Dear friend,

This week marked the one year anniversary of President Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law, a historic legislative accomplishment that is lowering costs for families, seniors, workers, and small businesses.

You might remember that last week I held a roundtable with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to highlight the cost-saving provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act, including how the law is lowering health care costs for seniors on Medicare by capping insulin at $35/per month, offering free vaccines such as the shingles and the Tetanus-Diphtheria-Whooping Cough vaccines, and finally gives Medicare the power to negotiate the prices for high-cost drugs. Seniors should be able to afford the medicines they need so they can age with dignity. 

The transformational law also makes the biggest investment in climate ever in our nation’s history. There are tax credits, rebates, and discounts on purchasing electric vehicles, making your home more energy-efficient through rooftop solar panels and weatherization, and purchasing energy-saving appliances. You can visit Energy.gov/save to see how you can reduce your energy costs today.

88th Anniversary of Social Security

We also celebrated the 88th anniversary of Social Security this week, a critical program that hundreds of thousands of Delawareans and millions of people across the country depend on. I will always fight to protect Social Security from blatant attempts to privatize, cut, or end it.

Investing in Kent County

I was glad to be in Harrington this week with the Harrington Public Library to highlight its plans to build a new 15,000-square-foot state-of-the-art library. This is a major upgrade from its current 2,500-square-foot building and will allow the library to serve more people in the community and expand its services. I’m so proud to have secured $5.6 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act for this project and look forward to cutting the ribbon when construction is completed!

While in Harrington, I met with local officials to discuss the City’s Community Project Funding request for FY24. Community Project Funding allows for nonprofit and governmental entities to apply for federal funding for community-based projects. Harrington would use these potential federal funds to build an Industrial Park that would attract business to the area and expand our manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics sectors. According to the City, it also has the potential to create over 750 jobs in the area.

I was also in Dover this week to visit with Luther Towers to highlight its Community Project Funding request to fund upgrades to one of its buildings so that Dover’s seniors can age in place. This potential funding would go toward making the bathrooms ADA-accessible, increasing safety and accessibility for residents.

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Luther Towers Executive Director Kim Mendoza.

Strengthening Delaware’s Economic Development

As Delaware’s former Secretary of Labor and the founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Future of Work Caucus in Congress, I’m always focused on how we can continue to strengthen our economic development, innovation, and economy by attracting more businesses to the First State and adding more good-paying jobs.

This week, I went to the Humane Animal Partners’ Wilmington Campus where I met the incredibly dedicated leadership team and staff that are working every day to provide services, shelter, and support to our state’s cats and dogs. I even got to say hello to King Harold! Keep up the great work!

Yours in service,

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester

Member of Congress

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