HR 2499 WILL BE VOTED ON TOMORROW, 4/29/10

Why the Rush on the Puerto Rico Statehood Bill?

By Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Huffington Post, April 28, 2010 11:50 PM

H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico statehood bill was brought to the House this week after a surprise announcement last Thursday. Debate on this bill has been severely limited by the way Democratic Leaders are managing the process…

…In my opinion, this bill is the political equivalent of a shady Goldman Sachs derivative: It’s secretive. It lacks transparency. It’s likely to blow up down the road and cause systemic risk to out democracy. And those who put this political derivative together don’t really tell you what this is really about and will play dumb when it explodes.

I get more time to debate renaming a Post Office than I will get to debate a bill that could make Puerto Rico the fifty-first state.

Two Puerto Rican U.S. Senators? Six or seven new Puerto Rican House Members? Really? I can understand why some people would like that idea…but shouldn’t we discuss it first?…

…What’s the rush? Something is wrong with this picture. It just does not add up.

I am a senior Democratic Member of Congress, whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, and for whom Puerto Rico self-determination has been -- and remains -- a central issue of my congressional career. This statehood bill is the opposite of self-determination.

It is designed to craft an artificial majority for statehood where none exists now. Every time the people of Puerto Rico have been consulted on this issue through a plebiscite they’ve said NO to Statehood. NO to Statehood in 1967. NO to Statehood in 1993. NO to Statehood in 1998. This should be called the “Don’t you dare say NO to Statehood Bill”.

Read this article in its entirety here;  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-luis-gutierrez/why-the-rush-on-the-puert_b_556328.html

Video presentaion of HR 2499, the Puerto Rico Statehood Bill

By JEREMY PELZER – Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 1:30 am |

CHEYENNE — Wyoming legislators are examining the idea of holding a special session this summer on health care issues, even if it means overriding the objections of Gov. Dave Freudenthal and top legislative leaders.

But even if a special session is called, some lawmakers question whether the votes are there to get any legislation passed.

Many lawmakers said they’ve come under pressure from constituents demanding that the Legislature take steps to protect Wyoming residents from the recently passed federal health care bill.

In particular, advocates have called on the Legislature to have Wyoming join a multi-state lawsuit challenging the federal health care reform law, signed last month by President Obama. Freudenthal said late last month that Wyoming wouldn’t join the suit, saying it was being filed solely for political reasons.

Many have also pushed state lawmakers to approve a constitutional amendment prohibiting the federal government from requiring Wyoming residents to purchase health insurance, as required under the new federal law.

Legislation proposing such an amendment was brought up in both the state House and Senate during this year’s legislative budget session, but both bills failed to get the two-thirds majority needed to introduce them.

House Majority Leader Ed Buchanan, R-Torrington, said several House members have been exchanging e-mails and holding teleconferences to discuss holding a special session this summer and to determine what issues should be brought up.

Buchanan said if a special session is called, legislators wouldn’t just focus on attacking the federal health care law but would also examine other issues such as making health care more affordable and enabling Wyoming residents to purchase out-of-state health insurance plans.

“It’s kind of more of a deal to address health care issues in a broader perspective for the citizens of Wyoming than it is just about the national health care legislation,” Buchanan said. “To be sure, that’s the catalyst, but we’re not going to be so myopic in our view that we’re not going to try and address other health care concerns.”

Buchanan predicted the decision on whether to hold a special session would come by late May. If approved, he said, the session would then start within the following six weeks.

Freudenthal predicted a 20-day special session would cost taxpayers about $500,000.

But to convene a special session this year, lawmakers might have to employ a never-before-used legislative tactic…

Read the rest of this article here;

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/article_ce93389a-ac0f-5cce-82e3-906bf2b4c7a0.html

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Click on the links below for today’s schedules:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

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SENATE COMMITTEE MEETING NOTICES