A Champion of Rural Health Care

 

Senator Roberts was recently named Co-Chairman of the Senate Rural Health Care Caucus, which is a bipartisan group of Senators that work together to improve access to quality health care in rural areas. He is proud and honored to follow in the footsteps of the Caucus’ late Co-Chairman, and friend, Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY) who recently passed away.

 

 

Senator Roberts along with Co-Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) and members of the Caucus, introduced critical rural health care legislation, named in honor of Senator Thomas, to help shoulder the financial burden rural health care providers have when caring for small communities.

 

 

The Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2007, makes changes to Medicare regulations for rural hospitals and providers recognizing the difficulty in achieving the same economies of scale as large urban facilities. These changes include changes to lab, ambulance, home health care, hospice and rural clinic Medicare reimbursements. For more on the bill, please visit Senator Roberts’ website.

 

 

Greensburg Recovery Efforts

 

To aid in the recovery of Greensburg and surrounding areas after the tornados and storms of May 4, Senator Roberts introduced a sweeping tax relief bill approved unanimously by the Senate, that will provide significant tax relief to individuals and businesses in counties declared disaster areas. Senator Sam Brownback cosponsored the bill.

 

 

One of the more unique provisions of the bill is a tax credit for wages paid by employers located in an eligible county. This credit will help businesses, struggling to start back up again, meet payroll and continue their operations. For more information on the many other provisions in this legislation, please visit Senator Roberts’ website at: https://www.roberts.senate.gov/. The bill now awaits introduction and debate in the House. Senator Roberts looks forward to working with his colleagues to ensure swift passage.

 

 

Also to aid in storm recovery, Senators Roberts and Brownback, and the rest of the Kansas delegation, were successful in securing $40 million in disaster relief funding, administered through the Department of Agriculture, for Greensburg, Kiowa County and other Kansas counties designated federal disaster areas. The majority of relief funding should go toward rebuilding homes, businesses and community and government facilities. These funds are on top of aid from FEMA. This significant federal investment will help those committed to recreating their communities.

 

 

Expanding Access to Quality Childcare

 

Senator Roberts introduced legislation, approved by the Congress and signed into law, to encourage small businesses to work together to provide access to affordable, quality child care for their employees. The bill creates a short-term, flexible grant program to provide small businesses opportunities to join together and receive grants up to $500,000 for start-up costs, training, scholarships, or other related activities.

 

 

This is a major plus for working families. Parents want to know their children are safe and thriving while they work to provide for them. Now

Main Street

businesses will have creative opportunities to give employees new child care options.

 

 

Agriculture Disaster Assistance

And finally, Kansans saw a big win when the Congress approved $3 billion in long overdue Agriculture Disaster Assistance for crop years 2005, 2006 and 2007 in federal disaster areas. (Producers should note that assistance for the 2007 crop year applies only to crops planted before Feb.28.) Livestock losses from this winter's blizzard are also eligible. It can not be overstated how important these funds are. For many producers, this assistance is the difference between selling the farm and having another chance.

 

 

Ensuring Access to Internet in Rural Areas

 

Senator Roberts has introduced legislation to ensure federal funds meant for rural areas are used to expand broadband, or high speed internet, to under-served areas.

 

 

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency within U.S. Department of Agriculture, is responsible for administering the loan program and using it to promote broadband availability in rural areas that do not have access.  Unfortunately, the agency’s implementation and administration of this program has strayed from the rural focus Congress intended – RUS has used its limited funds in urban areas, suburban developments, and towns that already have access to high-speed Internet. In September 2005, egregious examples of waste and abuse were clearly illustrated by the USDA Inspector General. 

 

 

Roberts looks forward to working on this issue with his colleagues as the Senate Agriculture Committee begins work on the 2007 farm bill.