A Good Start
The 110th Congress opened in January with several House of Representatives victories, including a minimum wage hike, a new step to making health care more affordable, and cuts to student loan interest rates—all legislation that NEA actively worked for.
The minimum wage hike would raise hourly wages from $5.15 to $7.25, making it a little easier for low-income families to manage the increasing costs of health care and childcare. The initiative, like the others passed by the House, needs Senate approval.
Likewise, the House passed a bill requiring the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare recipients. Current law forbids negotiating with pharmaceutical companies—even as senior citizens, many of them retired educators, are forced to forgo necessities to pay for their prescriptions.
The House also passed a measure that would cut federal student loan rates in half.
NEA has additional priorities for Congress this year, including the reauthorization of ESEA/NCLB and education funding. To learn more—and also to send messages to your senators about the loan rates and other House actions—go to NEA’s Legislative Action Center at www.nea.org/lac.
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