FBI to brief lawmakers on deceased bombing suspect

The FBI will brief the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday about what it learned from an interview it conducted in 2011 with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, according to Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.).

“What we want to do is to see when the FBI investigated the tip that came from Russia about whether or not bomber No. 1, who came from Russia, was really cleared about what Russia was concerned about,” Ruppersberger told CNN on Tuesday. “We will have a classified hearing about it today at five o’clock.”

The FBI will brief the Senate Intelligence Committee on the same matter at a hearing earlier in the afternoon.

Tsarnaev, 26, was killed after a firefight early Friday morning after the police tracked down him and his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. They are the only suspects in last week’s Boston Marathon bombing.

Lawmakers have pledged to hold hearings into how the brothers operated under the radar of the FBI after the Russian government notified federal investigators that the older brother was a potential threat. The tip from Russian authorities came after the suspect spent six months in two Russian provinces in 2010 and 2011 before returning to the U.S.

Ruppersberger, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said he hoped to find out what might have influenced the older brother during his time abroad, and how he learned the skills necessary to put together a bomb.

“When he went to Russia, it seemed when he came back a lot of things changed and also his younger brother’s attitude started to change,” Ruppersberger said. “And as more evidence comes out — about when he came back from Russia, did he become more orthodox in his Muslim religion, did that make him change? And one of the things we’re looking at also — when you have these bombs, what kind of sophistication? How were they trained to make the bombs?”

Ruppersberger said reports that cellphones were used to detonate the explosives were troubling, because it indicates a higher degree of sophistication. The Maryland Democrat said it didn’t appear there were any third parties involved, and that the brothers were likely acting as lone wolves, which he said is a more difficult threat for intelligence officials to detect.

“Those of us who have been in the intelligence committee a while have always been concerned about the lone wolf and a lone wolf doesn’t just mean one individual, it means a small group of people that will come in under the radar,” he said. “And why there’s a concern about that is that when you’re under the radar we can’t get the intelligence we would normally get.”

“After 9/11 we’re the most sophisticated country in the world as it relates to receiving any intelligence from people or from a technical point of view,” he continued. “If in fact there’s chatter or there’s a big type of plot, we will probably pick it up. But what worries us are the type of situations like the Times Square bomber, the underwear bomber, the shoe bomber, these were all under the radar.”

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Virginia Lawmakers Agree: Banning Insurers From Covering Abortion Hurts Low-Income Women

This week, Virginia became the 21st state to restrict coverage for abortion services in the health insurance marketplaces set up under Obamacare. Over the past several years, that’s become an increasingly common tactic to restrict abortion access, as anti-choice lawmakers rush to prevent insurers from being able to cover the cost of the legal medical procedure.

Even though the measure banning abortion coverage — which was an amendment that Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) tacked onto a broader General Assembly bill — ultimately passed the legislature, it still sparked a debate that cut across party lines. Republican and Democratic lawmakers both suggested that preventing women from using their insurance coverage to pay for abortion services is ultimately a class issue, a point confirmed by women’s health advocates:

But members of both parties agree that the measure’s biggest impact will likely fall along class lines, landing hardest on some of the people the federal health-care overhaul was designed to help: working women who barely get by on their incomes.

“Those people that can afford insurance outside of the exchanges will be able to buy whatever they want. People that can’t afford to buy outside of the exchange will have to buy policies that don’t cover these procedures,” said Sen. John C. Watkins (R-Powhatan), who sponsored the bill but opposed the amendment by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R). “It just sets up a class situation, in my mind.” [...]

Cianti Stewart-Reid, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said that the only real effect of the amendment would be to limit access for women who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to purchase their insurance on the private market.

“What it means is that women — by and large low-income but working women in Virginia — won’t have access to abortion,” Stewart-Reid said.

Abortion access is, of course, an incredibly important class issue. Of all the women who have abortions in the United States, 42 percent fall below the federal poverty line — partly because low-income women often still struggle to access affordable and reliable contraception. And when women are denied the opportunity to have a legal abortion, that greatly increases their risk of falling into poverty.

And the restrictions that state lawmakers pile on top of women seeking to have an abortion often hit low-income women the hardest. For example, 24-hour waiting periods — which force women to make multiple trips to a clinic — ultimately mean women are paying the costs for the additional transportation, the additional childcare, and the additional lost income during the time off of work. On top of the hundreds of dollars that an abortion procedure can cost out-of-pocket, that quickly adds up to be too much for poor women who are already struggling to pay the bills.

Virginia lawmakers were correct to identify the class dynamics exacerbated by unnecessary restrictions on abortion coverage. Unfortunately for the women in the state, however, their anti-abortion governor is expected to sign the legislation into law.

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Lawmakers Pass Bill To Resume Executions In North Carolina

It’s been nearly seven years since the last execution in North Carolina, but that could soon change after the state Senate passed a bill to resume executions in the Tar Heel State.

The halt in executions stemmed largely from challenges to the state’s lethal injection protocol and questions about whether medical professionals can participate in a state-sponsored killing. Additionally, the 2009 Racial Justice Act allowed death row inmates to appeal their conviction if racial bias may have played a role in his or her sentence. A judge would then decide whether to let the capital sentence stand or commute it to life without the possibility of parole.

However, that law’s days may be numbered after the state Senate voted 33-14 on Wednesday to repeal the Racial Justice Act, in addition to enacting other changes to smooth the path to future executions. The bill now moves to the state House, where Republicans enjoy a 77-43 advantage.

WRAL has more:

When it passed, the [Racial Justice Act] was the only one of its kind in the nation. Supporters said it would renew public confidence in the capital punishment system. Detractors said it would clog the courts with appeals.

The original law allowed the use of statistics to prove a pattern of racial bias in jury selection and sentencing. State lawmakers changed that with a major rewrite last year. Senate Bill 306 repeals the remainder of the law.

Whether North Carolina lawmakers recognize it or not, racial bias plays a major role in the criminal justice sentencing system, particularly in the doling out of death sentences. For example, in capital cases, those with at least one white victim were over three times more likely to result in a death sentence than those without a white victim. In addition, as court documents show, potential jurors who were minorities were struck by prosecutors at nearly twice the rate of potential jurors who were white, regardless of qualification. All- or mostly-white juries have been more likely to sentence a black defendant to death. The Racial Justice Act helped address these biases in the system.

North Carolina’s move bucks the national trend towards repealing the death penalty. Six states in as many years have eliminated capital punishment.

As of last year, more than 160 people were on death row in North Carolina.

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Bloomberg Warns: ‘Price To Pay’ For Lawmakers Who Ignore Popular Opinion And Oppose Background Checks

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday and warned lawmakers in Washington that there would be a political price to pay if they vote against popular gun regulation proposals like universal background checks and a new assault weapons ban:

GREGORY: You made it very clear this week you’re paying attention to the vote in the Senate, in Congress, and you’re taking names. Will you target people, Republicans and Democrats, who do not support a weapons ban, an assault weapons ban, who do not vote for background checks — will you spend money, lots of money, to target them in 2014, in a midterm race?

BLOOMBERG: Well let me phrase it this way. I think I have a responsibility, and I think you and all of your viewers have responsibilities, to try and make this country safer for our families and for each other. And if I can do that by spending some money and taking the NRA from being the only voice to being one of the voices, so the public can really understand the issues, then I think my money would be well spent and I think I have an obligation to do that…If 90 percent of the public wants something and their representatives vote against that, common sense says they are going to have a price to pay for that.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Bloomberg has plans to spend $12 million to finance ads from his pro-gun regulation group Mayors Against Illegal Guns in 13 key states whose senators are thought to be on the fence over new legislation on an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.

The ads will begin airing this week, Bloomberg told Gregory, and will crescendo over the Easter break when most legislators host events back in their home districts.

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GOP Lawmakers Press For Study Of Health Law's Effect On Wages

House Republicans told the Obama administration on Thursday that it needs to get moving on a study of how the Affordable Care Act will affect wages.

The healthcare law requires the Labor Department to study whether new regulations under the law will lead to a reduction in workers' pay. 

Reps. John Kline (R-Minn.) and Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) said the Labor Department must move forward with the study before finalizing the policies that might affect employment and wages.

"The Department of Labor has a legal obligation to study how the health care law will affect workers’ wages, yet it has failed to do so," the lawmakers said. "Meanwhile, the federal bureaucracy is busy implementing the law at a time when wages are stagnant and 12 million [people] are searching for work."

They noted recent surveys, conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well as the Federal Reserve, in which employers said they're holding off on new hires until the healthcare law is fully in place and they can see how they're affected by its employer mandate.

Some businesses have also threatened to cut their employees' hours so they won't have to provide healthcare benefits, although some major firms later backed off those ideas amid bad publicity.

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Lawmakers must reevaluate immigration detention system

Lawmakers must reevaluate immigration detention system - The Hill's Congress Blog @import "/plugins/content/jw_disqus/tmpl/css/template.css"; li.item435,li.item437,li.item439,li.item441,li.item443,li.item497,li.item499,li.item501,li.item503,li.item605,li.item689,li.item691,li.item693,li.item695,li.item697,li.item683,li.item685{display: none;} var _comscore = _comscore || []; _comscore.push({ c1: "2", c2: "10314615" }); (function() { var s = document.createElement("script"), el = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.async = true; s.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js"; el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el); })(); function getURLParameter(name) { return decodeURI( (RegExp(name + '=' + '(.+?)(&|$)').exec(location.search)||[,null])[1] );}(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=369058349794205"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); if (getURLParameter("set_fb_var") == '1') { jQuery.cookie('set_fb_var', 'true', { expires: 7, path: '/' }); return true; } if (!jQuery.cookie('set_fb_var') && d.referrer.match(/facebook.com/i)) { window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '340094652706297', status: true, xfbml: true, cookie: true, oauth: true }); }; }}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));if((navigator.userAgent.match(/iPhone/i)) || (navigator.userAgent.match(/iPod/i))) {document.write('');}if(navigator.userAgent.match(/iPad/i)) {document.write('');}if(navigator.userAgent.match(/Android/i)) {document.write('');} Follow!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");Advanced Search Options » Home/NewsSenateHouseAdministrationCampaignPollsBusiness & LobbyingSunday Talk ShowsCampaignBusiness & LobbyingK Street InsidersLobbying ContractsLobbying HiresLobbying RevenueOpinionColumnistsEditorialsLettersOp-EdWeyants WorldCapital LivingCover StoriesFood & DrinkNew Member of the Week20 QuestionsMy 5 Min. W/ObamaAnnouncementsMeet the LawmakerJobsVideoGossip: In The Know Briefing RoomRegWatchHillicon ValleyE2-WireFloor ActionOn The MoneyHealthwatchTransportationDEFCON HillGlobal AffairsCongressBallot BoxIn The KnowPunditsTwitter Room HomeSenateHouseAdministrationCampaignPollsBusiness & LobbyingSunday Talk ShowsBlogsBriefing RoomRegWatchHillicon ValleyE2-WireFloor ActionOn The MoneyHealthwatchTransportationDEFCON HillGlobal AffairsCongressBallot BoxIn The KnowPunditsTwitter RoomOpinionA.B. StoddardBrent BudowskyLanny DavisDavid HillCheri JacobusMark MellmanDick MorrisMarkos Moulitsas (Kos)Robin BronkEditorialsLettersOp-EdsJuan WilliamsJudd GreggChristian HeinzeKaren FinneyJohn FeeheryCapital LivingCover StoriesFood & DrinkAnnouncementsNew Member of the WeekMy 5 Min. W/ObamaAll Capital LivingVideoHillTubeEventsVideoClassifiedsJobsClassifiedsResourcesMobile SiteiPhoneAndroidiPadLawmaker RatingsWhite PapersOrder ReprintsLast 6 IssuesOutside LinksRSS FeedsContact UsAdvertiseReach UsSubmitting LettersSubmitting Op-edsSubscriptions   Lawmakers must reevaluate immigration detention systemBy Antonio M. Ginatta, Human Rights Watch-03/19/13 11:00 AM ET Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

Never mind that, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement Secretary John Morton testified on Thursday, 70 percent of those released had no criminal record, and the rest had been convicted of misdemeanors or minor charges. Or that current law, though it mandates detention for immigrants convicted of certain serious crimes, explicitly gives the federal government leeway to let others go free on bail or parole while they await deportation hearings.
 
Today, [3/19] the House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the releases, and we can only hope that the discussion will be more constructive -- and indeed, more reality-based -- than the initial back-and-forth. Lawmakers should use the opportunity to examine some basic questions about U.S. immigration policy, two in particular: First, what is the purpose of immigration detention? And, second, if the recently released detainees were not flight or safety risks, why was the U.S. detaining them in the first place?
 
The point of immigration detention is to ensure that immigrants show up for their hearings, and, in certain cases, to protect public safety. The discretion Congress built into the system is a good thing, as it allows the executive branch to distinguish between a violent criminal and, say, someone convicted of a traffic violation, or between an immigrant who poses a flight risk and one who has strong family ties in the United States, when evaluating whom to detain.
 
Unfortunately, in recent years, the federal government has used this discretionary power too little, not too much. The result: too many immigrants have been detained unnecessarily, at significant cost to the U.S. taxpayer.
 
This brings us to the question of why the noncitizens recently released were detained in the first place. And there, the answer is less than clear. For several years, Human Rights Watch has documented numerous cases in which people were detained unnecessarily -- including under mandatory detention provisions.
 
For example, Oscar W. spent nine months in immigration detention even though he had a strong claim to remain in the United States. Oscar (a pseudonym) had been adopted by U.S. citizen parents when he was a child, but they never filed the paperwork for his lawful permanent resident status. As an adult, Oscar married a U.S. citizen, and had three U.S. citizen children. A fraud conviction for writing bad checks triggered Oscar’s detention. He was detained even though he was eligible for lawful permanent resident status based on his marriage. Oscar was ultimately granted lawful permanent resident status and permitted to remain in the United States.
 
Had the immigration judge been able to grant Oscar bond while the court addressed his case, Oscar’s U.S. citizen family would not have suffered the painful and difficult separation caused by his detention, and the government could have saved the thousands of dollars spent on his detention.    

The overuse of immigration detention is also questionable in light of other, less costly, forms of supervision that can help to ensure that a person will appear at a  deportation hearing, including GPS monitors and periodic reporting to immigration officials.
 
The United States should be spending its resources on detaining only immigrants who are dangerous or unlikely to appear for hearings. Instead, the United States is detaining people like Oscar W. The news is not that these detainees were released. The news is that they were detained in the first place.
 
Ginatta is the U.S. advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
 

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Virginia Lawmakers Approve Strict Measure Requiring Voters To Show Photo ID

After President Obama won the state in November, Virginia Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli (R) called for stricter photo ID requirements because Obama “can’t win a state where photo ID is required.” On Wednesday, Virginia lawmakers proved they were listening to Cuccinelli, voting to adopt a photo ID requirement among the strictest in the country.

During the 2012 election cycle, voter ID laws were a huge hit with Republican-controlled state legislatures — but somewhat less popular with the courts. Judges struck down a number of voter ID laws due to the disproportionate impact they would have for minorities, seniors, and low-income voters. Virginia’s voter ID law was one of the few that survived review by the Justice Department, as its list of acceptable ID was flexible enough that it would not harm minority voting rights.

If Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) signs these new requirements into law, voters will have to present a government-issued card bearing their photo, such as a drivers license or a passport. If they do not have a photo ID, they will have to fill out a provisional ballot that will be discarded if they cannot produce the required ID by the Friday after an election:

On a 65-34 vote, the House completed legislative action on a strict photo identification bill that would require all voters to present identification such as a drivers license or passport bearing a photo of the holder to cast a regular ballot. Those without it would have to vote a provisional ballot that would count only if the voter could provide local election officials with the required identification by noon on the Friday after the election. Only one Democrat supported the measure.

An almost identical measure was blocked in Texas under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires certain regions with a history of discrimination to “pre-clear” any election law changes with the DOJ. An appeals court determined Texas’ law would clearly hurt minority and low-income communities, who are much less likely to have the requisite identification. Under Section 5, Virginia’s new requirements would almost certainly be blocked by the DOJ. However, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on the validity of this section of the VRA. If the court strikes down Section 5, minority voters will be left vulnerable in Virginia, Texas, and other states that targeted minority voting power during the Jim Crow era.

Earlier this month, Virginians endured colossal lines on Election Day, with some voters still waiting hours after polls officially closed. Still, lawmakers seem convinced that voting is too easy in Virginia. On Wednesday, the House also passed a bill to purge any non-citizens on Virginia’s voter rolls by accessing a federal immigration database. Florida and Colorado fought costly legal battles for access to this same database, but failed to find almost any confirmed non-citizen voters.

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Medicare’s Projected Spending Has Dropped $500 Billion Without Lawmakers Cutting A Dime

Medicare will spend $511 billion less between now and 2020 than was predicted two and a half years ago, according to the latest number crunching by the Center On Budget and Policy Priorities. More importantly, this drop occurred completely separate from any changes in government policy — rather, it resulted from an overall slowdown in the growth of health care costs.

The last time the Congress and the President actually altered Medicare policy in order to bring down the program’s spending was when they passed health reform in March of 2010. By comparing the Congressional Budget Office’s projections from August of that year with their projections from earlier this month, and by leaving out the the SGR cuts and the Medicare cuts in sequestration, the CBPP was able to isolate how much Medicare’s spending is anticipated to drop due purely to changes in the health care markets. And the drop is considerably larger than the proactive cuts in Medicare spending the Simpson-Bowles plan was calling for back in December of 2010:

According to the CBO itself, its projections for Medicare and Medicaid spending between now and 2022 dropped 3.5 percent since its previous projection in August of 2012.

Spending on Medicare and Medicaid is the main driver of the country’s long-term debt problem. But because the programs buy health care, larger economic forces in the health care market that drive up costs also drive up their spending, regardless of any specific policy enacted by lawmakers. Conversely, if health costs begin to slow, that will bring spending down — and there’s evidence that’s exactly what’s happened over the last few years.

Between 2009 and 2011, all spending in the health care system, both public and private, grew at 3.9 percent — the lowest annual rates we’ve seen in 52 years. 2012 looks like it will turn out to be similarly sluggish. Some of this is certainly due to the recession and ongoing depression. But an increasing number of economists and experts are convinced a big piece of the slowdown is also a more permanent restructuring of the way health care markets buy, sell, and deliver care.

No small part of that change may be due, in turn, to the passage of Obamacare, which put in place a host of new incentives and reforms to move health care delivery in a more efficient direction. And if Obamacare’s reforms continue pushing the health care system to adapt, then the United State’s fiscal future could continue to improve without lawmakers having to cut a dime.

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Big Tobacco-Backed Lawmakers Take Down Oklahoma’s Anti-Smoking Bill

An Oklahoma state Senate committee rejected a measure that “would have repealed a 1987 law that prevents cities and towns from enacting tobacco use restrictions stricter than that of the state” by a 2-6 vote on Monday — drawing sharp rebukes from public health advocates who see the legislation’s failure as a political concession to Big Tobacco, and even drawing the ire of the state’s GOP Gov. Mary Fallin, who has called on lawmakers to pass legislation aimed at curbing Oklahoma’s smoking-related public health care costs.

“This is a victory for tobacco lobbyists and the tobacco industry,” said Alex Weintz, Fallin’s communications director. “It’s a defeat for the state of Oklahoma and anyone who cares about improving our health.”

As OKNews reports, the debate over SB 36 revealed a clear correlation between the state senators’ votes and the amount of money they received from the tobacco lobby:

The debate on the measure turned into a showdown between Sen. Frank Simpson, R-Ardmore, the only senator to sign a pledge to refuse all contributions, meals and gifts from the tobacco industry, and Sen. Rob Johnson, who is listed as the No. 1 recipient on a website that tracks legislators receiving money from tobacco lobbyists.

Johnson, R-Yukon, received about $11,295 in campaign contributions and gifts from those who were identified as tobacco lobbyists since 2006, according to the website tobaccomoney.com, which was started last year by Doug Matheny, the former director of tobacco prevention at the state Health Department. [...]

“From the tobacco companies themselves, I don’t think I’ve received that much comparatively to other interests,” he said. “It has absolutely nothing to do with it. I’ve taken max contributions from somebody and completely have been opposed to an idea they’ve had.”

Johnson and his fellow reform opponents implied that SB 36 would be a burden on businesses, since it would discourage Oklahoma residents from patronizing establishments that don’t allow smoking. But that logic completely ignores the very real — and very significant — costs of the state’s smoking epidemic. National smoking-related medical costs amount to $200 billion in preventable spending every year, and studies have confirmed that states making small investments in smoking cessation policies see massive economic returns. In Oklahoma specifically, where about 5,800 people die each year from smoking, every household pays an estimated $556 annually in state and federal taxes to cover smoking-caused medical costs.

Ultimately, the measure’s defeat is a reminder of the outsized influence that Big Tobacco continues to enjoy. Fallin has vowed to continue her fight to encourage anti-smoking efforts in Oklahoma, and will potentially call for a popular referendum on SB 36 — but if she does, the people of Oklahoma can expect a titanic statewide lobbying campaign by the tobacco industry.

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Lawmakers Introduce Sweeping Sex Ed Bill To Mandate LGBT Inclusive, Gender Balanced Health Classes

Just this week, the CDC released new data pointing to the United States’ “ongoing, severe epidemic” of sexually transmitted infections, which incur the country an estimate $16 billion each year in medical costs. That public health crisis is partly fueled by the lack of comprehensive, medically accurate sexual health instruction in classrooms across the country — but some lawmakers are seeking to change that with a sex ed bill that would overhaul the outdated health classes in America’s public schools.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and 32 other Democratic politicians re-introduced the “Real Education for Healthy Youth Act” on Thursday, legislation that would “expand comprehensive sex education programs in schools and ensure that federal funds are spent on effective, age-appropriate, medically accurate programs.”

“The bill does a lot of important things — it’s a big bill,” Sarah Audelo, the Domestic Policy Director for Advocates for Youth, explained to ThinkProgress. “There’s a lot to be covered, and a lot of resources that young people need that they’re not currently getting.” In particular, the legislation would ensure that federal funding is allocated only to the sexual health programs that include inclusive language about LGBT issues, don’t rely on outdated gender stereotypes, and impart accurate information about HIV.

Right now, sexual education standards vary widely across states. Just 12 states mandate that sexual health curricula must be medically accurate — which means that young people across the country are receiving false information about birth control’s effectiveness, the right way to prevent STDs, and the way that HIV is transmitted.

“Ultimately, we have a long way to go when it comes to sex ed,” Audelo pointed out. “The United States has some of the worst sexual health outcomes in the developed world, and we can’t blame young people for their poor decisions when we don’t teach them how to make the right choices for their bodies.”

And there is concrete evidence to back up Audelo’s claims. The states that push abstinence-only education programs in their public schools — which doesn’t trust teens enough to teach them facts about their bodies — have the highest rates of teen pregnancies, while adolescents who actually receive instruction about prevention methods are 60 percent less likely to get someone else pregnant or get pregnant themselves. Nevertheless, right-wing politicians continue to do exactly what Audelo cautions against — and blame teenagers themselves for failed abstinence-only policies.

View the original article here

Maryland Lawmakers Propose Mandatory Paid Sick Leave For Workers

American workers rarely receive paid sick leave, but cities and states across the country are taking up proposals to mandate that employers pay employees who have to miss work because they are sick. A group of Democratic lawmakers has added Maryland to that list with a proposal that would mandate up to seven earned sick days.

Under the proposal, the leave would be accrued based on hours worked, the SoMdNews.com reports:

The proposal, led in the House by Del. John A. Olszewski Jr. (D-Baltimore), allows all full-time employees to earn an hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, or up to seven sick days per year. Part-time workers would earn fewer days, depending on how often they work.

Nearly 40 percent of America’s private sector workers do not receive paid sick leave, and the number swells to 80 percent for both low-income workers and food workers, 60 percent of whom said they have reported to work even while sick. A 2011 study found that 40 percent of Maryland’s private sector workers don’t receive paid sick leave.

The lack of such leave jeopardizes the health and safety of other workers — in 2009, it led to an addition 5 million cases of the H1N1 flu virus, according to estimates.

Business groups have targeted paid sick day legislation with faulty studies, but in other areas where paid sick leave is being considered, studies have shown the legislation would have little effect on labor costs. The Main Street Alliance of Oregon, a supporter of Portland’s paid sick leave proposal, estimates it would add no more than 1.9 percent to labor expenses for the city’s businesses.

View the original article here

Court Holds Low Kansas School Funding Unconstitutional, Lawmakers Respond By Attacking Constitution

Just weeks after a three judge panel unanimously ruled the Kansas legislature was failing to meet its constitutionally defined responsibility to suitably fund the state’s education needs, conservative Kansas legislators responded with a proposal to limit judicial oversight of education funding. The January ruling ordered the legislature to raise education funding around $400 million to return the state’s schools to reasonable standards and called out the hypocrisy of cuts given other “priorities” pursued by the legislature at the same time:

The court said it was “illogical” for the state to argue that it could not adequately fund schools at the same time it slashed income taxes.

The ruling is the latest in a series of court victories for a group of public school districts, parents and students in Kansas who have demanded for years that the state provide more money for education.

A funding plan was devised for Kansas in 2006 through a settlement of a prior lawsuit but the groups filed suit again in 2010 when the state made an estimated $300 million in funding cuts. The state made even more cuts in 2011. There have been $511 million in cuts to the base funding between fiscal year 2009 and fiscal 2012.”

Rather than accept the decision and provide Kansan students with adequate funding, last week conservative legislators introduced a constitutional amendments intended to reduce judicial influence and Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R) appealed the ruling.

The large conservative majorities in both chambers of the Kansas legislature, have pursued an aggressive agenda under Governor Sam Brownback, including gutting arts funding, and attempting to end income taxes.

Kansas is not alone in constitutionally requiring education funding standards, with many other states including New Jersey and Washington fighting similar battles over education funding in recent years. Just yesterday, a District Judge ruled Texas’s school-finance system unconstitutional due to funding disparities between richer and poorer districts.

View the original article here

Virginia Lawmakers Approve Bill Forcing Universities To Fund Student Groups That Discriminate

The Virginia House of Delegates voted 80-19 today to approve HB1617, a bill that would invite any religious or political university student group to discriminate as they please and still require the campus to providing them funding and access to campus facilities. This would make LGBT students particularly vulnerable to discrimination because universities’ protections for sexual orientation are not enforceable under Virginia law. Under this bill, though, even a KKK chapter could hypothetically form, use campus resources, and openly discriminate against non-white and non-Christian students on campus.

Here’s the text of the bill:

To the extent allowed by state and federal law:

1. A religious or political student organization may determine that ordering the organization’s internal affairs, selecting the organization’s leaders and members, defining the organization’s doctrines, and resolving the organization’s disputes are in furtherance of the organization’s religious or political mission and that only persons committed to that mission should conduct such activities; and

2. No public institution of higher education that has granted recognition of and access to any student organization or group shall discriminate against any such student organization or group that exercises its rights pursuant to subdivision 1.

On most college campuses, student organizations must maintain a constitution that conforms to the university’s procedures, including its nondiscrimination policies. For example, James Madison University requires that all organizations obey the “policies, rules, regulations, and standards of the university,” such as its nondiscrimination policy, which includes sexual orientation. The College of William & Mary offers similar protections and requires student groups be open to all students.

Such policies are key because student organizations receive funding and use campus resources (like meeting spaces) that are funded by fees that all students pay; thus, all students deserve equal access to those campus clubs. Nondiscrimination policies have become a source of contention for conservative Christian student groups, like at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University and New York’s University of Buffalo, who wish to exclude gay students from membership. In the 2010 case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly answered this question in favor of nondiscrimination policies, ruling that “all-comers” policies are viewpoint neutral, and thus are no more unfair to Christian groups than any other student groups.

Conservatives have argued, however that nondiscrimination policies allow for “hostile takeovers“ — in which students with opposing views infiltrate and assume power in the organization — but there’s no evidence to suggest that this is plausible, let alone that it ever happened. Members of an organization are still allowed to vote for their group’s leaders, even with discriminatory intent, if all students remain eligible. Any student group that can’t persist on its own merits probably doesn’t warrant use of student fees in the first place.

All 19 votes against the bill were cast by Democrats. It now advances to the Senate for committee consideration.

View the original article here

Lawmakers mark Roe v. Wade anniversary

Lawmakers mark Roe v. Wade anniversary - The Hill's Twitter Room @import "/plugins/content/jw_disqus/tmpl/css/template.css"; li.item435,li.item437,li.item439,li.item441,li.item443,li.item497,li.item499,li.item501,li.item503,li.item605,li.item689,li.item691,li.item693,li.item695,li.item697,li.item683,li.item685{display: none;} var _comscore = _comscore || []; _comscore.push({ c1: "2", c2: "10314615" }); (function() { var s = document.createElement("script"), el = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.async = true; s.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js"; el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el); })(); function getURLParameter(name) { return decodeURI( (RegExp(name + '=' + '(.+?)(&|$)').exec(location.search)||[,null])[1] );}(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=369058349794205"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); if (getURLParameter("set_fb_var") == '1') { jQuery.cookie('set_fb_var', 'true', { expires: 7, path: '/' }); return true; } if (!jQuery.cookie('set_fb_var') && d.referrer.match(/facebook.com/i)) { window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '340094652706297', status: true, xfbml: true, cookie: true, oauth: true }); }; }}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));if((navigator.userAgent.match(/iPhone/i)) || (navigator.userAgent.match(/iPod/i))) {document.write('');}if(navigator.userAgent.match(/iPad/i)) {document.write('');}if(navigator.userAgent.match(/Android/i)) {document.write('');} Follow @thehill!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");Advanced Search Options » Home/NewsSenateHouseAdministrationCampaignPollsBusiness & LobbyingSunday Talk ShowsCampaign 2012Business & LobbyingK Street InsidersLobbying ContractsLobbying HiresLobbying RevenueOpinionColumnistsEditorialsLettersOp-EdWeyants WorldCapital LivingCover StoriesFood & DrinkNew Member of the Week20 QuestionsMy 5 Min. W/ObamaAnnouncementsMeet the LawmakerJobsVideoGossip: In The Know Briefing RoomRegWatchHillicon ValleyE2-WireBallot BoxOn The MoneyHealthwatchTransportationDEFCON HillGlobal AffairsCongressFloor ActionGOP12In The KnowPunditsTwitter Room HomeSenateHouseAdministrationCampaignPollsBusiness & LobbyingSunday Talk ShowsBlogsBriefing RoomRegWatchHillicon ValleyE2-WireBallot BoxOn The MoneyHealthwatchTransportationDEFCON HillGlobal AffairsCongressFloor ActionGOP12In The KnowPunditsTwitter RoomOpinionA.B. StoddardBrent BudowskyLanny DavisDavid HillCheri JacobusMark MellmanDick MorrisMarkos Moulitsas (Kos)Robin BronkEditorialsLettersOp-EdsJuan WilliamsJudd GreggChristian HeinzeKaren FinneyJohn FeeheryCapital LivingCover StoriesFood & DrinkAnnouncementsNew Member of the WeekMy 5 Min. W/ObamaAll Capital LivingVideoHillTubeEventsVideoClassifiedsJobsClassifiedsResourcesMobile SiteiPhoneAndroidiPadLawmaker RatingsWhite PapersOrder ReprintsLast 6 IssuesOutside LinksRSS FeedsContact UsAdvertiseReach UsSubmitting LettersSubmitting Op-edsSubscriptions   Lawmakers mark Roe v. Wade anniversaryBy Alicia M. Cohn-01/22/13 05:20 PM ET Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

Republicans and Democrats were tweeting at cross purposes on Tuesday for the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. 

The Supreme Court handed down a decision on the landmark case 40 years ago — on Jan, 22, 1973 — affirming a woman's right by law to have an abortion. But on Twitter, the war over abortion continues along strict party lines. The two sides were not talking to each other about the issue, but neither couched their opinions on the controversial topic.

Democrats are tweeting their commitment to keep fighting against those who would "roll back reproductive healthcare rights," as Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) put it, while across the aisle, Republicans were tweeting about "millions of innocent lives lost" and reaffirming their commitment to protecting the "sanctity of human life."

Multiple Republicans quoted former President Reagan (R) in their tweets, while several Democrats pointed to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released Monday evening that found 7 in 10 adults oppose overturning the Court's decision. 

Some Republicans:

Today is 40th anniv of #RoevWade. Let's remember the 55+ million lives lost & spread the msg that women deserve better than #abortion #roe40

— Michele Bachmann (@MicheleBachmann) January 22, 2013

On this 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, I proudly reaffirm my support for pro-life policies.

— Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) January 22, 2013

"We cannot diminish the value of 1 category of human life - the unborn - without diminishing value of all human life" - Reagan #roe40

— Larry Bucshon, MD (@RepLarryBucshon) January 22, 2013

On the 40th anniv. of Roe v. Wade, let’s remember the millions of innocent lives lost #prolife

— Senator Dan Coats (@SenDanCoats) January 22, 2013

Today, on the 40th anniversary of #RoeVWade, I continue to be an advocate of women’s #healthcare and the protection of unborn children.

— Michael Burgess, MD (@michaelcburgess) January 22, 2013

I will continue to fight to protect the right to #life for the most vulnerable among us.#RoeAt40

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) January 22, 2013

40yrs of Roe=50 mil less Americans paying Social Security. Failure protecting young = failure protecting the old.Every life matters.

— JudgeCarter (@JudgeCarter) January 22, 2013

As member of Congressional Adoption Caucus, it's important to highlight alts like adoption on RoeVWade anniverisary. ccainstitute.org

— Rep. Todd Young (@RepToddYoung) January 22, 2013

The 40th anniversary of the tragic #RoevWade is a reminder that we must remain committed to protecting the right to life this Congress.

— Rep. George Holding (@RepHolding) January 22, 2013

Today is 40th anniversary of #RoevWade. I believe in protecting those who cannot protect themselves. #prolife

— Senator John Boozman (@JohnBoozman) January 22, 2013

We cannot diminish the value of 1 category of human life - the unborn - without diminishing value of all human life - Reagan #roe40 #prolife

— Rep. Todd Rokita (@ToddRokita) January 22, 2013

America knows the collective pain of abortion is a heavy burden no free and prosperous nation can carry forever. #roe40 #prolife

— Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) January 22, 2013

Sadly today is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.Let's remember the 55+ million lives lost.#roe40

— Ann Wagner (@RepAnnWagner) January 22, 2013

On this 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I'm reminded that everylifeis a precious gift from God. #Roe40 #prolife

— Rep. Renee Ellmers (@RepReneeEllmers) January 22, 2013

55 million abortions since 1973. Today we remember those innocent lives. #RoevWade

— Tom Price (@RepTomPrice) January 22, 2013

Some Democrats:

As we mark 40 years since Roe v. Wade Iremain committed to protecting a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions. #Roe40

— Rep. Doris Matsui (@DorisMatsui) January 22, 2013

40 years ago, SCOTUS made a historic decision to protect reproductive rights. Today, let us recommit to standing up for our rights. #RoeAt40

— Elizabeth Esty (@RepEsty) January 22, 2013

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic #Roe v. Wade decision.We must protect a woman’s right to choose. #RoeAt40

— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) January 22, 2013

40 years after Roe v Wade and there are still attacks on women’s reproductive rights. I’ll keep up the fight for women’s health. #RoeAt40

— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) January 22, 2013

Ben- #RoeAt40 means women have a right to privacy, to control their own body,healthcare and reproductive choices

— Senator Ben Cardin (@SenatorCardin) January 22, 2013

40 years ago today the Supreme Court decided Roe v Wade and protected a woman's fundemental right to make her own reproductive choices.

— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 22, 2013

Jon is commemorating 40 years of #RoeVWade; will always fight for women to make their own private health decisions. #Tweet4Choice

— Jon Tester (@jontester) January 22, 2013

Proud to support Roe v. Wade’s 40th anniversary today and reproductive rights for women every day. #Roe40

— Rep. Frank Pallone (@FrankPallone) January 22, 2013

Today we honor #Roeat40. I will continue to fight to protect a woman’s right to control her own health decisions.

— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) January 22, 2013

On this 40th Anniversary of Roe v Wade, we reaffirm our commitment to a woman’s basic right to privacy and the right to choose her own path

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) January 22, 2013

Today is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I'm proud to stand with CT women to protect reproductive rights. #Roeat40

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 22, 2013

40 years after Roe v. Wade, we must consider what is at stake if we don’t protect a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.

— Rush Holt (@RushHolt) January 22, 2013

We must commit ourselves to continuing fight for women's health & making sure women have access to safe reproductive health care. #RoeAt40

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 22, 2013

On 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, let's pledge to continue protecting a woman's right to choose & make health care decisions w/ her doctor

— Rep Donna F Edwards (@repdonnaedwards) January 22, 2013

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