Capitol Connection L'W FOR MOSHER. CAT TED EWISH.COM' STORE! Jewish voters called on to take stands. Nosh Box Fill with a little candy... and give as a gift! Great for any occasion. For Noshers Only Buy one for your kitchen counter... and let everyone help themselves. SALE PRICE! Visit j ewish. com TM for new products and gift ideas! gewish.confAore If Only Moses Knew...' 2 EASY WAYS TO ORDER ONLINE: www.jewish.com Dv PHONE: Tell Your Legislator CO 800-875-6621 Washington, D. C oth the U.S. Senate and House passed bills that would add a prescription benefit to Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and people with disabilities. While the two bills differ on some details, a key difference is a provision in the House bill that traditional fee- for-service Medicare would have to compete with private managed care plans starting in 2010. The result would likely be private plans offering more benefits than the government, but with higher cost to seniors. Healthier and wealthier seniors may choose to pay more for more-generous benefits, with poor and sick seniors remaining in traditional Medicare, jeopardizing support for this important government program. The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit asks members of the Jewish community to contact their representatives and senators to urge them not to jeopardize traditional Medicare and to oppose the premium support provision in the House Medicare bill. that requires competition between traditional Medicare and pri- vate plans. A growing concern in the U.S. — and particularly in the Jewish commu- nity — is senior transportation. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) pays for a host of transportation needs, including senior transportation. Community members are urged to ask our legislators to increase FTA 5310 funding, which is the section of TEA-21 that deals with senior trans- portation. The cost of increasing senior transportation funding — allowing seniors to age in place — is far less than the cost of nursing homes or other institutions and would have tan- gible benefits for seniors throughout the United States, including Detroit's Jewish community. B Lansing JEWISH.COM ALSO OFFERS: • Banner advertising and newsletter sponsorships • Web site hosting and design services 7/25 2003 20 For more information, call 248-354-6060 or e-mail us at sales@jewish.com . As chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Marc Shulman, R-West Bloomfield, has been working on the state's 2003-2004 fiscal year budget. The primary areas of dis- agreement between the Republican majority Legislature and the Democratic governor continue to be charter schools, merit scholarships and Michigan Department of Transportation road projects. Rep. Shulman recently introduced House Resolution 77, which would demonstrate strong Michigan support for Israel. The resolution would encourage promoting and enhancing economic relationships between the state and Israel. The resolution has been referred to the House Standing Committee on Great Lakes and Tourism for a hearing. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Shelly Goodman Taub, R-Bloomfield Hills, is working to get the budget passed. The House and Senate have begun their Conference Committee work and look to find common ground with the governor. The House will then come back as needed this summer until the budgets are finished. Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, recently appeared on the National Democratic Leadership Council's 100 New Democrats to Watch: The Next Generation in Leadership. Sen. Jacob's bill, designed to protect consumers from cemetery scams, passed the House and will soon be signed into law by the governor. The new law will clearly define how a cemetery must use monies secured in endowment care funds. Rep. Steve Tobocman, D-Detroit, was recently named Public Service Attorney of the Year by the American Bar Association's Business Law Section. He previously was the founder and executive director of Community Legal Resources, a Detroit-based organiza- tion that matches nonprofit organiza- tions serving low-income areas with top-quality legal representation. Rep. Andy Meisner, D-Ferndale, will begin hosting Mondays with Meisner, local office hours for his constituents, rotating the meetings between Berkley, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Oak Park and Pleasant Ridge 11:30 a.m.- 1 : 30 p.m. Mondays. ❑ — Compiled by Eric Adleman, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, and Susan Herman, director, Michigan Jewish Conference