My lobbying in DC for the Stimulus Bill- a report and a few pictures

[proud2BlibKansan]

Just loved this. In Union Station.




The union presence was awesome. All over town, from our hotel, to the Senate office buildings to the restaurants we went to, was a wonderful UNION presence. I even heard one guy shout "WE'RE BACK!"

On the outside of the Teamsters Building, which is right across the street from the Senate offices:




There was a rally in a park by the Senate offices for the Employee Free Choice Act.






In Brownback's office, first thing I saw was a TV tuned to FOX. Not a great picture - sorry.




The good news is the feel of the town was so much more positive than my last trip a year ago. Pictures of Obama EVERYWHERE. Happy people. I stopped by the Congressional offices to see my Congressman and I actually saw a group of Congress reps walking down the hall smiling and laughing. What a thrill.


Now for the bad news. As some of you have already noted, there is resistance to the Stimulus Bill from DEMOCRATS. I was with my union and we had members from 32 states. When we met after our lobbying, the most negative reports came from those lobbying the Democrats. They are afraid of pork and several said they had a hard time putting money into programs for only 2 years, leaving the states on their own to fund them after that.

When my senator's aide brought that up, I said after starving programs for 8 years, we needed to put money into them NOW and give the states some breathing room and time to work on funding.

Some other talking points that seemed to resonate with my senators: (These cover education and health care mainly, since those are the portions of the bill my union was stressing when we lobbied.)

IDEA (special education) funding will rise from 18% to 27%. When this legislation was first passed in 1974, the feds promised to fund 40%. But until recently they never funded more than 14%. The Dems raised the funding level to 18% when they took back Congress in 06. This bill will raise the fed portion to 27%. After 35 years, it's time the federal govt kept its promise to kids with disabilities.

There is also money in the bill for Head Start and Title I.

School districts have been hit hard with NCLB. It is an expensive unfunded mandate. In MO, it costs around $10 per child for the testing alone. That's an incredibly difficult expense to meet. The Stimulus Bill will provide SOME of the funding to meet the requirements of NCLB.

School districts are facing layoffs before the end of this school year unless they get some money. Larger class sizes do nothing to increase achievement.

Medicaid is the biggest part of many state budgets. There is $87 billion in the Stimulus Bill for Medicaid. This is called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). It is vital to relieve the budget strains at the state level with this funding.

It is also important to remember that this bill provides relief for the middle class. And I hope I don't need to explain why that is so critical.

So please please please call your senators. Even if they are Democrats and you think they are on board, CALL THEM.

The Republicans are writing a new Stimulus Bill as I type this. So call and tell them how important this funding is.

The vote in the Senate on this bill will definitely take place before they recess a week from tomorrow. My senator's aide thinks they will vote on Monday or Tuesday. So please call ASAP.

Oh I keep hearing that the calls are 100 to 1 against this bill. I find that hard to believe but we still need to call.

[Cleita]

1. K&R

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Thanks.

[arcadian]

2. Did you actually meet with Brownback?

Or did they give you the "I'm his aide and I'll pass it along to him" routine?

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. It was his aide and that was very interesting

First thing I saw in her office was a picture of her standing on the steps of some building with about 30 other people holding a sign that said
THANK YOU PRESIDENT BUSH FOR FUNDING ABSTINENCE EDUCATION.

Then right next to that I saw a picture of her choir and a plaque that said something about JESUS.

So right away I realized I would have to think fast to find common ground with this girl. :)

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Called both of my Democratic Senators today. Had one aide laughing because I told him I was

so fed up with the Repubs yelling 'tax cut, tax cut, tax cut'. We need jobs!

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Good for you!

I am sick of 'PORK'. I told my senators' aides that I don't consider money to help children PORK and the more I heard that term, the more offended I was.

[countingbluecars]

4. K&R

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Thanks

:hug:

[Ian David]

9. To "Brownback" someone is to smear santorum on their backside. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. LOLOLOLOL

:rofl:

Thanks for that great mental picture.

[Ian David]

11. Next time, you should mention that to someone in his office. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Only if you are there to take pictures

:)

[Ian David]

14. If I could, I would. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. I know

You would do that wouldn't you?

[Tsiyu]

13. Thank you for what you did

to help and for sharing the experience.

K&R :kick:

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. It was a pleasure

:)

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. kick cause that picture of our prez is just too cute

:)

[EFerrari]

18. Kick

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. Hey

Cool new user name :)