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Rep. Wally Herger wants to junk the new federal health care law, saying small businesses are under siege and "looming devastation" awaits the economy.
Rep. Dan Lungren opts for a more incremental approach, proposing to scrap some reporting requirements for small businesses contained in the law.
Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.)
North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson is an original co-author of this bill.
The commission, which was established by executive order and based on legislation introduced in the House in early May, will investigate the causes of the devastating oil spill and report back to the president with recommendations for how to prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling.
The bill would allow family farms and ranches to pass down their land and farms, which is meant to preserve California's strong agricultural heritage.
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
The National Beer Wholesalers Association has mounted a full-court lobbying offensive to find co-sponsors for legislation that supports state-based alcohol regulation and makes it much tougher to file legal challenges to states' distribution laws.
Joined by the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America, NBWA is leading the charge against the Beer Institute, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, all of which oppose the bill.
On Thursday Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) voted in favor of the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010, which passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 246-161.
This bill would offer rebates to households that renovate their homes to be more energy efficient. In addition to benefiting home owners, this bill will create local jobs in construction, retail, and manufacturing.
"This is not 1965, the oil and gas companies can drill offshore now with all the new technology they have and do it safely and not cause accidents," a constituent wrote to me recently in an e-mail.
"Drill baby drill" was the call from across the country not that long ago. If you didn't agree that the government should open more off-shore area for drilling and exploration, you were labeled anti-American, an environmental extremist or, worse, a socialist. The latter being the label of choice by some for anyone who disagrees with them on anything.
Small companies that account for 90 percent of the North Coast's business community also are among the winners under the bill President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law today.
After a year of political upheaval that swung from a triumphant Democratic sweep in Washington to the rise of the Tea Party movement, Congress on Sunday night sent to President Obama the most sweeping social program since Medicare was enacted in 1965.
The vote on the health care overhaul was 219-212, with not a single Republican supporting the measure.