Dear Neighbor,

As we begin Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to take a moment to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our continued freedoms. Memorial Day reminds us of what they fought for and the importance of caring for those they fought alongside and those they left behind. I hope you will also take time to reflect on these tremendous sacrifices this weekend.

It has been a busy few weeks here in DC with the House Republican majority working on their budget which would cut funding and take away Medicaid and SNAP from millions of Americans. My Democratic colleagues and I have been speaking out about what this bill contains and why it will be harmful for everyday Americans. I voted no on the floor yesterday because this bill does not serve our district. The Republican budget bill benefits the highest earners through tax cuts and takes away healthcare, and so much more, from those who need it most.

It is a very long bill but some of the main components for our district include:

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): This budget will take away food from millions of people, including 74,000 people in our district according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. This will hurt children, families and seniors. But it will also hurt local food banks, like Meals on Main Street, Feeding Westchester, City Harvest, and Ridgeway Alliance Church Food Pantry, who will likely see an increased demand if SNAP benefits are taken away. My floor speech here. 
• Medicaid: Medicaid is vital healthcare for people who cannot get healthcare elsewhere. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 196,000 people in our district who depend on Medicaid could lose their coverage, including 73,000 children and 27,000 seniors. This will also increase costs for hospitals and may result in closures of hospitals and nursing homes with cuts to Medicaid providers. My floor speech here.
• State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction: I fully support a complete restoration of the SALT deduction for homeowners paying Federal taxes. No half-baked alternatives like the cap included in this bill will provide real tax relief. This deduction was in place for 100 years until 2017 during President Trump’s first term when Congressional Republicans passed a bill that reduced the deduction to a fraction. It must be fully restored. My explainer video here.
• Energy and the environment: This bill will phase out clean energy production and investment tax credits and end long-standing home energy efficiency tax credits. If these aren’t bad enough, the bill also has provisions to require the accelerated sale of public lands for oil and gas drilling and rescind funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that protects Americans from pollution and lowers the cost of energy bills. My floor speech here.
• Women’s healthcare: The bill “defunds” Planned Parenthood and an 11th hour change bans every insurance plan on the Affordable Care Act Exchange from covering abortion.

In DC these last two weeks, my staff and I met with a number of different groups, many that included residents of Westchester and the Bronx. These groups included Community Voices Heard, the Ambassador to the U.S. for Kazakhstan, a delegate from the Government of Quebec, NORPAC, and the Pace University Council of Undergraduate Research.

Last week I joined my friend Congressman Timothy Kennedy to announce a new bill, the Aaron Salter Jr. Responsible Body Armor Possession Act. This legislation will prevent civilians from purchasing enhanced body armor. You may remember the horrific shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo three years ago. A police officer named Lt. Aaron Salter Jr. attempted to subdue the shooter, but the shooter was in enhanced body armor and shot and killed Lt. Salter, and nine other innocent people. This bill will keep police officers and the general public safe, and it was surprising to me that there is no current federal restriction on the purchase of enhanced body armor. It has support from Everytown, GIFFORDS, Brady, and the Fraternal Order of the Police.

I recently participated in a House Democratic leadership hearing on how small businesses have been hurt by President Trump’s tariff policy. Small business owners from across the country attended to give Congress an update on how they have been affected by the President’s policies. These policies have created uncertainty for small businesses, and it will affect our local economies in the short and long term.

In case you missed it, I recently published an op-ed in LoHud about how we must stand up for our country and its pillars of democracy. You can read that here: https://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/2025/05/20/george-latimer-american-democrays-pillars-are-under-threat-opinion/83670179007/

I was glad to announce last week that in the first four months in Congress, my office has returned more than $589,000 in federal benefits to residents throughout Westchester and the Bronx. When people think of a member of Congress, they usually think about work done in Washington, DC passing laws and voting. This is a significant part of the job. But some of the most important, meaningful work my office does is assisting residents on an individual basis, advocating for them and getting them answers from bureaucratic federal agencies. I’m proud of the work my office has done in just the last few months.

Let me compliment the work of Edili Espaillat, Daphney Sintyl, Michelle Gewanter, and Tara Conte – as well as our intern army – under the watchful eye and direction of Ellen Hendrickx in Westchester and Tremaine O’Garro in the Bronx.

One opportunity for constituents to receive direct help is through the mobile office hours my constituent service team does. So far, we have held mobile office hours in Mount Vernon, Port Chester, New Rochelle, and Greenburgh.

In the next few weeks, mobile office hours will be at:

• El Centro Hispano, 295 Central Avenue, White Plains on Wednesday, May 28th from 1-5pm
• Mount Vernon Public Library, 28 S 1st Ave, Mount Vernon on Monday, June 2nd from 1-5pm
• Tuckahoe Public Library, 71 Columbus Ave, Tuckahoe on Wednesday, June 4th from 1-5pm

During my tenure in public office – City, County, and State – legislative and executive positions – I’ve established a presence at meetings and events all across our home area. Since January in this position, I have personally:

• Presented in person at local town, village and city council meetings, with Q&A sessions at each: Ardsley, Larchmont, Tarrytown, Rye Brook, Irvington, Mamaroneck Town, Mamaroneck Village, Scarsdale, Rye City, Rye Town, Greenburgh, and Port Chester.
• Met in person with advocacy groups in Yonkers, Co-op City, White Plains, New Rochelle, Bronxville, Mount Vernon, and Harrison.
• Visited churches and civic groups in Eastchester, Edenwald, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Pelham, Tuckahoe, and Wakefield.

Over my years in public office, I have found that regularly attending these community meetings, where people can speak directly to me about their personal ideas and concerns, allows for the best opportunity for an open and honest dialogue. We’re holding virtual Q&A sessions to address questions for a broad-based viewing audience to complement the every-weekend outreach of in-person meetings. We will be announcing the next virtual Q&A session in the coming days.

• NY Post editorial on Qatar jet “free gift”
• Due process and immigration laws
• The firing of the Librarian of Congress
• Celebrating 15 years of At Home On The Sound
• Overview of the Republican Budget
• Devastating cuts to vital food assistance
• Cuts to environmental protections

Make sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Twitter/X and YouTube to stay up-to-date on what I am working on. If this newsletter was sent to you by someone else, you can sign up for it here: https://latimer.house.gov/contact/newsletter-subscribe

As always, reach out to my offices with concerns or questions. We are here to serve you!

More soon.

Sincerely,

Rep. George Latimer

Member of Congress