U. S. Congressman Jason Altmire, D-4th, last week hailed the revamped G.I. Bill, which President Bush signed into law June 26.

Anyone who has completed more than three months of active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, can now qualify for a maximum educational benefit of $23,846 a year, Altmire said.

Altmire called it a "dramatic increase" over the original G.I. Bill's maximum education benefit of $9,990 a year.

"As tuition costs rose in recent years, the real value of the G.I. Bill fell to the point where it covered only a fraction of the cost of a college education,"he said. "Now, Congress has ensured that veterans will have the funding they need to pay for a quality education at any public university."

Altmire joined U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., in introducing the G.I.Bill, officially called the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act.

More than 65,000 Pennsylvanians have been deployed since 2001, Altmire said, and could qualify for assistance under the new bill.

For information, veterans can call their universities' veterans liaison's office, call 888-442-4551, or going to www.gibill.va.gov

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State Sens.

Jane Orie, R-40th, and

Don White, R-41st, this week hailed passage of landmark legislation that would require Pennsylvania insurance companies, for the first time, to cover treatment for a wide spectrum of autism disorders.The measure, which passed the Senate and the House, will be one of the strongest insurance mandates for autism yet achieved in the nation, said Orie, the GOPwhip.Gov. Ed Rendell has said he will sign the bill.The legislation calls for $36,000 a year for applied behavior analysis and other medically necessary treatments up to age 21, with no lifetime cap.It would create an expedited appeals procedure for denied claims for autism services, as a safeguard to ensure the law is followed."This bill will end discrimination for individuals with autism, and provides them the same medical necessity standards as those with cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses," said Orie, who serves as co-chairwoman of the Legislative Autism Caucus.White, chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, said the bill "maintains a proper balance between providing families of autistic children with the care and services they need without placing a potential financial impact on small businesses and individual health care insurance premium payers."———U.S. Rep.

Phil English, R-3rd, has been named a recipient of a 2008 Thomas Jefferson Award by the International Foodservice Distributors Association.The award honors senators and congressmen for their commitment to the nation's economic prosperity and to free enterprise. It presents the award based on their votes on issues such as reducing taxes, workplace regulations and other economic matters.The association represents food service distributors throughout the U.S., Canada and internationally.