Category: Maine
Advocates Push to Expand Freight Rail Infrastructure
Railroads
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/20/2008
WASHINGTON– Advocating for legislation to increase freight rail infrastructure, State Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Hancock County, co-chairman of Maine’s joint legislative Committee on Transportation, traveled to Washington last week to meet with Maine’s congressional delegation.
As part of “Railroad Day on the Hill,” Damon was joined in Washington by more than 450 rail advocates and members from Go21, a national advocacy group fighting to increase freight rail transportation throughout the country.
With freight rail demand expected to almost double by 2035, Damon asked the Maine delegation to support a 25 percent tax credit for private companies that invest in projects to expand rail systems. The credit used to be in effect but has expired.
“History has demonstrated that when those tax credits were in effect the railroads found it very advantageous to improve the industry,” Damon said in an interview.
But Damon expressed his opposition to a rival set of bills that its sponsors say would restore necessary regulation of the freight rail industry. He said he was not convinced that competition would result from the bills.
In Maine, Damon said, increased infrastructure would potentially allow passenger service to use freight rail tracks when available. He said he hopes that the new incentives would also help to further an expansion plan at the Port of Searsport to help products get to “America’s heartland.”
There are seven freight railroads in Maine, carrying more than 7 million tons of freight per year, according to 2005 data by the Association of American Railroads. Nationwide, rails carried more than 2 billion tons of freight in 2006, bringing in close to $54 billion in revenue.
“The tax credits are important not just to the industry, but to communities all over the country,” said Russell McGurk, vice president of Go21.
Because the demand for freight is predicted to grow 92 percent over the next 27 years and highways continue to be clogged with traffic, shipping freight by rail can benefit the public, McGurk said. The biggest impact would be on traffic congestion. One train can take 280 trucks off the road, according to Freight Rail Works, an advocacy group on rail issues.
There is also an economic benefit, as it costs less in fuel for goods to be transported by trains rather than trucks. A 2003 report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimated shippers would save $25 billion per year. That number is now likely to be even greater as gasoline prices continue to skyrocket. Transporting by rail is also three times more fuel-efficient, and so shipping by train is better for the environment as well, Go21 said, citing Environmental Protection Agency statistics.
Some freight rail customers, however, have expressed concern about the proposed legislation and are pressing for adoption of legislation that would increase federal regulation of the industry.
“It is in our interest to have a healthy and viable freight rail,” said Scott Jensen, spokesman for the American Chemistry Council. “But we need a balanced relationship between railroads and shippers, and the best way to balance that is to improve competition.”
The council and other shippers have endorsed two measures: the Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act, which is intended to reduce barriers to competition and enforce reasonable prices and efficient service; and the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act, which is aimed at restoring competition to a rail industry that has been exempt from antitrust laws.
Jensen said he’s not against the tax credits if that’s what the industry feels it needs, but he fears, he added, that investment will go to improving rails in areas that already have a competitive environment,
Though 75 percent of the rails in the country are competitive, 25 percent of shippers have access to just one railroad. This has caused these “captive shippers” to experience high prices and poor services, said Bob Szabo, executive director for Consumers United for Rail Equity, a coalition of freight rail customers.
Kelly Donley, spokeswoman for the Association of American Railroads, said her group opposes the shipper-endorsed bills.
“It would limit our ability to maintain a vibrant business and expand rail capacity,” Donley said “This is a matter of a small group of shippers who consider themselves captive and want a better rate for themselves at the expense of others.”
Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, along with Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, support tax credits for freight rail companies. Snowe, Collins and Michaud have not taken a position on the antitrust and reform measures because they are still being discussed by their committees.
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Federal Election Commission Computer Error Results in Wrong Figures
FEC ERROR
Erin Kutz and Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
March 19, 2008
WASHINGTON— The Federal Election Commission early this month reported on its Web site incorrect campaign contribution numbers for all Senate candidates after making an error when transferring the candidates’ paper filings to an electronic version. The numbers have now been corrected.
The mistake occurred because of a coding error programmed by the commission within its data integration software, according to Bob Biersack, spokesman for the commission. Contributions of less than $200 and contributions of more than $200 are totaled on separate lines on the commission’s site and added together to form the total contributions. The mistake occurred when the under-$200 contributions were included in the total for the over-$200 contributions, causing the under $200 contributions to be counted twice.
The commission was informed of the error earlier this month when Boston University's Washington News Service, which covers Washington for a number of daily newspapers in the Northeast, discovered the error in reporting the Senate race in Maine between Sen. Susan Collins (R) and Rep. Tom Allen (D). The commission corrected the error within days of being notified, Biersack said.
Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said the error isn’t indicative of the FEC’s abilities.
“There is great potential for error when you’re working with campaign finance data,” he said. “It’s not as simple as balancing your checkbook. Mistakes get made.”
Biersack said the mistake had not occurred in the past and only the Senate campaigns were affected because the House candidates file electronically.
“We're very concerned about accurately representing the information that's provided to us,” said Biersack, who also said it would be easier if both the House and Senate filed electronically. “We've always encouraged the Senate to change their process and allow their candidates to file electronically.”
Kent Cooper, co-founder of CQ MoneyLine, an organization that analyzes campaign finances, said the problem could have been avoided with electronic filings by the Senate, noting that the chamber has followed the “status quo” of filing on paper since the 1970s. Any change would require legislative action on the Senate’s part.
He said the FEC’s computer error “is the kind of example that should open their eyes” and push the Senate to enact electronic filings.
Some senators have already pushed for that to no avail, though. In January of 2007, U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced a bill requiring the Senate to file electronically. The bill has drawn the support of 40 co-sponsors, but the bill has not been voted on.
Stephen Weissman, associate director for policy for the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, said his organization is working to encourage the Senate leadership to schedule a vote. He noted that while computational errors in FEC reports are a concern, the graver issue in paper finance filings is that the information often cannot reach the public in time for an election or major vote.
“The people don’t have information about who has been giving contributions,” Weissman said.
Though the average voter doesn’t scour the FEC’s reports of candidate’s filings daily, errors in presenting the filings could have an effect on the numerous organizations and journalists who report on campaign finances, said Josh Israel , a researcher at the Center for Public Integrity.
“It’s vital that the information presented to [the public] be drawn from an accurate source,” he said.
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Legislative Leaders Call For More Cost Accountability Within the Electric Industry
Electricity
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/13/2008
WASHINGTON – Legislation that would force Maine’s electricity grid overseer, ISO New England, to provide reliable service at the lowest cost to consumers was introduced in the House March 6 by Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine.
“The proponents of utility deregulation promised lower electricity prices, but in far too many cases, the costs of operating the new regional market-based electric systems have resulted in billions of dollars in rate increases for consumers large and small, residential and business,” Allen said.
Electricity prices increased 55 percent since 1990 in Maine and New England, compared to a 35 percent increase nationwide, said a report by the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the state agency that regulates utilities for Maine. A majority of that increase occurred since Maine restructured its electric industry in 2000, according to the commission’s report.
ISO New England oversees the entire New England power grid, including generators and high-voltage transmission infrastructure. The cost of generation and most of the cost of transmission are shared by customers throughout the region, despite where they live. Maine’s customers pay an 8 percent share of the costs. So, if new transmission lines are built in Connecticut, for example, Maine taxpayers pay 8 percent of the cost.
ISO New England said this allocation makes sense because the new infrastructure helps assure the overall reliability of the system. Opponents argue that ISO New England’s price allocation unfairly places cost on consumers who don’t benefit.
“The way ISO New England is set up, Massachusetts and Connecticut need more generating capacity, but Maine is getting stuck with much of the costs, forcing the need for more accountability,” Allen said. “We don’t want unnecessary generating capacity to be built without understanding the cost. We want this agency to do what any other agency will do to balance the benefit and cost.”
The Consumer Protection and Cost Accountability Act would amend the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to assure that electricity rates provide consumers with benefits that outweigh costs through a cost-benefit analysis submitted by the Independent System Operators (ISOs). The ISO also would be subject to biennial audits to assess its performance and to recommend ways to improve costs.
“ISO New England has increased rates to expand generating capacity, but hasn’t given a thought to consumers,” Allen said. “Whenever I travel around the state of Maine I find individuals who wonder why their electric bills are going up so quickly. The answer is complicated, but to put it simply, if Maine’s businesses are going to be competitive, we need to watch the electric prices.”
Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, is a cosponsor of the bill.
Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate in February by Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt. Cosponsors of the bill include Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as well as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt.
“It is absolutely essential that we ensure that consumers’ resources are being economically maximized to ensure the lowest reasonable cost to our ratepayers,” Snowe said. “I believe this legislation will greatly assist in long-term planning for our nation's electricity grids.”
ISO New England views the legislation as “unnecessary,” spokeswoman Ellen Foley said.
“This proposed legislation is unnecessary because wholesale objectives already achieve the purpose of providing electricity at the lowest possible cost,” Foley said, and it “could jeopardize achievement of New England’s energy, economic and environmental policy goals.”
Foley said the system is very transparent, as ISO New England posts its prices on its Web site. She also said that any rising electricity costs must be attributed to an increase in natural gas prices.
Still, the commission and legislators said ISO New England lacked the incentive to provide cost-effective rates because its main mission is to assure reliability. But Foley said the competitive nature of the wholesale market assures the cost-effectiveness of the system.
“Wholesale competition is a marketplace similar to a stock exchange for electricity,” Foley said. “So the price is arrived at through the competitive nature of the marketplace. Generating companies place bids and ISO New England selects the bid with the least cost. So competition brings the least cost solution and we balance it with reliability.”
Because of the high costs Mainers have suffered under ISO New England, the Maine legislature asked the utilities commission to research solutions, suggesting that the best move may be to pull out of ISO New England.
The utilities commission came up with three solutions, according to its report to the legislature. Maine could pull out of ISO New England and create its own independent ISO or enter into Canada's electric grid. Both options the commission considered risky, but more cost effective. Or Maine could work to repair the current system. Allen's legislation is a step toward that goal, Kurt Adams, chairman of the commission, said.
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Members Express Gratitude to Soldiers, Opposition to Prolonged War
Iraq
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/12/2008
WASHINGTON – With almost 4,000 American lives lost, countless others physically and mentally wounded and half a trillion dollars spent, Maine’s members of Congress said that after five years of fighting in Iraq a change in course is necessary. But they said their support for the troops remains strong.
“We have nothing but inexpressible gratitude for the remarkable servicemen and women of our armed forces who are truly magnificent and unparalleled,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine said, echoing the gratitude of the entire Maine delegation. “They courageously place their lives at risk every day in heroic service to our nation at home and worldwide, and they remain at the forefront of our thoughts, prayers and concerns.”
Snowe highlighted the positives: Al Qaeda almost completely out of Anbar Province and a decrease in sectarian violence. She attributed these successes to the troops, but said that while the U.S. troops have done their job the Iraqi government has not.
“We are still conducting stability operations -- that cannot go on indefinitely,” Snowe said. “We have to transition to a point where the Iraqis are stabilizing themselves, and that can't and won't happen as long as we are doing it for them.”
“It is time for the Iraqis to step up to the plate,” Snowe’s Senate colleague, Susan Collins, R-Maine, said.
Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, also said a change is needed, as the strain on the armed forces makes the United States less able to react to other threats. He blamed the failed policies of “civilian leadership,” who “took our country to war, misled us and failed to plan for what would happen after the fall of the Hussein regime.”
More pointed in his attack on President Bush, Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, said, “I have been a consistent and outspoken critic of the President's failed Iraq policies,” he said. “I will continue to oppose funding for the war in Iraq that does not clearly include a responsible end to America's involvement in that country's ongoing religious civil war.”
Last year, Collins, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of the Armed Services Committee, along with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., proposed a plan to drawdown troop levels by shifting the mission away from combat and avoiding a precipitous withdrawal, which she said would have “catastrophic consequences.”
“As we seek to chart a new course, it is my hope that leaders in both the House and Senate will put aside partisan politics and adopt bipartisan proposals to guide our policy in Iraq,” Collins said.
Allen, who is running against Collins for her Senate seat, said a firm deadline for withdrawal is needed.
While a new course must be drawn abroad, it is equally important to care for the soldiers who return, said Michaud, who serves as chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health. Last year Michaud sponsored the Veterans Health Care Improvement Act. It was passed by the House in July but it has not been voted on in the Senate.
“Great strides have been made over the last couple of years, but there is more that still needs to be done,” Michaud said while assuring veterans he would continue to fight to get them the healthcare and assistance they need “to live the American dream that they gave so much to defend.”
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Sources of Funds Signal National Importance of Collins-Allen Race
FEC MAINE
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/12/2008
WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ match-up against Democratic Rep. Tom Allen in Maine’s U.S. Senate race is drawing large amounts of money from out of state donors, a sign that the race is national in scope and competitive, said scholars, analysts and officials from both parties.
“I don’t think there is any question that this is one of the most competitive races in the country and I think contributions from across the country signify that,” said Nathan Gonzales, political editor of The Rothenberg Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter that focuses on campaigns. “We’re seeing donors from outside the state give because they realize this is a very competitive race and it’s a seat Republicans need to hold and Democrats have a chance of gaining.”
Collins, the incumbent, closed 2007 with a 20-point lead, according to a November poll by Critical Insights, a market research firm in Portland.
Collins also out-fundraised Allen in 2007 and had more cash in her campaign account at year’s end, the most recent reporting period. Allen raised $2.8 million in 2007 compared to Collins’ $3.8 million, according to their filings with the Federal Election Commission. She also began 2007 with a larger war chest and spent less money through the year. Collins ended 2007 with $3.9 million in her campaign wallet as opposed to Allen’s $2.5 million.
Overall since her re-election in 2002, Collins has raised about $4.5 million. Federal campaigns are required to ask for personal information – address and employer, for example – from donors who give more than $200. Collins had raised $2.6 million in such contributions through the end of 2007, of which about 73 percent -- $1.9 million -- came from out of state, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that collects and studies campaign contribution data. This placed her eighth among Senate candidates in terms of percentage of funds raised from out of state, according to the center. Allen, who was last reelected in 2006, raised about $1.8 million in chunks of $200 or more, of which roughly 66 percent -- $1.2 million – came from outside of Maine, placing him third on a list of House incumbents.
Any time candidates raise a lot of money from outside their state it’s an indication that the race is on the national radar, said Massie Ritsch, the center’s communications director.
“They have received these funds because of the national importance of this race,” said Sandy Maisel, director of Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement. “Influences outside the state of Maine – political candidates, interest groups, political parties – understand the importance of this race.”
Most of these supporters have Washington, New York or California zip codes, Ritsch said.
“Having an incumbent senator and a sitting member of the House both as candidates, they both have a large network to draw from when trying to get support,” said Gonzales from the Rothenberg Report.
Allen has received more contributions from party committees than any other candidate in the country, pulling in more than $40,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Allen also raised $54,000 from other candidates, including $10,000 – the maximum amount a political action committee can give – from the Hope Fund, Sen. Barack Obama’s leadership PAC, and $10,000 from the Searchlight Leadership Fund, the leadership PAC for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. A leadership PAC is a committee a politician establishes separate from their campaign PAC, primarily used to give contributions to colleagues.
The Democratic Party is sending money to Allen because Collins is a sitting Republican in a blue state in a region of the country where “Republicans are an endangered species,” Gonzales said. “Any Republican in a blue state is going to gain attention from the Democratic Party.”
As the Democrats funnel money to Allen, Republicans are trying to keep up. The Republican Party gave Collins more than $5,000 as of the end of the year. She also had received close to $280,000 – more than any other congressional candidate nationwide – from other politicians. Her benefactors included Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., the former Democrat who still caucuses with his former party and chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which Collins is the top-ranking Republican. Lieberman contributed $10,000 from his leadership PAC, Responsibility, Opportunity, Community. Fellow Republican Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe contributed $4,000 from her personal campaign fund.
“Sen. Collins is very popular in the Senate and her colleagues want to bring her back,” said Rebecca Fisher, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “The Republican Party also doesn’t want to lose more seats and this has been considered a vulnerable seat, although Collins seems to have made the case that she doesn’t have one of the vulnerable seats anymore. She’s proven herself well as a candidate and is well liked. Voters in Maine don’t see her as a party – as a Democrat or Republican – they see her as a candidate who has advocated for them.”
In smaller states like Maine, candidates can’t rely solely on the financial support of their constituents because there isn’t much political cash to raise, said Ritsch; but while much of her money comes from out-of-state donors, Collins has received contributions from local Mainers, such as the recently deceased philanthropist Harold Alfond and Chris McCormick, the president of L.L. Bean, said Steve Abbott, Collins’ campaign manager. Both Alfond and McCormick donated $2,300 each, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Other major sources of largely out-of-state contributions for the two candidates are corporate PACs and advocacy groups. Collins ranked third among Senate candidates in the amount she raised from PACs, having raised close to $1.5 million. Her top five sources of funding were PACs, employees and family members of corporations, including defense contractor Raytheon, which contributing $22,250 in PAC and individual contributions, and Time Warner, giving $18,100, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Abbott argued that the PAC donations also represent contributions from individuals within a variety of different companies and industries.
Allen’s top contributor was the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org, which encourages its members to donate directly to candidates. Through MoveOn.org members, Allen raised more than $36,000, said the center.
“Many thousands of MoveOn members reside in Maine, but these donations are coming from throughout the nation. They’re regular people who want change and see Tom Allen as a direct route to get change,” said Carol Andrews, spokeswoman for the Allen campaign, who said much of Allen’s contributions are coming in small increments, $20, $10, $5 or even $2. “It’s individuals who want to see change. They want to see our troops out of Iraq. They want universal healthcare. They want tax cuts for the middle class.”
Collins also receives small contributions, but for both campaigns the “bulk of the campaign is financed by major donors,” said Steve Abbott, Collins’ campaign manager. The Collins campaign raised 1,826 contributions of $500 or more, while the Allen campaign raised 1,580 contributions of $500 or more, according to data released by the Collins campaign.
Both parties do acknowledge that money isn’t everything.
“Money helps but there have been a lot of cases in the past where money hasn’t won the race,” said Fisher of the Republican Party.
In 2006, six U.S. Senate incumbents were defeated and in each case the winner raised less than the incumbent, said Matt Miller, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
With close to $4 million in Collins’ wallet and about $2.5 million left for Allen to spend, it’s safe to say both candidates will have enough to run their campaigns, said Gonzales of The Rothenberg Political Report.
“What’s important isn’t always the money, but the message,” said Miller.
The message coming from the Allen campaign is one of change.
“The Democratic Party really wants to see change and the road to that change goes straight through Maine,” said Andrews of the Allen campaign. “We’ll never raise as much money because she’s the incumbent, but we’re raising enough money to be competitive.”
This message of change is the “same message that we’re hearing from every other Democrat with a pulse,” said Gonzales.
“It’s laughable,” said Abbott of Collins’ campaign. “There’s a guy whose been running on a change theme for the past year and that’s Barack Obama, not Tom Allen.”
Both Abbott and the Republican senatorial committee’s Fisher said that a change message works when voters want a change in their representatives. But, Fisher said, “I think they like Collins as their representative.”
It’s also hard for Allen to stand on a change message because he works across the street from Collins on Capital Hill and they have been in office for the same amount of time, Fisher said. Allen is also now a member of the majority party and if Democrats want change it’s now up to them, Abbott and Fisher said.
Miller, of the Democratic Party, argued that it takes 60 votes to do anything in the Senate and that the Republicans keep blocking the Democrats from making any real change. While Democrats work to increase their majority to get closer to the 60-vote mark, Republicans work to maintain the seats they already have.
“Congressman Allen needs to make his case to the voters that Senator Collins needs to be fired. The majority of voters like the job she is doing and he needs to change how voters in Maine look at their senator,” Gonzales said. “Both candidates are going to have the money they need, now it’s just about which will have the message to prevail.”
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Senate Bill Would Provide Help for Consumer Product Safety Commission
Consumer
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/7/2008
WASHINGTON – Last summer, Downeast Concepts, Inc., a Yarmouth-based company, imported toy rakes containing dangerous levels of lead and distributed 400 of them to stores throughout the nation. The toys were manufactured in China and entered through Boston. The company discovered the problem on its own after it stepped up testing because of a series of recalls from big-name manufacturers, like Mattel.
The company reported the problem to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency that monitors product safety, but the process of getting the products off the market was slower than expected, Michael Perfetti, spokesman for Downeast Concepts, said.
The Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would increase staff and funding for the commission and provide stricter testing guidelines for inspection agents. The Consumer Product Safety Act also would make it more difficult for dangerous products to enter the country and make it easier for the public to learn about hazardous toys that land on store shelves.
The House version of the bill, which contained provisions sponsored by Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, passed in December. The House and Senate will now meet to reconcile the two versions before the bill heads to the President’s desk.
Key points to the Senate bill include a public database that will let consumers post product complaints online, while companies will be able to respond to the posts. The necessity for this database stems from numerous complaints that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been sluggish in responding to complaints and issuing recalls. The database is similar to one already used by the Department of Transportation, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in an interview.
“The current system has failed at preventing toys from reaching American homes in the first place,” Collins said. “The system is backwards. Instead of detecting problems before they hit store shelves, we’re finding them after they reach millions of American homes. That’s where the commission has fallen short.”
In addition to leading an investigation of the toy recalls last summer, Collins sponsored a proposal in the Senate bill that would prevent “port shopping.” Port shopping is when importers whose products are rejected from one port try to sneak their hazardous goods through a different port. The Collins amendment, passed by the Senate, will require port authorities to seize and destroy products that fail initial inspections.
In addition to tightening the procedures for inspection, the bill directs the commission to develop more detailed guidelines for customs agents to use in screening products. The bill also increases the commission’s budget and staff and the penalties placed on companies that don’t follow the commission’s guidelines.
To prevent small businesses from being financially harmed through these strict guidelines, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, proposed an amendment, which passed, to make the penalties proportional to the size of the company.
Snowe introduced two other amendments, both of which passed. One forces baby products to be tested and certified according to specific safety standards; the other increases the number of commission investigators sent overseas to inspect the production of U.S.-bound products.
But while The Consumer Product Safety Act was praised as a good first step, others believe it’s not tough enough.
“We support the bill and think the bill is a step in the right direction,” said David Arkush, director of the Congress Watch division of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. “But while it is stronger than the House version, I wish it was even stronger and we’re looking forward to working with Congress to make more reforms.”
Reform advocates also are pushing for stricter laws to prevent hazardous chemicals from being included in children’s products.
The Senate bill bans lead and phthalates, a chemical that can cause reproductive defects, from children’s toys, except for trace amounts.
But that’s not all they should ban, said Elisa Boxer-Cook, a Scarborough mother of a 5-year-old boy and a strong advocate for stricter product safety guidelines.
“The federal government is debating this bill, which is great, but they’re not considering any sort of disclosure of the harmful chemicals that are in these products,” Boxer-Cook said in an interview. She refers to chemicals like Bisphenol-A, which also causes cancer and hormone deficiencies even in small amounts.
“A dozen states are now considering bills to stop these chemicals from being put in toys or to disclose the chemicals,” Boxer-Cook said.
Maine is one of the states attempting to toughen safety laws. A bill that would help to protect children from toxic chemicals in children’s products by forcing public disclosure of the chemicals is being considered in the Maine legislature. The legislation may go as far as banning the most hazardous chemicals.
Boxer-Cook said she supports this legislation and hopes the federal government will take steps to strengthen its standards to match the high standards in Europe.
“It would be illegal for this teether to be sold in Europe, this teether which still has my son’s teeth marks on it,” Boxer-Cook told a legislative hearing in Augusta on Feb. 28. “Manufacturers overseas often make two versions of the same toy. The one with toxic chemicals in it goes to my child in this country, and the safe version, without toxic chemicals, goes to a European child.”
Banning lead and phthalates is a step closer to Europe’s standards, where toys must be marked by a “CE” to assure their safety.
“This is a big victory for parents of small children,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sponsor of the federal amendment that bans phthalates. “Europe and California have already stepped forward to made sure that toys laden with phthalates are kept away from the hands and mouths of young children. America’s parents should be able to have the same peace of mind that the toys they buy for their children are safe.”
Perfetti, of Downeast Concepts, said he agrees with much of what the federal bill mandates, but would like to see additional guidance to prevent the confusion that results when different states adopt different laws.
“We'd rather dedicate our resources to complying with federal safety laws than trying to figure out the confusing patchwork of laws in all 50 states, many of which are inconsistent,” Perfetti said. “That's the best way to make sure that every company, large and small, knows what tests to perform and what certifications to obtain to ensure the safest products are sold to all of their customers.”
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Study Says Hunger Among Elderly is on the Rise
Aging
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
3/5/08
WASHINGTON— More than five million elderly citizens suffer from hunger in the United States, a number that is on the rise, according to a new study.
The study, produced by Meals on Wheels, a program that provides hot food to low income elderly and disabled citizens, spurred Democratic Gov. John Baldacci to announce Wednesday a new “March for Meals” campaign at the State House.
“This aging population presents many challenges for our state and our nation, including ensuring that no senior citizen be at risk of being hungry,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, which on Wednesday heard the results of the study.
“It is important that Congress anticipate the growing concern of senior hunger and continue to support programs, such as Meals on Wheels, the Food Stamp Program and the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, that are intended to combat hunger and ensure that some of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens have access to quality, nutritious meals,” Collins said.
By 2025, when all of the Baby Boom generation will be above age 60, almost 10 million American senior citizens will experience hunger, a figure that is 75 percent higher than in 2005, according to the study. That number may be even higher, as fuel prices and food and health care costs continue to rise, James Weill, president of the Food and Research and Action Center, a non-profit organization that works to strengthen public-private partnerships, told the senators.
“When people face this type of crunch, a ‘heat or eat’ dilemma or a ‘medicine-or-food’ choice, often good nutrition suffers,” Weill said. In return, these elderly citizens are more susceptible to diseases like diabetes and obesity, which can spur other health problems and additional costs.
“Knowledge of these issues is particularly pressing in order to best plan for the upcoming increase of seniors due to the aging of baby boomers,” testified James Ziliak, the director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky and the lead researcher for the study.
The number of elderly Maine citizens is growing faster than any other age group. From 1999 to 2025 there is expected to be a 97 percent increase in 65- to 74-year-olds and a 55 percent increase in 75- to 84-year-olds, according to a 2006 study by the Blaine House Conference on Aging. By 2025, one in five Mainers will be over the age of 65, reported a 2007 study by the University of Maine’s Center on Aging. The elderly in Maine had a poverty rate higher than 10 percent in 2000, the Blaine study said.
As Maine’s elderly population rises, the number of elderly Mainers going hungry is also increasing, Baldacci said as he kicked off the “March for Meals” campaign with the purpose of raising awareness of elderly hunger problems and encouraging more funding and volunteers.
“By providing meals and other nutrition services to those seniors, senior nutrition programs enable those individuals to live independently in their homes and avoid premature institutionalization,” Baldacci said.
Five agencies help to distribute the Meals on Wheels program in Maine, serving more than 5,800 senior citizens and disabled adults combined. The average age of customers served by Meals on Wheels in Maine is 80 years old, said Laurence Gross, director of the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, one of the five agencies that participate in the program. The majority of Maine’s elders live on incomes of less than $15,000 a year, according to Maine’s Office of Elderly Services.
“In addition to providing a well balanced and nutritious meal, seniors overwhelmingly tell us that the daily contact by the volunteer who delivers their meal is a great reassurance and welcome social interaction,” Gross told the senators. “Often the Meals on Wheels volunteer is the only person a homebound senior will see every day.”
Before Betty Goodwin and her late husband, of Bangor, signed up for the state’s version of the program, Meals for Maine, they needed to decide between food and medication. The $10 a month she received in food stamps was not enough and because she’s in a wheel chair she had trouble getting to the grocery store and preparing meals.
Since signing up for the program, Goodwin said, her health has improved and she has lost 50 pounds. The hot meal she receives from Meals on Wheels is the one hot meal she has each day.
“The meals are delicious,” said Goodwin. “The veal parmesan tastes better than what I could get at the Olive Garden.”
Goodwin also called the volunteers “wonderful.” She has three cats and the Meals on Wheels volunteers check on them as well. When Goodwin’s husband died, the volunteers were a “shoulder to cry on” in the days and weeks after his death.
“That meant a lot to me,” said Goodwin. “I can’t praise Meals for Maine enough.”
Despite the success Goodwin has had, the number of people helped by federally-funded nutrition programs declined by 800,000 from 1995 to 2006, said the Food and Research and Action Center’s Weill.
This decline is attributed partly to senior citizens’ hesitation in joining such programs. In order to encourage elderly citizens to sign up for such programs, legislators are considering changes to the food stamp program, which many elderly citizens use in conjunction with programs like Meals on Wheels. In 2005, 31 percent of senior citizens received food stamps, compared to the 60 percent for non-elderly adults and 88 percent for children, said Kate Houston, deputy under secretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The food stamp program is a part of the Farm Bill, which is being discussed by Congress. Provisions in the bill would boost food stamp benefits for the elderly, make more seniors eligible and reduce barriers that impede eligible seniors from participating.
Some senior citizens don’t participate in the program because of the confusing paperwork required and because of a stigma associated with food stamps.
“Seniors have cited worries about how they might be perceived by grocery store staff and other shoppers, and about the embarrassment they might feel if family and friends knew they received benefits,” Weill said.
As the baby boomer generation ages, they may be more willing to accept help because they are more familiar with the programs and they have not confronted the Depression-era problems that their parents faced, said Ziliak of the University of Kentucky.
“The elderly by nature aren’t anxious to step up and say ‘I’m hungry.’ I have a mother who has much pride and her pride makes her resist help,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Special Committee on Aging. “They still think they should be doing for others.”
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Collins Urges Baldacci to Request Real ID Extension
Real ID
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/29/2008
WASHINGTON – In a letter Friday, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged Gov. John Baldacci to request an extension for the state’s complying with the federal Real ID Act, which establishes national standards for state-issued driver’s licenses.
“Unless Maine requests this extension, thousands of Maine residents will experience substantial delays at airports and may have difficulty accessing federal buildings,” Collins said in the letter.
Maine is one of four states – the others being Montana, South Carolina and New Hampshire – that has not applied for an extension. States have until March 31 to seek an extension. Nationally, the switch-over to the new IDs would not be complete until 2017, but stringent rules would apply as early as May 11 to driver’s license-holders from states that do are not complying with the law and have not sought a waiver. Such an extension would give states until the end of 2009 before they would need to start issuing new licenses.
The stakes for many Mainers include personal privacy concerns versus potentially having to go through extra layers of security when traveling by airplane or entering federal buildings.
The Real ID Act has sparked debate throughout the country since it was signed into law three years ago, but more so leading up to its official release of the rules of implementation from the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 11.
“It took two years and eight months to draft the rules and we participated in that process,” Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said. “But they didn’t heed any of the advice, so it’s not like it was that productive of an exercise. The final rule is not that different from the outset.”
There are many points everyone agrees on, Collins said, making it clear that some form of secured driver’s licenses is necessary, but states are still concerned over privacy and cost.
In terms of privacy, Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said she questioned the tracking technology that will allow states to cross-check if a cardholder has a card in more than one state. Despite the fact that the Department of Homeland Security said the system was very secure and the federal government does not collect the information, Bellows said she has doubts.
“The federal government has a horrible track record in data security,” Bellows said. “It has allowed, either by accident or fraudulently, people’s identity to be exposed.”
Dunlap said that privacy concerns have played an important role in Maine’s opposition to the act.
No matter what assurances are given by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Dunlap said, “Once you create that concern, Secretary Chertoff saying it’s not one doesn’t make it not one.”
For example, Dunlap said, if a man buys a gun in Maine he would need to swipe his ID card, which would create a record of his purchasing the gun. Then, if on his way to Massachusetts to a Red Sox game he got pulled over by police for speeding, the Massachusetts police would swipe his card and see he’s a gun owner and if they asked where he was going would know that he is on his way to Fenway Park.
“Is that reason to search?” asked Dunlap. Dunlap said he thinks it is and that situations like this show the privacy concerns Maine’s legislature is considering.
Even with the privacy concern addressed, there is still the issue of cost.
The Homeland Security Department recently re-estimated the cost of the program to be nearly $4 billion over 10 years, $10 billion less than its original estimate. Congress appropriated $90 million to implement the program. States argue that the administration and Congress are not doing enough to help states with the cost.
“Taxpayers in Maine alone would have to pay $180 million to comply with its requirements,” Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, said.
Governors at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington in February voted unanimously for full federal funding of Real ID. While Homeland Security says the issuance of driver’s licenses is a state responsibility, the governors say that because it is a federal mandate it should be paid for by federal dollars.
Laura Keehner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the federal government is not making the Real ID a requirement, but “citizens in states that have not filed for an extension can expect to spend a lot longer in line at the airport.”
Maine’s state legislature passed a bipartisan resolution last year prohibiting the state from implementing Real ID. The resolution passed 171 to 4, making Maine the first state to pass a measure against the act. Five states followed Maine’s lead.
Now, Maine officials are not sure they can legally apply for an extension because of this resolution, although they aren’t sure they would want to apply for the extension regardless because of the overwhelming sentiment against the act in the state legislature and because the two major problems – cost and privacy concerns – have not been solved.
“Given the interest in the legislature in staying out of this, I want to be careful how we proceed,” Dunlap said “Members are still quite comfortable with their vote against Real ID.”
The act stemmed from recommendations by the Department of Homeland Security’s 9/11 Commission report urging the federal government to make state driver’s licenses more secure after finding that some of the 9/11 terrorists had acquired multiple driver’s licenses and different forms of identification under false names and were able to board the planes that flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
In response to the commission’s recommendations, Collins and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which she then chaired, drafted the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that would have implemented the commission’s recommendations by establishing a committee of federal and state representatives and technology experts to set mandates.
But before the legislation could be passed, the House put through legislation that repealed the Senate’s language and set the standards for the Real ID Act. There were no hearings or debates in the Senate in regards to the House bill. In fact, the House brought the bill to the Senate floor through an emergency defense spending bill, giving the Senate no opportunity to revert to the original Senate language or repeal the act.
“I don’t think Real ID was the solution. I think the solution was the language I wrote and I think it was wrong of the House to slip this into a defense spending bill,” Collins said in an interview. “But there is an immediate crisis looming on the horizon. If the state doesn’t take advantage of the extension as of May 11 Mainers who have only driver’s licenses, who don’t have passport or some other form of identification, are going to have a very difficult time traveling on airplanes because they’re going to have to undergo a secondary screening, causing increases in waiting time.”
Allen said that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be stopped from enforcing secondary searches. “I don’t believe they’re going to do that,” Allen said, “but what it takes is the entire delegation fighting for that proposition.”
Allen, who is challenging Collins for reelection in November, introduced legislation in the House in February of last year to repeal Real ID and begin the process again to better involve the states.
“Here’s what we should be doing,” Allen said. “We shouldn’t be postponing implementation until 2017. We should be working now to develop regulations through working groups consisting of state officials. We need to protect national security and the civil liberties of Americans. Pushing off Real ID doesn’t do that. We need to buckle down now.”
Allen said his legislation is “the same sort of idea” as the one Collins had originally proposed, but, he said, she now wants to “kick the can down the road and deal with it later,” by applying for an extension, he said. “I believe we should deal with it now.”
But Collins said that starting all over will take more time. “I don’t think it makes sense to pretend we can wind back the clock to four years ago when we do have a problem with people who are not in this country legally and people who are not residents of Maine who can get driver’s licenses and board planes and enter federal buildings,” Collins said. “There is a real problem here and it’s a problem that needs to be fixed.”
An example of the “problem” both Allen and Collins refer to occurred in Maine in 2006. Niall Clarke, an Irish citizen on a visa in the United States obtained a driver’s license, bought a gun, pointed it at Bank of America bank tellers in Bangor on Oct. 4, 2006 and stole $10,000.
Dunlap said it appears the extensions are Homeland Security’s way of pushing off Real ID to the next administration and Congress is going to have to deal with Real ID whether they deal with it now or in 2009.
“Homeland Security knows it won’t work because they forecast it will take until 2017,” Allen said. “So they’re tacitly recognizing it’s not working.”
By requesting a waiver, Allen said the state will lose the position to object and refuse to comply in the future.
Collins said requesting the extension does not commit Maine to the program and will save citizens from “aggravation, inconvenience, and frustration.”
Bush Greets World Series Champs
White House
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/27/08
WASHINGTON—A Marine Corps band’s rendition of “Sweet Caroline” set the tone as baseball’s 2007 World Champs reunited on Wednesday. It was no Fenway Park, but the team smiled just as proud as President Bush greeted them at the White House.
“Red Sox Nation extends beyond the South Lawn, extends beyond New England,” Bush told more than 1,000 boisterous fans far from home but just as cold on this chilly February afternoon. “It obviously goes to the Caribbean and even the Far East.”
In good spirits, Bush welcomed some players individually.
“We welcome Japan's Daisuke here to the South Lawn,” Bush said. “His press corps is bigger than mine. And we both have trouble answering questions in English.”
“And how about Jonathan Papelbon. The guy pitches almost as well as he dances,” the president said, referring to the pitcher’s notorious jig wearing underwear after the team won the American League East. “And I appreciate the dress code. Thanks for wearing pants.”
Excited to have this “once in a lifetime” experience, was center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who began his 2007 baseball season with the Portland Sea Dogs, a Red Sox minor league affiliate, before being called up to the major league mid-season. Ellsbury playedwith the Sea Dogs in 2006 and for17 games in 2007.
“From the moment he joined us in 2006 he had major league all-star written all over him,” Sea Dogs spokesman Chris Cameron said.
Ellsbury and six playoff teammates are former Sea Dogs, including Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, Kevin Youkilis and Josh Beckett, who played in 2001 when the Sea Dogs were owned by the Florida Marlins.
The players went from the White House to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It was starting pitcher Jon Lester’s first time at the facility.
“I'm only 24 years old and I'm seeing kids younger than me with no legs and one arm. It definitely opens up your eyes,” Lester said in a telephone interview. “It wakes you up and makes you realize that everything there is real and there's a war going on.”
It’s the team’s second trip to the White House in three years, following the World Series victory in 2004. Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Tim Wakefield, Curt Schilling and Jason Varitek are among those who made their second visit on Wednesday.
Boston University Washington News Service reporter Matt Negrin contributed to this story.
Senate Passes Bill to Improve American Indian Health Care
Native Americans
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/26/08
WASHINGTON— The Senate Tuesday passed an act aimed at improving health care programs and facilities for American Indians, bringing help to more than 7,000 in Maine alone.
“This is finally a step in the right direction,” said Patricia Knox-Nicola, health director for the Penobscot Nation. “We’ve spent eight years working hard nationally to get this passed.”
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act was originally passed in 1976 and acknowledged that the United States had a legal obligation to provide health care for American Indians. The act expires every 10 years and last expired in 2000. Though the programs within the act were funded since then through annual appropriations of about $3 billion, there have been no changes or updates to the law.
The changes are “long overdue,” said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, executive director of the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission.
The bill reauthorizing the act, sponsored by Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chair Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., adds scholarships to encourage American Indians to become doctors, nurses and health care workers; improves access to health care and to local clinics; expands drug, mental health and sexual abuse programs; and creates and updates health clinics, substance abuse centers and sanitation facilities in tribal communities.
“This legislation is very important to the health and well being of Native Americans,” said Dorgan, “It is also an important step in meeting our obligation to provide adequate health care for American Indian and Alaskan Native communities.”
American Indians have a lower health status when compared to other Americans. Nationwide, the number of American Indians who die from alcoholism is 550 percent higher than other Americans, diabetes is 200 percent higher, homicides is 100 percent higher and suicides are 60 percent higher, according to the federal Indian Health Service.
The life expectancy for American Indians is 74.5 years but life expectancy for all other U.S. citizens is 76.9 years. Maine’s American Indians die on average at the age of 60, as opposed to the state-wide average of 74, according to a study by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The report points to inadequate funding and a lack of accessibility to health facilities as possible explanations for the problems American Indians face in Maine.
“The health disparities that Indians across the country experience are huge and that isn’t any different in Maine either. In fact, we may be higher,” said Elizabeth Neptune, a Passamaquoddy tribal council member and the tribe’s former health director. “A lot of our population is under 35. Only 10 percent is elderly.”
Neptune explained that “elderly” means 55 or over. The age was lowered from 65 to 55 because so few tribal members make it to their 65th birthday.
Yet while Maine’s American Indians experience is equal to, if not worse than, such health disparities nationwide, Neptune said, they receive less money to build new facilities.
The facility-funding formula used by the Indian Health Service allots money based on the age and condition of a health care facility, costs of repair, location of the facility and the number of persons being served. Using these factors as guidelines, the Indian Health Service places tribal areas on a priority list, forcing them to compete for facility funding.
Maine is in one of four tribal areas that have received no facility funding from the Indian Health Service since 1991, according to an Indian Health Service funding chart.
There are five health clinics in Maine and more than 600 in the United States. The ages of Maine’s clinics range from 30 to less than five years, but the number of people using them is increasing. Maine’s American Indian population has increased from about 4,000 in 1980 to more than 7,000 today, according to the Census Bureau.
“The tribes are going out and getting loans to expand or renovate facilities because IHS [Indian Health Service] is so far behind in allocating for construction,” said Knox-Nicola of the Penobscot tribe.
This may change with Monday’s 56-38 passage of an amendment sponsored by Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that provides an alternative method for funding the building and renovating of health care facilities for those having trouble gaining funding from the Indian Health Service.
“I am extremely pleased that the voices of over 400 tribes were heard today in an effort to end the inequity in the distribution of construction funding for Indian health care facilities,” Smith said in a statement. “With passage of my amendment, regardless of where a tribe is located, the government will fulfill its responsibility to improve access and care throughout all of Indian Country with the fair and equitable distribution of facilities funding.”
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, both voted for the act and Smith’s amendment.
The cost of the reauthorized 2008 Indian Health Care Improvement Act is about $118 million for direct spending and $35 billion in discretionary spending from 2008 through 2017, according to Dorgan’s office.
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