Delivering for Connecticut’s First District
Legislation that Delivers for the American Public
Rep. Larson is fighting every day in Congress to deliver for the First District and to improve the lives of the American people – whether it’s lowering costs by capping drug prices, securing federal funding for the District, standing up to harmful policies of the Trump Administration, or being Congress’s leading voice on Social Security.
Here’s an overview of some of Rep. Larson’s key achievements and initiatives:
Protecting and Enhancing Social Security
Representative Larson is a tireless champion for Social Security. He serves as Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, where he fights to protect and enhance the earned benefits that each and every worker pays for in their paychecks. He has been the leading voice in calling to expand Social Security benefits for all Seniors, introducing legislation to do so with hundreds of Democratic cosponsors. Rep. Larson is now working with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to introduce legislation that will unite Americans around improving benefits, not slashing them.
While Democrats fight to protect and enhance Social Security, President Trump, Elon Musk, and Congressional Republicans have put the Social Security Administration squarely in their sights. Congressman Larson has led the fight against to push back against the Administration’s attacks on Americans’ hard-earned benefits. He introduced the Keeping Our Field Offices Open Act to stop field office closures and the Protecting Americans’ Social Security Data Act to bar political appointees and special government employees like Elon Musk and his ‘DOGE’ from accessing Americans’ sensitive data. He worked with Reps. Dwight Evans (PA-03), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), and Lois Frankel (FL-22) to introduce the Claws Off Social Security Act to cap the amount the Administration can withhold to recover accidental no-fault overpayments at 10%. He also introduced a Resolution of Inquiry to compel the Trump Administration to provide Congress with information on ‘DOGE’ activities and plans at the Social Security Administration, and called out Republicans who failed to bring in Elon Musk to get answers. He led more than 150 of his colleagues in demanding a halt to the Administration’s plans to gut Social Security.
Rep. Larson also led the fight to oppose Republican efforts to include an undemocratic and unaccountable commission with the power to fast-track cuts to Medicare and Social Security in must-pass legislation. More than 100 organizations have come out against this proposal because of the threat it poses to the programs working Americans rely on. Rep. Larson’s work helped ensure that Republicans could not enact backdoor cuts to the nation’s largest anti-poverty program for children and the elderly.
Securing Federal Funding
For 27 years, Congressman Larson has consistently delivered vital federal funding to the First Congressional District, securing nearly $4 billion and ensuring that cities, towns, and nonprofits have the support needed to serve our constituents. Whether it’s securing a multimillion-dollar earmark to reconstruct the North End’s storm water drainage system, helping a fire department win funding to buy new protective gear, or working with the state to deliver funding to create a new train station in Windsor Locks, Rep. Larson has used his seat in Congress to invest in Central Connecticut. More information on funding Rep. Larson has secured for Connecticut and CT-01 can be found here.
Inflation Reduction Act
Health Care
The Inflation Reduction Act is landmark legislation to lower costs for families and seniors while dramatically lowering the federal deficit.
Medicare Drug Negotiation – For the first time ever, Medicare will be empowered and required to negotiate drug prices. In August of 2023, the first ten drugs were selected for negotiation. As many as 123,000 Connecticut residents enrolled in part D used one of the drugs selected for negotiation, with an out-of-pocket average cost as high as $4,659 a year.
More Affordable Health Insurance – Extends the enhanced Affordable Care Act Marketplace subsidies included in the American Rescue Plan through 2025, supporting 65,000 Connecticut residents and saving an average of $220 per month.
Penalizes Prescription Drug Cost Hikes – Requires that drug manufactures pay a rebate to the government if their costs to Medicare recipients rise above inflation, limiting price increases for on the public and private market.
Eliminates Medicare Part D Catastrophic Threshold – Eliminated a requirement that seniors with Catastrophic coverage under Medicare Part D must pay 5% coinsurance after paying $7,050 Out of Pocket, benefiting an estimate 16,000 Connecticut seniors.
Eliminates Cost Sharing for Vaccines under Medicare Part D – Eliminated Medicare Part D cost sharing under Medicare Part D. The average vaccine out-of-pocket cost was $47 and could be as high as $100.
Caps Senior Insulin Costs – Medicare recipients have had their insulin costs capped at $35 per month, a 35% average saving for Part D Beneficiaries. Since passing the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest producers of insulin have dramatically lowered costs for insulin on the private market.
Caps Senior Drug Costs – Adds a $2,000 cap on Medicare Part D spending. Nearly 20,000 Connecticut beneficiaries spend over this amount annually.
Environment
The Inflation Reduction Act invests $370 billion in combatting climate change, the largest investment in our nation’s history. With this funding, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by the end of this decade.
Extends and Creates Critical Tax Incentives to Increase Deployment of Clean Energy: Critical tax credits for established and emerging clean energy technologies will lead to greater deployment and lower emissions while driving down energy costs and creating jobs. The legislation includes Rep. Larson’s legislation to support Clean Hydrogen Production, a critical industry for our environment and Connecticut’s manufacturing economy. Thanks to the IRA, $24.5 million has already been invested in Connecticut hydrogen manufacturing - creating jobs for the future of our state.
Overturns Supreme Court Decision Gutting the EPA: Includes language responding to a Supreme Court decision that the EPA did not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gasses without Congress’s explicit consent. This bill does just that, giving the EPA the authority to take necessary actions to address climate emissions.
Creates Energy Savings for Consumers: Provides billions of dollars in rebates and tax credits for consumers to take action to lower their energy costs, including for energy efficient appliances, rooftop solar and other residential power generation, and new and used electric vehicles.
Invests in Cleaner Communities – Including:
$1 billion to make affordable housing more energy efficient,
$3 billion to reconnect divided communities, like Hartford’s 84/91 Interchange,
$3 billion for Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants to invest in projects that address environmental and public health harms,
$1 billion for clean heavy-duty vehicles, like school and transit buses and garbage trucks.
The Coalition for Green Capital, which includes the Connecticut Greenbank, was the recipient of a $5 billion grant to foster public-private construction of green infrastructure, projects that will be funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
The City of Hartford won a $6 million Urban and Community Forestry Grant award, providing federal dollars to plant trees and increase our canopy coverage throughout our capital city.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection won a $1 million Environmental Justice grant from the EPA, crucial funding that will be used by North End civic associations to conduct outreach to flood-stricken homes.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also scored a $62.5 million Solar for All grant, funding that will assist low income communities access cost-saving solar energy.
Connecticut’s Defense Manufacturing Economy
Connecticut is a hub of manufacturing and aerospace. This industry drives our economy, supports good paying jobs, delivers groundbreaking innovation. The F135 supports more than 23,000 jobs across Connecticut and generates half a billion dollars in economic activity for the state. Rep. Larson has been a stalwart champion of the F135 for years, helping to win the first fight to secure the Pratt & Whitney F135 as the sole source of propulsion for the F-35 in 2011 and again a decade later to protect and modernize the F135.
A decade after the original engine fight ended, a new effort to replace the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine arose. Congressman Larson led the fight against those efforts to replace the F135 with a new Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) engine. His work helped convince the Biden Administration and Congress to cut wasteful AETP funding from the budget and invest in an F135 modernization program known as the Engine Core Upgrade (ECU). Modernizing Pratt & Whitney’s F135 will give our servicemembers the defense capabilities they need as soon as possible, save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars compared to an alternative engine, and protect Connecticut jobs.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is the largest investment in infrastructure in our nation’s history. Connecticut is guaranteed $6 billion and has the opportunity to compete for even more funding.
Roads and Bridges – Connecticut is expected to receive $4.1 billion for highways and bridges over the next five years, funding needed to address the state’s 248 bridges and 2,154 miles of highway in poor condition.
Internet Access – At least $100 million will come to Connecticut to increase broadband coverage. Additionally, the bill creates a new Affordable Connectivity Program which cuts internet bills by up to $30 a month for low-income households. Already, over 166,000 families are enrolled in the program.
Safe Drinking Water – Thanks to this bill, Connecticut has received over $75 million for water infrastructure including lead pipe replacement.
Electric Vehicle Charging – In order to build out a national network of electric vehicle chargers, $7.5 billion will be invested nationwide. Connecticut will receive $8 million this year alone.
Public Transit – As part of the largest investment in public transit in our nation’s history, Connecticut will receive over $1.3 billion over five years to improve our transportation network.
Airports – Connecticut will receive a guaranteed $62 million towards the state’s air infrastructure. Additionally, Bradley Airport has been awarded an additional $20 million in competitive funding to expand their terminal to reduce delays, increase accessibility, and improve energy efficiency and passenger experience.
Resiliency – The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes a historic investment to help our communities become more resilient against the impacts of climate change and cyber attacks. In 2022 alone, Connecticut was awarded $40 million for these activities.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is funding construction projects all over our district, including:
$17 million to assist with the construction of a new Amtrak commuter rail station in Windsor Locks
$2 million for roadway improvements to increase driver and pedestrian safety in East Hartford, at the intersection of Tolland Turnpike, Buckland Street, and Adams Street
$4.6 million to repair and strengthen the structural integrity of I-84 through downtown Hartford
$10.9 million to update and modernize roadway signage along I-384 through East Hartford and Manchester
American Rescue Plan
During the worst ravages of the pandemic, Congressman Larson helped author and pass the American Rescue Plan to put money in people’s pockets, vaccinations in arms, and kids back in school. This is the largest relief bill in our country’s history. Here are just some of the American Rescue Plan provisions that came right to Connecticut:
Stimulus Checks – Provided federal payments of $1,400 to individuals earning $75,000 or less to over one and a half million Connecticut residents.
Affordable Health Care – More than 33,000 households in Connecticut saved over $4.5 million through American Rescue Plan tax credits on the Access Health CT marketplace for health insurance. In the First Congressional District, there was an average annual savings of $1,174 per household.
Tax Cuts for Families – Expanded the Child Tax Credit, providing monthly payments up to $3,600 a child benefiting 77% of children in CT-01 and lifting 7,800 children out of poverty.
Rental Assistance – Created a new federal program paying up to $10,000 in rental assistance to help renters and landlords as well as $125 million to assist homeowners with their mortgages.
Unemployment Benefits – Extended federal unemployment benefit supplemental payments of $300 per week on top of standard state benefit levels to help those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and made self-employed and gig workers eligible for the first time.
Small Business Relief – Brought home to Connecticut federal funds to help small businesses and restaurants weather the pandemic in the amount of $10 billion in Paycheck Protection Program payments, more than $125 million in Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program grants, and $301 million in Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant payments.
Funding for Schools and Municipalities – In the First Congressional District alone, the Rescue Plan provided $567 million in federal funding directly to the towns to fund critical services such as fire and police and schools so children could return to school safely.
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun safety reform to become law in decades, is commonsense legislation Rep. Larson supported to protect America’s children, make schools safer, and reduce the threat of violence across America.
Gun Violence Prevention – Creates incentives for states to adopt red flag laws, closes the boyfriend loophole to keep guns out of the hands of convicted domestic violence abusers, increases penalties for straw purchasing to target gun traffickers, expands the scope of sellers that need to register as a firearms dealer to require more background checks, enhances background checks for people under the age of 21, and funds anti-violence community initiatives.
Mental Health – Supports expansion of community behavioral health centers, improves access to mental health resources for children covered by Medicaid and CHIP, increases access to telehealth mental health resources, and expands provider training in mental health, suicide prevention, and crisis and trauma intervention.
School Safety - Supports expansion of mental health and intervention programs in school, funds improvements in school-wide learning conditions and extracurricular activities, and provides funding for school safety programs.
After the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law, Rep. Larson sent a letter to the Biden Administration urging them to swiftly implement a provision in the bill expanding background checks. In April 2024, the Administration expanded the definition of those “engaged in the business” of dealing firearms, requiring more background checks for firearms transfers. This is a significant step toward closing the gun show loophole and enacting universal background checks for firearms transfers, keeping our communities safe from the gun violence epidemic.
While the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was a step in the right direction, more work must be done. Rep. Larson continues to advocate for passage of commonsense legislation, including Ethan’s Law, a bill introduced by Rep. DeLauro and named after Ethan Song, a 15-year-old from Guilford who died after accidentally shooting himself with an unsecured firearm. The bill would require firearms to be securely stored. Rep. Larson also supports bills to institute universal background checks and introduced a bill to ban use of instant financing to purchase assault weapons and the ghost gun kits used to build them.
CHIPS and Science Act
The CHIPS and Science Act is a bipartisan investment in American semiconductor components to end the chip shortage, lower costs for families, and create hundreds of thousands of union jobs.
Semiconductor Chips and Wireless Supply Chain – Provides $54.2 billion in incentives and assistance to build, expand, or modernize domestic facilities, workforce, and equipment for semiconductor fabrication, assembly, testing, packaging, research, and development. Also, it provides funds for development of wireless technology.
Research and Innovation – Provides the largest five-year investment in public R&D in US history, builds new technology hubs across the country, and combats illicit foreign theft of US research.
Connecticut has already received $1 million in funding from the CHIPS and Science Act. A collection of Connecticut stakeholders, led by the University of Connecticut and including Yale University, municipalities including Hartford, the state of Connecticut, workforce development agencies, and private sector partners, has been named one of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines. This award will help establish Connecticut as a leader in quantum technologies, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and finance.
PACT Act
The PACT Act delivers on President Biden’s commitment to ensure that toxic-exposed veterans will get the support they need from their government and that they have access to the benefits they have earned. Since the PACT Act became law, the VA has granted over 1.5 million claims, serving more than 1 million veterans and survivors nationwide, including over 10,000 claims for Connecticut veterans and their families.
Healthcare for post-9/11 Combat Veterans – Extends VA enrollment window from 5 to 10 years and creates a special one-year open enrollment period. 915 Connecticut Veterans have been able to enroll in VA health care because of the PACT Act Authority.
Support for Burn Pit and Toxic Chemical Exposure Conditions – Adds 23 specific conditions that will make veterans and their survivors automatically eligible for benefits, connecting service, exposure to toxic chemicals, and resulting illnesses, speeding up the process to receive the financial compensation and health care support they deserve.
Support for exposure to Agent Orange – beginning March 5th, 2024, the VA has expanded care to help veterans exposed to herbicides receive benefits, continuing the goal of ensuring all veterans receive the proper access to care they deserve.
Support for Survivors – Makes it possible for eligible survivors to gain benefits they may have been previously denied from, including monthly compensation, health care, and education benefits.
Improves the VA – Invests in resources to more effectively deliver for veterans, including workforce and infrastructure needs as well as improved training for toxic-exposure care.
Expanding the VA – Beginning March 5th, 2024, the VA expanded eligibility earlier than previously allowed through the PACT Act Authority. This expansion also includes Veterans who never deployed but took part in Toxic Exposure Risk Activity (TERA) during training both at home and abroad.
Butch Lewis Act
Due to factors beyond their control, many union members with multiemployer pension plans were at risk of losing their retirement benefits due to their plans going insolvent. The Butch Lewis Act ensures that these retirement benefits are now no longer at risk. Thanks to the Butch Lewis Act, Sheet Metal Local 40 received nearly $10 million to shore up their pension fund previously projected to become insolvent in 2048, protecting the retirement of nearly 1000 Connecticut-based construction workers.
Addressing the Baby Formula Shortage
In 2022, during the baby formula shortage, Rep. Larson led efforts to boosting production and lower costs for families. He introduced legislation to remove tariffs on imported baby formula for the duration of the crisis, reducing the cost by more than 25%. President Biden signed the Formula Act into law in July 2022. Following passage of the Formula Act, Rep. Larson introduced the Bulk Formula to Retail Shelves Act, which lifted tariffs on baby formula ingredients so domestic producers could boost production. President Biden signed the Bulk Formula to Retail Shelves Act in October 2022.
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