Category: Spring 2002 Newswire
Smith Jockeying to be Leader in Special Education Reform
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12–Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) said Tuesday that he is drafting legislation that would bring New Hampshire more federal money for special education and change the way the federally directed system identifies which students need assistance and what assistance they need.
Schools in New Hampshire, as in the rest of the states, are now mandated, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), to provide an “appropriate” education for everyone up to the age 21, regardless of their disabilities. And the schools are forced to pay for the cost, even though the federal government is supposed to be pitching in more than it is.
“I support the full funding with IDEA with appropriate reforms,” Sen. Smith said in an interview. “I don’t believe that should be a federal mandate that is not funded.” His draft bill includes a series of reforms that he said would “ensure that costs are controlled and that the students who really do deserve-need the funding from IDEA-will receive the cost.”
IDEA is up for reauthorization this year, though probably not before the summer, according to Smith. Even though he does not sit on the committee that will handle the reauthorization, Smith said he is “going to try to be involved in the debate as much as I can so I can be one of the major players.”
When IDEA was enacted in 1975, the federal government pledged to pay 40 percent of schools’ special education costs, though it now pays for only about 18 percent. As recently as 1996, the federal share was as low as 6 percent, though several hard-fought battles in Congress brought the spending up to current levels.
In addition to the financial burden, critics say IDEA has become an intricate evaluation and appeals process for children with special needs.
Smith – a former teacher and school board chairman of the Governor Wentworth Regional School District in Wolfeboro – agrees.
“I saw first hand how the program was implemented and I am very sensitive to issues school boards face in terms of costs and interruption to the budget and to the needs of children and their parents,” he said.
“I saw many non-education related services that IDEA children are involved in such as medical care, just to give an example. I’m not saying some of these children don’t need medical care. The question is, does medical care need to fall under IDEA? I am considering this now.”
Alice Porembski, a special education policy analyst at the New Hampshire Development and Disabilities Council in Concord, said such reforms would be critical to receiving a spending increase for IDEA.
Smith is also working on legislation that he says would allow schools to transfer dollars in and out of programs such as IDEA.
“This would work well in New Hampshire,” he said, “because some schools in New Hampshire don’t have some of the larger problems that other schools would have in other parts of the country” that require additional funds.
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
Oxycontin: Balancing Risk and Benefits
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12--Seated in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Tuesday, Nancy Green, a certified nurse and mid-wife, told stories.
One story was about a young man who, after snorting the prescription pain killer OxyContin, found that his nose was bleeding. He saw remnants of the pill in the blood, but instead of cleaning the blood from his hands and face, he picked out the pieces and shoved them back into his nose.
Another story was about a grandmother whose doctor prescibed OxyContin pills for her pain. When she opened her pill bottle one day, almost all the pills were gone. They had been stolen.
Green told another story, not her last, about a young woman who lives in Green's rural hometown of Calais, Maine, and who is getting over an OxyContin addiction. The young woman told Green to say this at the hearing: "Take OxyContin off the market. If you can't," then impose more regulations on it. "Don't make it easy for us to get."
The committee also invited physicians, drug enforcement agents and drug researchers to discuss the balance between the OxyContin's value as a drug to alleviate severe chronic pain and the need to stop the abuses that many areas of the country, especially rural ones, are experiencing.
"It's a difficult balance to strike," committee member Susan Collins said. "OxyContin has proven to be a lifeline for people living with chronic pain, and that's why it should remain on the market."
OxyContin, an alternative to morphine, has proven to be effective in helping to relieve pain. "I worry about the people who suffer from cancer," Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said, if the drug's use if restricted.
Green agreed that OxyContin can "benefitápatients with chronic pain," but she has observed its destructiveness in rural Maine communities in Washington County, where, according to her testimony, "adult arrests for possession of synthetic narcotics were 2.5 times that of the state. The rate of possession of opiates or cocaine was twice the state average."
"The geographic isolation, combined with a lack of transportation, contribute to a substantial barrier for substance abuse patients to access medical and mental health care or social science," Green said in her testimony..
Here are some of Green's recommendations::
-- Expeditiously award federal grants for rehabilitation, a measure Collins supported.
-- Regulate the movement of people across the Canadian border to obtain prescription drugs that are "50 percent" cheaper.
-- Ask Purdue-Pharma, OxyContin's manufacturer, to establish foundations and make donations to help affected communities plagued with opiate addiction.
-- Install a monitoring system that will track how often physicians prescribe drugs.
Collins especially agreed with prescription drug monitoring of physicians: "Sure there's more it [Purdue-Pharma] could do and could have done to anticipate the potential for abuse and to take steps to work more closely with physicians." Purdue-Pharma's marketing technique was also debated at the hearing. While Paul D. Goldenheim, vice president for research at Purdue-Pharma, said he did not think the marketing techniques for OxyContin were different from comparable prescription drugs, Collins said she thought differently.
"I got the picture of a company that was pretty relentless in pushing this medication and encouraging its prescription," Collins said. OxyContin has been "invaluableábut when I learned that Purdue-Pharma spent $200 million last year pushing this product, thatámakes me wonder whether the company is providing sufficient information about the possibility of abuse of this product."
Published in The Bangor Daily News, in Maine.
Granny D On Congressional Marathon
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12--Members of the House of Representatives who still haven't made up their minds about the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill will be receiving a surprise visit today from New Hampshire activist Doris "Granny D" Haddock.
The Dublin native, who is 92, will be at the Capitol all day to present Congressmen with handmade Valentine's Day cards urging them to vote this week in favor of the bill that would seek to ban "soft money" from the political process.
Upon Granny D's arrival at Union Station at noon yesterday, two-dozen fans flocked around the unassuming, five-foot-tall great-grandmother. "You've all come for me!" she exclaimed. Donning her signature feathered straw hat and pin-covered reflector vest, she unfurled a flag with the slogan "Campaign Finance Reform" and began her procession to the Capitol.
The bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Chris Shays, R-CT, and Marty Meehan, D-MA, would prohibit political parties from accepting "soft money," the unregulated and unlimited contributions from corporations, political action committees and unions. It would also restrict interest groups from running political advertisements in the two months before an election.
Haddock began her cross-country walk in support of campaign finance reform in Pasadena, Calif, in January 1999. She wore out four pairs of shoes over the course of the 3,200-mile journey that ended in March of 2000 in Washington, D.C. On the way she met with reform groups and several dozen members of Congress.
Granny D showed off her fiery spirit while reflecting on her efforts to push campaign finance reform into law.
"I would tell [President Bush] that the people in this country, we the people, want that bill to pass. That we're sick of living in a country where the poor man has to sell his soul in order to run for office, or he has to be a multimillionaire. That the person that gets the job is the one that raises the most money, and it's not a democracy, and I want it stopped. I want all the children in this country to be able to run for office someday," she said as she marched toward the Capitol yesterday.
Though her cross-country trek spawned hundreds of "friends of Granny D," and though she met with 35 Senators during a weeklong walking vigil around the Capitol during the 2001 McCain-Feingold debate, she plays down her influence on Congress.
"In this city they pretty much ignore me," she said.
Several Representatives, including Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, and Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, acknowledged Granny D's attendance in the House chamber during last night's floor proceedings.
Haddock said she had hoped to talk with Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., about the legislation and his vote but "they only give me aides to talk to," she confided. However, she expressed her appreciation for Bass's signing of the discharge petition that forced a vote on the Shays-Meehan bill in defiance of the House Republican leadership.
Bass Press Secretary Sally Tibbetts, who received the Valentine's day card on behalf o
f the Congressman, said Bass has voted in favor of every major campaign finance reform bill previously introduced. "As I told Granny D, the Congressman's position on campaign finance reform is well-established."
"I hope that supporters of campaign finance reform have been spending their time more wisely," than lobbying Bass, she said, suggesting that groups such as Common Cause focus their efforts on undecided House members.
Bass's office reported that on Monday they received about 25 calls from New Hampshire residents who want Bass to vote in favor of reform and one urging him to vote against it.
Granny D spoke at a press conference on the Capitol lawn yesterday evening sponsored b
y Common Cause which featured a mock New Orleans jazz funeral "for the death of soft money," with live music and Mardi Gras costumes.
Susan Quatrone, spokesperson for Common Cause, described the group's New Hampshire lobbying efforts, including visits to the Second District during the congressional holiday break, appearances on local talk radio stations and meetings with the editorial boards of several Granite State newspapers.
"We see this as a first step in a longer struggle, one which improves the chances for stronger reforms in the future," Quatrone said. She described her organization as "cautiously optimistic" about House approval of the bill.
The Republican House leadership has vowed to fight passage of the Shays-Meehan reform bill. Two alternatives, one authored by House Majority Leader Dick Armey, will also be offered this week and reform supporters say they are designed to draw support away from real reform.
President Bush has told House Republicans that if reform is passed he will likely sign the bill. Although Bush has not supported campaign reform in the past, the Enron scandals have heightened public concern over the need for some kind of campaign finance reform.
Debate on the bill began yesterday and a final vote is expected today or Thursday.
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire
Simmons Discusses Tribal Recognition
WASHINGTON, Feb. 07-Connecticut congressional leaders yesterday said the current federal Indian recognition process is badly in need of streamlining and improvement and the federal government must also aid states in dealing with the financial and legal pressures Indian casinos place on state governments.
"The Bureau of Indian Affairs is desperately in need of help," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th, during a hearing of the House Government Reform's Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs. "It lacks the staff and resources to conduct thorough reviews of applications for recognition," said Shays, a member of the committee.
Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd, noted that nearly 200 tribes, including 10 in Connecticut, are currently waiting for the Department of Interior, of which BIA is a part, to rule on their recognition petitions. The applications can range from a single-page letter to 30,000 pages or longer.
Simmons and Shays said there is a severe backlog of recognition decisions that has forced many tribes to go to court to expedite the process.
In order to be recognized by the United States government, a tribe must submit an application proving the tribe meets seven criteria of authenticity.
The criteria include requirements that the tribe prove it has been a continuous American Indian entity since 1900, that each member is a direct descendant of the historical tribe, that that those petitioning for the tribe's recognition are not members of another North American Indian tribe.
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report last November for improvements to the BIA and its recognition process including producing tribes with a set of distinct guidelines of the criteria, expanding its staff to expedite its response time to applicants and maintaining a sense of overall consistency in its decisions.
Connecticut officials also said the federal government should do something about the burden that the casinos of recently recognized tribes places on states.
"Federal recognition policies are turning the 'Constitution State' into the 'casino state,' and we do not like it," Simmons. "We want more control over the process. We want to close the loopholes. We want a level playing field."
For example, Simmons said two existing Connecticut casinos - The Mohegan Sun and run by the Mohegan Tribe and the Resort Casino run by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe - have overburdened the state with dense traffic on rural roads and strained fire and emergency services.
"The bottom line is Connecticut is becoming the gambling center of the East and this has happened because of Indian gaming," Shays said.
Simmons and Johnson have both introduced their own legislation to deal with all of these problems.
Simmons' bill, co-sponsored by Johnson, Shays and Rep. James Maloney, D-5th, calls upon the government to require the BIA "to notify states whenever a tribe within their borders files for recognition." The bill also asks the BIA to provide a state with a written report as to how it came to its decision on a tribe.
Simmons is also proposing the federal government allot approximately $18 million in grants for local governments to assist "impacted towns" as well to pay for any costs incurred by the state during the decision process.
Johnson's bill, on the other hand, co-sponsored by Shays and Simmons, "allows the federal government to cover up to $500,000 in expenses incurred in land claims or tribal acknowledgement cases."
North Stonington Mayor Nick Mullane attended the committee hearing but did not testify.
Published in The Waterbury Republican-American, in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Bush’s Budget Includes Millions for New Hampshire Wilderness
WASHINGTON, Feb. 07--Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) yesterday "applauded" provisions in President Bush's new budget that would earmark more than $5 million to protect the International Paper Co. land in the North Country and the woodlands between the Mount Sunapee and Pillsbury State Parks from development.
Judd is a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, which will have a major say in approving those funds.
The budget Bush sent to Congress on Monday would increase funds for the Agriculture Department's Forest Legacy Program - which gives grants to states for private land conservation - to $70 million, $5 million more than the current level. In all, New Hampshire is set to receive $5.5 million - $4 million to purchase conservation easements that would prevent development on the 171,000-acre swath of International Paper land in the North Country and $1.5 million for conservation easements for 6,287 acres of woodland between the two state parks in southwestern New Hampshire.
"This is a very significant step forward for the Forest Legacy Program," said Lesley Kane, the vice president for federal affairs for the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that is working to spare the International Paper land from development after the company sells it in March. "New Hampshire is very lucky to have Gregg, who is in the position he is in," said Kane.
The $4 million from Forest Legacy is only part of the approximately $22 million needed to secure easements on the timberland. After the Trust for Public Land buys it from International Paper in March, the trust will hold onto the land until the easements and final plans for the property are hammered out. Lyme Timber plans to buy 146,000 acres for logging, and the remaining land will remain as wilderness.
Sen. Gregg already secured $3.6 million for easements in the current fiscal year's Forest Legacy funds. The state is working on securing a $10 million bond. The trust's Kane said she is not worried about getting the additional required funds, but she said she will be closely watching the legislative process that appropriates the $4 million in next year's Forest Legacy funds for over the next few months.
Members of New Hampshire's delegation have pledged to push to get the federal money for the IP lands.
"I will be working diligently with Sen. Gregg to see that we receive federal support," Rep. John Sununu (R-NH) said on Thursday.
"This plan sells itself," Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH) said. "I've talked to various members of Congress who support it. Most of these projects come across as federal, federal, federal, but this one has a clear interest across the board - state, federal and private."
Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.), for his part, is working on receiving $9 million for the International Paper easement through the Wildlife Enhancement Act, which he introduced last year, though an appropriation would still be necessary if this bill becomes law.
The paper company's lands are "truly a national treasure, supporting abundant recreation opportunities for hunters, anglers, hikers, paddlers, skiers, and snowmobilers," Sen. Gregg said in a statement Thursday. "I applaud President Bush for recognizing the tremendous value of this property."
More than a hundred miles southwest of the IP lands, the timberland between the Mount Sunapee and Pillsbury State Parks, which has no roads and no development, is a rarity.
"This is the largest unfragmented block of forest land south of White Mountains," said Charlie Niebling, the policy director of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests in Concord. "These areas are becoming scarcer and scarcer and scarcer."
The Sunapee-Pillsbury easement is "a project important to the environmental and economic health of western New Hampshire," Sen. Gregg said. The timberlands would remain available for forestry, wildlife and recreation.
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
Smith Vows to Bring Back Transportation
WASHINGTON, Feb. 07--Warning that the current system for paying for the nation's highways "is in jeopardy," Senator Bob Smith, R-N.H., yesterday co-sponsored legislation that would require the government to spend the full amount next year that is authorized under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).
As the senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Smith will be a significant player in crafting the reauthorization of the 1998 law next year to determine spending for states' transportation needs.
The bill he co-sponsored yesterday would also require that the money come from the Highway Trust Fund, which has accumulated a $20 billion balance. If passed, the bill would restore $4.4 billion to the Administration's proposed highway spending and increase New Hampshire's share by $20,543,853.
President Bush's budget proposal would slash highway funds by more than $8 billion from the current level, or by about $4.5 billion less than the level authorized by TEA-21. According to the bill's sponsors, the proposed cuts in highway funds would result in the loss of 180,000 jobs nationwide.
"The health of our transportation system is not only critical to safe public travel, goods movement, and military transport, it is also an essential component of our economic recovery," Smith said. "Currently, the funding mechanism for our highways is in jeopardy."
Smith met yesterday with transportation industry leaders to discuss their priorities on highway financing and their concerns about next year's reauthorization of the 1998 law. His meeting with the officials foreshadows a coming struggle to expand the Bush highway financing proposals for the 2003 fiscal year. "They have the insight that will enable the Senator to write this legislation," said a spokeswoman for the committee, which has jurisdiction over the nation's highway and bridge system.
"As we begin the process of rewriting this law, it is essential to receive input from those who have first-hand knowledge of the transportation system. These are the folks building the roads, repairing the roads and using the roads. Their experience provides insight into how we can ensure our nation has a safe, efficient highway system," Smith said in a statement yesterday.
Smith is also focusing on several specific New Hampshire public safety and mobility projects. He has been closely involved in the environmental streamlining process for the widening of I-93 from Salem to Manchester. Smith said he intends to ensure that other projects, such as the Conway Bypass, the Manchester Airport Access Road and the Route 101 Corridor improvements from Bedford to Wilton, receive appropriate financing as well. He also hopes to increase federal transportation funds to New Hampshire to $1 billion over six years, a 40 percent increase from the last authorization.
Other New Hampshire lawmakers have pledged to help increase transportation funds for the state. Rep. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., expects to work with other members of the state delegation on highway financing when TEA-21 is up for reauthorization next year. Sununu, who is vice chairman of the House Budget Committee, called the Manchester Airport Access Road "one of the state' s highest priorities."
"As a delegation we'll continue to work together to see that as the funds are appropriated we get a fair share," Sununu said in a conference call yesterday. "As the economy recovers and we see an increase in consumption and an increase in taxes, then we'll see an increase in transportation funding."
Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., also a member of the Budget Committee, cited his past efforts to gain financing for the access road and vowed to keep the project a top priority when preparing the House's version of the budget.
"As a former member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I worked to secure $12.2 million to enhance the state's access to its largest airport," Bass said.
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire
Hodgson Joins Emergency Response Network Initiative Group
WASHINGTON, Feb. 06--Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson has joined in a national effort to develop better communication and integration of technology at the local, state and federal levels to cope with biological or chemical warfare disasters in the 50 states.
Hodgson, who has been criticized at home for his views and policies on prison reform, has joined the Emergency Response Network Initiative (ERNI), established last week under Defense Department auspices.
The new group, which includes officials at all levels of government and has no independent budget, will be working to develop a mobile facility that is intended to serve as a communications device for rescue workers.
In a joint effort with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Col. Fenton "Dutch" Thomas, the Defense Department's liaison officer to FEMA, ERNI was set up on the assumption that the people who respond first to a disaster--police officers, firemen, medical personnel - need a way to communicate with each other at all agency levels.
The emphasis is on ways to share information via computers, radio and television during and immediately after a biological or similar attack.
"This critical information, such as a national checklist for biological chemical information and the exploration of technology to integrate in our state systems, will present a true unified response to any and all terrorist situations, domestic and national," Hodgson said in an interview.
"From a national level, we looked at the inventory and asked what's out there and what do we need to come up with the best solutions to minimize chaos and confusion in a life-threatening event," Hodgson said.
The idea of establishing emergency response units around the country was originated about three years ago in San Diego during discussions about how to improve the application of technology to civil disaster, according to Steve Murray, a government civil servant at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego.
"We've recently been dealing with the National Guard and FEMA because those are the people primarily responsible in a civil emergency or disaster," Murray said. "There are fairly strict rules about what the military can and can't do in the civil sector, and their importance escalates depending on scale."
The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the National Guard are two of the leaders of ERNI team, he said, but ERNI, he added, is "a loose confederation at this point because it's fluid and everything is up in the air."
"The goal of ERNI is to form a network of federal agencies that can speak to White House homeland security chief Tom Ridge with a common voice," Murray said. "The biggest issue is communication. Everyone has the same idea, and this is one idea that can turn it in to reality. No one would regret better integration or operability, or better communication in Washington."
Hodgson, meanwhile, has joined with four police chiefs in the area to design and implement a mobile resource center that will aid in providing medical, technological and chemical security to all personnel at the scene of a terrorist crime.
"Homeland security is about protecting our neighborhoods wherever they are, regardless of whether it is a national threat or a local threat," Hodgson said.
Written for The New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Bush’s Budget Looks Good for Norwalk-Based Company as Maloney Eyes More Funds
By Justin Hill
WASHINGTON, Feb. 06--Rep. Jim Maloney (D-5th) is excited about the prospects for Norwalk-based Norden Systems under President George W. Bush's proposed increase in defense spending and said he will push to secure even more money for a Norden project.
Maloney, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that last year he helped increase federal funds for the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), which is under contract with Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Co. Norden, a unit of Northrop Grumman, manufactures radars and employs 500 people.
MP-RTIP, which calls for development of a radar system on manned and unmanned surveillance airborne platforms, is "the single most important" item in the defense budget for Norden, said company spokeswoman Fran DiMeglio.
Maloney agreed, calling the program's surveillance equipment "highly effective." "We have made the case we should build more of them. The president's budget starts where we left offáAnd that's the good news for Norwalk."
The Defense Department's budget, announced Monday, calls for $1 million more for the program in fiscal year 2003 than the $79 million it received for the same period in the current year.
"It will definitely be a benefit" to Norden, DiMeglio said.
The budget calls for a $97.2 million cut in research and development for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), for which Norden makes radar. But according to DiMeglio, the cut will not affect Norden's continued production of the radar system.
Maloney said the Defense Department's current budget does not provide adequate funds for Army Guard and Reserves. But next year, the prospects for more funds are improved because of the larger proposed defense budget.
Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is another company in Fairfield County that would benefit from Bush's defense budget. The county ranks first in Connecticut in defense contracts awarded per capita, according to the Connecticut Dept. of Economic and Community Development in Hartford.
The budget calls for a $128.9 million increase in fiscal year 2003 to develop the Comanche helicopter. Sikorsky has a contract to work on the helicopter's airframe and avionics with its parent company United Technologies Corp. and Boeing Co. in Philadelphia.
Bush's proposal also calls for the manufacture of 27 Black Hawk helicopters-two more than he originally proposed a year ago. Sikorsky is the prime contractor for the aircraft. Maloney said he helped push the number to 35 helicopters in the final budget.
"The president's a little bit ahead [of where we were last year]," Maloney said. "[This year] we start up a notch."
Published in The Hour, in Norwalk, Conn.
Senate Committee Urges Better Long-Term Care For Women
WASHINGTON, Feb. 06-At a joint Senate hearing yesterday, 8 of the Senate's 15 female senators called on the government to adopt better long-term health care policies for the nation's growing population of aging women, including tax cuts for home health care providers, easier access to prescription drug coverage and expansion of current health care programs.
The bipartisan group of women senators appeared before a special meeting of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Aging Subcommittee of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to express concern for women who face economic and physical challenges because they are the primary caregivers for elderly or ailing family members or friends.
"Just because family care giving is unpaid does not mean it is costless," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. "These women suffer disproportionately from our [government's] failure to develop a coherent, long-term financing system."
Clinton was one of seven women senators who testified yesterday. The eighth senator in the group, Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., is a member of the Aging Subcommittee.
According to a 2001 report by the Older Women's League, 75 percent of American women dedicate 18 hours of informal, or unpaid, care to seniors per week, on average.
As a result of this kind of emotional stress and physical demands, many of the senators said, full-time working women are at greater risk of health problems, especially since many of them are already in their middle to late fifties and living on a shoestring budget.
Improved legislation, however, could lessen the stress incurred by caregivers.
"Thanks to the vigorous advocacy of leaders like Sen. Mikulski and others, Congress passed the [National Family Caregiver Support Program]," Clinton said. "We should expand on the success of this program and on working on a bill to extend the concept of [it], which has worked so well for the elderly and other populations."
In 2000, Congress instituted the program, which allocated $113 million to the states to provide services, including counseling and training support, so that families can maintain caregiving at home.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., a member of the Aging Subcommittee, said he agreed that more legislation needs to be examined, although he is "pleased" that the Family and Medical Leave Act has already given millions of care givers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave from their jobs each year to care for chronically sick or elderly family members. Dodd authored the 1993 legislation.
In addition to that law, Clinton said, the government should implement a joint state-federal program that would make long-term care more affordable and Medicaid's available services more flexible and individualized for seniors.
Any Senate discussion of drafting or "retooling" health care legislation, Clinton warned, must be mindful of the nation's current budgetary situation.
"Every option that we think would be needed for available health care is going to be harder to provide if we · see we are spending the Social Security and Medicare surpluses to pay for our operational expenses today," she said of President George W. Bush's recent multi-billion dollar proposed budget for the war on terrorism.
"Realistically, we are not going to be able to come up with the [long-term health care] options that we should if we don't have the resources to provide that help," she stated.
Dodd said that the decrease in female mortality rates-an American woman's life expectancy is now 79 year-is especially important because baby boomers are quickly approaching their retirement years.
"By 2030, the number of those aged 65 and older will more than double to an astounding 70 million Americans," Dodd said. "Recognizing this, the role of women as both care givers and recipients of long-term care services as they age themselves is a matter of great concern and I appreciate the opportunity to examine this critical issue."
Dodd said that a recent study revealed that nearly or 382,000 Connecticut residents, or 15.2 percent of the population, are providing elder care in any given month.
Published in The Waterbury Republican-American, in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Collins Supports Long-Term Health Care
WASHINGTON, Feb. 06--Senator Susan Collins called Wednesday for doubling federal funds for the National Family Caregiver Support Program and reaffirmed her sponsorship of legislation to provide tax breaks to caregivers as ways to make long-term care insurance more affordable for caregivers - especially women.
"The simple fact that women can expect to live as many as seven years longer than their male counterparts puts them at far greater risk of needing long-term care," Collins said at a Senate hearing on women and aging. "Moreover, not only are women far more likely to need long-term care, but they are also the ones who most often shoulder the burden of providing long-term care to their loved ones."
The hearing, organized by the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Aging Subcommittee of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, focused on ways to provide affordable insurance for those who care for loved ones at the expense of their own financial security and physical health in the future. Seven women senators testified at the hearing in support of increased aid for caregivers.
The fact that women typically still do the majority of caregiving was cited in testimony at the hearing. Collins, who sits on the Aging Committee, pointed to a recent statistic developed by the Older Women's League that 75 percent of America's caregivers are women.
"These women suffer disproportionately from our failure to develop a coherent long-term care financing system," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) told the panels. She and others said that these women must sacrifice time when they could otherwise be working and saving money for the future. The baby boomer generation in particular, which is also disproportionately larger than other generations, may face smaller social security retirement benefits.
"In a recent poll of baby boomers," Collins said in her testimony to the panels, "only 27 percent of women surveyed had more than $100, 000 in their retirement plans; 33 percent of the women surveyed reported having less than $25, 000, an amount that would not even be sufficient to cover one year of nursing home costs."
The mental and physical side effects for women who devote an inordinate amount of time to caregiving were also a major topic at the hearing.
"In some cases, this emotional stress [of caring for loved ones] leads to depression, which can impair a caregiver's ability to provide care and also endanger their own health," Laurie Young, executive director of the Older Women's League, said in her written testimony.
Young also pointed out that "44 percent of informal caregivers report physical strain as a result of their caregiving activities."
To combat these financial and health problems for caregivers, Collins proposed "doubling" federal funds for the National Family Caregiver Support Program, which is intended to provide caregivers with information, referrals, training, counseling and respite services. This year's budget appropriated $141.5 million to the program.
Collins also said that she is joining "a bipartisan group of colleagues in sponsoring the Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act." The bill, she said, "will give tax credit for long-term health expenses of up to $3,000 to help families already struggling to provide long-term care for a loved one. It will also encourage families to plan for their long-term needs by providing tax deductions to help them purchase long-term health insurance."
Published in The Bangor Daily News, in Maine.
