Mark Walker - San Diego Democratic Reps. Scott Peters and Susan Davis put some new legislation in the congressional hopper this past week.

Davis is teaming up with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersefield, to make it easier for troops overseas to vote through the Safeguarding Elections for our Nation’s Troops through Reforms and Improvements. The bill ensures absentee ballot requests are valid for a year and that troops get more time to change their mailing address so their ballot gets to the right place.

The legislation — H.R. 3576 — also makes voter assistance part of a service member’s annual training.

Peters has introduced H.R. 3577, the Health Savings Through Technology Act, calling for increased use of wireless technologies to help reduce health care costs.

“San Diego is ahead of the curve in wireless health care discovery, so providing incentives for it supports economic growth in my district, and helps bend the cost curve across the country,” Peters said.

The bill would create a commission to inventory existing data, examine the cost-savings that can be achieved by increasing the use of wireless health technologies and integrating them into health care programs. The legislation has already been endorsed by BIOCOM, BayBio, Qualcomm, CONNECT, American Telemedicine Association and the California Healthcare Institute.