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Dear Friend,
It’s Joe Courtney. After a busy week here in eastern Connecticut, I’m here with an update on the local impacts of the partisan GOP budget bill and more from the week.
Amid High Food Costs, the Partisan GOP Budget Bill Cuts Food Assistance
Too many hardworking families and seniors are still struggling with the stubbornly high cost of food. Despite the crisis of affordability, President Trump just signed into law the biggest cut to nutrition assistance in American history – nearly to $200 billion in SNAP cuts according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Eastern Connecticut seniors, families, and some veterans are going to feel the brunt of these cuts. On Wednesday, I visited Access Community Action Agency in Willimantic, which assists people in need with SNAP enrollment. The staff described how SNAP cuts and USDA cuts to food banks will increase food insecurity for people in eastern Connecticut.
Access Agency also runs a food pantry with donated items. At the same time that President Trump and the GOP majority in Congress just cut food assistance funding, the USDA has clawed back Congressional appropriated funding for food banks. As a result, Access Agency and food banks across our state are seeing a reduction USDA surplus food coming in.
The surplus program has been in existence for decades. Beginning in February, the number of USDA food deliveries for the Connecticut Foodshare network has been drastically reduced. These cuts also impact our farmers, who used the USDA programs to sell fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste.
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| Receiving a briefing from Access Agency Director Emma King and her SNAP and fuel assistance caseworkers who provide assistance to needy families in Windham County. |
President Trump promised to bring down the cost of groceries, which unfortunately are not coming down. One thing is clear – cutting food assistance will not fix the problem of high costs. In fact, it will do the opposite.
Joining the Pinning Ceremony for Chief Anthony Saccone
Today, I had the honor of joining the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation for the pinning ceremony of Chief Anthony Saccone of Gales Ferry, CT. This solemn ceremony was presided over by Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Chairman Rodney Butler at their fire safety complex.
Before retiring last year, Chief Saccone served as Gales Ferry Firehouse Chief for 16 years. For over a decade, we worked together to secure Public Safety Officers Benefits for our nation’s fire police. Our work began in 2011, and in 2021, our bill, the Protecting America’s First Responders Act, was finally signed into law. Southeastern Connecticut is lucky to have Chief Saccone continuing to serve our community.
Clean Energy Cuts Will Hurt Energy Production, Threaten Millions of Jobs
We need to be using every available tool to lower energy costs. In recent years, wind and solar generation are the fastest growing addition to America's energy supply.
Unfortunately, President Trump and the GOP’s partisan budget bill eliminates clean energy tax credits for wind and solar energy projects, which has stimulated both small scale rooftop units and large scale commercial production for farmers and small businesses. According to the North America's Building Trades Unions, 1.75 million clean energy construction jobs nationwide will be eliminated as a result of the new law, and household energy costs for Connecticut residents will rise.
Yesterday, I visited Earthlight Technologies in Ellington, an outstanding solar and battery installation business which has done outstanding work for Connecticut businesses and households. As they described, the new law is a setback for the clean energy sector at a time when, as a nation, we need to use an "all of the above" approach to lower costs for electricity customers big and small.
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| Touring the Earthlight production facility in Ellington with CEO Sam Schneider (left) and Founder Tim Schneider (right). |
Combating Forever Chemicals
PFAS forever chemicals are a serious health risk to our communities. We know that PFAS contamination can lead to cancers, liver damage, and harm to the nervous and reproductive systems, but for too long, pollution has gone unaddressed.
I’m working in Congress to hold polluters accountable and invest in research, restriction, and remediation of PFAS. On Wednesday, I visited longtime Preston farmer and Selectman Jerry Grabarek, who has discovered that his blood contains high levels of PFAS. He is concerned that emissions from an an incinerator could be the source of PFAS pollution, and is now fighting for action to address this serious issue.
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| Preston Selectman Jerry Grabarek at his family-owned Preston Farms. |
In Congress, I’m a member of the PFAS Task Force, which is pushing for legislation to address forever chemical pollution. I’m also working with our towns to support testing of PFAS in drinking water. Earlier this year, I met with EPA Regional Administration Mark Sanborn to express the serious threat that PFAS poses to our towns.
This week, the PFAS Task Force and I called out the EPA for repealing four of the six health standards and delaying implementation of the remaining two standards that it identified in a new drinking water rule last year. The EPA has known that PFAS seriously endangers human health for decades. A comprehensive federal response to forever chemical pollution is long overdue.
ICYMI: Local Hospitals Sound the Alarm on Medicaid Cuts Which Are Now Law
In case you missed it in last week’s newsletter, I visited Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford to meet with Chief Medical Officer Dr. Asha Dhamija and discuss the devastating impact that Medicaid cuts in President Trump’s and the GOP’s partisan budget bill will have on Connecticut hospitals. The message from Dr. Dhamija was clear: the largest health care cut in U.S. history will leave hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents newly uninsured, putting strain on hospital emergency rooms, and leading to service cuts for everyone and potential hospital closures.
Despite warnings from hospitals across the country, President Trump and GOP still jammed through nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in order to pay in part for a tax cut for a ultra-wealthy. To add to pain, their bill adds so much to the deficit that it would also trigger $500 billion in cuts to Medicare under the “Pay As You Go” law, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Shameful.
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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