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June 2008
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your interest in hearing from me about the issues that matter to Ohio. This email is meant to update you about efforts in Ohio and Washington to strengthen our communities and build Ohio's middle class.
In addition, I invite you to visit my website at http://brown.senate.gov, or click any of the links below to learn about other important issues. Don't hesitate to email me your questions, concerns, and comments. Together, we can work to make sure Ohio's needs are heard on Capitol Hill.
Once again, thank you for your interest.
Sincerely,
Sherrod Brown
Congress Passes Farm Bill
Earlier this month, the House and Senate passed the 2008 farm bill. As the first Ohioan in 40 years to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee, I was honored to participate in drafting a bill that works for farmers, families, and communities. The farm bill insures against extreme swings in agriculture prices, invests in rural communities, provides new incentives to protect our natural resources, develops local markets for family farmers, and helps struggling families put healthy food on the table.
I am especially proud to have worked with Ohio farmers to develop the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program, one of the most significant reforms to farm programs in decades. ACRE offers a much needed choice to farmers. It enables them to switch from traditional farm safety net programs to a revenue based approach that better protects against volatile crop prices, natural disasters, and rising production costs. This is true reform for farmers and taxpayers.
The farm bill also includes much needed funding for our nation's food banks. I visited food banks across the state - from Cleveland to Toledo, from Cincinnati to Youngstown. Food banks across the state are running out of supplies, and that puts Ohio families and children at risk.
This bill provides $50 million in immediate emergency funding for food banks and almost doubles funding for food banks over the next 5 years.
The 2008 farm bill promotes American agriculture, advances our conservation goals, and honors Americans' compassion for those in need. While no bill is perfect, the farm bill is a solid accomplishment.
Brown Introduces Green Energy Bill
Since January, I have held alternative energy roundtables in Athens, Columbus, Cleveland, and Dayton to discuss technological advances in green energy and ways to capitalize on Ohio's manufacturing base. In Athens, I invited businesses owners, entrepreneurs, investors, and other community leaders to discuss how to grow green energy jobs in southeast Ohio. At a Columbus roundtable, I was proud to work with Battelle Memorial Institute
and Edison Welding Institute to gather key stakeholders together for an in-depth discussion on building a green energy industry in Ohio. In Cleveland, I met with high-technology businesses and discussed struggles facing entrepreneurs and innovators. And in Dayton, I met with business community leaders to discuss their ideas on green energy, advanced engineering and manufacturing, and how we can work together to advance new industry in Ohio.
In May I introduced legislation that would create the Green Energy Technology Investment Program. The program would help entrepreneurs, innovators, colleges, non-profits, and other entities develop an alternative energy industry in Ohio.
The legislation would establish a Green Technology Investment Corporation, comprised of people who build, design, create, or run green businesses. The corporation would consist of seven members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The specific programs administered by the Green Energy Technology Investment Corporation would be composed mainly of a variety of loans and grants to energy manufacturers, communities, and universities working on cutting edge ways to get green energy products and generation to market.
While we continue working on a short-term solution to high gas prices, it is imperative that we craft a long-term strategy for our nation's energy independence.
Improving Health Care for Ohioans
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, on which I serve, has been busy this year with legislation to improve the safety of medications as well as legislation addressing Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, stroke prevention, childhood cancer, tuberculosis, and dangerous antibiotic-resistant infections.
Earlier this year, I met with members of the mental health and substance use disorder community-providers, advocates, consumers and their family members - in Columbus and Cleveland. The groups talked about issues affecting treatment and recovery, including the impact of stigma and the need for better insurance coverage for mental health and substance abuse services. I have been working with the Ohio Departments of Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Services and here in the Senate to address these issues. To raise the profile of the State's "Think Outside the Stigma" campaign, I sponsored a resolution commending this effort. I also cosponsored legislation in the Senate that would make insurance coverage for mental health services comparable to coverage for physical health problems. It is important to support recovery by ensuring that patients are not discriminated against due to the nature of their illness.
All across Ohio, I have heard stories from families who are struggling with dental problems but lack dental insurance and can't afford to pay out-of-pocket for care. In response, I introduced a bill that increases access to dental care for low-income families. The bill would expand the dental care provided in community clinics, increase public education on the prevention of dental problems, and provide incentives for dentists to accept Medicaid.
Despite the fact that children make up about 20% of our population, the National Institutes of Health currently dedicate only about 5% of their budget to pediatric research. This year, I introduced legislation that would boost our national investment in pediatric research so we can increase our efforts in finding the causes and treatments for childhood illnesses.
Legislation I introduced last year to reauthorize the Healthy Start program made it one step closer to becoming law when it passed the Senate in April. The Healthy Start program is our national program to combat infant mortality. Shockingly, the United States ranks 32 out of 33 of the world's industrialized nations in the rate of infant deaths. African American infants are more than twice as likely as white infants to die before their first birthday. This legislation provides community-based assistance so women receive the services they need to prevent the tragic deaths of their infants. I look forward to the legislation passing the House so the president can sign it into law.
Brown Fights for Ohio's Truck Drivers
I have heard from countless truckers in recent months who find it increasingly difficult to survive. While all of us are feeling the pinch of high gas prices, not many of us have to pay diesel prices of $4.72 to fill our tanks.
Shippers are accustomed to paying fuel surcharges when fuel prices rise. But brokers who negotiate shipping rates for truckers are not obligated to pass the resulting fees along to the truckers. Both truckers and brokers acknowledge that many small trucking companies will go out of business in the near future if their operating costs are not relieved.
That is why I introduced a bill last month to pass collected fuel surcharges along to truckers. The bill, the Trust in Reliable Understanding of Consumer Costs (TRUCC) Act, would require brokers to disclose the rates they negotiate with shippers to ensure fair rates are being passed along to truckers. This bill will help truckers who are having trouble staying afloat with the rising cost of diesel. For Ohio truckers, rising fuel prices are not only a threat to their family budget, they are a threat to their livelihood.
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