SPRINGFIELD, IL (03/15/2011)(readMedia)-- As a former New Orleans resident, Mari Richardson of Athens saw the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina first hand. Since then, she decided to volunteer with the American Red Cross. She has been with the Red Cross for two years and has worked a lot with the Illinois National Guard. Richardson now works as a liaison between the Red Cross and Illinois National Guard's Family Readiness Group (FRG), keeping families of deployed Soldiers in contact with their loved ones.

"When my husband deployed during Vietnam, the FRG didn't exist and we really needed something like it," said Richardson.

She also helps with a program called Mail for Heroes, which sends holiday cards to deployed troops overseas. Most recently, she worked with a Girl Scout troop to send personalized Valentine's Day cards to servicemembers.

Richardson's work does not stop with the FRG and holiday cards. She also helps facilitate the annual ceremony for fallen Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen at the Illinois State Military Museum in Springfield. This year's event will be May 14.

"I lost two uncles during war and I saw how devastated and hurt my grandmother was; it has stuck with me all my life," Richardson said.

Richardson said she loves what she does for the Army and feels very passionate about her experience. Her hope is to build a strong unit, to contribute to "anything new which might improve the past."

Richardson's job with the Red Cross has earned her a lot of respect throughout the Illinois National Guard community.

"Mari is so modest and does so much more than most people realize," said Annette Chapman of Atlanta, Illinois National Guard State Family Readiness support assistant. "She helps our family readiness groups coordinate child care, attends deployment and homecoming ceremonies, promotes the National Guard throughout our communities and does so much more than you could imagine. The Illinois National Guard is blessed to have this special woman on our team."

Richardson said volunteers contribute time, effort and talent to meet a need and further a mission. She said the easiest way to help the Illinois National Guard is to contact the Red Cross or the FRG.

"Volunteers are always needed for the Army and the Army doesn't turn down the help," she said.

Story by Spc. Zachary Zimerman, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

91 Iowa school districts to receive Harkin Grants to repair, modernize and build new schools

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that the Iowa Department of Education is set to distribute $7,068,390 in federal funds to 91 Iowa school districts for the 13th year of the Harkin Grants program.  Since 1998, Harkin has secured $132.6 million for the initiative, the first of its kind in the nation, to repair, modernize and build new schools.  Because of the local match requirements, districts across Iowa have leveraged their Harkin Grants to raise more than $536 million in additional funds.  Harkin chairs the Senate panel that funds education initiatives and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

"All kids deserve safe, modern schools and well-equipped classrooms in which to learn.  These grants have been leveraged by communities across Iowa to finance upgrades and construction projects, which have the dual effect of improving our schools and creating local jobs," said Senator Harkin. "These grants are a great investment in Iowa communities and Iowa children."

Harkin's school construction demonstration program is intended to show that a modest infusion of federal resources can significantly contribute to the repair needs of school districts across the state.  Because of the local match requirements, districts have been very successful in leveraging their Harkin Grants to pass more generous school budgets and to raise private funds.

Details of the grant allocations follow.

-- School Construction and Modernization Grants: $4,594,455 will be available to fund new construction, remodeling, and renovation projects in 13 districts.  These funds require a local match of 75 percent of the project.

-- Fire Safety Grants: $3,181,914 will be available to fund projects to remedy fire safety defects in 78 districts. This includes new grant funds of $2,473,935 and $707,979 dollars in carry over funds.  All school districts that requested grant funds for fire safety projects received funding. No local match is required.

For a complete list of grants and project details, please click here for Fire Safety Grants and here for a separate list for School Construction and Modernization Grants.

CHICAGO - March 14, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today took action on the following bills:

 

Bill No.: SB 1927

Authorizes the Power Holdings Company to build a coal gasification plant in Jefferson County.

An Act Concerning: Regulation

Action: Vetoed                        

 

Bill No.: SB 2969

Allows certain counties to claim an exemption from the Illinois Commercial Safety Towing Law.

An Act Concerning: Transportation

Action: Vetoed                        

Bill No.: SB 3388

Authorizes the building of a coal gasification facility on the southeast side of Chicago off the Calumet River.

An Act Concerning: Regulation

Action: Vetoed                        

 

See below for Governor Quinn's veto messages to the General Assembly.

 

By: Sen. Tom Harkin
March 14, 2011 04:30 AM EDT

One year ago this week, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, ensuring quality, affordable health coverage to all Americans, cracking down on the worst abuses by health insurance companies and placing a new emphasis on wellness and disease prevention.

Yet today, there is a misguided effort to repeal the law. The fight to provide access to quality, affordable health care for all has only just begun.

The good news is that this time around, the debate dynamics have shifted. As people learn more about the long-overdue reforms in the Affordable Care Act ? including benefits and consumer protections now guaranteed by law ? support for health care reform is growing steadily.

A year ago, we were bogged down in the messy, frustrating politics of passing the bill. Now, what's at stake is crystal clear: Are we going to put health insurance companies back in the driver's seat to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions and return to the abuses and discriminatory practices of the past? Are we going to revoke access to health insurance for more than 30 million Americans? Are we going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit by wiping out the savings in the Affordable Care Act? The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the law will reduce the deficit by $210 billion in the first decade and by more than $1 trillion in the second decade.

The law's jewel in the crown is ending denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions. It is a sobering fact that nearly half of nonelderly Americans have some type of pre-existing condition ? like high blood pressure, arthritis or heart disease. Similarly, the law bans the outrageous practice of canceling policies when people get sick. Gone are the days when the largest health insurer in California could use technicalities to cancel the policies of women who get breast cancer.

The law also prohibits insurers from imposing lifetime limits on benefits, and it allows parents to keep their children on their policies until age 26.

Americans will not allow these hard-earned protections and benefits to be taken away.

Conservatives attack the provision of the law requiring people to purchase health insurance. They claim it is an "assault on freedom." Well, it is an assault on freedom for people to go without insurance, seek treatment in emergency rooms and stick other Americans with their health care bills. Uncompensated health care adds an estimated $1,100 a year to every family's health insurance premiums.

The individual mandate is just common sense ? that's why so many Republicans supported it in the past. Indeed, as governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney put an individual mandate at the center of his state's health reform law. By eliminating free riders and putting everyone in the risk pool, we keep rates down for everyone. This is the only way people with pre-existing conditions are not denied affordable coverage.

When we join together, we have more freedom. When everyone is covered and no one is left out, we enhance liberty. Health reform is all about freedom. Freedom from the fear that if you get sick, you won't be able to afford a doctor. Freedom from the fear that a major illness will lead to financial ruin. These are the practical freedoms that matter to Americans.

With this landmark law, we are beginning to replace the current sick care system with a genuine health care system ? focused on wellness and prevention. We are beginning to reward health care providers for the quality of care they provide, not just the quantity.

The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. It is not like the Ten Commandments, chiseled in stone. It's more like a starter home ? suitable for improvement.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to make sensible changes as we continue to implement the law. I invite them to bring their tool kits, rather than their sledgehammers, so we can work together to improve the law.

The choice is to go forward or be dragged backward. The great majority of people wants to go forward to build a reformed health care system that works not only for the healthy and wealthy ? but for all Americans.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.