Virginia - October 2022

welcome to know the issues with lisa vallone

courtesy of professional photographer Derrick Brooks

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

Rabies vax optional?

How do you feel about HB 1074 which directs the Board of Health to develop, by regulation, an exemption to the rabies vaccination requirement for animals if a licensed veterinarian certifies in writing that the vaccine would endanger the animal based on an underlying medical factor and a titer test indicates a sufficient level of immunity to rabies. The bill provides that such certification is valid for a period of one year and serves as proof of vaccination.

Of note:

1. According to the CDC only 1 to 3 cases of human rabies is reported in the United States each year

2. Rabies is deadly if a person or animal is not given shots in time

3. Small dogs are most likely to have vaccine reactions

4. Rabies vaccines in animals can cause immediate or long term chronic illnesses including chronic digestive issues, skin issues, food/environmental allergies, emotional disturbances including violence, desire to kill and anxiety, heart inflammation, circulatory shock, loss of consciousness, seizures, tumors, neurological problems, cancer and death.

5. According to the National Institute of Health “The importance of adverse effects from vaccination must not be overstated. Vaccine benefits greatly exceed any risks from the procedure. Neither must they be minimized. Unnecessary vaccination must be discouraged. Hypersensitivity reactions to vaccine components are real and must be guarded against. Progressive improvements in animal vaccines have significantly reduced the chances of adverse effects occurring, although some issues persist.”

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

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 this - want to be my podcast guest?

Email: KnowTheIssuesWithLisaVallone@gmail.com Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Villaire

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.

HR to address the misuse of opioids

by students and student athletes

According to the HHS.gov site in 2019, an estimated 10.1 million people aged 12 or older misused opioids in the past year. And according to the JAMA Network “prescription opioids were implicated in 6561 deaths (73.0%), and the mortality rate increased by 131.3%; methadone alone was implicated in 2358 (35.9%) prescription opioid deaths between 1999 and 2006”.

This is a serious and rapidly growing problem in the United States. This bill, if passed, would award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for planning, establishing, or administering programs to prevent and address the misuse of opioids, related drugs, and other drugs commonly used in pain management or injury recovery, as well as the co-use of one or more such drugs with other substances, by students and student athletes. Included in this bill would be the ability to carry out school-based programs and community-based programs, concerning the dangers and misuse and addiction of opioids and related drugs that are commonly used in pain management or injury recovery.

It would also allow for a method for engaging youth, high school, or collegiate athletic and recreation programs and associations concerning these dangers and provide for the training and educating of State and local officials, youth athletics organizers, school administrators and staff, teachers, athletic directors, athletic trainers, coaches, collegiate administrators, directors of campus recreation, and campus-based medical providers, on the signs of misuse of opioids and the options for treatment, including holistic and comprehensive pain management solutions, and prevention of such misuse.

HB 683 is legislation that prohibits any correctional officer, jail officer, or other employee of a state, local, or juvenile correctional facility from using a canine to extract a prisoner or juvenile from his cell unless there is a threat of death or serious bodily injury to the prisoner or juvenile, other prisoners or juveniles, or any officer or employee of the facility.

According to Jamie Fellner with the Human Rights Watch, attack dogs are frequently used in the United States to remove prisoners from their cells” with the justification that it deters prisioner misconductand protects workers. States such as Connecticut say the use of dogs is only allowed when there is a clear and imminent danger to workers by inmates that may cause serious or deadly injury.

Photo courtesy of Derrick Brooks

facilities; minimum staffing standards, administrative sanctions.

This legislation sets minimum staffing standards for nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; administrative sanctions; Long-Term Care Services Fund. It requires nursing homes to meet a baseline staffing level based on resident acuity in alignment with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staffing level recommendations. The bill requires nursing homes to collect and submit to the Department of Health certain data related to staffing. The bill gives the Commissioner of Health the power to impose administrative sanctions on nursing homes for violations of the bill. The bill provides that nursing homes shall only be subject to administrative sanctions upon initial funding for the state share of the cost to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill establishes the Long-Term Care Services Fund for the purpose of making grants to assist in the provision of activities that protect or improve the quality of care or quality of life for residents, patients, and consumers of long-term care services.

Does this legislation go far enough? It talks about baseline and administrative sanctions which in my opinion appears watered down. But I would like to know your opinion. Please write me at knowtheissueswithlisavallone@gmail.com

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.

Photo courtesy of Redd

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 Independence took place. Jefferson however argued that July 4th should be the date to celebrate as that is when the Declaration

SB62 - Protecting our seniors

HB 98 is legislation that creates a central registry of substantiated complaints of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation. This registry is to be maintained by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. The bill establishes (i) investigation requirements for local departments of social services related to reports of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation; (ii) record retention and disclosure requirements for the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and local departments of social services; (iii) notice requirements related to findings by local departments and central registry entries; and (iv) an appeals process to contest the findings of a local department related to substantiated reports of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

-----------------------Photo courtesy of Christian Alvarez