The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced a proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation to establish legally enforceable levels for six PFAS substances known to occur in drinking water.  Specifically, EPA is proposing an enforceable Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for PFOS and PFOA, at 4 parts per trillion (ppt).  The proposed rule would also regulate GenX chemicals to determine if the combined levels of all these PFAS pose a potential risk to human health.

Once the proposed EPA rule becomes final, public water systems will have three years to comply with the regulation.  

If you have public water, contact your water provider to find out whether they have sampled for PFAS and what steps they are taking to address PFAS.  If you are concerned about the level of PFAS in your drinking water, whether you are on a private well or public water system, you may consider adding filtration to reduce the amount of PFAS you consume.  The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has developed a list of filtration options, from whole house or under sink systems to pitcher of fridge filters with information on their effectiveness: NC DHHS Filtration Options and Sampling Factsheet.

To help our rural communities address the dangers of PFAS, I am introducing legislation I previously introduced in the 118th Congress, The Healthy H2O Act.  This bill would help nonprofits and those with well water to identify health-based contaminants in drinking water and would create a grant program to help offset the costs of purchasing and installing effective water filtration systems.  We need a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to combat and understand the risks of PFAS, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to ensure families in North Carolina have access to safe drinking water.

Every year, the President submits a comprehensive budget request to Congress that outlines the Administration’s policy and funding priorities as well as the economic outlook for the coming fiscal year.

This past week, Joe Biden submitted his Fiscal Year 2024 budget to Congress, which unfortunately doubles down on the same reckless spending and failed economic policies that led to historic inflation and our current debt crisis.  His budget request is out of touch with the needs of North Carolina families and job creators.  The proposal includes $82 trillion of total spending over the next ten years while also raising taxes on individuals, families, and small businesses. — all of which would result in even higher prices, lower wages, and fewer jobs.

For two years, the Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress went on a $10 trillion spending spree (an additional $5 trillion each of the past two years) above and beyond what Congress typically spends, paying no regard to the debts pushed onto future generations.  The new budget includes more of the same unsustainable levels of spending.

I’ve always said it’s not what you make that gets you in trouble, it’s what you spend.  Washington’s out-of-control spending must end.  If families across North Carolina are required to pay their debts and live within their means, then the federal government should do the same.

Now that the President has submitted his budget, a month late I might add, House and Senate Committees will hold hearings on the President’s budget and the Budget Committees will report their own budgets which sets each committee’s allocation of spending authority for the next fiscal year as well as the aggregate spending and revenue targets for at least the next 5 years for each committee.

The budget resolution also establishes aggregate totals for revenues and spending for the entire federal budget.  This resolution, once adopted, is not law, as it is not signed by the President.  But, it establishes the framework to consider spending and revenue bills in the House and Senate chambers by a simple majority vote in each body.  (Absent a Budget Resolution, the filibuster in the Senate would be in play for tax and mandatory spending measures, which requires a super majority vote to end debate.  Appropriations measures are still subject to the filibuster, however, even with a Budget Resolution.)

"The price of greatness is responsibility." — Winston Churchill