Hello,

The Spring weather has been slow to arrive this year, but March Madness and budget season in Washington (a different kind of madness) have come all the same. Here is what I have been up to the last few weeks: 

Jobs Report Disappoints – Worst Labor Participation Since Jimmy Carter
The March jobs report was just released, showing the economy added a mere 88,000 jobs. Likewise, the labor participation rate has fallen to the lowest depths since 1979, the last year of Jimmy Carter’s presidency. 

Unfortunately, we will continue to see disappointing jobs numbers until we finally address the root cause of the recession that hit our economy over four years ago.

Crippling and misplaced regulations like Dodd-Frank have impeded our economic growth and added to uncertainty. After Obamacare, health care remains a huge expense to businesses and families taking money and jobs out of our economy. Our reliance on foreign oil and inability to develop a comprehensive domestic energy strategy is holding all sectors of the economy back. Finally, the lack of leadership from the White House on basic functions of government like a budget or addressing out of control government spending keeps businesses and consumers on the sidelines waiting for stability.

Americans are concerned for their future, they are afraid for their retirement, afraid for their children and their ability to have opportunities and security. Many Americans have given up looking for work, and that is the reason for the numbers today. The next few months will show us more of the same unless we act.

Pulling for Wichita State in the Final Four
The entire state of Kansas will cheer for Wichita State in the Final Four this weekend!  The Shockers have had an amazing season – and with two games to go, I expect we will join Wichita in a chorus of “One Shining Moment!” 

Three Years Since Obamacare
I have long said that Obamacare should be completely repealed.  We should replace it with a plan that actually lowers the cost of care for all Americans and keeps the government, and the IRS, out of the doctor patient relationship.

As we reflect on the three years since the passage of this law, it is important to note the veiled, costly and clumsy implementation of Obamacare over the last three years. Folks, it is not getting better and only proves this is not the answer to our health care problems.

Premiums are rising almost as quickly as the stack of new regulations….already over 20,000 pages. Doctors, patients, and other stakeholders have been buried under an avalanche of new taxes and ill-defined, over complicated and remarkably costly rules. And the myth of ‘if you like your plan you can keep it’ has been completely exposed.

Going forward, I will continue to push for serious reforms and full repeals of Obamacare.  After listening to families and the professionals that care for them, three years later it’s clear Obamacare is not the answer, and we must repeal or at least drastically reform this program to protect hardworking Kansans from this Administration’s healthcare overhaul.

Committee For Government Waste Receives Broad Coalition Support
In February, I joined my colleague Mark Udall (D-Colo.) to introduce bipartisan legislation creating a U.S. Senate Committee to Reduce Government Waste to locate and eliminate ineffective, outdated or duplicative federal programs.  The proposed committee, composed of six Republican and six Democratic senators, would continually review federal programs and propose legislative and administrative reforms each year to cut wasteful spending and reduce the deficit.  It is based on a program implemented after World War II, which cut billions of dollars in wasteful spending over just three years.

This week, we were proud to receive support from a broad coalition of third party groups, who want to see the Committee to Reduce Government Waste become a reality.

American taxpayers hear time and again how Congress is serious about reducing our nation’s staggering deficit and debt, but see little to no results in the end. This legislation would actually produce a mechanism that would force the Senate to vote on eliminating wasteful, inefficient or redundant government programs. This bill would add much needed 'teeth' to an idea that has yet to lead to real reductions.

To read the support letter signed by the leaders of Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth, American Conservative Union, National Taxpayers Union, Tea Party Express, and others click HERE.

Democrats Budget – Road Map to Mediocrity
Last month, after four years of failing the American people, the Senate Democrats finally released a budget.  Sadly, however, they used this important fiscal exercise to advance political poison pills favored by the extreme wing of their party rather than promote a serious plan to right our fiscal ship and grow our economy.

My Republican colleagues and I proposed hundreds of amendments to improve the Democrat’s flawed budget, ranging from saving taxpayer dollars from marketing campaigns selling Obamacare to commonsense reductions to the food stamp program to using savings to promote special needs education, but reasonable budget restrictions in the era of trillion dollar deficits seem to have no place with this Senate majority.

The Democrat’s budget never comes near balance, but calls for a $1.5 trillion tax hike, sixty-two percent spending increase and $7.3 trillion in new debt over the next decade. This budget gives the American people more government, not more jobs or a stronger economy.  Simply put, this was not a serious proposal. The American people deserve better.

Kansas Agriculture Comes to DC
Visiting our agriculture producers back home in Kansas are some of my favorite times as your Senator, but it is also a treat when our farmers and ranchers come visit D.C.  This month, several groups came to Washington to discuss the status of the farm bill, talk about the impact of the devastating drought, and continue our important conversation about the challenges facing farmers and ranchers in Kansas.  I want to thank all the agriculture producers who made it out to Washington this month.  It was an honor and a pleasure.  

Kansas Farm Bureau

Agriculture Future of America

ICYMI: WSJ Article on Food Stamps Highlights Need for Commonsense Solutions
Last week’s the Wall Street Journal printed a front page article on the rapid expansion and abuse with in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.  The Journal provided an excellent analysis of the problem with states ‘gaming’ the food stamp program and creating a patchwork of eligibility criteria. My bill addresses this problem and preserves nutrition assistance for those that need it most.

To readmore on my  proposal to address the concerns with the food stamp program, read about my bill S. 458 by clicking HERE.  

Excerpts from the full Wall Street Journal article are below.  To read the full piece visit my website by clicking HERE.

“Use of Food Stamps Swells Even as Economy Improves”
Wall Street Journal
March 28, 2013
By Damian Paletta and Caroline Porter

…Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as the modern-day food-stamp benefit is known, has soared 70% since 2008 to a record 47.8 million as of December 2012. Congressional budget analysts think participation will rise again this year and dip only slightly in coming years.

The biggest factor behind the upward march of food stamps is a sluggish job market and a rising poverty rate. At the same time, many states have pushed to get more people to apply for SNAP, a program where the federal government picks up the tab.

But there is another driver, which has its origins in President Bill Clinton's 1996 welfare overhaul. In recent years, the law has enabled states to ease asset and income tests for would-be participants, with the encouragement of the Obama administration, allowing into the program people with relatively higher incomes as well as savings.

The new rules were designed to encourage people to take advantage of the program before they became destitute. By expanding the pool of potential applicants, they are redrawing the landscape of government assistance. It is one reason why SNAP appears to have evolved from a program that rose and fell with the unemployment rate to a more permanent feature of the
landscape…

Check Senator Roberts’ Website, YouTube and Facebook Sites for Updates
You can visit my YouTube site for more information on what’s happening in Washington, D.C. and Kansas by visiting www.youtube.com/SenPatRoberts. It's a great place to find speeches and debates on the Senate floor, press conferences, interviews and Senate hearings. You can also stay updated on all these happenings on my Facebook and Twitter sites.

If you wish to contact me about an issue or want more information, please visit my website, roberts.senate.gov.