Dear Neighbor,
Let me start by extending warmest wishes to those who have recently celebrated Easter, Passover, and Eid al-Fitr. Our faith gives us strength and purpose as we tackle the serious problems of everyday living.
I was home in the district for the last two weeks, attending numerous events throughout Westchester and the Bronx.
Here’s a photo from the peaceful and joyful Easter Sunday sunrise service I attended at Manor Park in Larchmont.
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For Easter I also attended the Riverbay Easter Egg Hunt and Mad Hatter Tea Party in Co-op City.
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Yesterday I attended a mournful Yom HaShoah event in White Plains. Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a time to honor the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and reflect on the events that led to this horrific time in our world’s history. All of us in attendance recommitted to “Never Again.”
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My staff has started doing regular mobile office hours at communal locations within our district, bringing our constituent services to you. I was glad to stop by the events in New Rochelle, Greenburgh, and Mt. Vernon and look forward to attending more when I am in the district. We will be announcing more dates soon and I encourage you to stop by if you need help with individual federal issues, like Social Security payments, IRS tax returns, immigration status changes, or an expedited passport. My hardworking staff may be able to assist.
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On Tuesday I was joined by local elected officials including White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach, and Protect Our Care New York for an event defending Medicaid. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, over 196,000 of our neighbors rely on Medicaid for vital healthcare needs, including 27,000 seniors. Congressional Republicans have a proposal that could cut up to $880 billion from Medicaid. We should not be balancing the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it. And I will continue to vote against proposals that cut Medicaid. Here’s some local coverage of our event.
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On Monday I visited MasterCard, which is headquartered in Purchase and I participated in an employee town hall. The vast majority of questions were about my work on the Small Business Committee, and how the President’s tariffs and economic policies are affecting companies like MasterCard.
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Last week I attended an event in Mt. Vernon to celebrate progress on the Third Street Sewer Project. This multi-year project got off the ground quickly thanks to an innovative partnership between the County, City and State governments and we are already seeing the benefits. These infrastructure investments will improve access to safe, clean drinking water for area residents and reduce sewer and storm water discharge. I will continue to advocate for infrastructure investments and environmental improvements in our communities.
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Community Project Funding
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While home in the district, I also visited several projects that may be eligible to receive federal funding. This is part of the Community Project Funding program that directs federal funding to smaller local projects. This week my staff and I visited several of these projects to get a sense of what their needs are and how I can best advocate for the funding in DC.
These projects included: the Port Chester community gym, Crisfield Pump in Yonkers, the Warburton Slope in Yonkers, installing new sidewalks along Benedict Avenue in Tarrytown, and City Park drainage in New Rochelle. I will keep you updated as these projects and several others make their way through the government funding process.
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As House legislative activities have been on pause for the last two weeks, there is no news to report on any legislation. In truth, “no action” is actually good news, given the partisan nature of many of the bills being advanced in the House.
I did join my Democratic colleagues in signing onto two amicus briefs. One was defending birthright citizenship. The President’s “Day-One” order to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional and multiple judges have moved to stop action on it. Our amicus brief gives support to a case being heard at the Ninth Circuit of Appeals. I also signed onto an amicus brief this week that defends the important work of the Department of Education and we will hopefully prevent it from being closed. Every child deserves access to a quality education.
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Rep. George Latimer
Member of Congres
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