Republicans and Democrats appear set for a fight over whether the Senate or House version will predominate, while millions of low wage workers await relief. It has been more than ten years since the federal minimum wage was last raised.

The Senate bill extends for five years a tax credit for businesses that hire the disadvantaged. The Senate bill would also provide tax advantages to small companies, including retailers that own their own stores. This would be paid for by closing existing tax loopholes on offshore tax shelters, by capping deductions for deferred compensation payments to corporate executives, and by preventing taxpayers from deducting punitive damage payments and fines. We have supported some types of tax relief for small business in exchange for a minimum wage hike and think the House should accede to these provisions.

However, the Senate also adopted an amendment that would bar companies from obtaining federal contracts for up to ten years if they hire illegal immigrants. In doing this, the Senate has gone too far.

Immigration reform is a complicated subject that deserves comprehensive legislative action (see our policy statement). Congress should address this subject separately and not attempt to handle such a volatile issue in a piecemeal fashion. Linking immigration to a hike in the minimum wage delays some measure of economic justice for people at the bottom rung of our society.

• Adequacy of Benefits Must Be Improved. The first step to reducing hunger in the U.S. is to ensure that everyone in the Food Stamp Program has the resources to assist them in purchasing and preparing a nutritionally adequate diet. Neither the average food stamp benefit level of $1 per person per meal, nor the $10 per household monthly minimum benefit is sufficient to help families purchase an adequate diet. This dietary shortfall negatively impacts recipients’ health and nutrition and impedes the ability of children to learn and adults to work. Another key element to securing an adequate diet will be finding ways to improve access to affordable and healthful foods for food stamp households in low-income neighborhoods.
• Access to the Program Must Be Expanded. Too many people in our communities are in need of food stamps but cannot get them. Only 33 percent of the people in food bank lines are enrolled in food stamps. Those people in need of food but excluded from the Food Stamp Program include working poor families with savings slightly above decades-old and outdated resource limits, many legal immigrants, and numerous indigent jobless people seeking employment.
• Program Simplification and Streamlining for Caseworkers and Clients Must Continue. While food stamp outreach and nutrition education are achieving important advances, these efforts need more resources, and enrollments are hampered by shortfalls in state technology and supports. Too many eligible people—especially working poor and elderly persons—are missing out on benefits.

Click here to view JSPAN's Hunger Policy Center.

It is estimated that 85% or more of our state legislators are unbeatable in a general election because of the design of their election districts (in some instances these districts, drawn to include predominantly either R or D voters, look a lot like paint spatter patterns). Two JSPAN meetings and articles on gerrymandering in the last two years have attracted interest, but much more needs to be done. Rep. Leach will hold a press conference in Harrisburg on February 12 to announce his Bill. If you wish to learn more about that Bill or participation in the press conference, contact the Representative’s district office. To join with us in developing JSPAN’s own program of public education on this issue, leave a message for JSPAN at 215-635-2554.

To start with, this so called prescription drug "benefit" is not much a benefit at all. It's actually catastrophic insurance. For example, my Grandma Jean spends nearly $4,000 before her Part D plan really kicks in.

The entitlement includes a doughnut-hole (coverage gap) so big that Homer Simpson couldn't even finish it.

Second, with over 1,500 different plans nationwide, sixty-six in our state of Pennsylvania, choosing the right one was a daunting experience. Seniors are asked to make a complex decision based on the probability that their medication needs may change. Once you pick a plan the law prohibits you from changing until November of each year. Some benefit...

My problem is putting the bill on the nation's credit card for future generations. Medicare Part D adds $8 trillion to the nation's long-term debt according to the Government Accountability Office. It's the largest entitlement expansion since 1965 and on the cusp of boomers becoming entitlement eligible. (Talk about a heavy burden on the shoulders of young people.)

Congress must find a new tax source for this unfunded obligation. The House floor debate should be entitlement solvency and fiscal responsibility."

The Council's actions stand in stark contrast to Hazleton, PA, which last year made it a crime to hire or rent to undocumented workers. The City Council of Lancaster Bill passed unanimously.

A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LANCASTER urging the rejection of all immigration reform efforts that: criminalize individuals because of their immigration status; view immigration policy as a border-only security issue; and fail to recognize our common humanity and the values of our nation.

WHEREAS, City Council calls on the President and Congress to “take a comprehensive, bipartisan, and well-reasoned approach to solving our broken immigration system; and

WHEREAS, City Council calls on Congress and the President “to stand up against extremists’ voices who wish to enact reform that does not solve our immigration crisis but only serves to divide us; and

WHEREAS, City Council is compelled to raise our voice on behalf of those who are marginalized and whose God-given rights are not respected. Current immigration laws and policies have often led to the undermining of immigrants’ human dignity and have kept families apart; and

WHEREAS, City Council does not condone unlawful entry or circumventions of our nation’s immigration laws. Reforms are necessary in order for our nation’s immigration system to respond to the realities of separated families and labor demands that compel people to immigrate to the United State s , whether in an authorized or unauthorized fashion.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Lancaster supports an earned legalization for those in this country in an unauthorized status and who have built up equities and are otherwise admissible. The earned legalization proposal provides a window of opportunity for undocumented immigrants who are already living in our communities and contributing to our nation to come forward, pay a fine and application fee, go through rigorous criminal background checks and security screenings, demonstrate that they have paid taxes and are learning English, and obtain a visa that could lead to permanent residency, over time

It is just possible that another colossal missed opportunity is in the making right now. According to the highly respected and well-connected Ha'aretz correspondent, Akiva Eldar, Israeli and Syrian representatives - meeting secretly over a two year period ending in July 2006 - agreed on the framework of a peace treaty.

According to Eldar, the plan provides for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Syria and Israel would be separated by a buffer zone in the form of a nature park, open to citizens of both countries.

Israel would retain exclusive control over the coveted waters of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee. Demilitarized and reduced military presence zones, provisions for early warning stations and international security oversight, would be established. And, of critical importance, Syria would end its support for Hezbollah and distance itself from Iran. Likewise, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal would be forced to leave Damascus. ...

Unfortunately, the Israeli government responded to the Ha'aretz report with instant rejection which almost immediately produced a negative response in Damascus. ...

Why not explore how far Damascus will go? The answer is, almost surely, politics. ...

The possibility that Syria is ready for peace is too important to ignore.

Any peace feeler is worthy of exploration, especially one as promising as this.

Medical research, medical waste; which is the most pro-life? Medical research that might, might find a cure for my mother's Alzheimer's or my brother's liver cancer that he died of, or medical waste that literally goes in the trash bin? That is what is happening now. Why cannot we make it possible to pursue cord blood, amniotic, adult stem cell, and embryonic stem cell?