Blanche Lincoln

Bill is ready to be signed into law.

March 17, 2010 -- Washington– As part of a legislative push to put Americans back to work, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln today voted for the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, a jobs-related measure that has been passed by the House and the Senate. The bill will now go to the President for signature.

“With 100,000 Arkansans out of work, I am firmly focused on pursuing an aggressive agenda that will restore stability in private industry and create an environment in which businesses feel confident hiring again,” Lincoln said.    » read more »

March 18, 2010 -- Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, along with Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., today announced a major agreement between the food and beverage industry and public health and education groups on national school nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools. Leaders from the public health community and food and beverage industry participated in the announcement.    » read more »

March 12, 2010 -- Washington -- U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, yesterday said relaxing restrictions on agricultural trade with Cuba is key to creating jobs and expanding exports from the U.S. agricultural sector.

In a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Lincoln, along with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., urged Baucus to take up the Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2009 as quickly as possible. Both Lincoln and Cantwell are co-sponsors of the legislation, and members of the Finance Committee.    » read more »

February 1, 2010 -- Washington -- U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today said she would oppose cuts to programs important to agriculture and rural communities contained in President Obama’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2011.

“Throughout my Senate career, I have been a strong, independent voice for Arkansas’s agricultural producers. Now, as Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am standing up for farmers and ranchers and all of rural America once again by opposing cuts that will harm the hard-working men and women who are the backbone of our rural economy.    » read more »

January 20, 2010 -- Washington – U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., along with 24 U.S. Senators, today urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) to refrain from making deep cuts to the federal crop insurance program.

In a letter to RMA Administrator William Murphy, the Senators said a competitive, thriving crop insurance industry is vital to the agricultural economy.    » read more »

Restrictions could negatively impact nearly 6 percent of Arkansas jobs

January 15, 2010 -- Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today continued to push for open-market access for U.S. agricultural producers as she urged the administration to address several recent decisions by the Russian government restricting imports of U.S. meat and poultry.    » read more »

January 15, 2010 -- North Little Rock – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln today said Recovery Act funds flowing to two Arkansas cities will help strengthen these communities, create new jobs, and improve the quality of life for many Arkansans.

Today, Lincoln joined local leaders in Little Rock and North Little Rock to announce the following three Recovery Act-funded projects:

• $8.6 million to the City of Little Rock for neighborhood revitalization efforts. The funds will help establish financing for the redevelopment of 17 foreclosed homes; rehabilitate 215 foreclosed homes; and build 55 new homes on demolished or vacant properties.    » read more »

In every Congress since 2004, Lincoln has introduced legislation to help small businesses afford quality health insurance coverage; Lincoln’s plan emerging as framework for national health insurance reform

December 10, 2009 -- Washington – In her ongoing commitment to ensure Arkansas’s small businesses can access quality and affordable health care, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln is pushing for an expansion of a tax credit that will allow more small businesses to afford health coverage for themselves, their employees, and their families.    » read more »

12/09/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Democratic Senators Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln and Debbie Stabenow joined Terry Gardiner of the Small Business Majority and Mike Brey, small business owner from Maryland, at a press conference this afternoon to unveil a package of amendments to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that will benefit small businesses.

While the Senate bill makes health care more affordable and sustainable for America's small businesses, these amendments will continue Democrats' commitment to level the playing field for small businesses by lowering costs, increasing competitiveness and making health care more stable for entrepreneurs.    » read more »

December 8, 2009 -- Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) today made the following statement regarding her vote on the Nelson amendment. The Senate Finance Committee bill that Sen. Lincoln helped draft – as well as H.R. 3590 that is currently being debated on the Senate floor – both went to great lengths to ensure that pending health insurance reform legislation adheres to current law, which prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion except in the cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at risk. The Nelson amendment goes beyond current law to impose significant new restrictions on abortion.    » read more »

December 7, 2009 -- Washington – As she opposed another Republican amendment today designed to scare seniors and gut commonsense health insurance reform, Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said she will consistently fight to protect Medicare.

Under the guise of “protecting Medicare,” the amendment offered by Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) – who just last week distributed a manual to his colleagues on how to obstruct health insurance reform efforts – would have stripped critical provisions designed to make health insurance more affordable and more widely available. The amendment, which failed, was an attempt to kill any chance for health insurance reform.    » read more »

December 5, 2009 -- Washington -- While Senate Republicans defended tax breaks for health insurance companies on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln called on her colleagues to support her proposal, which would cut taxpayer subsidies of health insurance executives’ salaries and place those savings into the Medicare Trust Fund.

“Several Republican Senators came to the floor today to defend the status quo on behalf of the health insurance companies and the executives that receive multimillion dollar compensation packages,” Lincoln said. “Maybe they do not understand that under current law, the American people are footing the bill for this tax windfall for health insurance companies.    » read more »

Amendment reduces tax breaks for insurance executives’ salaries

December 4, 2009 -- Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) today unveiled her plan to cut the current $1 million tax shelter for insurance companies’ executive compensation. Current law allows businesses to deduct up to $1 million annually per executive as a business expense.

Lincoln’s proposal would limit this amount to $400,000—the President’s salary—for health insurance companies that will profit as a result of health insurance reform.    » read more »

December 4, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC - Democratic Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) held a press conference this afternoon to discuss Senator Lincoln’s amendment to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that will limit the deductibility of executive compensation for health insurance companies.

The amendment would direct all of the revenue raised by limiting the deductibility of executive compensation for insurance companies to the Medicare Trust Fund.    » read more »

December 1, 2009 -- Washington – After Senate Republicans objected Monday to U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln’s proposal to require each Senator to post online any amendment he or she introduces to the health insurance reform bill, Lincoln today said she will post all amendments to the bill to her Senate Web site. The amendments will be available at http://lincoln.senate.gov/arkansas/healthcare.cfm.    » read more »