Hillsdale Daily News: Walberg, Dingell, Johnson introduce legislation
February 20, 2017
U.S. Representative Tim Walberg (MI-07) partnered with two other representatives Thursday to introduce two new pieces of legislation.
The first piece introduced with Debbie Dingell (MI-12) will help to reduce unnecessary paperwork burdens and bring down energy prices for Michigan families.
The second piece introduced with Sam Johnson (R-Texas) is part of a step-by-step process to replace the failed health care law with patient-centered solutions, the legislation would empower small businesses to join together through association health plans (AHPs) to provide their employees greater access to affordable health care.
"We are taking an important step toward providing a better way to access quality, affordable health care," Walberg said. "By allowing small businesses to band together through association health plans, we can lower health care costs for working families. Obamacare not only failed to achieve this important goal, it made our nation's health care challenges even worse. This bill is part of a step-by-step process to deliver commonsense health care reforms that put working families first. Representative Johnson has been leading this important effort for many years, and I look forward to working together to advance these reforms."
H.R. 1101 will increase small businesses' bargaining power, expand affordable coverage for working families and lower administrative costs.
H.R. 1109 amends the Federal Power Act to establish a minimum monetary threshold of $10 million before a merger or consolidation of facilities under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) jurisdiction is subject to a review. Adjusting this threshold brings mergers or consolidations into line with the same standard for other categories of transactions that FERC oversees and will allow energy producers to focus on providing affordable energy rather than dedicating time and resources to redundant government red tape.
"The cost of energy plays a big part in the family budget each month," Walberg said. "This bill will help free up energy producers to focus their resources on giving consumers access to affordable and reliable energy, instead of getting caught up in unnecessary and unintended red tape. It is a common sense legislative fix and an important step to help ensure affordable energy for families in Michigan and across the country."
This article originally appeared in the February 18 edition of the Hillsdale Daily News.
The first piece introduced with Debbie Dingell (MI-12) will help to reduce unnecessary paperwork burdens and bring down energy prices for Michigan families.
The second piece introduced with Sam Johnson (R-Texas) is part of a step-by-step process to replace the failed health care law with patient-centered solutions, the legislation would empower small businesses to join together through association health plans (AHPs) to provide their employees greater access to affordable health care.
"We are taking an important step toward providing a better way to access quality, affordable health care," Walberg said. "By allowing small businesses to band together through association health plans, we can lower health care costs for working families. Obamacare not only failed to achieve this important goal, it made our nation's health care challenges even worse. This bill is part of a step-by-step process to deliver commonsense health care reforms that put working families first. Representative Johnson has been leading this important effort for many years, and I look forward to working together to advance these reforms."
H.R. 1101 will increase small businesses' bargaining power, expand affordable coverage for working families and lower administrative costs.
H.R. 1109 amends the Federal Power Act to establish a minimum monetary threshold of $10 million before a merger or consolidation of facilities under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) jurisdiction is subject to a review. Adjusting this threshold brings mergers or consolidations into line with the same standard for other categories of transactions that FERC oversees and will allow energy producers to focus on providing affordable energy rather than dedicating time and resources to redundant government red tape.
"The cost of energy plays a big part in the family budget each month," Walberg said. "This bill will help free up energy producers to focus their resources on giving consumers access to affordable and reliable energy, instead of getting caught up in unnecessary and unintended red tape. It is a common sense legislative fix and an important step to help ensure affordable energy for families in Michigan and across the country."
This article originally appeared in the February 18 edition of the Hillsdale Daily News.