RELEASE: LARSON REJECTS TRUMP-BACKED BILL TO RUBBERSTAMP ‘DOGE’ CUTS AND MAKE WAY FOR PREMIUM HIKES ON CONNECTICUT FAMILIES
Perosino, Charles
For Immediate Release:
September 19, 2025
Contact:
Charles Perosino 202-209-3828
Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) voted against a Republican government funding bill that would allow the Trump Administration to continue their ‘DOGE’ cuts and make way for double-digit health care premium hikes. House and Senate Democrats offered a plan to keep government open and protect health care access, but Republicans walked away from the table after President Trump told them to “not even bother” negotiating for the American people.
“If Republicans thought they could rush a bill to the floor and Democrats would rubber stamp their cuts, they better think again,” said Larson. “They voted with Donald Trump to kick 15 million Americans off health care and saddle families with skyrocketing premiums. Democrats are ready to work together to keep government open and end this health care crisis, but at the orders of their dear leader Donald Trump, House Republicans have refused to come to the table. I urge my colleagues to show up for the people they are sworn to serve and work with us to prevent a government shutdown.”
House and Senate Democrats, led by Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), put forward an offer to prevent a shutdown that:
- Keeps government funded through October 31st while bipartisan negotiations on a full-year agreement continue
- Reverses cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act from the Republican Budget
- Extends premium tax credits that help over 20 million Americans afford health insurance
- Protects any spending agreement passed by Congress from being ignored by the Trump Administration
- In the wake of recent threats, provides additional funding for security for Members of Congress, executive branch officials, and judges
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Connect with Congressman Larson Online:
Perosino, Charles
Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) announced the comprehensive Pathways to Health Careers Act, a plan introduced by Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee to address the nationwide health care worker shortage, authorizing and increasing funding for the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program.
The Pathways to Health Careers Act includes Rep. Larson’s Health Opportunities to Promote Equity (HOPE) Act, requiring the federal government to award at least two HPOG grants to each state, among 16 individual bills each introduced by a Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee.
“As our nation, and especially the State of Connecticut, faces a health care worker shortage, we need to do everything we can to invest in training programs that meet the needs of our care providers,” said Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member John B. Larson (CT-01). “I introduced the HOPE Act to ensure the federal government invests resources directly into growing Connecticut’s health care workforce. I am proud to join with my colleagues to advance it today as part of a comprehensive plan to address this shortage. I will continue to work with my colleagues to invest in the next generation of health care workers ensure all residents have the support they need to secure good-paying jobs.
“Republicans’ Big Ugly Law will cut hospital funding and create worker shortages, posing a serious risk to our nation’s health,” said Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (MA-01). “Renewing the Health Profession Opportunity Grant program will fortify our hospitals against these attacks by creating opportunities for workers to reskill into high-demand health care jobs. I am grateful for the Ways and Means Committee Democrats for their continued commitment to this impactful program.”
“As our economy and health systems struggle due to damaging Republican policies, Congress must invest in proven programs that expand economic opportunity for working families and strengthen our health care,” said Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Ranking Member Danny K. Davis (IL-07). “Modernizing the Health Profession Opportunity Grant Program will connect a new generation of workers with career pathways to in-demand health care jobs while addressing barriers to employment. I am proud to lead this bill and thank my Democratic colleagues for their continued support of this successful program shown to create jobs and expand access to care.”
Full bill text is available HERE.
A fact sheet on the Pathways to Health Careers is available HERE.
A section-by-section summary of the Pathways to Health Career Act is available HERE.
The comprehensive Pathways to Health Careers Act authorizes and increases funding for new Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) Program demonstration grants, and:
- Provides $10 million to help individuals with arrest or conviction records enter the health profession
- Clarifies that community colleges and technical colleges are eligible for the HPOG program
- Requires enrolled students in HPOG programs to earn industry-recognized credentials, ensuring the training they receive results in a job
- Guarantees that every state will receive at least two HPOG program awards
- Gives priority to applications that would train health care workers in rural communities
- Requires grantees to ensure that participants have access to transportation
- Requires grantees to provide support services that include basic education, English-language proficiency, and childcare
- Authorizes demonstration projects to train doulas, midwives, and other pregnancy and birth professions
- Requires all grant applicants to use publicly available labor market data to ensure they are training workers for in-demand jobs and those with a shortage of trained workers
- Requires each grantee’s case management plan to offer a career coaching service as well as high quality mentoring and peer support
- Gives priority to grant applications that include partnerships among job training and education providers, state and local government, and unions and employers
- Ensures funding to study the effects of HPOG projects, and to evaluate new demonstration projects
- Requires health care workforce training programs that receive federal funds to provide at least the minimum number of hours to meet state and industry standards
- Ensures that any cash stipend or emergency assistance a grantee may provide is not considered income
- Guarantees funding for grants to tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal colleges and universities
- Ensures that hospitals are considered an eligible entity to apply for, and receive grant funds
- Requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide targeted technical assistance with grant applications, implementation, and outcome reporting
- Requires HHS to continue providing in-person peer technical assistance to facilitate grantee-to-grantee peer learning
- Sets aside five percent of total funding for grants to U.S. territories
- Ensures that certain high-quality opioid treatment providers are considered an eligible entity to apply for, and receive grant funds
Perosino, Charles
Washington, D.C. – After the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a "report" targeting Reps. John B. Larson (CT-01) and Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), for exercising their First Amendment rights to speak out against the Trump Administration, the members gathered on the Capitol steps to vow that they will not be silenced.
View Larson, Crockett, and Jeffries’ video here.
“I am proud and honored to stand with my colleagues and be singled out by President Trump and his minions for standing up for the people in this country who this administration has gone after. This is a badge of honor,” said Larson.
“If you truly believe that ICE is doing what they are supposed to be doing, then they wouldn’t be hiding their faces,” said Crockett. “The rest of law enforcement don’t have to hide their faces because they are not going in and busting people’s windows and taking people down to the ground. So don’t be mad when we accurately describe what is taking place. It is a travesty. I don’t care if you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent. You should all be offended and concerned if we allow any law enforcement in this country to treat anyone the way that they have treated even U.S. citizens.”
“The Department of Homeland Security has put out a list of people who have spoken out forcefully against the extremism being unleashed on the American people by Donald Trump,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “John Larson is on that list. Jasmine Crockett is on that list. I’m on that list. It’s meant to intimidate us. It doesn’t intimidate us. It inspires us, because it’s clear we are doing the right thing on behalf of the American people. I stand proudly, shoulder to shoulder, with John Larson, Jasmine Crockett, and all of my colleagues who the Trump Administration – the so-called Department of Homeland Security – has singled out for forcefully pushing back against them.”
The Trump Department of Homeland Security’s “report” targeted Reps. Larson, Crockett, and Jeffries, as well as immigrant advocates who have spoken out against ICE’s abusive tactics – including recent raids in Newington and Southington, Connecticut. The leaders reiterated their calls to require ICE agents to identify themselves and bar them from wearing masks.
After the Supreme Court cleared the way last week for federal immigration authorities to make indiscriminate stops based on ethnicity, language, and other factors, Larson and a group of his colleagues introduced the Home Together Act to block the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from sharing records with ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies, including home addresses and ethnicities.