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Dear Friend,
Happy New Year! 2022 has been a productive year for me and my team on behalf of eastern Connecticut. From helping constituents settle nearly 1000 issues with federal agencies, to working side-by-side with our towns to kick-start important projects, to securing new support for our manufacturing workforce and for the U.S. Navy, it’s been an honor to serve the Second District. As the year closes, I’m here with a rundown of just some of our biggest wins for CT-02 in 2022.
Have a happy and safe weekend, and a great start to 2023.
A Year’s Worth of Work for Eastern CT
My Norwich and Enfield offices work with people in our region every day to help with issues regarding federal agencies—from VA services, to Social Security, to federal grants, and lots more. Some of our most important cases involve returning money owed by the federal government to constituents here in eastern CT. This year, my team recovered over $53 million for people in CT-02. That alone represents more than 960 total successful cases for local individuals and small businesses, and we’re ready to keep the work going.
If you need help working with a federal agency, give us a call or visit my website.
- Norwich office: (860) 886-0139
- Enfield office: (860) 741-6011
Kick-Starting Important New Community Projects
When Congress passed the 2022 budget back in March, it was the first time that “Community Project Funding” was included—opportunities for funding directed straight to communities across the U.S., targeted at completing important local projects. I worked side-by-side with our towns and community partners to secure federal funding for 10 Community Projects in 2022 — part of $29 million in total Community Project Funding that we brought home for eastern CT in the 2022 budget. These 10 projects included new career training opportunities for students at Groton Public Schools, expanded services at Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, renovations at the historic Town Hall building in Scotland, and lots more. For a full list of my 2022 Community Projects, click here, and click here to check out the 2022 Community Projects Map.
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| Click here to watch Rep. Courtney explain his 2022 Community Projects |
One of my 2022 Community Projects was $2.5 million for site preparation at the future Enfield Train Station. We secured that funding in March, and just a few months later I was excited to announce that more than a decade of work, full funding had finally been awarded for construction of the new station. Enfield and surrounding communities have been without a train station for more than 35 years, but now that’s about to change. The Enfield Train Station will be a new stop of the successful CTrail Hartford Line, and will be located in the Thompsonville section of Enfield—at nearly the same site as the popular old station. The return of rail service is long overdue, and my team and I worked alongside the Town of Enfield, Governor Lamont, CTDOT, and local leaders like State Rep. Tom Arnone for over 10 years to make this transformative project a reality. With federal funding now in place, construction is projected to begin in 2024. Click here for more specifics about the project.
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| Click here to watch Rep. Courtney provide a breakdown of the Enfield Train Station project |
These 10 projects were part of the 2022 budget, and we’ve already seen them begin to have a positive impact here in our region. My team and I kept the work going strong for next year, and just last week Congress voted to pass the 2023 budget—this time, it includes my funding requests for 15 new Community Projects in eastern Connecticut. We worked in tandem with community leaders once again this year to request funding for efforts that would be most impactful for our towns, and I’m looking forward to checking in on these projects in 2023.
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| Click here to learn more about Rep. Courtney's 2023 Community Projects |
New Support for Eastern CT Veterans
Supporting the men and women who wore our nation’s uniform has always been one of my top priorities as eastern Connecticut’s representative in Congress. We’ve got more veterans in eastern Connecticut than any other part of the state, I meet with them regularly at Veterans Coffeehouses and other events in every corner of our region, and this year there were two big wins that really stuck out for our veterans: passage of the Honoring Our PACT Act, and the long-awaited opening of the new Veterans Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in New London.
The House passed the PACT Act on a bipartisan basis, it was signed into law in August, and it’s making sure millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during service can finally get treatment for illnesses they developed later in life. Since the bill was signed into law, more than 185,000 Veterans have applied for PACT Act-related benefits, and more than 730,000 have received toxic exposure screenings made possible by the law, with nearly 39% reporting a concern of exposure. There’s still more work to do to make sure that every Veteran, their families, and their caregivers are aware of these new reforms, and if you have any questions, please feel free to call my Norwich Office, and to ask for my Veterans Casework Representative Manny Meneses (USN Ret.).
We’ve talked a lot over the past few years about the effort to create a new, larger VA clinic to serve our veteran community. Now it’s officially here—in April, we celebrated the opening of the VA’s new John J. McGuirk New London CBOC. It took years to get this over the finish line. We went through multiple rounds of surveys and site visits with the VA to prove we needed the investment, and in 2020 we finally announced the lease award for the new CBOC. I checked-in on construction regularly after that with our Veterans’ Caseworker Manny Meneses (USN Ret.) and CT VA Director Al Montoya to make sure things stayed on track during the pandemic, the team did a great job, and now the brand-new New London CBOC is officially open. It’s 3x the size of the old one, with more staff, more services, shorter wait times, and top-flight facilities. This was a great win for our local veterans.
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| The effort to secure top-flight care for eastern CT vets dates to the mid-90s, when vets like John McGuirk, a WWII Navy Hardhat Diver, helped establish the first clinic at the Coast Guard Academy. |
Federal Grants Fueling Local Priorities
My office in Norwich closely tracks federal grant opportunities for important work in eastern Connecticut—for our schools and small businesses, for workforce development efforts, to support our first responders, and lots more. In 2022, the Second District earned over 950 grants and subgrants, totaling nearly $2 billion in federal funding. My team and I work closely with many people and groups who are applying for federal support to make their projects a reality, and in Congress I help advocate for their projects and work to keep important grant programs fully funded. Take a look at just a few highlights from the federal grant funding that came into the Second District this year:
These federal grants are often highly competitive, and the process of applying for them is hard work. Some of the grants awarded in 2022 came after years of persistence and re-applications. My team and I are here to work with eastern Connecticut applicants every step of the way, and you can learn more about federal grant opportunities available to groups in eastern Connecticut here.
Support for First Responders
Our first responders do heroic and often dangerous work to keep us safe. One of my top priorities in Congress is making sure they have the support needed to do their jobs safely and effectively. In 2022, we secured some big wins for eastern Connecticut firefighters, police officers, and other first responders—check out a few highlights below:
Assistance to Firefighters and Port Security grants are really invaluable – both for the safety of our communities, and for those who protect us. With these resources, fire stations in eastern Connecticut are making much-needed upgrades to their equipment, like new uniforms, air packs, and hydraulic rescue equipment. On the heels of newly enhanced benefits for firefighters and police officers through the Protecting America’s First Responders Act—which was signed into law last year, and includes my bipartisan Fire Police Fairness Act—these AFG awards represent another important source of federal support for our firefighters. Thank you to the stations who welcomed me for visits in 2022 and updated me on how they’ll use these grants!
We’ve also taken more steps this year to keep expanding benefits for first responders and their families. For example, the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act ensures – for the first time – that federal firefighters will receive care for cancer-related illnesses they contracted through toxic-exposure while serving our communities. At SUBASE New London, we host lots of federal firefighters who risk their lives to protect people in eastern Connecticut. With this initial list of presumed ‘work-related’ conditions, these firefighters and others across the country will now have a clear path to receiving the care they deserve.
The Infrastructure Law Gets Off the Ground
Just over a year ago, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law. In 2022, it helped kick off, continue, and complete work in projects across the Second District. As we close the year, the IIJA is supporting over 90 projects to the tune of over $800 million in federal funding. Thanks to this once-in-a-generation infrastructure investment, our towns have been able to take on these projects at no cost to their budgets. Take a look at some of the largest projects in eastern Connecticut.
IIJA funding will be providing a boost to Connecticut for the next four years, and I’ve been checking in with officials in towns throughout eastern CT to help make sure it’s being delivered efficiently and that local priorities are being met. I’m happy to say that we’ve gotten off to a strong start, and I’m excited to continue helping our communities get the job done.
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| In August, Rep. Courtney hosted U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh (left) for a visit to the Gold Star Bridge in New London, where the IIJA is funding repairs to the northbound span. |
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| From upgrades to our 3 regional airports, to the completion of dredging in the Patchogue River, to the construction of a new port in New London, repairs to the Leonard Road Bridge in Stafford, and lots of other smaller projects, the IIJA is fueling work throughout CT-02 |
Legislative Highlights for Eastern Connecticut
2022 saw lots of other important work get done for eastern Connecticut—from important investments in workforce development programs, efforts to lower energy and health care costs, support for our U.S. Navy, and lots more. Here are just a few other highlights from a highly productive year:
This is our last newsletter of 2022, and of the 117th Congress. It’s an honor to serve you in Washington, and I am grateful for the chance to do so again in 2023 and in the 118th Congress. Bipartisanship has always been my approach, it’s helped us get some important work done for eastern Connecticut, and I’ll continued working across the aisle to get our region’s priorities across the finish line.
Wishing you a Happy New Year,
Joe Courtney
Member of Congress
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