Fighting for Unemployed, Low-Income, and Middle-Class Memphians
Dear Friend,
This week, I urged Speaker Boehner to finally allow a vote to extend unemployment insurance, President Obama announced a plan to help ensure all Americans are fairly paid for working overtime, and both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly delayed a vote on the Governor’s ill-advised plan to raid funds meant for the HOPE Scholarship. Keep reading to learn more about what I did this week.
Working for Unemployed Memphians
Expanding Opportunity for All
Fully Funding the HOPE Scholarships
Ensuring Memphians Get the Tax Returns They Deserve
Speaking Out Against the ENFORCE the Law Act
Helping Memphians Get Covered
Congratulating the Minority Business Development Council on its 45th Anniversary
Fighting for Sane Criminal Laws
Protecting Voting Rights
United States Naval Academy Summer Programs
Make Sure to Claim Unclaimed Property
Helping Veterans Become Homeowners
Grant Announcements
Working for Unemployed Memphians
At the end of last year, unemployment insurance expired for more than a million Americans. Since then, House Republican leaders have blocked multiple attempts to bring up legislation to extend this critical lifeline. People who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own shouldn’t have to wait another day for Speaker Boehner to allow a vote on their unemployment benefits. The more than 31,000 Tennesseans who rely on the unemployment insurance program to put food on their tables and pay their rent need Congress to act immediately. That’s why I joined my colleagues in signing a “discharge petition” that—if a majority of the House signs—will force Speaker Boehner to stop blocking a vote on unemployment insurance and allow the House to have its say.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced a plan to help make sure millions of people who work overtime are paid a fair wage for a hard day’s work. Today, eighty-eight percent of salaried workers don’t qualify for overtime protections because they make more than $455/week—a wage that would leave a family of four in poverty. The President’s announcement is another step in his effort to ensure that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules gets an opportunity to succeed. I applaud the President for this announcement and look forward to working with him to make sure that all Memphis families have a fair shot at success.
Fully Funding the HOPE Scholarships
This week, the House and Senate Education Committees in the General Assembly deferred votes on Governor Haslam’s “Tennessee Promise” proposal. They were right to allow more time to consider the far-reaching consequences of siphoning money from the successful Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship program to create a huge new government program.
However, full legislative consideration needs more than a week’s postponement—it requires public input and time to fully consider pitfalls. The General Assembly should create a study committee, requiring perspective from educators and citizens, to ensure that Tennesseans know not only about the “Promise” program but what its creation will mean for the future of HOPE scholarships.
The “Promise” will not only create a massive new government program, it will sentence the HOPE scholarship — a successful program that helps educate thousands of Tennesseans — to a slow and certain death. It will split the lottery scholarship program in half, creating a junior college program with no achievement incentive or standards, spreading resources too thin and making the success of either program unlikely.
The plan will also immediately reduce scholarship amounts for students entering 4-year colleges by 1/4th, making school harder to afford, saddling students with heavier student loan burdens, and increasing the likelihood they will need to work more hours—which reduces the chance of maintaining their grades. Expecting students to foot even more of the bill for their educations is the wrong way to treat students who have worked hard to earn the HOPE scholarship.
Even worse, the Governor’s “Tennessee Promise” will divert all future lottery revenue gains from the HOPE scholarships—eliminating their ability to grow with tuition costs. That’s especially troubling because today’s HOPE scholarship covers a smaller portion of tuition than it did 10 years ago. The Governor’s program will slash it further and stop all future scholarship increases. In fact, with tuition continuing to skyrocket, the only “Promise” the Governor’s plan makes is that HOPE scholarships will cover just 20% of tuition 10 years from now.
Deferring the votes on the Governor’s plan is a good first step. Now, the General Assembly must create a study committee tasked with determining the full impact of the Governor’s proposal. It should hear from educators, fiscal experts, and students who have benefited from HOPE scholarships, to understand the full consequences of enacting the Governor’s plan.
Once that happens, I hope that legislators will see the harm that “Promise” will do to our hardworking middle-class students and vote the plan down. A better option would be to increase the ASPIRE award for middle- and low-income families and fully fund HOPE scholarships.
Ensuring Memphians Get the Tax Returns They Deserve
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is too important for people to overlook, and everyone who is eligible should claim it when filing their taxes. But historically, eligible taxpayers in Memphis and Shelby County have not taken full advantage of the program—last year alone, as much as $70 million in potential tax credits were left on the table by area taxpayers.
Memphians shouldn’t pay more than they owe, and they should receive every penny they deserve in refunds. That’s why I attended the grand opening of one of 15 new Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites that recently opened throughout Shelby County to provide guidance and advice free of charge to ensure that eligible Shelby County citizens take advantage of programs like the EITC and get the tax refund they are entitled to. Click here to find a VITA site near you to help ensure you get every penny you are owed.
Speaking Out Against the ENFORCE the Law Act
On Wednesday, the House debated the so-called “ENFORCE the Law Act,” which is yet another one of the Republicans’ attempts to distract the American people from real issues by attacking President and the Affordable Care Act. It would allow just one chamber of the legislative branch to sue the President without approval of the other chamber if it believes the President hasn’t properly enforced the law, even though the Constitution gives him wide discretion on how best to implement laws. This legislation is just a show to give those on the other side of the aisle another reason to attack the President for doing his job, and you can watch me speaking out against it on the floor of the House here.
All Memphians should have quality health insurance and the President’s landmark Affordable Care Act is making affordable, higher-quality coverage available to people who have not had access to it in the past. Luckily, many who have been unable to afford quality coverage in the past are now eligible to enroll in Tennessee’s Health Insurance Marketplace. Please don’t forget that the open season deadline to enroll in health coverage for this year at HealthCare.gov is March 31st. And if you do not have health insurance coverage, you may also be eligible to save money on your health care premiums in the Marketplace.
If you are on Medicare or your employer is offering qualified health insurance that you are enrolled in, you’re already covered and won’t need to enter the Marketplace for your health coverage. If you aren’t sure whether or not you should use the Marketplace to get insurance, call the Marketplace Hotline at 1 (800) 318-2596, visit www.HealthCare.gov, or call Tennessee’s navigator, Seedco, at (901) 528-8341. You can also call my office at (901) 544-4131 or the Marketplace Hotline to find out if TennCare (Tennessee’s Medicaid program) is a coverage option for you. If you are one of the millions of Americans who need health insurance, you can sign up for coverage for 2014 until the open enrollment period closes on March 31st, 2014. Visit www.healthcare.gov today to look at your options.
The Affordable Care Act is already working for families across the Ninth District. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 147,000 individuals in the district now have health insurance that covers preventive services without co-pays, $3.1 million in insurance premiums have been returned to consumers, and more than 5,000 seniors on Medicare paid a total of $5.9 million less for their prescription medications as we continue to close the ‘donut hole.’ Also, health insurance companies can no longer discriminate against patients with pre-existing conditions and young adults up to age 26 can now stay on their parents’ insurance plan.
Many of the Marketplace website issues that have been in the news have been resolved. However, the Marketplace website is only one tool that you can use to sign up for coverage. If you are having trouble accessing the website, please do not hesitate to call the Marketplace Hotline at 1 (800) 318-2596 or visit the Affordable Care Act Navigators at Seedco's Mid-South office at 22 North Front Street (Suite 900) for in-person help. Seedco can also be reached by phone at (901) 528-8341, and if you have any other questions, you should feel free to call my office at (901) 544-4131.
Congratulating the Minority Business Development Council on its 45th Anniversary
This month, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) celebrates its 45th Anniversary. Since it was established in 1969, the MBDA has worked to promote the growth and global competitiveness in the minority business community. On Wednesday, I spoke on the House floor about the good work the MBDA and Memphis MBDA Business Center—which I’m pleased to have helped bring to our city as the first MBDA center in Tennessee—have done and continue to do. You can watch my speech here.
Fighting for Sane Criminal Laws
I’ll be on MSNBC Live tomorrow just after noon to discuss what I’m doing to change current policies regarding marijuana. Our criminal drug policy is deeply rooted in racism and is out of step with what the American people believe. Current federal policies unfairly hurt minority communities and have resulted in 4 times as many African Americans arrested for marijuana compared to Caucasians, even while nearly half of the states have decided to make it legal for medical or personal use.
Our policies haven’t kept up with the science, they haven’t kept up with the medical community, and they sure haven’t kept up with the American people. When a law is almost universally perceived as wrong, it breeds disrespect for our legal system. Americans young and old think federal marijuana policy is a joke. They know that marijuana shouldn’t be in the same category with heroin, and they don’t support taking one’s liberty away because of marijuana.
It is imperative that we take an honest look at why we have the drug laws we have today and how and why they should be changed. To paraphrase Maya Angelou--when we know better, we should do better. I’ll be on MSNBC Live tomorrow just after noon to discuss this important issue, and I hope you’ll tune in!
This morning members of the House Judiciary Committee, on which I serve as Ranking Member of the Constitution Subcommittee, met with Leader Nancy Pelosi, other members of our Leadership, Congressman John Lewis, and others to discuss how to advance the Voting Rights Amendment Act (VRAA). Unfortunately last year, in a misguided decision, the Supreme Court found part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. The VRAA would address this terrible decision and I am working hard to see it passed into law.
United States Naval Academy Summer Programs
Each year, the United States Naval Academy invites more than 3,000 students to Annapolis, Maryland, to participate in its summer programs. The Academy’s summer STEM program, which is now accepting applications here, gives rising 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders the opportunity to learn from some of the best college professors in the country and work in world-class lab facilities. The Academy’s Summer Seminars gives rising 12th graders the opportunity to find out if they have what it takes to be midshipmen by allowing them to experience the rigorous academics, physical challenges, and student life at the Naval Academy. More information about the Summer Seminar and how to apply is available here.
Make Sure to Claim Unclaimed Property
The State of Tennessee maintains a searchable database of unclaimed property, which can include bank accounts, stocks and dividends, wages, refunds, insurance payments, gift certificates, credit balances and overpayments, and a number of other things. There is no cost for accessing the database, and you may find that you are owed money or property. If you have not searched the database yet or if you haven’t searched in a while, you can visit https://www.claimittn.gov and see for yourself whether the state is holding any property or assets for you.
Helping Veterans Become Homeowners
Last year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs helped a record number of veterans obtain mortgage loans and become homeowners. In guaranteeing nearly 630,000 home loans, the VA’s Loan Guarantee program helped more veterans become homeowners or move to a new home than at any point in its 70-year history. Not only is this great news for veterans, but it also is another sign that our housing market is rebounding—and that is good news for everyone. The VA Loan Guarantee program has some of the lowest foreclosure rates around and, along with offering low interest rates, their loans do not require a down payment from first-time buyers. If you are a veteran looking to purchase a home, you can learn more about the program here.
I regularly release a list of grant announcements from federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and others. These federal funding opportunities are available to faith-based and neighborhood associations, nonprofits and other community organizations in the Ninth District. The announcements are updated regularly on my website.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress