NumbersUSA: 10 Sweeping Victories in the House

NumbersUSA Newsletter, 6/3/2011 (Re: IMMIGRATION) - [Excerpts] We didn't have just 1 victory in the House of Representatives this week, BUT 10 VICTORIES IN ALL!!! ∴ In fact, every immigration amendment vote to the 2012 Homeland Security spending bill the past two days went our way. ∴ Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado wrapped and delivered a great present to us when he requested a roll call vote on his amendment to end the 287(g) local enforcement program. His amendment was defeated with broad bi-partisan support with 75% of the votes cast opposing his amendment!

Read Roy [Beck's] detailed descriptions of all the votes.

All in all, the House passed amendments to:

• set aside funding for Border Patrol to eliminate look-out posts along the U.S.-Mexico border;
  
• set aside funding to hire additional Shadow Wolves who track down smugglers along the border;
  
• reallocate funds to increase funding for the 287(g) program by nearly 20%;
  
• reallocate funding to increase support for the Law Enforcement Support Center;
  
• ensure that funding provided in the spending bill is used to enforce existing federal law requiring the detention of illegal aliens who are violent criminals awaiting deportation;
  
• withhold funding from cities that have sanctuary city policies in place;
  
• prohibit the Administration from offering amnesty through "deferred action";
  
• require all DHS contractors to use E-Verify to check new hires; and
  
• reallocate funds to build cell towers providing full service along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

For any of our activists who are concerned about the federal budget and homeland security, all of the amendments are budget neutral and only reallocate funding that was set aside for executive management of the department. Read More......

Oregon's K-12 Budget Passed

HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS
REP. RICHARDSON'S NEWSLETTER, 4/13/2011 by Rep. Dennis Richardson - K-12 School Budget Passes Legislature: Bipartisan Cooperation Replaces the "Politics of Delay." Today is a historic day for the Oregon Legislature. It is the first time in recent history that the House of Representatives and the Senate have voted to pass the K-12 Education Budget in April, before any other departmental budget has been approved. Read more about passage of the K-12 budget...

HERE'S THE BAD NEWS

OREGON HOUSE REPUBLICANS (YouTube), 4/8/2011 - Reps. Matt Wingard (R-Wilsonville) and Julie Parrish (R-Tualatin/West Linn) on K-12 Education Reform. Read More......

Lawmakers advise new Congress

CONGRESS.ORG - Outgoing members say Capitol Hill needs to change its ways. EXCERPT: "When it's difficult to get Congress to lower taxes and increase spending," Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) said, referring to the recent tax deal, "the real question is how hard will it be to get bipartisanship to raise taxes and lower spending." ∴ Edwards and several other lawmakers who lost in the midterm elections offered their advice for breaking partisan gridlock during a panel at the Bipartisan Policy Center this week. ∴ They suggested Congress needs:

Read more at Congress.org...

Read More......

Oregon House: Bipartisan Legislation Passed in Special Session

In his March 5, 2010 newsletter, State Representative Greg Smith (R-HD 57) reports on bipartisan legislation passed during the February Special Session by the Oregon House of Representatives. See legislation...

• House Republicans pushed for legislation that would require legislators to wait before they can take high-paying positions in the executive branch. Though we were successful in passing the bill through the House, it was killed by Senate Democrats (HB 3638).
  
  
• To help unemployed workers, House Republicans supported extending unemployment
  benefits to an estimated 18,600 Oregonians who were about to exhaust their existing benefits (HB 3655).
  
  
• We supported giving tax credits to laid-off workers to obtain state tax deductions for investing their severance pay in starting an Oregon-based business (HB 3627).
  
  
• House Republicans supported legislation to prohibit insurers from denying coverage to sexual assault victims by treating their injuries as a preexisting condition (HB 3631).
  
  
• We worked to reform the Business Energy Tax Credit, which the Governor allowed to
  spiral out of control. We believe that savings from BETC reform should be re-directed to schools and other critical services (HB 3680).
  
  
• To fight waste and abuse in government, we supported expanding “whistleblower”
  protections for state employees (SB 996).
  
  
• House Republicans supported giving district attorney greater discretion in offering qualified veterans the option of diversion programs when convicted of certain crimes (SB 999).

Read More......