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PSN In The News

May 03, 2010

Legislators in at least 10 states— Utah, Oklahoma, Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Maryland— have called for laws that would mirror Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, according to the Progressive States Network and reporting by New America Media.

Mar 04, 2010
Labor and environmental groups joined with the U.S. government on Thursday to promote high speed Internet access and related technologies to create green jobs and help lift the United States out of recession.
Jun 20, 2009
A state senator who was in the nation's capital this week to lobby for health care reform says it's time for a "competitive public product" to give Americans a more affordable alternative to private health insurance.

Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, was among a small group of state legislators who met with White House officials on Wednesday.
Jun 18, 2009
WASHINGTON — State legislators urged Congress and the White House on Wednesday to enact comprehensive health care legislation that includes a public health insurance component by year's end.

Members of the Progressive States Network, a state government coalition, met with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to lobby for a public insurance option. They said that would answer Americans' call to provide health care coverage for all.
Jun 18, 2009
Would you buy a health-insurance policy sold by the U.S. government? What if it offered good coverage, affordable rates and were available anywhere in the country?

Pushing back against Republican attacks on President Obama's vision of a public-health plan, a nationwide coalition of state lawmakers, small-business owners, physicians, community groups and others Wednesday launched a public-relations campaign aimed at building support for an option they believe is essential for meaningful health reform.
Jun 17, 2009
Wednesday’s lobbying push starts at the top: Former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and Howard Baker announce recommendations at a noon ET press conference in Washington, as organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

And it moves down to the state level, with the Progressive States Network fanning out on the Hill and to the White House to make the case.
Jun 17, 2009

Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, has his own event, releasing a letter from more than 600 state legislators urging Congress and the administration to enact health care reform by the end of the year. The letter calls for any reform to include a public health option, something Mr. Harkin firmly backs himself.
Jun 17, 2009
Both Sebelius and Nancy-Ann DeParle, White House director of health care reform, were set to meet Wednesday afternoon with a group of state legislators called the Progressive States Network who support a public option as part of any overhaul plan. The lawmakers said at a press conference that they will bring along a letter signed by 700 legislators calling for a public health insurance plan as part of comprehensive health reform.
Jun 16, 2009
State Sen. Karen Keiser is headed to the Washington, D.C., for the second time in a little over a month. This time she is adding her voice to other state lawmakers calling for health care reform.

The Kent Democrat says she will is joining a group at the White House Wednesday for a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Keiser also is attending a related press event with Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa.

The state lawmakers want passage of health care reform by year's end, and they want a public-insurance option.
Mar 19, 2009
President Barack Obama's $787 billion federal stimulus package, now known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, is designed to jumpstart the nation's failing economy not only through grants and middle-class tax cuts, but by funding state ''shovel-ready'' construction projects that will hopefully produce thousands of jobs and small business opportunities, especially in the black community.

Just last week, Pres. Obama unveiled new proposals to allow small businesses easier access to loans and capital through the US Small Business Administration in an effort to empower them to take better advantage of stimulus package opportunities.

But even before North Carolina fully determines how to distribute its $6.1 billion in federal stimulus funding, questions are being raised as to how African-Americans can best access their share of the opportunity pot.