State Senator Jane Orie (R) “has decided she won’t run for the U.S. Senate next year,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

She issued a brief statement today saying, "I am formally announcing that I will not be a candidate in the 2010 Senate race."

Last week she said she might run against the two declared Republican candidates, former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey of the Lehigh Valley and conservative activist Peg Luksik of Johnstown. The seat at issue is now held by Sen. Arlen Specter, who switched from Republican to Democrat earlier this year.

Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) “is blocking Senate confirmation of the EPA’s deputy administrator because of concern with the agency’s economic analysis of the House energy bill,” Congressional Quarterly reports.

In a June 13 letter to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson , the Ohio Republican said he has a procedural hold on Robert Perciasepe, President Obama’s nominee for the No. 2 position at the agency.

Voinovich said his hold was unrelated to the nominee himself. Instead, he is dissatisfied with an EPA report on the economic effects of a climate change bill (HR 2454) that passed the House in June.

“To help Congress fully understand how this bill would affect consumers and the economy, I ask again that EPA provide reliable and realistic analysis by addressing the remaining flaws in its modeling,” he wrote.

Senators “agreed Monday to give high-tech biologic drugs 12 years of market protection before generic versions can compete,” the AP reports.

The vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was a victory for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries but a defeat for the Obama administration and AARP.

The Obama administration had pushed for a seven-year exclusivity period so that patients could get quicker access to cheaper versions of costly medicines used to treat ailments including cancer, Parkinson’s,diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Proponents of the longer time frame say products like the blockbuster cancer drug Avastin deserve longer market protection because they are more expensive and time-consuming to produce than regular drugs, and the extra time and money is needed to attract investors and promote innovation.

The vote came as the health committee worked to complete a sweeping health overhaul bill it expects to finish Tuesday. The biotech drug portion was a major unresolved issue, but Monday’s action doesn’t mean it’s over. The decision would still need agreement from the full Senate and the House, where Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., strongly supporters a shorter exclusivity period.

More on the measure:

The health committee voted 16 to 7 in favor of the 12-year measure offered by Sens. Mike Enzi, Orrin Hatch and Kay Hagan. It’s the time period previously endorsed by committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy, whose home state of Massachusetts is a biotech stronghold. Kennedy is away from the Senate while being treated for brain cancer.

By a 5 to 17 vote the committee rejected an alternate measure by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, that would have started with a seven-year exclusivity period, with additional years possible for innovations.

Senate Democrats “said on Monday that they would seek to broaden the federal hate crimes law to protect victims of attacks based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilities,” the New York Times reports.

To lift the chances of passage, Democrats said the legislation, known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would be attached as an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill – a must-pass measure.

The proposal is named for Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was tied to a fence, beaten and left to die in 1998.

The Senate approved the legislation last year, also as part of the military authorization bill, but it was never reconciled with a similar House-passed bill.

As the excerpt notes, it will be attached to the National Defense Authorization Act(S. 1390) by way of an amendment.  Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) is offering it.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said that he would introduce the bill as a bipartisan amendment to the defense authorization measure. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, is also a prime sponsor.

“The hate crimes amendment would improve existing law by making it easier for federal authorities to investigate and prosecute crimes of racial, ethnic, or religious violence,” Mr. Leahy said in a statement. “Victims will no longer have to engage in a narrow range of activities, such as serving as a juror, to be protected under Federal law. It also focuses the attention and resources of the Federal government on the problem of crimes committed against people because of their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability, which is a long-overdue protection. In addition, the hate crimes amendment will provide assistance and resources to state, local, and tribal law enforcement to address hate crimes.”

Although the “measure is likely to be approved in the Senate, it is unclear how quickly House Democrats will return to their version.”

Senators have confirmed the nomination of Robert Groves to serve as Director of the Census Bureau by Voice Vote.  Prior to that action, the Senate passed a cloture motion to end debate on the nomination by a vote of 76 to 15.

Several Republicans opposed the nomination and tried to hold it up because they are concerned Mr. Groves would implement “statistical sampling” while overseeing the 2010 census.  They see sampling as unconstitutional and a political maneuver, according to Roll Call.

It should be noted that at his confirmation hearing in May, Mr. Groves assured Senators that he would not use the sampling procedure on the 2010 census.