For Immediate Release
October 1, 2008
Contact: Melanie Grassley
Communications Coordinator
717-627-0036
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A Conversation with Senator Brubaker

Tax reminder

If you haven't yet filed a tax return to get your stimulus payment, you still have time to do so. But you must file by Oct. 15 to get your payment this year.

Normally, certain Social Security payments are not subject to income tax. However, the economic stimulus law passed in February contains a special provision allowing Social Security recipients to count those benefits toward the qualifying income requirement of $3,000 and thereby qualify for the stimulus payment.

You are eligible if:

• You or your family has at least $3,000 in qualifying income from, or in combination with, Social Security benefits, Veterans Affairs benefits, Railroad Retirement benefits and earned income. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) does not count as qualifying income for the stimulus payment.
• You and any family members listed on your tax return have valid Social Security numbers. 
• You are not a dependent or eligible to be a dependent on someone else's federal tax return. (The same must be true of any family members claimed on your return.)

For eligible Social Security recipients who do not normally file a tax return, the IRS has prepared an 8-page informational package that provides instructions, a sample Form 1040A and a blank Form 1040A — everything needed to file the tax form.

For more information regarding the federal taxes visit www.irs.gov or call 1-800-829-1040.  

National service grant opportunity

PennSERVE, the Governor's Office of Citizen Service has issued a request for application for potential 2009-2010 Americorps' State programs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Consistent with PennSERVE's mission, the funding is designed to help organizations strengthen Commonwealth communities by implementing innovative service programs that address a compelling community need through the use of volunteers.

To access the grant application information, please visit the website at www.pennserve.state.pa.us and click "Now Available: PennSERVE RFA for 2009-2010 Americorps Grants." The deadline for the submission is November 3, 2008.

Did you know

The most momentous event in Lititz history was when General George Washington commandeered the Moravian Brother's House as a military hospital for the wounded soldiers from the Brandywine and Germantown battlefields. They arrived in December of 1777. Dr. William Brown, one of the attending physicians at the hospital, compiled a classic work of literature in American Pharmacy. He wrote the first American Pharmacopoeia (drugs applied to medicine).

An early California pioneer, General John Augustus Sutter was the most notable figure that lived in Lititz. He founded Sacramento in 1839 over his extensive lands the Gold Rush of 1849 had poured. After losing his land in California in 1871, he selected Lititz as his home because of the education facilities afforded to his grandchildren and the healing waters of the Lititz Springs Creek. He died in Washington, D. C in June 1880 while he was seeking re-dress from Congress for his great losses in California. He was brought back to Lititz for burial in the Moravian Cemetery.