It’s June 2, 2021. Here’s a roundup of recent news from New Hampshire’s Congressional Delegation.
Shaheen joins in supporting HOPE for HOMES Act
U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) joined a group led by U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and U.S. Representative Peter Welch (D-VT), on legislation to help homeowners retrofit their homes to cut their monthly energy costs, stimulate the energy efficiency market for jobs and suppliers, invest in workforce training for this crucial industry and combat the climate crisis by promoting clean, energy efficient technology. Their legislation, the HOPE for HOMES Act, was also cosponsored by U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE).
“As we get our economy on the road to recovery, Congress should look to support hard-hit sectors like energy efficiency, which is important to help address our long-term energy and environmental needs. This legislation helps us do just that by stimulating job creation in local communities, while also investing in sustainable solutions to enhance energy efficiency that reduce energy costs for American homeowners,” said Shaheen. “This is bipartisan, commonsense legislation that I believe lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can get behind.”
A fact sheet on the bill is available here. Full text of the bill is available here.
Hassan supports Postal Service Reform Act
U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, a member of the Senate committee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), joined a group of her colleagues in introducing legislation to overhaul the Postal Service and improve the agency’s long-term financial stability. The Postal Service Reform Act would eliminate requirements that have decimated the Postal Services’ finances, increase transparency and accountability at the agency, and strengthen support for postal workers.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of the Postal Service for Granite State communities, and we must ensure that the agency can continue to provide critical mail delivery to households and small businesses well into the future,” Hassan said. “This legislation eliminates burdensome requirements that make it more difficult for the Postal Service to provide the services that so many Granite Staters rely on. I am pleased to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in introducing this commonsense legislation.”
The Postal Service Reform Act would eliminate the aggressive prefunding requirement that has hurt the Postal Service financially and integrate postal worker retirees’ health care with Medicare. Together, these two reforms would create $45.9 billion in savings for the Postal Service over the next ten years. In addition, the bill would require the Postal Service to maintain its standard of delivering at least six days a week.
The legislation would also improve transparency of Postal Service operations to both customers and Congress by requiring the publication of easily accessible weekly service data on the Postal Service website, as well as issuing a detailed report to Congress every six months on Postal Service finances and operations.
Kuster supports prison healthcare reform bill
Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D-NH), a founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force and member of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, reintroduced the Humane Correctional Health Care Act alongside Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and a bipartisan group of Members. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
This bill would repeal the so-called Medicaid Inmate Exclusion (MIE), which strips health coverage from Medicaid enrollees who are involved in the criminal justice system, decreasing access to care and shifting that cost burden to states and counties instead. This legislation would increase the justice-involved population’s access to quality coverage and care needed to help them successfully return to their communities — including treatment for mental health and substance use disorders — and save state and taxpayer dollars.
Many of those who are justice-involved have significant health needs. Approximately 60 percent of people in U.S prisons and jails meet the clinical criteria for a substance use disorder (SUD), and about 40 percent have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Yet, very few incarcerated individuals receive adequate treatment to manage their conditions. Since the establishment of the Medicaid program in 1965, the United States prison population has grown by 650 percent: from approximately 200,000 to 1.5 million. This growth has contributed to a health care crisis that has strained the resources of states and counties, with states spending approximately $8.5 billion on poor and insufficient health care in 2016 alone.
