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HEALTH ACTION 2013: DAY TWO, HOUR 1 (Two Hour Special Edition) One year before the key laws of the Affordable Care Act go into full effect, health advocates, health professionals and lawmakers meet on Capitol Hill to discuss what’s coming in this year under the federal health reform law. A competitive insurance marketplace is set to open doors in the Fall, and tax credits will become available next year to middle-class families who can’t afford health insurance. Analysts provide insights on the foreseeable consequences in case many states refuse to expand Medicaid or join the health insurance market, the rise in health insurance prices and other topics. Guests: Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, J.D., Director of Health Equity, Families USA, Washington, D.C., www.familiesusa.org ; Dr. Rosalía Fajardo, Director, Multicultural Family and Education Center, Washington, D.C.; Mayra Alvarez, director of health policy, Office of health care reform, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.hhs.gov

HEALTH ACTION 2013: DAY ONE: HOUR 2. Health advocates are announcing "the biggest push for outreach and enrollment in health insurance in the nation's history". This edition includes a conversation with a top health official about the deadlines coming up for the Affordable Care Act in healthcare markets, subsidies for working families, the new beneficiaries of Medicaid, and those who could end up without coverage because of a mistake when the law was written. Also, interviews with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, about her own experiences with healthcare, and with a promotor of immigrant rights about immigration reform and how it could affect health reform. Guests: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Justice, United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., www.supremecourt.gov (pretaped interview); Vanessa Cárdenas, Director of Progress 2050, Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C., www.americanprogress.org ; María Gonzalez Albuiexech, Communications and Markets Director, Healthcare for All Massachusetts, Boston, MA.

HEALTH ACTION 2013: DAY ONE: HOUR 1. This is the first hour of a special edition broadcast live from the Health Action 2013 Conference on Capitol Hill. This year is crucial for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. States are pushing forward with plans for health insurance market exchanges, as well as the expansion of Medicaid, the health program for the poor. This edition looks at these and other developments coming this year under the health reform law. Guests: Sen. Tammy Baldwin, United States Senator for Wisconsin, Washington, D.C., www.baldwin.senate.gov (audio of speech); Mayra Álvarez, Director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C., www.healthreform.gov ; Josephine Mercado, Founder and Executive Director, Hispanic Health Initiatives, Casselberry, FL, www.hhi2001.org ; María Cardona, Public Policy Advocate and Political Strategist, Dewey Square Group, Washington, D.C., http://deweysquare.com/maria-cardona

MEXICO EDITION. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts the program Voz Pública from Mexico City. The civic journalist brings news and analysis on Mexican developments.

OBAMA'S PLAN FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM. This second hour of a two-hour special edition includes the second half of President Obama's speech on his plan for immigration reform, recorded live from Las Vegas, Nevada. Top political analysts discuss the plan. Listeners call in to share their views. Guests: Maribel Hastings, Senior Adviser, America's Voice, from Las Vegas, NV, http://americasvoiceonline.org/ ; Carlos Gutiérrez, Former Secretary of Commerce, and Member, Republicans for Immigration Reform, Washington, D.C.; Arturo Rodríguez, President, United Farm Workers (UFW), Las Vegas, NV, www.ufw.org

OBAMA UNVEILS IMMIGRATION PLAN. President Obama is making a major announcement on his comprehensive immigration reform plan at an event in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a live interconnection with the news conference and discussion about the president’s push for public and congressional support for a reform package. Guests: President Barack Obama, President of the United States, from Las Vegas, NV, www.whitehouse.gov (live audio); Eliseo Medina, Secretary-Treasurer, Service Employees International Union, from Las Vegas, NV; Cristina Jiménez, Managing Director, United We Dream Network, from Las Vegas, NV, http://unitedwedream.org

SENATORS ANNOUNCE IMMIGRATION REFORM PLAN. A group of eight senators, both Republicans and Democrats, announced a bipartisan plan for immigration reform today. The plan includes more border security, a farm worker program, a version of the DREAM Act, and a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the country, but contingent on a secure border. This edition includes soundbites from the senators' announcements, as well as reactions from community and political leaders. Guests: Dolores Huerta, Co-founder, United Farmworkers, and President, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Bakersfield, CA, www.doloreshuerta.org ; Rev. Gabriel Salguero, President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, www.nalec.org ; Jorge Silva, Spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Washington, D.C., www.reid.senate.gov ; Hilda Solís, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Washington, D.C.

MEXICO EDITION. Environmentalists will sue the application of the Convention on Biological Diversity, to stop the transnational company Monsanto from planting genetically engineered corn in Mexico. According to Silvia Ribeiro, a researcher from the Erosion, Technology and Concentration Group, the former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, authorized the planting of genetically engineered corn in the states of Sinaloa and Tamaulipas, after meeting with the directors of Monsanto at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A moratorium had previously been in place against genetically engineered corn in Mexico since 1999. Mexico is the center of origin of corn in the world and has 57 kinds of the grain, with more than 30,000 varieties. Researchers say this diverse resource could be in danger in the presence of genetically engineered corn. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts Voz Pública from Mexico City. Guest: Silvia Ribeiro, Researcher, Grupo Erosión, Tecnología, y Concentración (ETC), Tepoztlán, México, www.etcgroup.org

GUN CONTROL. Democratic lawmakers, led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, are reintroducing a bill to ban military-stile weapons and high-capacity magazines. The bill, “Assault Weapons Ban of 2013”, would stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacture of certain firearms and semi-automatic rifles, and high-capacity magazines. A Democratic congressmember and a peace advocate join this edition to comment the topic. Guests: Rep. Xavier Becerra, D – Los Angeles, Washington, DC; Medea Benjamin, Co-founder, Global Exchange and CodePink: Women for Peace, Washington, DC. www.codepink4peace.org , www.globalexchange.org

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION. The first Latino keynote speaker at a commemorative service for Martin Luther King, Jr. is Reverend Samuel Rodríguez. The conservative religious leader, who has been outspoken in favor of immigration reform, had also been invited to speak in President Obama’s inauguration, but he opted for his pre-arranged keynote speech. This edition includes an interview with the orator, to share his views about King's thought and his take about the presidential inauguration. Guest: Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Sacramento, CA, www.nhclc.org

IMMIGRATION EDITION: REDUCED SEPARATION. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published the final regulations that allow undocumented immigrants with immediate relatives who are U.S. citizens to apply for a waiver of inadmissibility before leaving the country for their visa interviews. The rule is supposed to reduce the amount of time that U.S. citizens have to be separated from their loved ones while they are applying for a visa. Immigration attorney Rosalba Piña hosts this edition from Chicago. Guests: Laura Vázquez, Legislative Analyst, Immigration Policy Project, National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Washington, D.C., www.nclr.org

CIVIL RIGHTS TODAY. This special, Holiday edition on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day includes an exclusive interview with Martín Castro, chair of the United States Civil Rights Commission, about the most pressing civil rights issues of our times, including hate crimes, violations of immigrants’ civil rights in Alabama and other states that have passed strict anti-immigration laws, the Latino dropout crisis, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Guest: Martín Castro, Chairman, United States Civil Rights Commission, Chicago, IL, www.usccr.gov

MEXICO EDITION. More than one million workers in Mexico presented appeals in federal court against the new Federal Labor Law, which now allows contracts by the hour, trial contracts, and training contracts, as well as legalizing the practice of outsourcing, allowing large companies to subcontract services from other companies, to avoid paying benefits, worker's compensation insurance and pensions. The appeals were submited in different states of the country, by unions of health, education, electrical, and service workers. The protesters are also preparing a People's Court on February 5th to try the lawmakers who made more than 50 modifications to the labor law last November. This edition also includes reports that the former president of Mexico Felipe Calderón and the former governor of Michoacán, Leonel Godoy Rangel, are shareholders of the builders that affected the ecosystem and archealogical zone of La Loma de Santamaría in the state of Michoacán. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts Voz Pública from Mexico City. Guests: José Antonio Vital Galicia, leader, Alliance of Health Workers and Public Employees, Mexico City, Mexico; Gustavo Alcocer, Spokesperson, Citizen Movement in Defense of La Loma, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico (pre-recorded interview).

DETOXING DENIM. The environmental organization Greenpeace found a large number of hazardous chemicals polluting rivers near two of Mexico’s biggest denim factories, Lavamex in Aguascalientes, and Kaltex in Querétaro. Both companies have relationships with jeans giants such as Levi’s, Gap, Calvin Klein, and Guess. Some companies have signed agreements with the environmentalists to clean up their act. Guests: Pierre Terras, Coordinator, Toxics Campaign, Greenpeace Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, www.greenpeace.org/mexico/es/Footer/Descargas/reports/Toxicos/Hilos-Toxicos-Al-desnudo ; Anonymous memember of Un Salto de Vida, Mexico, http://limpiemoselsalto.blogspot.com , unsaltodevida@yahoo.com.mx

NEW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. A record number of Latinos were sworn into the 113th Congress of the United States, including three U.S. senators and 28 members of the House of Representatives. This edition includes interviews with two freshman members of Congress, Pete Gallego of Texas, and Dr. Raúl Ruiz of California, about their plans for this term in Congress. Guests: Pete Gallego, U.S. Congressman, 23rd District in Texas, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., http://gallego.house.gov ; Dr. Raúl Ruiz, U.S. Congressman, 36th District in California, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., http://ruiz.house.gov