Dear Friends, 

This week President Trump released his proposed budget for 2018. Let me tell you, it’s left me very concerned about his priorities and the potential impact it could have on hard working Granite State families. His preliminary budget proposal is simply a disaster for our economy, environment, and for seniors; just to name a few. This budget proposal should raise red flags for anyone who wants to grow our middle class, create good paying jobs, protect human health and our environment, and fight climate change. 

The proposal focuses on all the wrong areas. Eliminating Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) will hurt the ability of our communities to plan and invest in the future. One such CDBG that would be cut by this budget is Meals on Wheels, which is essential to thousands of Granite State seniors. I’ve seen firsthand how this program provides healthy meals and brightens the lives of so many in our community. Targeting it for cuts just doesn’t make sense. 

Delivering Meals on Wheels in Nashua

Delivering Meals on Wheels in Nashua

Believe it or not, this budget would completely eliminate the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP provides vital resources to low-income families and seniors throughout New Hampshire, especially in the cold winter months. Cutting a program that has been so successful and changed so many people’s lives is both unnecessary and, frankly, cruel. It is clear that President Trump is not in touch with the needs of families and senior citizens throughout the country. 

In New Hampshire, we know the serious impact toxic contamination can have on drinking water, public health, and quality of life. Slashing thirty-one percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget will only make defending public health and our environment more difficult. The President’s proposed budget would also cut the Department of Agriculture by more than twenty percent, reducing support for our small family farms, rural development programs, and the National Forest System, all of which play an essential role in the Granite State economy.

Investing in our children is one of the most important ways we can ensure a brighter future for our nation. A fourteen percent cut to the Department of Education just doesn’t make sense. We need to make sure that future generations have more opportunities to learn and study, not limit their ability to receive a quality education. These are just a few examples of the many negative impacts this budget would have on New Hampshire. 

We can’t turn back the clock on the progress we’ve made in recent years to get our economy pointed in the right direction, and this budget is little more than a return to the same failed policies of the past. President Trump needs to seriously reconsider this approach and focus on crafting a budget proposal that benefits all Americans, not just those at the very top. 

I so appreciate the calls, emails, and letters I’ve received from you in recent months. Keep them coming! Hearing from you is critical to informing my work in Washington and please be assured that I’ll continue to fight for policies that benefit New Hampshire and Granite State families. 

Sincerely,