I am a Tennessee employee who has sat and watched the Tennessee legislature and state Chamber of Commerce for 3 years bully the average working man in Tennessee. In a state that has already "reformed" Workers' Compensation 3 times since 1994 and has seen premium rates decrease that whole time, yet another law is determined to overhaul workers' comp in Tennessee. Most cases where workers are permanently impaired because of job-related injuries, under the proposed new law, will see reductions in payments by 66% or more. The bill is being touted as creating a more efficient system that will put people back to work quicker and have them receive benefits faster, but no one is talking about these drastic reductions to the worker that has a permanent impairment or who may not ever be able to go to work again. There has to be a way that we can make the system more efficient without cutting the benefits to the injured worked and our legislature has people smart enough to figure it out if we only work a little harder. We should not harm these injured workers even further solely because we are in too big of a hurry and too short sighted to see how they will be devastated by HB 194.

Governor Branstad: Forget your healthcare plan that will cost Iowan taxpayers more and go with the federal Medicaid expansion that costs less and will cover more people. You were elected to serve Iowans, not the Republican party.

Demand affordable housing.

Anyone affected by mental illness personally, has a family member, or knows someone with mental illness understands the detriment of what discontinuing the Personal Care Assistant program of the VOA will be to those with mental illness. A PCA is a person who cares for and attends to the mentally ill just as a loved one would and are strategic consistency for the person affected. The one thing that is of utmost importance to a mentally ill patient is consistency with daily activities and the same interaction with people. Taking this away will be like taking Chemo away from a cancer patient.

Recent tragedies involving violent acts committed by the mentally ill highlight the need for these individuals to get help and, if necessary, be confined to institutions. I and other family members have ourselves been victims of deranged persons, including one that is himself a member of our family.

Every time SS goes up , food stamps go down. Hey people that is not a help. I can't make it on what I get every month from S and food stamps, so what raise did u give?

Nevada is not competitive with other states in offering corporations incentives to hire employees.

The stretch of 133rd/Gregorville road in Allegan county between Division and Patterson is in need of major repair/repaving. Vehicle damage due to the condition of the road is inevitable.

The Massachusetts state legislature in an attempt to kick the fiscal can down the road saddled our extensive urban transit system with the debt incurred by the Big Dig (otherwise known as the Big Trough) - an almost entirely vehicle oriented construction nightmare complete with the usual shoddy construction work and defective materials. Worse, they also insisted that the MBTA operate each year on a balanced budget. As a result, commuters, seniors, the entire MBTA ridership are saddled with an unworkable economic plan almost guaranteed to sink a vital urban transit system. As a consequence, promises to execute environmental justice mitigation projects for the communities affected (or afflicted!) by the Big Dig are going unfulfilled because, of course, there are no funds available. This would be easily rectified by the state assuming responsibility for the Big Dig debt and allowing the MBTA to operate as an ordinary business.

Disablilty persons have been affected by paying for their own insurance. This money they're being changed could go towards milk, food and clothing for their children.

Social Security & Medicare, is an Earned Income. Beneficiaries , have contributed & invested in it, along with their Employers. Majority of Seniors, depend on it. It should be enhanced, rather than be decreased. The Government should Return the ' Social Security Funds ', it borrowed, along with a ' Fair Market ', rate of return, to the People.

Many of the senior citizen tenants in our state are staring into a financial abyss; they are often dependent on Social Security as their only source of income. In 2010 and 2011 there were no cost of living adjustments in their social security benefits, but for many their rent was increased each year. In 2012 they received a COLA increase, but their Medicare premiums were also increased. Consequently their disposable income remained the same at best and yet their rent increased again. In 2013 the COLA increase is 1.7%. Even in areas of the state where rent control ordinances are in effect, the rent increases are larger than 1.7%, the old folks fall further behind. Also in 2013 the Medicare part B premiums are increasing by 5%, the part B deductible is rising by 5% and the Part A deductible is rising 2.5%, once again life becomes more of a burden for our senior citizen tenants. They are faced with rent payments that increase faster than their social security cost of living adjustments, year after year. With the economy still struggling as far as main street America is concerned, a slow recovery if any predicted, the poor financial health of the Social Security and Medicare programs, the huge deficits and debts that the State and Federal Governments are currently experiencing, and the demographics of the baby boomers, it is very likely that in the future we will see more years when there is no increase, if not cuts in Social Security, more increases in Medicare premiums and deductibles, and cuts in programs that were designed to aid seniors in need. Many of these folks are making the difficult decisions on whether to pay their rent or purchase food, medicines, or other necessities of life. It is just a matter of time before they will be pushed over the edge into perpetual poverty, hunger and possibly into the ranks of the homeless. To allow this situation to continue seems negligent at best, if not cruel. Therefore to protect the health and well-being of senior citizen tenants it is in the public interest to guarantee those senior citizen tenants affordable rental housing at their current locations in order to avoid displacement due to rents that increase faster than their income.