Maria's Weekly Update

Maria's Weekly Update

Senator Maria Cantwell's Weekly Update for Washington State

Giving Seniors More Time to Enroll in the New Prescription Drug Program

Seniors from across our state have told me they're having problems understanding and enrolling in the new Medicare prescription drug program. The program is too confusing and complicated, and many seniors are finding it hard to make informed decision before the May 15 enrollment deadline. That's why I'm supporting legislation to extend the deadline through the end of 2006. We need to make sure there is ample time for prospective enrollees to decide which plan works best for them without the threat of penalty fees hanging over their heads. Not only is the program complex and confusing, but the administration has relied primarily on the internet and a 100-page booklet to help seniors through the enrollment process. Both of these tools have proved inadequate. Seventy-six percent of seniors have never been online, 26 percent of Medicare beneficiaries have cognitive impairments, and three million seniors have trouble seeing. Calls to the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, set up to help people make insurance decisions, have skyrocketed and the agency's Seattle office has already received over 10,000 calls for help. The administration estimated that 29 million of Medicare's 43 million beneficiaries would sign up for the plan, but with time running out, only 10 million seniors have enrolled. We need to give seniors more time so they can make accurate, informed decisions and get the care they were promised.
Fighting for Tax Fairness: Extending the Sales Tax Deduction

In 2004, I worked with a bipartisan group of senators and representatives to pass legislation allowing Washington state residents to deduct the state and local sales taxes they pay from their federal income tax returns. Under the provisions I sponsored, Washingtonians claimed deductions totaling almost $2 billion on their 2004 returns. However, the deduction only applied to 2004 and 2005. Last week, the House approved a one-year extension of the state sales tax deduction, previously set to expire on December 31. The Senate approved similar legislation earlier this fall. Earlier this year, I teamed up with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) to introduce a measure in the Senate to make the tax cut permanent. Last week's action is an important step in this process and will provide a boost to retailers and taxpayers statewide next year. The extension must still gain final approval in Congress and must be signed into law by the president before taking effect. Without this tax cut, Washingtonians get taxed twice—once when they make a purchase and again when they file their tax returns because they can't deduct the sales tax they already paid. Washingtonians deserve tax fairness, and I will continue the fight to make the deduction permanent.
Protecting Washington's Wilderness

I'm fighting to stop a pending House budget bill that would green-light big giveaways to the mining industry at the expense of pristine, irreplaceable federal lands. The proposal would end the current moratorium on the purchasing, or patenting, of federal land by mining companies. This moratorium has been in place for over a decade, and was implemented in response to concerns that mining companies were purchasing valuable public land—and the resources beneath the surface—for $5 or less an acre under 19 th century mining laws. The House proposal would open up thousands of acres of mining claims in our state to purchase—including existing claims within the proposed Wild Sky Wilderness Area. This ill-advised plan represents reckless fiscal policy and is nothing more than a big giveaway of America 's most pristine public lands. I will do everything I can to stop this irresponsible proposal and prevent a government-sanctioned raid on America 's natural treasures.

http://cantwell.senate.gov/updates/weekly_update.html