RLC Weekly: See You at the Groundbreaking!
Dear Colleagues,
The Regional Leadership Council (RLC) centers its work around ensuring each and every community has the opportunity to access the benefits of the Investing in America agenda. This week, the RLC highlighted communities who are seeing and feeling the impact of House Democrats’ work. Here are some of the major highlights:
Broadband Breakthroughs
In Louisiana, RLC Leader Rep. Troy Carter (LA-02) cut the ribbon at the groundbreaking of the Lafourche Parish high-speed internet project. Those in attendance included the Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young, White House Senior Advisor Mitch Landrieu, and state leaders. This project utilizes funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand high-speed internet access for hundreds of homes in Louisiana. This is a great example of House Democrats showing the reach of the Investing in America agenda in their districts and across their state.
Digital Equity on Tribal Lands
As more funding becomes available to tribal nations from the Investing in America agenda, RLC Leader Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02) spoke with leaders of the Round Valley Tribe about how community members are benefiting from this funding. With the support of the CARES Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Round Valley Tribe has established an emergency operations center and has built new cell phone towers that are connecting 726 tribal households, 3 tribal businesses, and 7 tribal community anchor institutions to the internet. More from Rep. Huffman here.
Negotiating Prescription Drug Costs
The Members of the RLC, as well as many House Democrats, celebrated President Biden’s announcement that Medicare will begin price negotiation of 10 prescription drugs. This is welcome news to millions of seniors taking these medications to treat heart failure, diabetes, kidney disease, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and more. Many House Democrats shared this announcement directly with their constituents on social media and described the scope of these savings through data shared by House Budget Committee Democrats. As RLC Leader Rep. Angie Craig (MN-02) said on social media, this “announcement will change lives, plain and simple.”
What’s Next?
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The U.S. Department of Treasury released new prevailing wage guidelines for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Read the press release here.
- There’s a new targeted deadline for PACT Act benefits: Veterans who deployed to a combat zone and are not currently enrolled in VA health care may be eligible to sign-up for VA health care through the PACT Act. The last day of this special enrollment period is September 30th. Visit VA.gov/PACT today for details.
For more updates on how to help implement the Investing in America Agenda locally, please follow us on social media and share your story on how these investments are making a difference in your community. You can also visit our website for additional resources that will help track these historic investments.