South Carolina - October 2022

About me, mag & contact info

I m Lisa Vallone. I have been involved with politics & government since my pre-teen years. The majority of my involvement centered around my role as a consultant to help various Party Chairs learn how to run more effective campaigns based on issues as well as training candidates on how to communicate constructively with those in their district. This led me to running for office myself, winning and proudly becoming the voice of my constituents. All of my experience has led me to this platform as I believe it is time we all more extensively educate ourselves on what bills are being considered for law on the State and Federal level. Afterall, we Americans need more than broad stroke concepts with no real meat of the issue for us to digest. We value the efforts of those elected officials and candidates who reach out with Town meetings and other measures to let us know what they are doing or plan to do in office. And we believe they are in the majority. But, we must seek out every avenue to let our Representatives hear our voice so they can better represent us in government.

Based on my background in government, teaching and communications I believe in 3 pillars as the foundation for any discussion (1) Educate yourself, (2) Communicate with others, and (3) Reciprocate respectfully. If we follow these pillars - if we educate ourselves, let our voices be heard in an environment of mutual respect for those in office, those seeking office or those with differing opinions, then we can make a more perfect union.

A couple of notes . . . In this magazine I intentionally leave off the name/ Party affiliation of the person who introduced the bill as we are more than our Party we are Americans looking for responsible government that represents us. Too often when we hear legislation has been proposed by the opposite Party we close our ears or immediately discount it. I do not want that to happen. Only during my podcast will this information be revealed. Here is to the power of people to have the knowledge to know how hard their representatives work to represent them in government.

Email: KnowTheIssuesWithLisaVallone@gmail.com Podcast on Most Platforms: Know The Issues With Lisa Vallone Website: KnowTheIssues.com

Presidents, VPs & Congressional members

trivia quiz?

1. Which Presidential candidate ran for office while in jail: a. Eugene V Debs b. Richard M Nixon

2. The first Native American Congressman was: a. Charles Brent Curtis b. Thomas Ellicott

3. Which President named the “White House” the “White House”? a. Theodore Roosevelt b. Barack Obama

4. In Presidential elections having a height advantage seems to help a candidate as the taller candidate usually wins a. true b. false

5. This Congressman is the only Congressman to have a #1 hit on the Billboards Hot 100 a. Joe Walsh b. Sono Bono

6. Two archrival Presidents died on the same day. Were they a. Adams and Jefferson b. Adams and Washington

7. Glover Cleveland’s first name was actually “Stephen” before he changed it.

a. true b. false

feed the children - Editorial

A bill was introduced in South Carolina to amend the code of laws from 1976 whereby public schools, public school districts, chartr schools and charter school governing bodies may no longer use debt collection agencies to collect or attempt to collect outstanding debts on student school lunch or breakfast accounts. Nor can these entities assess or collect any interest fees or other such monetary penalties for outstanding debts.

Today, there are an estimated 17 million children struggling with hunger in America – 6 million more than before the pandemic. And 2.7 million more families are going hungry. For many of these children the food they are given at school is the only nourishment they receive during the day.

I believe that this bill does not go far enough. We have a duty to ensure that every child has a safe and nuturing environment from which they can grow and prosper. Food is one of the most basic needsnot a luxury but a need for survival. Each state must find in their budget the money to feed all school age children so no child goes hungry. And by putting this as an equal footing whereby all children are given a free breakfast and lunch, and not just children in need, it will eliminate the embarrassment children face by their peers and others when requesting free food. I personally knew of many children growing up who refused to get assistance because they didn’t want others to look at them differently. We must provide the basic needs of children while they are at school.

Cleveland Clinic, University of Colorado Hospital and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospitals are just 3 of a host of hospitals denying organ transplants to patients who have not had the COVID vaccine. Congressional bill S3985 was introduced to prohibit denying an individual from donating or receive an organ because of their COVID-19 vaccination status. It would also prevent Medicare and Medicaid providers from denying services to individuals based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.

The bill is called the Give Life Act (Doss’s Bill - named after a “teenage Texan who was denied a kidney transplant because had had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.” Of note the same Senator who introduced this bill also introduced S3974 to end discrimination in Covid-19 treatments in determining eligibility for monoclonal antibody doses distributed by the Federal Government.

How do you feel about thiswant to be my podcast guest? Email: KnowTheIssuesWithLisaV

Photo courtesy of Andrew Shelle

Should Patients be mandated to receive the COVID vaccine in order to receive or give an organ transplant?

What does and for other purposes

mean in the bills I read

If you have seen the title of a bill in Congress you may have noticed most say and for other purposes . For example, HR6549 reads To provide debt relief to developing countries with unsustainable levels of debt, and for other purposes. The phrase means all of the title could not fit so they shortened it. It should alert you to the fact that you should always read the entire bill to understand it completely. In this bill for example the and for other purposes includes such elements as standards for equitable burden sharing among all creditors with material claims on each participating debtor; robust debt disclosure; expanded eligibility criteria to include all countries with unsustainable levels of sovereign debt; standards for comprehensive creditor participation consistent with robust application of the policies of the International Monetary Funds relating to lending into arrears; and consistent enforcement and improvement of the policies of multilateral institutions relating to asset-based and revenue-based borrowing by participating debtors, and coordinated standards on restructuring collateralized debt. And that is just a small part of the and for other purposes . So it is important when discussing a bill take the time to read it all.

S*0425 helping vulnerable adults

This act would authorize financial institutions to decline certain transaction requests in cases of the suspected financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. If they suspect this type of exploitation they are to notify the Department of Social Services and the Office of the Attorney General.

According to the justice department Exploitation means the illegal or improper use of an incapacitated or dependent adult or that adult's resources for another's profit or advantage.

An exploited vulnerable adult can be any person who has attained the age of 18 and has conditions such as being an adult who has a physical or mental condition that substantially impairs their ability to adequately provide for their own daily needs. It could also mean a resident of a nursing home or perhaps a senior with dementia or an adult who is incapacited in another way.

Seniors have long been the major victim of financial exploitation with millions becoming victims every year resulting in billions of dollars in personal loss. Scammers prey on this demographic but so do care givers and family and friends who might misuse their money, sign checks to themselves or take advantage of them in other financial ways.

suicide info on student cards

S*0231 took me by surprise. It provides that student identification cards issued by public schools and public and private institutions of higher learning must include certain contact information concerning the National Suicide Prevent Lifeline and certain other crisis resources.

I had not realized that suicide among our youth has become that pronounced.

According to the South Carolina goverment,

• 349 Youth died by suicide in South Carolina from 2016–2018.

• Youth suicides occurred most frequently among young adults aged 20-24.

• Most youth suicide deaths were among males while most emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for suicide

• attempts were among females

• 2x as many non-Hispanic White youths died by suicide compared to youths from other races combined

• About one half of youth suicide victims died at home.

• Firearms were the most common weapon used in youth suicides, accounting for 56.4% of youth suicide deaths.

• Of youths tested, 43.3% of youth suicide victims had marijuana present, and 28.9% had alcohol present. 14.6% were suspected to have used alcohol hours before the incident.

• The most common problem prior to a youth suicide was an intimate relationship problem.

Answers to trivia quiz

1. Which President . . .:

a. Socialist candidate Eugene V Debs was in federal prison when he ran for office and although he lost he still received 900,000 votes (3.4% of the vote)

2. First Native American Congressman . . . .

a. Charles Brent Curtis starting in 1893. (Native American on his mother’s side) He was also the 1st and only Native American VP, having been on the winning ticket with Hoover. Interestingly enough Native Americans were not given the right to vote until the Snyder Act of 1924.

3. Which President named it the “White House” . . .

a. Theodore Roosevelt officially named it the White House. Prior to him taking office, the White House had different names including the “President’s Palace,” which sounded a bit like a throwback to England’s royalty, the “President’s House” and the “Executive Mansion.”

4. Taller candidate . . .

a. true. In the thirty-one presidential elections between 1900 and 2020, twenty-one of the 31 winning candidates have been taller than their opponents. In the JFK-Nixon televised debate voters are said to have thought JFK won the debate due to not only has tanned and relaxed look but also because of his height advantage.

5. This Congressman is the only Congressman to have a #1 hit on the Billboards Hot 100 b. Sonny Bono holds that title with his hit “I got you Babe” which stayed at #1 for 3 weeks.

6. Two archrival Presidents died on the same day. Were they a. Adams and Jefferson. The feud between these two Presidents is said to have begun over a disagreement regarding the Declaration of Independence. Adams thought the day to celebrate should be July 2nd as that is when the actual vote for