State Rep.

Brian Ellis, R-11th, said House Republicans recently took action to preserve Pennsylvanians' access to health care.He said GOPmembers called for an immediate vote on a bill that would have extended the Medical Care and Reduction of Error (MCare) abatement for physicians, but those efforts were thwarted by House Democrats."Without extending this program, the commonwealth is faced with the potential of losing quality physicians," Ellis said.MCare abatement, which expired on March 31, subsidizes physicians' malpractice insurance premiums to retain them in Pennsylvania.Ellis noted that this program is being used for nothing more than leverage by House Democrats and Gov. Ed Rendell

to get support for their state-run, one-size-fits-all health care proposal.Ellis said he also was concerned the governor's health care plan would not adequately address health care issues and the problems of the uninsured, noting the lack of funding to pay for his program.———U.S. Rep.

Jason Altmire, D-4th, Tuesday denounced President Bush's decision that forces Congress to act quickly on a controversial U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.Bush sent the proposed pact to Capitol Hill on Monday, which requires the House and the Senate to vote on it in 90 legislative days.Altmire and Democratic colleagues as well as union groups contend Colombia has not done enough to halt violence, protect labor activists and demobilize paramilitary organizations."It is unfortunate that the president is forcing a vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement when he still refuses to work with Congress to improve the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, a vital job retraining initiative for America's workers,"Altmire said.Altmire fears the Colombia trade agreement could turn out to be more bad medicine for the manufacturing industry."Pennsylvanians have seen firsthand how ill-conceived trade agreements can be devastating for our state's manufacturing industry,"he said."Under the Bush Administration, Pennsylvania has lost over 200,000 jobs, which is roughly one-fourth of our state's factory jobs. I do not see how the Colombia Free Trade Agreement would improve this situation."———U.S. Rep.

Phil English, R-3rd, last week touted bipartisan legislation that he said would help women workers save for retirement.English said a Government Accountability Office report last fall found women have less retirement income than men and higher rates of poverty in their retirement years.According to the report, this discrepancy is caused mainly by lower workforce participation and lower income. Women's median Social Security income is 70 percent of men's, and the value of pensions held by women is half that of pensions held by men.English recently teamed up with U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, to introduce the Women's Retirement Security Act of 2008, legislation to assist women with their retirement by helping them increase their retirement savings.Specifically, the English-Allen initiative would strengthen and expand automatic 401(k)s for small businesses, bolster eligibility for the saver's credit and make it refundable, and boost participation for part-time workers.Additionally, it would permit workers to transfer unused health plan benefits to qualified retirement accounts and allow the self-employed to deduct pension contributions.———State Sen.

Jane Orie, R-40th, Tuesday joined legislators and a number of prominent statewide women's organizations at a 2008 Pennsylvania Equal Pay Day Rally at the State Capitol.Orie is sponsor of a Senate Resolution marking April 22 as Equal Pay Day in the Commonwealth. April 22 is also the National Equal Pay Day."Equal Pay Day is an annual reminder of the shameful fact that it takes the average woman nearly four months into the following year to catch up with what men earned the previous year," Orie said."Weekly, women have to work until Tuesday of the following week, to earn what a man earned in the prior week."Orie has introduced a concurrent resolution calling for a comprehensive study of the wage gap in Pennsylvania, differences between industries, and whether policy or legislative measures are needed to remedy the problem.———U.S. Sen.

Bob Casey, D-Pa., this week introduced an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act to combat mortgage fraud and prevent "house flipping schemes."The amendment, introduced with the support of Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., would require a second independent appraisal for high-risk, high-interest mortgages."A disturbing byproduct of the increased rates of foreclosures is unscrupulous individuals trying to profit from other people's losses," Casey said."Stopping these flipping schemes will help give confidence to those buying homes that appraisals on their new homes are accurate and won't come back to haunt them later."In a flipping scheme, Casey said, an unscrupulous mortgage broker buys a discounted property that is often out of foreclosure. An appraiser then fraudulently inflates the property's value and it is bought by an unsuspecting homebuyer.Later, when the buyer realizes the fraud they can find his or her home is worth significantly less than what they paid.These homeowners often end up in foreclosure, and the lender is left with a worthless property.Casey said his measure is aimed at protecting consumers and financial institutions by addressing shortcomings in the appraisal process.———Republican congressional candidate

Melissa Hart last week signed a pledge to support a moratorium on earmarks.Hart is seeking the GOPnomination in the April 22 primary in the 4th District. She previously held the same congressional seat.She pledged to support spending reform in Congress by refusing to support earmarks in appropriation bills for fiscal year 2009.Earmarks refer to taxpayer money that is spent on individual congressmen's special projects outside the normal oversight and authorization process. Many of them have been spent on private businesses and narrow pet projects of political supporters.