Dear Friend, 

After a busy week in Congress, I’m here with an update on securing benefits for our servicemembers, a shipbuilding program to bolster our maritime workforce, and more. As always, thanks for starting your weekend here with me. 

Working to Secure Loan Forgiveness Benefits for Our Servicemembers 

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was established to reward Americans who enter important public service careers, and no one fits that description more than our servicemembers. We found out under former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that the program wasn’t helping nearly as many Americans as it should have, but that changed last year when the Biden Administration announced an overhaul of PSLF that included special provisions for servicemembers. Those provisions were meant to allow them to count months spent on active-duty towards PSLF even if their loans weren’t in active repayment, and to automatically give them credit towards PSLF using federal data matches between the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Education (ED). The overhaul has had a lot of success, but it was projected to make 22,000 servicemembers eligible for PSLF without need for further action – now, a year later, data obtained by my office shows that no servicemembers have yet been made automatically eligible through data matches. This week, I sent letters to the DOD and ED asking what steps they’re taking to speed things up, and to ensure our servicemembers are made eligible for loan forgiveness.

Click here to read Rep. Courtney's letters to the Department of Defense and the Department of Education, pressing for updates on PSLF Benefits for America's Servicemembers

No one has earned these sorts of benefits more than our uniformed servicemembers, but for years they were denied access to the PSLF program at an unacceptable rate. The most common reason was that they hadn’t met the required period of consecutive loan repayments for PSLF (active-duty service and overseas deployments have a way of disrupting those), and the second most-common was simply due to incomplete applications. My team and I have been working for fix this issue from every angle—in fact, the servicemember-specific provisions included in the 2021 PSLF overhaul came from my bipartisan bill, the Recognizing Military Service in PSLF Act, and they should help solve these two primary issues. However, in order for these benefits to truly reach all eligible servicemembers, we need a fully up-and-running data matching system between DOD and ED. The Department of Education has done a good job of helping these benefits reach other public servants in Connecticut, and I’m going to keep pressing forward so that America’s servicemembers can finally receive the loan forgiveness they’ve earned through PSLF.

For more questions on the PSLF program, don’t hesitate to give my office a call.

Visiting an Out-of-State Shipyard for an Update on Shipbuilding and Our Maritime Workforce 

This week, I joined my colleagues in the House on a visit to the Philadelphia Shipyard. We received an update from Navy officials and shipbuilders on the National Security Multi- Mission Vessel (NSMV) program and other activity taking place at the shipyard. The Philly Shipyard is taking on construction of five new NSMVs. The program’s purpose is to recapitalize our domestic sealift and maritime response capabilities. It also provides more resources to the pipeline needed to train new Merchant Mariners to crew commercial and government-owned sealift ships during times of crises. Work in Congress on the NSMV program began in 2016 when former UConn Avery Point Director Mike Alfutis came to my office and sounded the alarm about a looming shortage of qualified officers and mariners needed to crew sealift ships. As the Ranking Member on the House Seapower Subcommittee, I worked with my colleagues to provide the first-ever authorization for the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) for construction of new NSMVs – which would serve as purpose-built training platforms for MARAD and replace the academies’ aging fleet. This was an opportunity not just to bolster our maritime workforce but to revitalize our domestic shipbuilding. As Chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee, I worked in bipartisan fashion to maintain full funding for design and construction of new NSMVs, and in 2021, the first vessel began construction at the Philly shipyard.

On Tuesday, Rep. Courtney joined Rep. Mary Scanlon, Rep. Donald Norcross, Navy officials, and shipbuilders at the Philadelphia Shipyard for an update on the National Security Multi- Mission Vessel program and other shipbuilding activities

At a time when we face new challenges in the maritime domain to our economy and our national security, it’s critical that we maintain a strong maritime workforce to overcome potential logistics challenges in the delivery of equipment to our servicemembers. The NSMV program helps ensure that we have the new training vessels, workforce, and shipbuilding capabilities we need. In Philadelphia, the first NSMV is currently in wet berth before it enters service. On the Seapower Subcommittee, we’ve authorized the funding for construction of four more.   

The first of five National Security Multi- Missions Vessels scheduled to be constructed at the Philadelphia Shipyard is currently in water berth before it enters service

Make no mistake, maintaining the maritime capabilities we need to deter threats starts upstream with our shipbuilding industrial base. We need to ensure it can take on higher production levels. In my dual roles as Chair of the Seapower Subcommittee and a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee, my team and I have been laser-focused on re-investing in federally funded Registered Apprenticeship and skills-training programs. Registered Apprenticeships have always proven successful going all the way back to WWII, and they’re becoming more and more popular in Connecticut. I wrote more about the need to expand these skills training programs in my op-ed: It’s the Defense Industrial Base, Stupid. 

Click here to read Rep. Courtney's op-ed: It's the Defense Industrial Base, Stupid

Catching Up with Small Business Owners on Madison’s Main Street 

Madison has a classic main street lined with quality goods and services. It’s a thriving small business community, and last week, I joined SBA Connecticut to catch up with a few entrepreneurs in town and hear how federal PPP loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) helped them bounce back from the pandemic. We met at the great Madison Art Cinema and then walked down main street to make stops at other businesses.

Last week, Rep. Courtney joined SBA Connecticut on a small business tour along Madison's main street

In the darkest days of the pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program and EIDL program helped so many great small businesses in eastern Connecticut survive. In Congress, we passed this federal support at the start of the pandemic, and as our recovery continued, we re-upped funding to these programs in the American Rescue Plan. In every corner of the Second District, these loans gave small businesses a platform to bounce back. In the 118th Congress, I’ll continue working to get eastern CT small businesses the support they need. Local shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues like the ones I visited in Madison are a huge part of what makes our communities so great to live in—while you’re out shopping this holiday season, make sure to buy local! 

An Update on Home Heating Assistance 

Some good news out of Hartford this week in terms of helping people lower home energy costs: using federal funding from the American Rescue Plan, Connecticut has allocated $30 million more for our state’s home energy assistance program (known as “CEAP”). CT's gas tax holiday has also been extended, along with free bus ridership through the spring. With these resources, more seniors and families will have access to the direct support they need to lower costs and keep their homes heated during the winter months. 

In addition, I led the effort in Congress this fall to have more funding added to the federal LIHEAP program, which fuels programs like CEAP nationwide. That paid off, and our state received $86 million in new funding for the CEAP program just a few weeks ago—that’s on top of this Rescue Plan funding. My office is in constant contact with both Community Action Agencies and with fuel vendors in eastern CT to track the swift implementation of this critical support, and we’re going to keep at it.  

You can apply for home heating and energy assistance now through the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program (CEAP). For more information on how to apply for home energy assistance, click here.

Thank you for taking the time to read my update. If we can be of any assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to my Norwich office at (860) 886-0139. Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Joe Courtney
Member of Congress

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