Dear friend,

While Congress has not been in session, I have been working in the District to hear from constituents, meet with advocacy groups, and find a bipartisan path forward on the ACA COVID-era subsidies and end this gridlock.

Last Tuesday, we hosted a tele-town hall with almost 7,300 participants, and we answered 23 questions during that time – 15 live and eight submitted online. We covered a variety of topics: the ACA – how premiums are going up for constituents, the need for immigration reform, funding for Israel and Ukraine, how can the government collect taxes while it’s shut down, loss of trust in the government, interest rates for housing, Epstein files, Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, and many others. You can listen to the entire broadcast here.

The most mentioned topic was the ACA COVID-era subsidies. I, along with many Republicans, don’t want to see premiums increase for Americans. At the same time, people making $600,000 a year are receiving a subsidy, and sometimes those subsidies go to the company rather than the individual.

That’s why I, along with Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY-03), Jeff Hurd (R-CO-03) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), released a statement of principles for lowering health care costs and temporarily extending and reforming the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits (APTCs). The principles focus on a temporary extension with reasonable income caps and reform.  

You can read about it here and watch my conversation with Jake Tapper on CNN here, discussing our ideas.

We also held two polls during the town hall:

Additionally, in a recent newsletter we asked:

Do you support immediately reopening the government to pay federal workers, including our service members and air traffic controllers, and fund programs like SNAP?

YES 58%

NO 42%

*Please note that these polls are not scientific in nature.

During this shutdown, I have been meeting with advocacy groups to find out how they are helping the community and what they need to continue to support those living in the 2nd District of Nebraska.

Last week, I met with area food banks, 211s, non-profits, credit unions, financial institutions, utilities and others to hear from them and help share their story.

As I’ve mentioned before, our DC and District offices are open to serve the constituents of the 2nd District. While we may not be able to reach out to agencies for assistance during this shutdown, we can certainly start paperwork for any issues you may have.

Let’s have another poll!

Thanks, and as always, it is a pleasure to serve the 2nd District of Nebraska. We have updated our website with information on what is open or closed. You can access that information here. You can keep up to date with me on a weekly basis via my X, Instagram, and Facebook accounts! Have a concern or question? Visit our website at https://bacon.house.gov/contact/.

Sincerely,

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