment #2700 (state authority—private flood insurance); Not Agreed to: 49-50

4) Passage of S.1926, Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, as amended; Passed: 67-32

Legislative Items

Adopted S.Res.342, designating February 3 through 6, 2014, as “National School Counseling Week”.

Began the Rule 14 process of S.1977, to repeal section 403 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, relating to an annual adjustment of retired pay for members of the Armed Forces under the age of 62, and to provide and offset (Ayotte and others) in order to place the bill on the Legislative Calendar.

No Executive Items

====================================================================================

Last Floor Action:
12:31:09 P.M. – The House adjourned.

The next meeting is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on January 31, 2014.

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Paid Sick Days Bill Passes in Newark!!

01/29/2014 Nativegrl77

Newark City Council Members with Sherry Leiwant and other members of the coalition after the vote.

ABB is making a huge difference in New Jersey!! This morning, Sherry testified at the Newark Municipal Council in favor of a paid sick time law, which the Council unanimously passed (here, Sherry is pictured with the coalition and Council Members who passed paid sick days today)! The Newark law is a broad one. Under it, private-sector workers employed by businesses with 10 or more employees (and all child care, home health care, and food service workers, regardless of the size of their employer) will be able to earn up to 5 paid sick days a year. Workers employed by businesses with fewer than 10 employees will be able to earn up to 3 paid sick days a year. This is truly a victory for all families in Newark. Which city or state will be next?!

Thank you,

The ABB Team: Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Liz, Risha & Rachel

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Protect honeybees

01/29/2014 Nativegrl77

A new highly toxic pesticide is threatening honeybees.

Help save honeybees from death by pesticide.

Tell the EPA to take action and ban this chemical immediately.

Mark Floegel, Greenpeace

This week, beekeepers across the country are waking their hives from winter hibernation to pollinate blooming almond orchards in California. But many honeybees won’t buzz back to life at all.
A deadly bee illness called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is sweeping across the US. Just last winter CCD wiped out almost a third of the nation’s hives.
We don’t know all the factors that cause CCD, but we do know one guilty party: A class of pesticides — known as neonicotinoids — that studies have shown to weaken, disorient and kill honeybees.
Despite the evidence, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just last year approved a new Dow pesticide called sulfoxaflor, which its own research showed was “highly toxic” to bees. To save the honeybee, the EPA needs to step up. And fast.
Demand that the EPA take its first big step towards saving the bee populations that we all depend on. Tell the agency to ban sulfoxaflor — the newest bee-killing pesticide to hit the market.
Because over 115,000 people like you demanded action last year, the EPA made bee health a higher priority — adding warning labels on neonic pesticides and even funding new research about their effects this month.
But this progress isn’t enough to save the bees. The agency still hasn’t reversed approval of neonic pesticides. Even poisoning events like the deaths of over 25,000 bumble bees in an Oregon parking lot after pesticide exposure aren’t holding the EPA’s attention.
That’s why beekeepers, farmers and environmental groups have joined together to file a legal brief against the newly approved pesticide sulfoxaflor — a chemical the EPA’s own studies admits are essentially bee poison.¹ We need public pressure to ensure the EPA takes this legal action seriously and moves faster to protect bees. Tell the EPA to withdraw its approval of the pesticide sulfoxaflor, which its own reports call “highly toxic” to bees.
Convincing the EPA to change course is far from impossible.
After millions of Greenpeace supporters and others spoke for the bees in Europe, the European Union has suspended the use of neonics. And four state legislatures — Alaska, Maine, New Jersey and Vermont — are looking to do the same. Around the world, governments are realizing that trying to solve all agricultural problems with chemical additives is simply reckless.
Together we can ensure not only that bees are safe, but that our agriculture supports nature, rather than manipulates and destroys it.
For the bees,
Mark Floegel Greenpeace Senior Investigator and Beekeeper
P.S. Help honeybees from dying of pesticide exposure. Tell the EPA to ban sulfoxaflor, a pesticide considered highly toxic to bees.
1. “Center for Food Safety Joins Fight Against Newest Bee-killer, Sulfoxaflor,” Center for Food Safety, December 16th, 2013

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Join us for the Unfinished Agenda on February 3rd

01/29/2014 Nativegrl77

Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power — A Conversation between Junius Williams and Tom Hayden

Junius Williams, attorney, activist, NMAAHC-Library of Congress Civil Rights Oral History Project Participant, will discuss his memoir with Tom Hayden, social and political activist, author, and politician.

Monday, February 3, 2014, 7:00 PM

National Museum of America History Warner Brothers Theater 14^th Street and Constitution Ave, NW Washington, DC

Enter through Constitution Ave NW entrance

Free Admission – Seating is First Come, First Served

Metro: Blue and Orange lines at Smithsonian or Federal Triangle stations.

Junius Williams, attorney, activist, and NMAAHC-Library of Congress Civil Rights Oral History Project participant, will discuss his memoir entitled Unfinished Agenda … with Tom Hayden, social and political activist, author, and politician. Both leaders will recall and describe the Northern Urban Civil Rights Movement of the early 60’s, and what brought both men to Newark, NJ. Topics will include Williams’ innovative leadership of the National Bar Association, his long career as an education rights advocate in Newark, NJ as well as his ideas about the evolution and effective use of political power within and by the black community. Books will be available for sale and signing courtesy of Smithsonian Enterprises. The program is free and open to the public on a first come, first seated basis.

Participants include:

Junius Williams

Tom Hayden

Free Admission — Seating is First Come, First Served. This event will be Simulcast and Webcast. Please refer to www.nmaahc.si.edu/events

For more information, please go to www.nmaahc.si.edu/events, email NMAAHCpubpgms@si.edu, or call 202.633.0070

Participants may be filmed, photographed, and recorded for the Smithsonian Institution’s educational and promotional uses.

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We’re Just Getting Started

01/29/2014 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Big News on the Minimum Wage

President Obama hasn’t even taken the podium for tonight’s State of the Union address yet, but he’s already made big news when it comes to the minimum wage.

This morning we learned that the president will use his executive authority to raise the minimum wage paid by federal contractors under new contracts to $10.10 per hour. As CAP’s Neera Tanden said today, the move “will put more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans, who will spend it in their communities and help drive our economic growth.”

In addition to demonstrating the president’s commitment to creating an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few, which he recently called “the defining challenge of our time,” it underscores another theme we’re expecting to play a big role in tonight’s speech: action.

The current, Republican-controlled Congress is the least productive in history and has refused to even vote on popular items like universal background checks for gun buyers and immigration reform. Today’s announcement on the minimum wage shows that the president understands that we cannot afford to wait for a Do-Nothing Congress to help solve our country’s problems.

That said, the minimum wage is a great example of an area where a willing Congress can work with the president to immediately improve the lives of millions of Americans and help build a stronger economy with greater opportunities for all Americans. While the president’s executive action will help a lot of low-wage workers and is a major victory, Congressional action is required to raise the minimum wage nationwide.

Here are a few numbers to know about increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour:

73……the percentage of Americans who support it.

53……the percentage of Republicans who support it.

273……the ratio of the average CEO salary to that of the average worker. In 1965, CEOs made only 20 times the salary of the average worker.

$10.46……what the minimum wage would have been in 2012 if it had simply kept up with inflation since 1968.

$18.72……what the minimum wage would have been in 2012 if it had kept pace with gains in worker productivity since 1968.

$28.34……what the minimum wage would have been in 2012 if it had grown at the same rate as the wages of the top 1 percent since 1968.

$15,080……the annual earnings of a full-time minimum-wage worker at today’s $7.25 per hour minimum wage, which is $4,000 below the poverty line for a family of three.

17,000,000……the number of women, who make up approximately 2/3 of low-wage workers, whose wages would rise.

28,000,000……the number of workers whose wages would rise.

$32,600,000,000……the increase in economic activity during the period it is being phased in.

$51,000,000,000…..the increased wages that workers would earn while it is being phased in.

As you can see from these numbers, it’s well past time to raise the minimum wage for all workers. So when it comes to the president’s plan to raise the wages of federal contractors, we’re just getting started. The Senate is going to vote on a bill to raise the minimum wage for everyone, no matter where they live. It’s time for the House of Representatives to do the same.

And while we’re getting started, here are five other big ideas to help create an economy that works for everyone.

BOTTOM LINE: Raising the minimum wage will provide Americans who work hard a better opportunity to get ahead while giving the economy a needed shot in the arm. With a higher minimum wage, workers will have more money to spend, which in turn gives businesses more customers—helping them to hire more workers. This will kick-start a growing economy that will create more opportunities for those who work hard.