113th Congress
One year ago Saturday, horror united us.
We froze in our pre-holiday tracks, stomachs and jaws dropping, at news that 20 first-graders and six educators had been shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. No matter our politics or feelings about guns, we all hugged our loved ones tighter that night.
But soon we parted ways again, as calls for tighter gun control were met with calls to protect constitutional rights, and accusations of hard-heartedness were met with accusations of political opportunism.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) today voted in favor of House Joint Resolution 59, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. This legislation is a result of the deal struck by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA). The legislation sets concrete spending levels for the next two fiscal years and partially replaces across-the-board sequestration cuts mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, joined mental health and public health experts today to unveil a comprehensive report detailing evidence-based federal policy recommendations on gun violence prevention and mental health.
The United States House of Representatives is scheduled to hold votes beginning at 6:30pm Eastern Standard Time.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement on Vice President Biden's announcement of $100 million in additional funding made available to expand and improve mental health services.
Some $50 million will come through the Affordable Care Act to help community centers provide more mental health services. The second half of the money, made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will help finance rural mental health facilities.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement on Vice President Biden's announcement of $100 million in additional funding made available to expand and improve mental health services. $50 million will come through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to help community centers provide more mental health services. The second half of the money, made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), will help finance rural mental health facilities.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) introduced bipartisan legislation expanding access to mental health care for Medicare recipients. H.R. 3662, the Mental Health Access Improvement Act, will add thousands of highly qualified licensed mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists (MFTs) to the network of providers eligible to serve Medicare beneficiaries.
This session of Congress is the first since World II that has failed to protect a single new acre of public land.
This year, however, bills supported by California lawmakers are getting action and a push from the Obama administration.
The House in July passed, by unanimous consent, a bill by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, to add the 1,660-acre Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands along the Mendocino coast to the islands, rocks, and reefs in the California Coastal National Monument.
Representative Mike Thompson conferred with around 50 community members at a town hall meeting Tuesday night in Martinez. The meeting, held at Creekside Church, was an open forum for members of California's 5th Congressional District to discuss with their representative what was most important to them about their federal government.
Congressmen Mike Thompson (D- St. Helena) and Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands), senior members of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Thursday introduced bipartisan legislation for small businesses in regard to federal employment tax responsibilities.
The Small Business Efficiency Act would provide rules for Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) that are voluntarily certified by the IRS to collect and pay federal employment taxes for small business clients.