As the House Budget Committee begins to develop a budget resolution for fiscal year 2007, U.S. Rep.

Phil English, R-3rd, is working to end the Medicare cuts proposed last month by President Bush.English recently joined 62 House members in urging House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, to ensure adequate funding for the Medicare program."The Medicare program is too important to seniors in our region to be subjected to the cuts that the Bush administration is proposing," said English, a member of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. "While these cuts are unlikely to have dramatic immediate effects on seniors, they could harm the quality of care and limit seniors' health care options."The president's 2007 budget plan proposes to reduce Medicare by $36 billion over five years. According to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, the five year impact of the proposed cuts on hospitals and hospital-based care for Pennsylvania's 3rd district would be nearly $40 million.Owners of Pennsylvania barns built before 1960 are asked to participate in a statewide inventory by the state Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, announced Rep.

Brian Ellis, R-11th.Last fall, the Legislature passed resolutions recognizing the importance of historic barns and urged a statewide inventory of them.These resolutions call for the Department of Agriculture and PHMC to catalog the historic barns and to report their findings to the General Assembly by Nov. 30. The results may be used to promote Pennsylvania's agriculture and tourism industries.To assist the Department of Agriculture and PHMC with the inventory, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania is asking owners of barns built before 1960 to contact the center and provide their name, address, and to name the style or architecture of the barn, if possible, and indicate if the barn is used for farming.Mail the information to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, 200 North Third St., Suite 600, Harrisburg, PA 17101; call 717-787-9555; e-mail info@ruralpa.org; or visit the Center's Web site at www.ruralpa.org.U.S. Rep.

Melissa Hart, R-4th, joined House Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo and small business associations to unveil legislation to lower health care insurance costs for self-employed business owners.Hart urged swift consideration of the Equity for Our Nation's Self-Employed Act to help curb the rising cost of health care that has become a crisis for small businesses, especially the self-employed."About 60 percent of Americans that do not have health insurance work for small businesses that can't afford the coverage,"she said. "Our legislation will enable millions of additional employers and workers to afford coverage by allowing self-employed business owners to deduct 100 percent of their health insurance expenses from their payroll taxes."This legislation corrects an inequity that unfairly punishes the self-employed. Large corporations not only have the ability to deduct health care premiums, they are also able to negotiate lower prices from insurance companies. This legislation helps to level the playing field for the self-employed by lowering the economic burden to obtain coverage for themselves and their employees," said Hart.State Sen.

Bob Robbins, R-50th, is co-sponsoring legislation in response to incidents of pickets and abusive chants targeting Pennsylvania military funerals.Robbins said Senate Bill 1150 was drafted following recent news reports of protesters at military funerals in Pennsylvania and around the country. The pickets target grieving family members with vulgar language to protest social, not military, issues.The bill would require protesters to remain 500 feet from any funeral, memorial service or memorial procession beginning one hour before and ending one hour after the event."As a military veteran, I am appalled at the thought of grieving families having to listen to vulgar, political diatribe while trying to lay a loved one to rest," said Robbins. "This bill protects the free speech rights of the protesters, no matter how detestable they are."The bill applies to any funeral, not just military. Wisconsin, Indiana and South Dakota have enacted laws limiting protests at funerals, and at least 12 other states are considering similar legislation.Along with the American Legion, the legislation is supported by the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police and the Pennsylvania War Veterans Council.State Sens.

Jane Orie, R-40th, and

John Rafferty, R-Chester, voted Tuesday to move Senate Bill 944, commonly referred to as Pennsylvania's Jessica's Law, out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.The legislation, which the senators jointly sponsored, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and now heads for a Senate vote."Our package of bills would create some of the toughest laws in the nation to protect children from sexual assault and monitor sex offenders," Orie said.The measure would impose a mandatory minimum of 25 years and up to 50 years imprisonment for a first-time offender convicted of rape or involuntary deviate sexual intercourse involving a child less than 13 years of age. It also imposes a minimum sentence of 50 years to life imprisonment for anyone convicted of rape or involuntary deviate sexual intercourse involving a child which results in serious bodily injury.The bill contains additional penalties for anyone convicted of knowingly harboring or aiding a sex offender who has failed to register under Megan's Law. Other provisions of the bill would aid in monitoring the whereabouts of sexual predators and prohibit their presence near day cares, schools, and other facilities where children traditionally congregate. They would be required to wear a GPS transceiver upon their release from prison for authorities to monitor their movements.U.S. Rep.

Phil English, R-3rd, last week announced his sponsorship of the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act, a measure that would allow the executive branch to slash wasteful spending by providing the president with line-item veto authority.English, who has authored similar legislation in the past, is an original co-sponsor of the measure, which was introduced by U.S. Rep.

Paul Ryan, R-Wisc."As we've learned from the Pennsylvania state government, the line-item veto is an effective tool for blocking pork barrel spending that sneaks through the legislature," English said. "At a time when we are running large deficits, it is critical for Congress to move forward this year and enact a budgetary reform, which will force Congress to be accountable for spending and justify all individual expenditures."To date, 43 governors, including Pennsylvania's, use this tool. Congress provided the president with line-item veto authority in 1996. However, that law was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998.District Judge

Kevin O'Donnell of Butler Township has been recertified as a member of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System following completion of his 2006 continuing legal education work.The weeklong instruction program in Chambersburg is required for all district judges.