Free Republic

<p>WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Tuesday voted an additional $6 billion for child care for welfare recipients and the working poor as part of a bill to renew the landmark 1996 welfare reform law.</p> <p>The measure easily won Senate passage, 78-20. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and 30 other Republicans voted for it, but the Bush administration opposes the provision and House Republicans did not include it in the version of the legislation that passed the House last year.</p>

by John Gizzi Posted Mar 30, 2004 Orange County Republican Chairman Tom Fuentes, dean of party leaders in the Golden State's 58 counties, is retiring after a record 20 years of service. Fuentes became chairman in 1984 at age 35. A successful businessman in the civil engineering field, he used his private-sector management skills to rebuild a party that had been living a "hand-to-mouth" existence. Today, it boasts a full-time staff and headquarters, and a bi-annual budget of $1 million. Fuentes also led the party in dealing with Orange County's demographic changes. As Democrats began making inroads in a region...