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Dear Friend,
It’s Joe Courtney. Here to share an update on the latest news from Congress and back home in eastern Connecticut. As always, thanks for starting your weekend here with me.
The Fight Against Health Care Cuts Isn't Over
Right now, the Senate is attempting to pass President Trump’s misnamed “Big Beautiful Bill”, which includes the largest cut to health care in American history in an attempt to offset massive tax cuts for the wealthy, which are so massive they will still balloon the deficit by trillions. The Medicaid cuts included in the Senate bill are now worse than the version of the bill that the House passed in the dead of night last month. The cuts are so huge that hospitals we all rely on for care would be forced to scale back services and potentially close. This is the unanimous, impassioned message to Congress from the American Hospital Association, Catholic Hospital, and children's hospitals associations to name a few. I heard that directly from the nurses, doctors, and administrators at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London when I visited just a few days ago.
On Thursday, I met with the Connecticut Nurses Association, the largest professional alliance of our state's nurses, who earnestly stressed how much health care providers rely on strong federal Medicaid funding, known as HUSKY in Connecticut. As they bluntly stated, Medicaid pays for nurses.
There is a better way to address our nation's budgets, and it's not too late for Congress to go back to the drawing board.
Working to EXPAND Health Care for Federal Workers
The health care cuts in the “Big Beautiful Bill” come at a time when communities all across the country are already facing a real shortage of health care providers. I’m working in Congress whenever and wherever possible to improve access to care for eastern Connecticut residents. This week, the House Education and Workforce Committee passed my bipartisan bill to make it easier for federal workers to receive care for work-related injuries.
In May, I introduced the bipartisan Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act with Rep. Tim Walberg. Our bill would amend the Federal Employees Compensation Act to allow injured workers to receive treatment for work-related injuries from state-licensed physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs). Currently, federal workers are prohibited from being treated by PAs and NPs for federal worker compensation cases.
Connecticut’s 2nd District is home to nearly twice as many federal workers as any other congressional district in our state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, from workers at the Groton Submarine Base to the Social Security Administration and postal workers. With such a large population of federal workers, this bill is particularly important to meeting eastern Connecticut’s health care needs.
Our bill passed in the House in 2022, and now, by getting through the Committee early in the 119th Congress, we have a long runway to get it across the finish line.
Opening of the Horowitz Pool
Exciting news for Vernon. On Monday, the new Horowitz Pool at Henry Park officially opened for summer!
One of the explicit goals of the American Rescue Plan that was enacted by Congress in 2021, was to allow for communities like Vernon to invest in projects that promote healthy outdoor physical activity. The $1.3 million rehabilitation of the Horowitz Pool, paid for with Vernon’s ARPA allotment, achieves that Congressional intent. Wonderful to see that this pool, where my two children learned to swim, will be available for new generations of children to learn that critical life skill.
Supporting Gold Star Spouses
It was an honor to meet with a long time friend from Vernon, Mrs. Kat Cardona, during her visit to Washington this week with the Gold Star Spouses of America. In 2007, my office and I worked with Kat to recover the service medals from the Department of the Army for her late husband Staff Sergeant Ronald Cardona, Army Ranger 173 Division Airborne Battalion who was killed in action on July 6th, 1969, while serving in Vietnam. His family received the two Purple Heart Medals, Combat Infantryman Badge, the Vietnam Service Medal with one Bronze Star, the Parachutist Badge, and the Sharpshooter Badge to name a few.
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| Left to right: Maggie Peterson – Gold Star Spouses Government Relations, Gabriella Kubinyi – Gold Star Spouses Government Relations, Rep. Joe Courtney, Ms. Kathleen (Kat) Blamire Cardona – President of CT Gold Star Spouses |
As Kat passionately stated, there is much more that Congress can do to support Gold Star Spouses, especially by passing the Caring for Survivors Act which improves dependency and indemnity compensation, as well as new bills the spouses are proposing. Thank you to Kat, who is such a tireless, cheerful advocate for veterans, and her colleagues for coming to Washington to help other Gold Star Families who deserve our enduring honor and support.
Electric Boat To Move Into Old Macy's in Waterford
This is great news for Waterford. On Wednesday, Electric Boat announced that it is acquiring the old Macy’s at Crystal Mall for new office space and 700 jobs. Amid record hiring rates at the Groton shipyard, this news really underscores the pivotal role southeastern Connecticut plays in delivering on the Navy’s and Congress’ long-term commitment to growing our submarine fleet.
Remembering Mark Davis
This week, Connecticut lost a giant of political reporting. Mark Davis was a deeply respected, hardworking, and trusted reporter. He went above and beyond to invest himself in the issues and tell the story to the people of Connecticut. Mark will be greatly missed by our state. I’m sending my deepest condolences to the Davis family and Mark’s cheerful, talented colleague Joe Sferrazza.
Thanks for taking some time to read my update. If we can be of any assistance, don't hesitate to give my Norwich office a call at (860) 886-0139.
Sincerely,
Joe Courtney
Member of Congress
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