Now is not the time to abandon families looking for work

Rep. Levin:  Now is not the time to abandon families looking for work

As House and Senate lawmakers continue to grapple with how to continue payroll tax relief and extended unemployment benefits for millions of Americans after February 29, when a stopgap extension is set to expire, time is already running out for 30,000 Michiganders who will no longer qualify for the last 20 weeks of the Federal Extended Benefit Unemployment Insurance (UI) program as of February 18, 2012.  Click here for full details.

“.... It is vital to extend the UI program nationally and fix the unemployment insurance program for high unemployment states,” said Rep. Levin.  “We must recognize that while the economy is getting better, we are digging out of the largest jobs ditch since the Great Depression and now is not the time to abandon families looking for work during this recovery.”

Macomb and Oakland Seniors Save On Prescription Drugs

On February 2nd, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that 3.6 million people with Medicare saved $2.1 billion on their prescription drugs in 2011.  A significant amount of these savings went to seniors in Michigan, including 8,432 Macomb County residents who saved a combined $5,131,638 and 12,992 Oakland County residents who saved a combined $8,234,391.

These savings went to Medicare beneficiaries who were in a prescription coverage gap, often called the “donut hole”.  Until recently, the seniors in this gap had to pay 100% of their prescription drug costs.  Because of the Affordable Care Act, these seniors now receive discounts on their brand-name and generic prescriptions.  By 2020, the coverage gap will be completely eliminated, thus increasing the prescription drug savings each year.  For more information, click here.

Lawmakers Support Outsourcing Accountability Act

Rep. Levin and 16 other House lawmakers recently cosponsored legislation [H.R. 3875, the Outsourcing Accountability Act] to require large publicly traded companies to report how many of their jobs are located in the United States and how many have been outsourced to other countries.  Companies currently report their total number of employees, but don’t specify where those jobs are located.  H.R. 3875 would require large companies to report the number of workers they employ in both the U.S. and abroad, and break these numbers down by state and country.

Results of Rep. Levin’s 12th District Survey

We recently sent out a survey to Connector readers asking their opinions on a number of issues of national concern.  More than 2200 of you participated in the survey.  While not a scientific survey, the results nevertheless provide valuable insight into the participants views on many policy choices currently before Congress.  To view the survey results, click here.