Joe Sempolinski

Representative Joe Sempolinski said he will vote no on a $1.7 Trillion omnibus package.

The package was unveiled by Federal lawmakers early Tuesday morning. It includes another large round of aid to Ukraine, a nearly 10% boost in defense spending, and roughly $40 billion in emergency spending, mostly to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The bill includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858 billion for defense and would last through the end of the fiscal year at the end of September.

Sempolinski said the whole process is flawed, “This status quo, this way that it’s always been done attitude, is completely unacceptable. These have been bad budget deals that hurt our nation, especially in this case, spending is way up and I’ve been always concerned by how much we, as a country, spend. It’s not healthy for the future, the debt we’re placing on our children and grandchildren, it’s not healthy for the present of our nation with the inflation that we’re inflicting on the people of this country, so we have to get our fiscal house in order.”

Lawmakers are racing to complete passage before a midnight Friday deadline or face the prospect of a partial government shutdown going into the Christmas holiday.

The stopgap measure, known as a “continuing resolution,” is needed to avert a partial shutdown of federal agencies that would otherwise begin on Saturday.

It passed 224 votes to 201, largely along party lines, with nine Republicans voting for the measure.

Congressman Joe Sempolinski voted no, as he said he would in his weekly media call. Sempolinski said there’s a big problem with how Congress does budgeting, “We’re not anywhere close to regular order. We’re not anywhere close to how this is supposed to be done. And in this particular case, no House Republicans have been part of this negotiations. This is just Democrats fighting with Democrats and also including some Senate Republicans, arguing about how much to increase spending. They’re not fighting about, ‘Should we keep spending the same, or should we cut spending when we’re in a significant deficit?’ They’re talking about how much to increase spending.”

Top congressional negotiators announced on Tuesday an agreement on a framework for the full-year “omnibus” bill. They did not reveal the amount of money they had agreed on, though it is expected to exceed last year’s $1.5 trillion.

In addition to funding the U.S. government, the package is expected to include aid for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian military and a bill reforming the way the United States certifies presidential elections.

House Republicans object to a full-year bill, saying they would prefer to vote on funding the government early next year when they take majority control of the chamber and will have more power to slash domestic spending.

Congressman Tom Reed discusses his thoughts on the federal budget, the January 6 Select Committee, as well as Russia and Ukraine in his weekly media call.

Tom Reed

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) is again ringing the alarm bell about the unsustainable of both Social Security and Medicare.

During this week’s conference call with regional media, Reed pointed to the most recent report from the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare, saying that if things stay on their present course Medicare funds will be depleted by 2026 and Social Security will be insolvent by 2034.

Reed, who’s been a proponent of reforming both programs since first taking office in 2010, said that the time to act on changing the program is now.

“I think there is ample common ground in regards to issues that we could agree upon in order to stabalize and reform Social Security and Medicare to make sure that they are here for generations to come and that is also something that I noted from the trustees’ report. The advice from the trustees is that we must act soon rather than wait until the last minute,” Reed said.

Reed said he would be in favor discussing of several reform proposals, including raising or eliminating the payroll tax cap on Medicare, upping the age eligibility for both social security and Medicare, and changing the way Medicare funds are given out by shifting from a fees-for-service model to a value based model.

In addition to the reforms that Reed mentioned, Republicans on the House budget committee have put forward a 2019 budget proposal that would cut spending for entitlement programs like Medicaid and Social Security.

WRFA asked Reed if his latest push to reform the two programs was tied to the proposed budget he’ll be voting in the future.

“The budget has some proposals in it, from my understanding of looking at what came out of the committee, though it hasn’t come to the floor yet,” Reed said. “But bottom line: if folks want to deny the existence of the problem that the insolvency of Social Security and Medicare represent, that’s there choice. But I’m willing to accept what I think is a foregone conclusion that if we do nothing, Social Security and Medicare will collapse and it will be devastating for millions of Americans that are caught in that situation.”

The House Republican budget, titled “A Brighter American Future,” proposes to squeeze $537 billion out of Medicare over the next decade. To offset the loss in revenue, a series of reforms are being proposed that some fear would lead to fewer people having access to Medicare money and as a result being saddled with debt.

Social Security comes in for more modest cuts of $4 billion over the decade, which the budget projects could be reached by eliminating concurrent receipt of unemployment benefits and Social Security disability insurance.

It’s not clear if the budget proposal will come to the House floor for a full vote before the midterm elections.

Meanwhile, by calling for the reform of both Social Security and Medicare, Reed is making himself a target in the upcoming general election because its considered controversial anytime a politician calls for changing the programs, especially in a district where many constituents rely on the programs’ services.

Reed said that many in Congress won’t discuss the two programs because they are too concerned about how it might impact their re-election bids, but he feels the issue is too important to ignore and wants to work toward a solution to what he says is a major problem facing the country.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) is offering his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s 2019 Federal Budget proposal.

During a conference call with regional media on Tuesday, Chautauqua County’s representative in the House of Representatives said that he is disappointed with the budget proposal that was released on Monday because it doesn’t address the growing national debt and, if anything, it only makes it worse.

“I’m deeply disappointing in the president’s budget and I don’t have a lot of confidence in the president’s budget in regards to it being an actual cornerstone of giving us a projection to get our debt crisis under control. And that is coupled with the action that we took last week in regards to the budget gaps bill that I ultimately voted ‘no’ on because we have, in my opinion, abandoned the principle that I came here in 2010 to fight for, and that is to get our fiscal house in order and get this debt crisis under control.”

The president has proposed a $4.4 trillion federal budget that surrenders on a GOP goal of trying to eliminate the budget deficit in 10 years. It’s a concession that the big tax-cut plan enacted last year and higher spending in some areas make that impossible. Specifically, the budget sees a $984 billion deficit next year and $7 billion in new debt over the next decade.

The budget proposal also includes cuts to several domestic programs including the EPA and Medicare, but also includes an $80 million increase in defense spending. And the plan also includes a cut in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – previously known as food stamps – and would change the way the program is delivered to some 80 percent of recipients who receive $90 or more a month in benefits.

Under the president’s proposal, the SNAP benefits reform would involve a distribution of non perishable food packages, which the administration claims would allow lower costs because food would be purchased at wholesale prices.

Reed said the proposal is worth considering.

“That to me is a sign of being innovative and trying to be creative in getting out of one of the broken policies or structures of Washington DC, which essentially says, ‘Well we can’t do anything differently because we’ve always done it this way, we have to continue doing it this way because that’s the way we’ve always done it.’  And that mindset is strongly and institutionally ingrained in [SNAP],” Reed said.

There has already been pushback against the SNAP reform plan from advocates who say – among othert things – that it would significantly reduce the food options currently available for SNAP recipients, as well as create a layer of government bureaucracy that would dictate to poor Americans what they can and can not eat. Reed did indicate he’d be willing to learn more about the criticism before making a final decision.

“If they can establish to me that it is going to be more costly, or that it is not going to provide food to the people that need the food from our American farmers, then I’ll be open to that criticism and input,” Reed said, adding, “But I will never say ‘no.’ We’ve always been a country of ‘Yes we can’ and if there is a better way to deliver food to the people who need it most – our hungry fellow American citizens – I’m open to that.”

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23)

WASHINGTON – Congress has approved a major budget deal, ending a brief government shutdown overnight and sending the measure to the President for his signature.

The House of Representatives voted 240-186 early Friday morning following approval in the Senate.

The GOP-controlled chamber needed help from House Democrats to clear the bill, and 73 Democratic members gave it. Sixty-seven House Republicans voted against the plan, including Chautauqua County’s representative in Congress, Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23), who posted a video message on his Youtube channel this morning explaining his decision.

“[The budget deal] is going down the path of uncontrolled spending that continues to add to our national debt,” Reed said. “This debt crisis is real. This debt crisis is why I ran for office in 2010. And why is it a crisis? Because at $21 trillion worth of national debt, if we just maintain the status quo, if we do what so many elected officials like to do and what you see in this budget agreement, it’s easy to come to a bipartisan agreement when you spend tax payer dollars. It’s hard to fix the root cause of the problem that’s causing the debt crisis and that’s to reduce or spending, reform our entitlement programs, and get our fiscal house in order.”

Reed also wanted to emphasize that his vote against the plan had nothing to do with the military spending issue.

“I support our men and women in the military. I voted for a package that fully funded them to give them the resources, training, and equipment in order to do the job successfully, but most importantly, to come home safe to their families. Just this week we did such a thing and we did it in a fiscally responsible manner. We paid for it,” Reed said, referring to the temporary spending bill the house approved earlier this week.  He also added, “And now this deal that’s been negotiated doesn’t take on the hard equation of paying for it and that is why I can’t support it.”

REED’S FULL VIDEO MESSAGE

The spending bill, which lawmakers have been negotiating for months, addresses major spending issues as well as doling out disaster relief money and increasing the debt ceiling, which was set to be reached next month.

The overall deal also does not address the high-profile issue of immigration, a key sticking point for many Democrats, but it does increase spending caps by $300 billion for the Pentagon and domestic priorities, a crucial incentive for getting enough votes from both parties. It also offers more than $80 billion in disaster relief for hurricane-ravaged Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

The Senate approved the measure earlier on Friday morning. The federal government briefly shuttered for the second time in less than a month overnight. However, the effects of the shutdown are expected to be minimal given that it started and is expected to finish with Trump’s signature before most of the federal workforce arrived at work Friday morning.

After the vote succeeded in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell kept his word to move to open an immigration debate next week.

The majority leader moved to call a vote Monday to proceed to an unrelated House bill that will serve as a vehicle for a process unlike the Senate has seen in recent memory, where senators will be able to offer a number of amendments on competing immigration proposals to see which ones will secure the 60 votes needed to advance.

Donald Trump

WASHINGTON – The poor and the disabled are big losers in President Donald Trump’s $4.1 trillion budget proposal, while the Pentagon is a big winner.

The president’s plan for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 was delivered to Congress on Tuesday.  It calls for deep cuts in safety net programs, including Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The proposal also calls for big cuts in Social Security’s disability program.

According to the Associated Press, the proposed budget would slash Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program by $616 billion over the next decade. It would also cut the food stamp program by $191 billion and would cut funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program by $22 billion. And Trump’s budget calls for cutting Social Security disability benefits by nearly $70 billion over the next decade by encouraging and, in some cases, requiring people receiving the benefits to re-enter the workforce.

As far as regional impacts, Trump’s budget would eliminate the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Chesapeake Bay Program, saving $427 million next year.

The budget would also prohibit any funding for certain entities that provide abortions, including Planned Parenthood.

Meanwhile, defense spending and border security would get significant boosts, with the proposal adding $469 billion to defense spending over the next decade, while also including $2.6 billion for border security technology, including money to design and build a wall along the southern border.

The budget plan also calls for an increase for the Veterans Administration, including $29 billion over the next decade for the Choice program. The program allows veterans to seek outside medical care from private doctors.

REACTION TO BUDGET PLAN

Some members of congress have already said the proposed spending plan is dead on arrival, because it is too austere for Democrats and most moderate Republicans.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

During a conference call with media on Tuesday morning, Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) said he hadn’t yet thoroughly reviewed the budget proposal, so he wasn’t going to offer an evaluation. However, he did say that the budget was a good starting point for lawmakers in Washington to have the conversation about spending and how to prioritize what’s most important for the American people.

“I think this was a good start, in the sense of the president putting out in black and white what his vision is, and it allows us to engage in what I believe definitely needs to happen – we need to have a conversation about priorities in America,” Reed said.  “The $21 trillion in national debt that is building each and every day is not sustainable. We have to get the spending under control. We need to grow this economy, because if you reduce the spending at the same time you grow, we can tackle this national debt crisis that is looming on the horizon.”

Reed wouldn’t specifically say if he supported the full cut for Medicaid and other safety net programs being proposed by the president, but did say it’s something Congress needs to look at.

“Do I believe we can do Medicaid in a more effecient, effective manner? Absolutely. So if that means we can do it more efficiently and save hard working taxpayer dollars, I think that is a step in the right direction when it comes to looking at the program, reviewing the program when it comes to Medicaid. And as to what numbers that could result in when it comes to a reduction in expenditures, we’ll let good policy drive those numbers,” Reed said.

Governor Andrew Cuomo also released a statement on the budget, saying it’s an egregious attack on the values and priorities that built this state and this nation. He said the radical conservative agenda in Washington is putting corporations before people and billionaires before vulnerable New Yorkers, and the consequences would be catastrophic.

A conference call with Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) and regional media representatives. Held Tuesday morning, March 21, 2017.

This week, Rep. Reed discusses:

• The upcoming floor vote on the GOP-sponsored American Health Care Act (AHCA), set to take place on Thursday, March 23;
• The Collins’ Amendment to the AHCA, which call on states to eliminate their local charge of Medicaid to county governments;
• Reaction to President Trump’s Budget Proposal, including the call to eliminate several  programs that would have a negative impact on communities within the 23rd District;
• Reaction to the House Intelligence Committee hearing on Monday, March 20, involving testimony by the FBI director and the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and and Russian officials.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

Donald Trump

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump released the first budget blueprint of his new administration on Thursday, and it appears he’s held to his promise to build up the U.S. military while slashing domestic spending – even for programs that benefit the rural and lower-income Americans who voted for him last November.

The proposed $1.15 trillion “skinny” budget distills much of Trump’s sweeping campaign rhetoric into a set of hard choices and cold priorities. He is calling on Congress to boost defense spending by $54 billion, a move popular with many Republicans. A wall along the border with Mexico, a core campaign promise, would receive $4 billion to start construction.

Trump’s campaign promises to gut ineffective programs and shrink a bloated bureaucracy translated into a plan that cuts environmental protections programs, community development funding, housing vouchers, scientific research, a commission to create economic opportunities in Appalachia and other programs.

Funding for popular social services like Meals on Wheels, which provides food to the elderly, and after-school programs for children, also are on the chopping block. The outline – the start of negotiations with Congress – leaves untouched Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending.

Cuts that will impact his voting base in rural areas of the country include the elimination of funding to keep the Great Lakes clean, eliminating financial aid for rural and regional airports across the country, and flood insurance program funding.

EPA, GREAT LAKES CUTS

Trump proposes cutting the Environmental Protection Agency budget by 31 percent, from $8.3 billion in fiscal year 2017 to $5.7 billion in fiscal year 2018. That’s the largest cut among all Cabinet departments and major agencies.

The budget says that change, which would cut 3,200 EPA jobs, is needed “to ease the burden of unnecessary Federal regulations that impose significant costs for workers and consumers without justifiable environmental benefits.”

As part of the EPA cuts, the Trump budget eliminates the $300 million in annual funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), which finances environmental projects all over the region. The initiative, created in 2010 with strong bipartisan support, has supported thousands of projects across the Great Lakes region. In December, the initiative’s funding was re-authorized by Congress.

TRUMP PROPOSES CUTS IN ARTS & HUMANITIES PROGRAMS

President Trump’s proposed budget calls for big cuts in a wide array of domestic programs — among them, agencies that fund the arts, humanities and public media.

Funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) would be cut to zero under the proposal, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) would be eliminated entirely, the first time any president has proposed such a measure.

CPB received $445 million in federal funding in the last fiscal year; the NEA and NEH got about $148 million each — a tiny portion of the roughly $4 trillion federal budget.

Most CPB funds go directly to local radio and TV stations, but the federal funds are especially crucial for local stations, as well as local arts groups, which often receive matching funds from other donors based on their federal allocations.

Trump’s plan now goes to Congress, which can make changes before enacting federal budget legislation

REACTION FROM NY OFFICIALS

New York Senator and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with fellow NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand have both come out strongly against the budget.

Senator Schumer said the budget clearly shows that the president talks like a populist, but clearly is out to only help special interests, adding that democrats in the senate will emphatically oppose the spending plan.

Gillibrand also said the President’s budget is irresponsible and will short-change middle class New Yorkers, seniors, and students alike while doing harm to a fragile economy.

Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo called the proposed budget “dangerous, reckless, and contemptuous of American values, adding that should be rejected by Congress out of hand.”

And State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the President’s budget threatens funding for vital services including housing assistance, environmental protection, anti-poverty programs and more.

He added that it provides little specific information regarding the impact of broadly proposed cuts, but it is clear this budget will hurt New Yorkers.

Congressman Tom Reed’s (R-Corning, NY 23) office didn’t release a statement on the budget, but the congressman is expected to address the issue during his weekly conference call with media on Tuesday, March 21.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) testified before the House Budget Committee Tuesday regarding welfare reform in the House Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2015. Reed used the opportunity to lay out priorities to move the country forward and stand with the working poor.

Reed says the current welfare system is failing the 46 million Americans living in poverty, limiting their opportunities to get ahead and encouraging an endless cycle of dependence. He pointed to the fact that the number of Americans living at or below the poverty line is higher than ever and introduced legislation earlier this month to better care for those in need.

Reed’s HAND UP Act allows states to test new ways to engage families and individuals on welfare and give them the tools to succeed and work.

Reed’s testimony also focused on the need to “require work, reward work.” Reed says that rewarding individuals in poverty who are working and trying to get ahead was a driving force behind the bipartisan welfare reform of the 1990s and the White Houses’ efforts to waive work requirements for welfare recipients undermines their progress.