The Freshman

The 109th Congress is now in session and first-term Senator Mel Martinez is three months into his stay in Washington, D.C. For a progress report on the senator's early legislative performance, we compared some of his recent votes with that of his original campaign promises, as outlined both in interviews and on his campaign website, www.melforsenate.org.

So far, it's clear that our junior senator has some serious homework to do. Were this a school report card, we'd have to issue a note home saying that - although he may be a joy in class - Mel Martinez needs some serious help with his grades.

IMPROVING HEALTH CARE: F

Medicaid cuts: Martinez supported.

You won't read about this on his current website, http://martinez.senate.gov. Martinez failed to join the seven other Republicans who rejected the majority Republican platform swiping $14 billion from Medicaid over the next five years. While some form of Medicaid reform is needed to ensure the viability of the program and the health of its recipients, the proposed cuts were blunt and short-sighted and in reality would have hit children the hardest. Ultimately, most of the Senate realized that fact with their 52-48 vote; too bad Martinez supported the hack job.

Veterans' medical care: Martinez supported.

With veterans' needs dramatically rising, the $410 million voted on by the Senate and Martinez functioned merely as a symbolic action. Why talk big about veteran support and then participate in a 47-53 vote to turn down a $2.8-billion veteran assistance bill that could have staved off future long-term costs? Was the $410 million intended as some middle ground?

PROTECTING NATURAL RESOURCES: F

Oil drilling in Alaska: Martinez supported.

After accepting some $123,000 from 35 different oil and gas groups like Halliburton and the Independent Petroleum Association of America during the 2004 election - making him the senator to receive the fifth-greatest amount of contributions from the industry - Martinez voted to open up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The vote can best be described as a Faustian bargain that failed, as Martinez hoped that drilling for Alaskan oil reserves would spare offshore drilling in Florida, at least for a while. But the deal he struck may have made things worse for Florida, by possibly permitting oil companies to drill in areas more than 100 miles offshore - something that wasn't previously allowed.

As Martinez explained in a March 16 statement following the 51-49 Senate vote, he made his ANWR decision with assurances that the existing moratorium of offshore drilling on Florida's Gulf Coast would be extended to 2012. Interior Secretary Gale Norton wrote to Martinez that no new drilling leases have been made within 100 miles of Florida coastline and that "we will continue this policy."

What Martinez did not apparently know is that the existing leasing bans already extended to 2012, and covered a full 200 miles offshore, not the 100-mile confirmation Martinez had received.

Senator Bill Nelson is now playing cleanup by trying to hold up President Bush's nominee for the deputy Interior secretary in the hopes of securing a clear promise that the eastern Gulf of Mexico remains drilling-free.

PROTECTING FAMILY VALUES: F

Preventative health care: Martinez against.

Every dollar spent on family planning services saves taxpayers an estimated $3 for pregnancy-related and newborn care for Medicaid alone. Martinez rejected in a 53-47 vote amendment 244, which would have expanded access to preventative health care to reduce unintended pregnancies, including teen pregnancies; provided grants to public and private institutions for pregnancy prevention programs; included contraception coverage in private health care plans; and avoided pandering to education programs that tout abstinence-only methodology.

EXPANDING HOMEOWNERSHIP: F

Bankruptcy bill: Martinez supported.

While Martinez correctly recognized that bankruptcy filings in this country were gobbling up about $40 billion annually and needed new controls, he voted for an over-broad measure that hurt the same families he claims to support. In passing the bankruptcy reform bill, Martinez failed to exclude single parents and children, and specifically those whose poor financial status was caused by spouses who shirked required alimony and child support payments. Also excluded were people whose bankruptcies were triggered by mounting medical debt, such as caregivers to ill and disabled family members. Three words remain for single parents and caregivers: Get a lobbyist.

GETTING FLORIDA ITS FAIR SHARE: P

Community development grants: Martinez supported.

Maybe it was the fact that the Community Development Block Grant was favored by the Senate majority, or maybe it was because Martinez knew just how important the grants were to local communities. For whatever reason, he joined the 68-31 Senate vote - against President Bush's wishes - to fully fund the 31-year-old program. And he should have. During his term as Orange County chairman, Martinez watched more than $11 million in CDBG funds enter the county to help fund a dozen social service agencies. Without the aid, Orange County could never have embarked on the massive $22 million Holden Heights project, which brought long-needed sewer systems and other improvements to a very low-income area. As explained by Mitchell Glasser, manager of the county's housing and community development division, "To counties and cities, the CDBG has been the most major asset we've had to do community revitalization and to help low income communities."

First-responder programs: Martinez supported.

Martinez voted (63-37) to restore $565 million in cuts to first-responder programs within the Department of Homeland Security Grant program. Restored funds included $150 million in grants for port security and $140 million for border patrol agents.

CURBING LAWSUIT ABUSE: F

Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act: Martinez supported.

The ersatz Terri Schiavo law veiled as a disability-rights issue. Had Martinez truly wanted to upend the unfair double standards placed on the estimated 49 million Americans with disabilities, he would have drafted an entirely different act. A legitimate disability rights act would have called for disability-specific funds to increase transportation options, expand employment and general education, and broaden the reach of Medicaid so that those who are disabled can better remain at home and not be relegated to the status of second-class citizens trapped in assisted-living facilities (see Medicaid, above). Instead he supported a bill calculated to kowtow to the religious right. What's worse, this is the epitome of big government run amok. Apparently, Martinez thinks that 19 Florida judges ruling on Schiavo's "persistent vegetative state" is somehow a "contested judicial proceeding" and fodder for federal intervention. So much for curbing lawsuit abuse.

Contact Mel Martinez and give him your own report. Call Washington, D.C., at 202-224-3041, or Orlando at 407-254-2573.

allyson.gonzalez@weeklyplanet.com