Dear John,

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

Last week, the House passed three appropriations bills for fiscal year 2025, including the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations (SFOPS) Act, and the Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act. Unfortunately, these spending bills are a complete departure from the once bipartisan spending framework agreed to in the House. The legislation contains several extreme provisions that hinder military readiness, enable extremism and terror, and weaken our national security. For this reason, I did not vote to advance the legislation in the House.

More from the week: The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP), convened a hearing, Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) with Assistant Secretary Lisa M. Gomez. Also, I reintroduced the Caregivers, Access, and Responsible Expansion (CARE) or Kids Act of 2024, bipartisan legislation to expand access to free and reduced-price meals to support millions of children being raised by grandparents and other relatives. I also met with representatives from AARP Connecticut.

For the full recap, please read below.

Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations Legislation 

Last week, the House passed three appropriations bills for fiscal year 2025, including the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations (SFOPS) Act, and the Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act.

• The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act
  •  Despite an increase of nearly $762 million above fiscal year 2024, the Homeland Security appropriations bill put forth by this Republican majority fails to secure the border, fails to protect Americans from terrorism and violent extremists, and weakens national security through inadequate cybersecurity and infrastructure investments. 
  • The bill appropriates $600 million to resurrect former President Trump’s border wall, wasting taxpayer dollars on a decidedly ineffective physical barrier that could be otherwise used to vet migrants, bolster more effective strategies to address challenges, or support border communities.
• Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations (SFOPS) Act
  • Caters to the most extreme members of the Republican conference – cutting funding by 12% below the 2024 bipartisan level.
  • These cuts include programs to improve maternal and child healthcare and fight infections diseases, and several United Nations (UN) programs such as UN Women and UN Development. The legislation also hampers the U.S. response to the climate crisis by prohibiting implementation of the Paris Agreement and eliminating support for the ability of communities to adapt to weather changes and deploy clean energy programming. 
• Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act
  • The FY25 Department of Defense spending bill undermines democracy at home, eliminates support for Ukraine, harms military readiness, and fails to invest in critical climate change programs. Specifically, the legislation eliminates the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which will weaken Ukraine’s ability to fight for their right to self-determination, and cuts climate change mitigation and preparation funding.    
  • Additionally, this legislation cuts or underfunds important Democratic priorities – like support for LGBTQI+ rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and reproductive rights.

For these reasons, I did not vote to advance these appropriations bills in the House. 

Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) 

On Thursday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP), convened a hearing, Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) with Assistant Secretary Lisa M. Gomez.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) educates and assists workers, retirees and their families covered by retirement plans, health plans and other welfare benefit plans. The organization is crucial for a strong retirement.

During the hearing, I asked Assistant Secretary Gomez about policy changes Congress can enact to assist in identifying misconduct or help workers & retirees navigate their plans. We also discussed the Securing a Strong Retirement (SECURE) Act 2.0, legislation to enhance retirement savings for working Americans.

The full hearing is available here. 

CARE for Kids Act

On Wednesday, I reintroduced the Caregivers, Access, and Responsible Expansion (CARE) or Kids Act of 2024. This bipartisan legislation expands access to free and reduced-price meals to support millions of children being raised by grandparents and other relatives. The legislation is also co-led by Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) and Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02). 

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, over 2.4 million children nationwide are cared for by grandparents or other relatives. While the School Breakfast and National School Lunch programs can help ease the financial burden for caregivers, even modest income can, in some cases, keep the children in their care from qualifying for school meal assistance. Additionally, current law fails to authorize automatic eligibility and enrollment procedures around school meal assistance for certain vulnerable children, such as those placed in alternative or informal care arrangements.

As a result, many students who would otherwise qualify for and receive school meal assistance are currently excluded from vital food support programs.

The CARE for Kids Act would support these children and their caretakers by building on existing school meal eligibility for children living in alternative care and foster care.

Learn more about the CARE for Kids Act here. 

AARP Meeting

Last week, I met with representatives from AARP Connecticut, who were in Washington, to advocate for issues affecting caregivers and older Americans. In Congress, I am working to strengthen and protect many of the programs seniors rely on, such as Social Security and Medicare. Accordingly, I am a cosponsor of the Social Security 2100 Act, the Social Security Fairness Act, and the Medicare for All Act.

We must ensure workers of any age from retiring seniors to young people can continue to count on these bedrock insurance programs for generations to come.

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