In the News
Republican leaders have been scolded for not doing more in their first 100 days in charge of Congress, but one victory deserves applause: the House's 240-179 vote Thursday to kill the hated and unfair death tax.
We'll see if economic common sense prevails in the Senate to get the required 60 votes or if the redistributionists who run the Democratic Party in Washington derail this tax reform.
Earlier this week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its energy outlook, which predicts that the United States will be a net exporter of natural gas by 2017.
Leaders of the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus understand the magnitude of this geopolitical transition and the implications for ensuring American energy security through continued natural gas development and investment.
Brushing aside a veto threat, the Republican-controlled House voted 240-179 to repeal the federal estate tax.
The vote was largely symbolic, given the strong opposition from President Obama and congressional Democrats. Seven Democrats voted for repeal.
Republicans argued that the "death tax" still unfairly penalizes farms and small businesses despite significant increases in recent years to the tax exemption and cuts to the tax rate.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal legislators in Washington, D.C. seem to agree the Renewable Fuel Standard needs to be reformed, as demonstrated by a pair of bills currently circulating in both houses of Congress. The specifics of how the standard should be amended, however, still need to be fleshed out.
With the May deadline for finalizing California's budget looming, our state leaders need an answer from the U.S. Senate on whether it will deliver on more than a half a billion dollars in annual federal funding promised to California families for their kids' health insurance coverage.
ESSEX JUNCTION – U.S. Rep. Peter Welch visited a family owned motorcycle shop in Essex Junction on Monday and announced he has reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would abolish a federal mandate to add biofuels, such as corn ethanol, to gasoline.
"Current law requires that corn-based ethanol be a part of all of our fuel," Welch said. "The corn-based ethanol has been a well-intentioned flop. It just has not achieved the goals it was set out to do."
A who's who of Madera County politicians debated in Madera South High School's inaugural civic symposium on Friday.
Congressman Jim Costa, Sen. Anthony Cannella, Assembly Member Frank Bigelow, County Supervisor Brett Frazier and Madera Mayor Robert Poythress answered questions from students ranging from President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration to high speed rail.
The symposium was limited to students in the school's senior class, who had to apply to attend the event.
Thumbs up to the California lawmakers for helping to relaunch a bid to put the House of Representatives on record as recognizing the Armenian genocide. The resolution was introduced this week with more than 40 co-sponsors. Noting the upcoming 100th anniversary, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said, "Our detractors will always say, ‘Now is not the right time.' I say, The time is now." A century is long enough to wait.
WASHINGTON — California lawmakers on Wednesday helped relaunch the latest, long-shot bid to put the House of Representatives on record as recognizing the Armenian genocide.
A perennial effort that always faces stiff political and diplomatic headwinds, the familiar resolution was introduced Wednesday with more than 40 co-sponsors, some of them House freshmen. The intention, though, remains the same as it has been for several decades.
Some of this area's top government leaders gathered recently to discuss the future of the Castle Aviation and Commerce Center.
If you are not aware of the issues in Castle's decades-old redevelopment saga, here are some of the key topics discussed: the current infrastructure, the cost of doing business in the park that businesses must take on, needed demolitions of buildings on the property, the current lack of easy access to Highway 99, and the lack of skilled workers staying in the region.
California lawmakers met Monday with Central Valley immigration advocates and community organizations to discuss concerns about immigration enforcement, detention facility conditions and access to legal services following an unannounced visit to an ICE detention facility in Kern County.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and U.S. Rep. Jim Costa made an unannounced visit Monday to Golden State Annex in McFarland, saying they wanted to inspect conditions inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility amid what they described as a surge in immigration enforcement across California.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Rep. Jim Costa and several California lawmakers have sent a letter to Acting ICE Director David Venturella seeking greater transparency about ongoing immigration enforcement operations they say have been carried out across the state.