A Great Memphis Win Over Louisville
Dear Friend,
With Congress back in session for the New Year, it’s been a busy week—but I’m glad that it ended well, with a great Memphis win over Louisville last night. I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Coach Pastner and our Tigers on their second-ever win over a defending national champion. Keep reading to learn what else happened this week.
Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Day of Service with Pastor Kenneth T. Whalum, Jr.
2014 District Issues Meeting
50th Anniversary of the War on Poverty
Cutting Short the “School-to-Prison” Pipeline
Working to Designate Memphis as a “Promise Zone” Community
AutoZone Park
Helping Memphians Get Covered
Taking Advantage of the Affordable Care Act
2014 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available
Grant Announcements
Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Day of Service with Pastor Kenneth T. Whalum, Jr.
On January 20th, I will be observing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Day of Service by collaborating with Pastor Kenneth T. Whalum, Jr. and Seedco Mid-South to host an education and volunteer training event for Memphians to learn more about the Affordable Care Act and help their communities enroll and take advantage of the law’s many benefits. I hope you will join me at Pastor Whalum’s New Olivet Baptist Church (3084 Southern Avenue) from 10 a.m. to noon on the 20th to get trained as a volunteer so that you can help make affordable healthcare a reality for more citizens of the Ninth District. If you can make it, please RSVP to my Memphis office by calling (901) 544-4131.
On Monday morning, I hosted my 2014 District Issues Meeting in my Memphis office. Hearing what constituents like you have to say about the issues is very important to me. At the meeting, I discussed a number of topics with Memphians, including what I hope Congress can accomplish in the coming year, how to strengthen the middle class by raising the minimum wage and extending emergency unemployment insurance, and how we all can take advantage of the Affordable Care Act’s many benefits.
Hearing what Memphians like you think about these important issues, as well as others like supporting our veterans, helping minority farmers recover from unfair discrimination, and growing jobs, helps me better represent the Ninth District in Congress.
At this year’s District Issues Meeting, I had a chance to visit with recording artist Ekpe. He shared with me his style of positive affirmation rap which encourages children to believe in themselves and their ability to learn. I was impressed with his efforts to improve the lives of children in the Memphis community, including his songs “Don’t Touch a Gun” and “I am a Genius” – I hope you’ll take a moment to listen to his work.
50th Anniversary of the War on Poverty
This week marked the 50th Anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson declaring "War on Poverty." As a nation, we’ve made great progress toward reducing poverty in America over the last 50 years. But while the poverty rate has dropped nearly 10% since 1967, there still remained nearly 50 million American citizens living in poverty as recently as 2012—including more than 13 million children. These numbers only highlight how much more work we have left ahead of us and the urgency with which it must be addressed.
We must do more to help people work their way to the American Dream, and that means extending the lifeline of unemployment insurance to more than 1.4 million hardworking Americans struggling to find work and fighting for the 30 million employees who still don’t take home a decent wage after a long week’s work. It means preventing crippling cuts to the food stamp program that would take food out of the mouths of children and seniors, making sure that women receive equal pay for equal work, and creating the good-paying jobs that allow people to get back on their feet. This must be done now because the need is now.
Cutting Short the “School-to-Prison” Pipeline
Unless dealt with early and effectively, young perpetrators of minor, non-violent offenses may fall into a pattern of violent conduct later in life. Instead of focusing on conflict resolution methods that could limit this cycle, too often our schools rely on overly harsh punishments like incarceration that feed the "school-to-prison" pipeline. This week, President Obama’s Administration issued new guidelines for public school officials aimed at cutting short the "school-to-prison" pipeline that wastes public funds and, more importantly, human lives.
The guidelines address the same issue as my Restorative Justice in Schools Act, which I reintroduced in October to reduce youth incarceration throughout America by helping train school personnel such as teachers and counselors in innovative conflict resolution methods that are less likely to result in non-violent juveniles entering the penal system. Currently, many school systems involve the police in non-violent incidents on school property, which helps feed the “school-to-prison” pipeline when other methods may be more effective and produce more positive outcomes.
President Obama’s Administration introduced guidelines to cut short a cycle that disproportionately harms minority communities. By redesigning school disciplinary policies and training educators in alternative conflict resolution methods that yield better results for everyone, we can keep our young people out of jail and provide better outcomes and improved healing for victims while saving taxpayer money. I applaud the Administration’s new guidelines and will continue working to pass the Restorative Justice in Schools Act in Congress.
Working to Designate Memphis as a “Promise Zone” Community
On Thursday afternoon, President Obama designated the first 5 of 20 “Promise Zone” communities, which will give those communities vital support to help reduce poverty and grow local economies. While Memphis was not eligible for the first round of designations made by President Obama, the funding and support provided by the program is critical for our city. So we must do everything in our power to be one of the next 15 communities designated.
As the nation’s poorest large metropolitan area, Memphis deserves substantial support from the federal government to help recover from the devastating impacts of the Great Recession. I am doing all within my power to ensure that the Administration gives Memphis the consideration it deserves for the next round of "Promise Zone" designations—it’s a great way for us to eliminate concentrated poverty and increase the economic vitality of the city. I will continue working closely with Mayor Wharton to see Memphis included in the "Promise Zone" initiative.
I am very pleased that the Memphis City Council approved the purchase of AutoZone Park, which will result in the St. Louis Cardinals taking over the management of the Redbirds. It will be good for our city and for our economy. I was particularly proud as the purchase of AutoZone Park is financed through the sales tax rebate which I initiated and passed as a Tennessee State Senator.
All Memphians should have quality health insurance and the President’s landmark Affordable Care Act—also known as Obamacare—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. Open enrollment for coverage in 2014 will continue until 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 or visit www.HealthCare.gov. You can also call my office 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 and the recent government shutdown didn’t change that. 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 recently 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 they will be hosting an informational session at Christ Missionary Baptist Church (480 S. Parkway East) from 6 to 8 PM on Tuesday evening. If you have any other questions, you should feel free to call my office at (901) 544-4131.
Taking Advantage of the Affordable Care Act
Among the many benefits of the Affordable Care Act is free preventive care for services like mammograms that can detect breast cancer. A recent New York Times story noted that Memphis is “the deadliest major American city for African-American women with breast cancer.” A primary reason for the high mortality rate is late diagnosis, when the disease is harder to treat and has much lower survival rates. If you are at risk, please take a moment in the coming weeks to take advantage of provisions of the Affordable Care Act and get screened for breast cancer—it can help save your life.
2014 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available
My office currently has a limited number of 2014 U.S. Capitol Historical Society calendars available. If you would like to receive a calendar, please complete this short form on my website . Due to the rules of the House of Representatives, I am only able to mail calendars to residents of Tennessee’s Ninth District. Please feel free to share this email with other citizens of the Ninth District who may be interested in receiving one but who do not receive my eNewsletter.
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 9th District. The announcements are updated regularly on my website.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress