Accomplishments of Congressman Michael E. McMahon’s First 100 Days
January 6, 2009 – April 16, 2009
Rep. McMahon’s Agenda for the 111th Congress
In just over three months in Congress, Rep. McMahon has established himself as a thoughtful and hardworking public servant, a role he continues from his many years on the New York City Council. His legislative priorities in the first 100 days of the 111th Congress demonstrate his hometown values and lay the foundation for his agenda: working to get our economy moving again, paving a path for fiscal responsibility, reducing the tax burden for middle class families, making affordable health care accessible, improving educational opportunities, and providing our Veterans and seniors with the support and respect they deserve.
Committees
Rep. McMahon was selected to serve on the House’s influential Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
On the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. McMahon sits on the Subcommittees on Aviation, Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation and Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials. On the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. McMahon sits on the Subcommittees on Europe, the Middle East and South Asia and Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. Serving on these two committees allows Rep. McMahon to make critical legislative decisions that will directly affect his constituents.
Rep. McMahon’s constituents in Staten Island pay the highest tolls in the country. Staten Islanders, along with his constituents in Brooklyn, also suffer through some of the longest commutes in the country. And Congressman McMahon has used his position on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to secure hundreds of millions of dollars for critical district needs like rebuilding the Ferry terminal in St. George, upgrading our local highways, expanding “park and rides” in Staten Island’s South Shore, retrofitting the Staten Island Railway, and renovating subway stations in Brooklyn.
Rep. McMahon also represents one of the nation’s most diverse Congressional districts. NY’s 13th district is home to both the largest Italian-American and Liberian American populations in the US. It is also home to the fastest growing Arab community. Many other ethnic communities also thrive in Rep. McMahon’s district, including proud Jewish, Russian, Polish, Irish, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and African-American communities. Sitting on the Foreign Affairs Committee allows Rep. McMahon to influence decisions which would directly impact the friends and relatives of his constituents
Legislation
Veterans Mental Health Screening and Assessment Act: Rep. McMahon introduced his first piece of original legislation on March 5, 2009. The Veterans Mental Health Screening and Assessment Act (H.R.1308) is a bipartisan piece of legislation that seeks to reduce the growing number of veteran suicides, particularly amongst the population returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The bill requires returning service members to participate in mandatory and confidential one-to-one screenings with licensed mental health professionals. In crafting the bill, Rep. McMahon sought the support of two other Freshman Members to make this legislation bi-partisan. Both Reps. Thomas J. Rooney (R-FL) and Thomas S. P. Perriello (D-VA) are original cosponsors. The bill now has 20 cosponsors, including Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), the Chairman of the powerful House Veterans Affairs Committee.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) – Rep. McMahon supported legislation to create jobs, invest in this country’s infrastructure, and provide tax cuts to 95% of Americans. The US Chamber of Commerce applauded Rep. McMahon for his progressive vote to get our economy moving again.
Amendment to ARRA TO INCREASE TRANSIT FUNDING – Rep. McMahon cosponsored an amendment to the ARRA to increase capital funding for transportation by $3 billion, bringing the $9 billion in funds currently slated for transportation to a $12 billion total. The amendment, which passed in the House, would have increased the transit funds New York City by over $214,000, raising the total funds to be received by the city to over $2 billion. Unfortunately, transit funding was reduced by the Senate during the bill Conference Committee.
Mass Transit Tax Break in ARRA - Rep. McMahon strongly supported a mass transit tax break in the ARRA, and held an announcement about this important provision with U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer. The mass transit tax break doubles the federal mass transit benefit for people who ride buses, subways, commuter rails or other forms of mass transit to work, potentially saving them hundreds of dollars per year in transportation costs, increasing energy conservation, and reducing traffic, congestion and smog. Under current law, employers are able to offer employees a monthly tax-free transit benefit of only $120 to cover mass transit commuting costs, but they are able to offer up to $230 to help cover parking costs for people to drive to work. ARRA raises the transit limit from $120 to $230 a month, so it is now equal to the parking benefit.
Budget – Rep. McMahon voted in favor of a budget that will serve as a long term economic plan to get our economy working again and put us on a path towards renewed prosperity. The House version of the budget, which is a blueprint for spending over the next five years, will reduce the deficit by nearly two-thirds by 2013 and increases funding for veterans healthcare by 11% for 2010. In addition it provides over $1.5 trillion in tax cuts to middle class families, eliminates the estate tax for the majority of Staten Island and Brooklyn businesses and families and closes corporate tax loopholes.
Tax Executive Bonuses Paid by Companies Receiving Act (AIG BONUS Bill) – Rep. McMahon was one of only six Democrats to vote against this legislation, commonly known as the AIG Bonus bill. This legislation would have taxed 90% of any bonus for any employee from any company which received over $5 billion in TARP funding. The bill was unfair, arbitrary, and did not even recover some of the egregious AIG bonuses that were the primary impetus of the bill. More importantly, the bill would have affected many people in Staten Island and Brooklyn who work the financial services industry who had nothing to do with getting us into the current financial mess. Further, any individual who makes $125,000 or any married couple who makes over $250,000 jointly and receives a bonus would have had to pay the 90% tax.
Bean/McMahon Amendment to the pay for performance act – Rep. McMahon introduced this decisive amendment that will lift the Pay for Performance Act’s restrictions on an institution receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds once the institution begins to pay back the funds. This bipartisan amendment passed with the support of Republicans and moderate and conservative Democrats over the objections of House Democratic leadership. The amendment provides an incentive to the recipient companies to begin paying back the funds at the earliest possible time and get back to financial health. If the companies continue re-paying, they will have the ability to reward the longevity and performance of their employees with bonuses. If for some reason they stop re-paying, then they will be subject to the restrictions of the bill once again. Prior to the inclusion of the Bean/McMahon Amendment, the Pay for Performance Act prohibited any direct recipient of TARP funds from providing most types of bonuses or other supplemental payments even if the company had started to pay back TARP funds.
Tax Equity Act of 2009 – Rep. McMahon cosponsored legislation designed to adjust federal tax rates to account for the actual cost of living in major metropolitan areas. New York City residents, including those in Rep. McMahon’s district of Staten Island and Brooklyn, not only pay higher taxes, but their cost of living is significantly higher than in less urban areas. The Tax Equity Act of 2009 would require the IRS to adjust tax brackets proportionally in regions where the average cost of living is higher than the national average and would people to pay only their fair share of taxes; thus removing the financial burden currently experienced by New York City residents. This bill would not affect the taxes of people living in regions with a cost of living that is below the national average.
TARP – Rep. McMahon voted to block the Treasury Department from releasing the final $350 billion of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) financial bailout package approved by Congress last year.
State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) – Rep. McMahon cosponsored this legislation which would provide cost-effective health coverage for 4 million more children whose parents earn too little to provide their own insurance, but too much to qualify for Medicaid, and preserve coverage for 7 million children already enrolled. S-CHIP is critical legislation for New York, which is one of the five states with the largest number of uninsured children.
LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT – Rep. McMahon voted to restore the rights of women and other workers to challenge unfair pay—to help close the wage gap where women earn 78 cents for every $1 a man earns in America.
EDWARD M. KENNEDY SERVE AMERICA ACT (f/k/a GIVE Act) – Rep. McMahon voted in favor of tripling volunteerism opportunities for national service for 250,000 Americans, for everyone from students to retirees; creating new service corps for education, health care, energy and veterans; establishing September 11th as a day of national service, and providing a Summer of Service opportunity for middle and high school students; and increasing the financial award for volunteering college students.
HELPING FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT - Rep. McMahon supported providing significant incentives to lenders, servicers, and homeowners to work together to modify loans and to avoid foreclosures—costing families their homes every 13 seconds in America; and in some cases, allowing bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of loans for families with existing mortgages. Rep. McMahon worked with other members of the New Democrat Coalition (of which Rep. McMahon is an active member) to ensure that these provisions protected the interests of middle class homeowners and people playing by the rules to pay off their mortgages while helping those people who have no other choice but to seek government help in restricting their mortgages.
New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (NAT GAS) - Rep. Michael E. McMahon cosponsored this bi-partisan legislation designed to quickly reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil while simultaneously reducing transportation fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The provisions of the bill include an 18-year extension of three critical tax incentives that focus on natural gas as a transportation fuel, the purchase of natural gas-fueled vehicles (NGVs), and the installation of commercial and residential natural gas refueling pumps. Another provision would create a new tax incentive for auto manufacturers that produce natural gas and bi-fuel vehicles. The NAT GAS Act also would require that by the end of 2014 at least 50 percent of the new vehicles purchased and placed into service by the federal government to be capable of operating on compressed or liquid natural gas. Finally, the legislation would provide grants for light and heavy-duty natural gas vehicle and engine development.
9/11 Health and Compensation Act – Rep. McMahon is an original sponsor of this critical legislation which would ensure, among other things, that every American at risk of illness from exposure to WTC toxins can obtain crucial medical monitoring and that all those who are sick as a result of such exposure have the ability to obtain affordable treatment. Currently, there is no comprehensive federal program to provide health care to responders and others exposed to WTC toxins. Existing health coverage for this population varies widely, and a number of people are either uninsured or under insured.
MCMAHON/DRIEHAUS AMENDMENT TO WATER QUALITY BILL Investment Act - Rep. McMahon jointly introduced an amendment with Rep. Driehaus (D-OH) to increase the authorization level for sewer overflow control grants. The bill originally provided for $1.8 billion in funding over five years. The Driehaus-McMahon Amendment increased the sewage control grants by $700,000, bringing the total authorization level to $2.5 billion over five years.
Community Outreach
Congressman McMahon, along with Senator Gillibrand, have been fighting to keep the Manor Road mail center from being consolidated, which could mean the possibility of lay-offs at the distribution center as well as the loss of the Staten Island postmark.
Rep. McMahon hosted his first telephone townhall, which focused on the economic recovery package, as well as his first “Mondays with Mike,” where the Congressman holds mobile office hours at the Staten Island Ferry terminal on the first Monday of each month.
Rep. McMahon has brought the other island elected together to work on remediating the Brookfield landfill. The Brookfield landfill, located in the Great Kills section of Staten Island, was the site of illegal toxic waste dumping from 1974 to 1980. Despite the site’s severity of contamination and proximity to residential areas, Brookfield waste remediation remains incomplete. Rep. McMahon is working to have the Brookfield landfill cleaned up by the federal EPA as well as the city and state environmental authorities.
Rep. McMahon has also taken on the task of remediating 2000 Richmond Terrace, which was once the site of John Jewett & Sons White Lead Company aka National Lead Industries and later Sedutto’s Ice Cream Headquarters. The site had been listed on the EPA’s superfund list in the 1980’s. Due to misinformation, the EPA engineer sent to Staten Island in 1981 to conduct an inspection could not find the site. Thus, the inspection never too place, and the EPA closed the file with no follow-up. A recent EPA survey of the site has revealed extremely high levels of lead.
Rep. McMahon has hosted a Foreclosure Prevention Forum in Brooklyn, aimed at providing his constituents with critical information on how to avoid foreclosure. Representatives from HUD and other neighborhood groups were also present. Rep. McMahon will be hosting a Staten Island Foreclosure Prevention Forum on April 20, 2009.
Rep. McMahon organized an education breakfast to discuss the main challenges facing New York City Public School System. These issues include, among others, Title 1 and IDEA funding from the economic recovery package, classroom size, K-8 schools and mayoral control. In attendance were Staten Island school principals and other elected officials. Rep. McMahon held a similar breakfast in Brooklyn with other elected and school district 20 principals a month earlier.
Rep. McMahon sent out his first congressional mailing, entitled the Economic Recovery Report. The mailing focused on the provisions of the ARRA and how they will affect his constituents.
Rep. McMahon organized and met with his Veterans task force in Brooklyn to discuss how we can better serve our service men and women.
Rep. McMahon toured the construction site for new Elizabeth A. Connelly Emergency and Trauma Center at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), named for Staten Island’s late Assemblywoman and SIUH Board Chair Emeritus. Rep. McMahon viewed the progress on the hospital’s various treatment areas, trauma facilities, urgent care center and new waiting rooms.
