One of the most basic duties of Congress is to fund the government and keep it open, serving the American people. That's why the House is dubbed as having the "power of the purse." Unfortunately, this most basic responsibility seems to be too much for Speaker Kevin McCarthy to manage. His unwillingness to negotiate in good faith with Democrats, as he promised to do earlier this year, is… Read more »

OUR STATE and economy are in a very different position than a year ago. This time last year, inflation was at one of the highest rates in decades, squeezing families at the grocery store and the gas pump. Energy prices skyrocketed as Russia waged war against Ukraine and threatened international supply chains. Small businesses couldn’t find the employees they needed. In the… Read more »

Union Leader: Federal officials announce over $700K in funds for rural fire departments in NH Members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation announced this week that more than $700,000 in Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program funding is headed to fire departments in four rural communities. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations… Read more »

Newsweek: One Year After Dobbs, Women and Families Are Bearing the Consequences By New Democrat Coalition Chair, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02)  In the year since the Supreme Court overturned the nearly 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade, ending a woman's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, we have seen the devastating physical, mental, and economic impact the decision has… Read more »

AP: How Biden and McCarthy struck a debt limit deal and staved off a catastrophe   Washington (AP) — It was advice that Mitch McConnell had offered to Joe Biden once already: To resolve the debt limit standoff, he needed to strike a deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — and McCarthy alone. But after the first meeting of the top four congressional leaders with the… Read more »

NBC News: A break-glass option, gumbo and a bike ride: How the debt ceiling deal got done Right up until the end, the White House was exploring contingency plans in case the high-stakes talks with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling and avert economic disaster collapsed. The White House was considering the unprecedented step of bypassing Congress altogether and invoking the… Read more »

Boston Globe: For N.H. ski areas on National Forest lands, a chance to reinvest locally Help may soon be on the way to ski areas operating on National Forest land. Cogressional lawmakers are considering the Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development (SHRED) Act, a bipartisan bill that would allow fees paid to the U.S. Treasury by New Hampshire ski areas such as Loon, Wildcat,… Read more »

Bipartisan task force pushing for mental health, substance use awareness A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing Congress to dedicate a week this year to mental health and substance abuse awareness. And they’re doing so by pointing out a pretty grim statistic: More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdose-related causes in 2021. The 140-member Task Force on Mental Health and… Read more »

  Letter: Seniors like me rely on Medicare Advantage   Protecting access to high-quality, affordable health care for seniors is traditionally a top priority for federal lawmakers and regulators. We’ve earned our Medicare benefits, and we are counting on Washington to protect them. Unfortunately, it appears Medicare Advantage is in jeopardy. Recently, the Centers for… Read more »

Keene Sentinel: Cheshire County touts emergency communications to Kuster in Tuesday visit Cheshire County’s emergency dispatch center once “literally was a closet,” County Administrator Chris Coates says. But after a multimillion-dollar upgrade completed in fall 2016, the center is better equipped to handle what staff say are daily calls about substance-use issues. The… Read more »