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Dear John,
In This E-Newsletter You Will Find:
Recent Events Prioritizing Public Safety - Coronavirus Virtual Town Hall
I recently hosted my 25th town hall. We focused on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and what we're doing at the federal, state, and local levels to address it. To help provide the most accurate information, I was joined by Dr. Benjamin Abella, Attending Physician and Vice Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Penn Medicine, and Jeanne E. Casner, the County Health Director at the Chester County Health Department. Not able to participate? Listen to the full audio recording here. What We're Working On
Introducing Legislation to Help Over 15,000 Small Businesses in PA-06
I worked with Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) to introduce the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Small Business Forgiveness Act to expedite forgiveness for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $150,000 or less. This legislation would streamline the process for small business owners to certify compliance with PPP requirements and expedite the loan forgiveness process for about 86% of PPP borrowers. In order to successfully rebuild our economy, Congress and the Administration need to be doing everything we can to help our small businesses weather the COVID-19 crisis. In our office, we have worked alongside our small business community to help secure loans, increase access to capital for minority- and women-owned businesses, and improve transparency into the Paycheck Protection Program. I'm proud to partner with Representative Upton to help the more than 15,000 small businesses in my community who have received loans of $150,000 or less to quickly and effectively navigate the forgiveness process. I will continue to reach across the aisle to support our small businesses in our community, Commonwealth and country during these uncertain times. Ensuring Access to Affordable Child Care
Last week, I helped pass two bipartisan child care bills through the House of Representatives: the Child Care Is Essential Act and the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act.
Without sufficient support from the federal government, Pennsylvania stands to lose nearly 200,000 licensed child care slots, approximately 50% of the child care supply in the Commonwealth. Securing Funds to Combat Spotted Lanternflies
The spotted lanternfly has the potential to damage Pennsylvania's economy, specifically our agricultural community, by $18 billion. We need to protect our farmers by funding research into the eradication of this invasive insect. That's why I'm working with fellow PA Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson to secure $16 million in federal funding. To hear more about this effort, check out my interview here. Standing Up for Our Postal Service and Ensuring Access to Vote From Home
When our Constitution was written, it empowered Congress “to establish Post Offices and Post Roads.” Even then, we understood how critical this service is to a functioning democracy. Two months ago, the House of Representatives passed legislation to support the United States Postal Service. This isn't a partisan issue, and given we're three months away from a general election that will depend heavily on our post offices, it's time we come together and support our postal workers. Joining With Community Leaders to Push for a Complete Census Count
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I hosted a conversation with Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, U.S. Representative (NY-12) & Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Luis Tovar, President of Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs in Kennett Square, Dr. Julie Dietrich, Director of External Affairs for West Chester University, and Michael Toledo, CEO of Centro Hispano of Reading and Berks County, to talk about the importance of the 2020 Census. Every ten years, our nation counts every person in our country. From that complete count, funding from the federal government is determined. This is why it matters: missing just one person could reduce health care funding annually by $1,746, education funding by $774 and job training by $128. And again, that's if we miss just ONE person!
These numbers are extremely alarming. Getting a complete count of everyone in our community is crucial to getting the resources and representation available to ensure our neighborhoods will be able to serve our needs. To be counted is to be heard--fill out your census today.
Working Across the Aisle to Promote Service
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Service to others is more critical now than ever before. That's why I teamed up with my fellow leaders of the bipartisan For Country Caucus, Reps. Don Bacon (NB-2), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), and Michael Waltz (FL-6), to write an op-ed in Time.
Our proposal, the Inspire to Serve Act, nurtures the spirit of American service and builds the future through national service programs. The Inspire to Serve Act would expand and encourage service opportunities in established programs like AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.
Our bill would also expand service opportunities in the current National Service Fellowship Program from 25,000 to 250,000 and double the size of the Youthbuild and Youth Conservation Corps, two youth employment programs which engage tens of thousands of young people in meaningful work experiences on national parks, forests and wildlife refuges. This legislation would also create a Civic Education Fund to prioritize civics education so children can learn the value of service, how to be good citizens and how to engage effectively with their communities from an early age.
By encouraging national service, we believe we can help our nation better recover. The expansion of service opportunities will lead to a rebuilding, regrowth, and reconnection of Americans yearning to band together once more to foster a more perfect union.
Since taking office, we've focused heavily on serving our community through constituent services. Hopefully, you have a clear idea of the many ways we can help you! Here is yet another example from Frances in Reading who recently rated our constituent services as "Excellent" and is "Extremely likely" to refer someone who needs help to our office.
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If you are having an issue with a Federal Agency, fill out our form and our team will contact you! We also invite you to read more success stories here.
Our website is always a resource for you and your family. Whether you are looking for ways to help others, the latest on COVID-19 public safety guidance, or ideas to keep your children engaged in academics, you'll find what you're looking for at houlahan.house.gov. Or, if you'd rather talk with our staff, give us a call at (202) 225-4315.
Recently, we've archived all of our e-newsletters on our website. To view all of our updates, click here.
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We want to hear from you. Please stay in touch and let us know what you thought of this e-newsletter. You can call one of our offices or fill out our contact form. As always, please subscribe to this e-newsletter to keep up with what is happening regarding coronavirus, our many events, and the work we're doing for Pennsylvanians. Feel free to pass this link along to friends of our community as well so they can keep in touch too. We're all in this together.
Respectfully,
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