Friday
Mar052010
Senate Must Extend Medicaid Assistance Within Jobs Bill, Say Democrats
Friday, March 5, 2010 at 1:38PM
By Benny Martinez
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
The newly-unveiled jobs bill includes legislation that would extend funding of the states’ Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by six months, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.).
FMAP legislation is next in line in a series of initiatives for the Senate jobs agenda. According to a press release, the legislation will help states with the cost of Medicaid programs to help preserve critical health care assistance for millions of Americans.
In a conference call with reporters on Friday, Rockefeller, along with Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D), said that passing the FMAP extension is necessary to preserve jobs and it must be done quickly.
“We have to act swiftly to pass this because if we don’t, it’ll cost the economy up to 900 thousand jobs lost and we can’t have that,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Levin said that he doesn’t believe a filibuster will be able to stop the bill from passing.
“There was a lesson learned [with] Senator Bunning,” Levin said. “It was clear that the public outcry was strong [then], and I think that kind of outcry will also be strong here, so I will be optimistic that we’re going to be able to get this bill passed with its FMAP provisions.”
Rockefeller said the six-month extension of FMAP is the second of its kind. The first was included in the legislation of the original stimulus package in 2009.
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
The newly-unveiled jobs bill includes legislation that would extend funding of the states’ Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by six months, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.).
FMAP legislation is next in line in a series of initiatives for the Senate jobs agenda. According to a press release, the legislation will help states with the cost of Medicaid programs to help preserve critical health care assistance for millions of Americans.
In a conference call with reporters on Friday, Rockefeller, along with Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D), said that passing the FMAP extension is necessary to preserve jobs and it must be done quickly.
“We have to act swiftly to pass this because if we don’t, it’ll cost the economy up to 900 thousand jobs lost and we can’t have that,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Levin said that he doesn’t believe a filibuster will be able to stop the bill from passing.
“There was a lesson learned [with] Senator Bunning,” Levin said. “It was clear that the public outcry was strong [then], and I think that kind of outcry will also be strong here, so I will be optimistic that we’re going to be able to get this bill passed with its FMAP provisions.”
Rockefeller said the six-month extension of FMAP is the second of its kind. The first was included in the legislation of the original stimulus package in 2009.
Reed Amendment Would Strengthen Regulation On Investment Pools
Talk Radio News Service
During a conference call Monday, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said he will soon introduce an amendment to the Senate's financial regulatory reform bill aimed at closing loopholes within the financial sector.
Reed’s bill would require investment pools, such as hedge funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds, to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to Reed, this would boost transparency within the greater system.
“This approach is designed to give the regulators better insight about size, leverage and risk-taking in private pools of capital and I think that is going to be helpful,” he said.
Specifically, Reed wants to require advisers that fall short of the new $100 million adviser registration threshold to either register with the SEC or open their documents to state regulators for inspection.
Reed said he will introduce his amendment on the floor next Monday and assured that there is bipartisan support for it.
“By in large, there is strong support on both sides."