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ATU Action Weekly Update - 1/8/07
Congress Moving in a New Direction for America The members of the 110th U.S. Congress were sworn-in last week and they are starting off the year with a bang. The new Democratic leaders are pledging to pursue an aggressive agenda in the first 100 legislative hours. Among the top priorities that Congress is expected to act on this week are raising the minimum wage, requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate for lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, and implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. This Wednesday, the U.S. House is scheduled to take up H.R. 2, the Bipartisan Minimum Wage Bill. If passed, the measure will increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. Sixty days after enactment the minimum wage would increase to $5.85. One year later it would go up to $6.55 per hour, and another year later it would increase to $7.25. A minimum wage increase is particularly important at a time when America's families have seen their real income drop by almost $1,300 since 2000, while costs of health insurance, gasoline, home heating, and attending college have increased by almost $5,000 annually. Nearly 13 million people would likely benefit from the increase - 5.6 million directly and 7.4 million indirectly. This includes 7.7 million women, 3.4 million parents, and 4.7 million people of color. Raising the minimum wage would provide an additional $4,400/year for a family of three, equalling 15 months of groceries, or over two years of health care - helping them to keep up with rising costs. The ATU, along with the AFL-CIO and its affiliates, is calling on its members to contact their Members of Congress and urge them to support the minimum wage bill - without any anti-worker amendments. You can contact your Member of Congress toll-free at 1-866-338-1015. Tell them:
To find out who your Member of Congress is, click here. The U.S. House is also expected to consider legislation this week that is aimed at cutting prescription drug prices for millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities. H.R. 4, the Bipartisan Rx Drug Negotiating Authority Bill, would repeal an existing law that prohibits HHS from using the strength of Medicare's 43 million beneficiaries to negotiate prescription drug price discounts. The bill would require HHS to conduct such negotiations with drug companies on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. This bill has broad bipartisan support and is supported by 92 percent of Americans, according to a recent poll. The House is also planning to take long overdue action this week on the recommendations made over three years ago by the 9/11 Commission. If passed, the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 (H.R. 1), introduced by Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), would make the U.S. more secure by closing many of the critical security gaps that continue to leave this nation exposed to the risk of terrorist attacks. While the bill does not address transit and rail security issues, Congressman Thompson, who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, has pledged to address these issues in separate legislation.
This past November, working families elected 39 new members to the U.S. House, 9 new Senators and 7 new Governors, taking control of the House and Senate and the majority of governorships. We also gained a worker-friendly majority in 10 state legislative chambers. Now we need them to pass worker-friendly legislation. Among the many crucial issues that the ATU will be focusing on this year are:
Keep posted to these updates and the ATU website for more information on how you can get involved in our efforts to address these issues this year. You can get started now by asking your friends and co-workers to sign-up for ATU Action Weekly Updates and Alerts. Just click here to send an email to your friends asking them to sign-up. |
