[StBernard] Washington Report from Rep. Richard H. Baker

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Fri Mar 9 23:27:41 EST 2007


March 9, 2007

Thank you for signing up for Congressman Baker’s newsletter. Below are issue updates that you may find interesting. As always, please visit his website at http://www.baker.house.gov <http://www.baker.house.gov/> for the most up-to-date news and information on what Congressman Baker is working on in the Sixth Congressional District of Louisiana.

House Financial Services Committee Passes Congressman Baker’s Amendments to Improve Road Home

On Tuesday, March 6th, Rep. Baker passed two amendments to jump-start Louisiana ’s recovery from Katrina and Rita. The first removes the duplication of benefits restrictions on hazard insurance, flood insurance or FEMA disaster payments. The second amendment would make already allocated funds available for a redevelopment demonstration project in New Orleans . Click here to learn more <http://www.baker.house.gov/html/news_item.cfm?id=631> .

Congressman Baker Helps Introduce Bill to Improve SBA Disaster Response and Duplication of Benefits Law

This week, Rep. Baker joined with House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez to introduce H.R. 1631, legislation that would improve the SBA response to disasters and allow the SBA Administrator to waive the current duplication of benefits requirement. Titled the RECOVER Act, this legislation is expected to pass the House Small Business Committee later this month. To learn more about this legislation click here <http://www.baker.house.gov/html/news_item.cfm?id=632> .

Congressman Baker Opposes H.R. 800, the “Employee Free Choice Act”

H.R. 800 would replace federally-supervised secret ballot elections to determine union representation with union authorization cards, which would be signed in the presence of union organizers and coworkers. This "card check" process permits labor unions to avoid secret ballot elections, which have long been recognized as the preferred method for determining representation questions. Secret ballot elections ensure that employees are free to cast their ballots in a confidential manner with no coercion by either management or the union.

Because of his strong concerns that the card check process exposes employees to abuse, threats and intimidation, Congressman Baker voted against H.R. 800 on March 1, 2007. Despite his vote against this legislation, H.R. 800 was approved in the House of Representatives by a vote of 241-185, and now awaits action in the Senate. Representative Baker will continue to oppose measures that erode employees' long-standing right to secret ballot elections.

Local Businesses Win Awards

The Louisiana Procurement Technical Assistance Center (LA PTAC) announced several awards to local businesses that have provided goods and services to the federal government.

* HUBZone Certified Business of the Year – Tillage Construction, Baton Rouge
* Katrina Business of the Year – Smith Research Corporation, Baton Rouge
* West Feliciana Parish Business of the Year – R*BAT, Inc., St. Francisville

LA PTAC is partnership between the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette created to assist Louisiana-based businesses with local, state and federal government contracting. For more information click here <http://www.certassist.startsmart.com/PTAC.html> .

Health Insurance Poll

Lowering the numbers of uninsured Louisianans and all Americans remains a top priority for Congress. What do you think is the best approach? Click here <http://www.baker.house.gov/> to vote in Rep. Baker’s most recent poll.





More information about the StBernard mailing list