Dear friend, 

Welcome to your Weekly Wrap, a recap of the week in Congress and highlights of my work. 

Last week, President Biden delivered the 2024 State of the Union (SOTU) Address. During his speech, the President highlighted the progress he and his administration have made for the American people. My guest this year was Jim Accomando of the Connecticut Parent Teacher Association (CTPTA). 

More from the week:  The House passed H.R. 4366, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, averting a partial government shutdown. The legislation includes nearly $9 million in Community Project Funding for CT-05. Also, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing, Proven Results: Highlighting the Benefits of Charter Schools for Students and Families, and the House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing, For the Purposes of Receiving Testimony from The Honorable Rostin Behnam, Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

For the full recap, please read below. 

Endless Possibility

On Wednesday, President Biden delivered the 2024 State of the Union address. In his speech, the President highlighted the accomplishments he and his administration have made on everything from health care and education to manufacturing and cutting the deficit. He reaffirmed his commitment to continued multilateral negotiations to temporarily end the violence in Gaza, bring the hostages home, and provide critical aid to those in need. Specifically, the President announced a special mission directing the U.S. military to establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza to deploy shipments of food, water, medicine, and shelter. I remain supportive of these efforts.  

The President also highlighted the important work that lies ahead to stabilize our immigration system, bring down exorbitant housing costs, and protect our seniors. 

Most importantly, President Biden told the story of the American people - a story of resilience, of getting back up when you get knocked down, a story of “turning setback into comeback.” A story of not backing down when our democracy, our freedoms, and our futures are tested.  

In the 2024 State of the Union Address, President Biden told the uniquely American story of endless possibility. 

I was happy to host Jim Accomando of the Connecticut Parent Teacher Association (CTPTA) as my guest. As Federal Legislative Chair of CTPTA, Jim is working to build that future of endless possibility for Connecticut students by strengthening family-school partnerships. I join CT PTA in the belief that strengthening family-school partnerships, supporting sensible solutions to keep students safe in their communities, and funding education are key. 

The full State of the Union Speech is available here. 

Fiscal Year 2024 Funding 

On Wednesday, I voted to pass H.R. 4366, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. This Minibus includes funding for Agriculture-FDA, Commerce-Justice and Science, Energy and Water Development, Interior, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD.

In this legislation, I secured nearly $9 million to support fourteen Community Project Funding (CPF) requests. This funding will address new units of affordable housing, housing infrastructure, water pollution, food insecurity, pedestrian safety improvements and emergency communications across urban, suburban and rural communities in the 5th District. 

With the legislation signed into law on Sunday, I look forward to working alongside local leaders through completion of these projects and seeing their impact in our community.

To learn more about the Fiscal Year 2024 Community Project Funding requests, please click here.

Proven Results: Highlighting the Benefits of Charter Schools for Students and Families

On Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education convened a hearing, Proven Results: Highlighting the Benefits of Charter Schools for Students and Families. During the hearing, Members examined the efficiency of charter schools. 

As an educator, I support school choice and recognize the importance of specialized public charter schools for the academic success of some students. However, in reality, charter schools pick and choose if and when they admit special education students or students with attendance or disciplinary records.  Traditional public schools must admit all students no matter what.

We should be investing in the institutions that serve all students, not creating a subset of students with access to high quality, specialized learning by diverting public funds away from public schools to support for-profit private charter networks. The Department of Education invests millions of dollars in charter schools, so we must have transparency and oversight over those funds.

To listen to my full remarks during the hearing, click here. 

Examining procedures at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

The House Committee on Agriculture convened on full committee hearing on Wednesday entitled, For the Purpose of Receiving Testimony from The Honorable Rostin Behnam, Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is tasked with overseeing futures and swaps markets, in addition to the emerging digital asset market. Going after fraud and penalizing bad actors is a crucial part of keeping markets stable and protecting the financial well-being of Americans.

During the hearing, Chairman Rostin Benham provided an update on the work of the Office of Customer Education and Outreach (OCEO) at the CFTC. OCEO is responsible for identifying fraud trends, producing educational content, and public engagement on a range of issues. Additionally, Chairman Benham described the need for a legislative fix to address permitted uses of the Customer Protection Fund by the OCEO.

To listen to the full hearing, please click here.

And that’s a wrap!

Thank you for taking the time to read this update. As always, please continue to share your thoughts and priorities with me.

Jahana Hayes

Member of Congress