December 2017: The Hastings Monthly Report

Dear Friend, At 2:00 A.M., Saturday, the Senate passed a tax reform bill that would raise taxes on tens of millions of middle class families and add more than $1 trillion to the national debt.

In addition to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in handouts to the wealthiest people in our country and creating new tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, the Senate tax bill would also unravel provisions of the Affordable Care Act, further raising premiums for millions of Americans.

Senate Republicans pushed this plan through so quickly they didn't even have time to formally type it up. My colleagues in the Senate reported getting the final text of the bill just a few hours before it was time to vote.

Rather than eliminating the Student Loan Interest Deduction, the Medical Expense Deduction, and limiting deductions on mortgage interest - as Republicans did in their bill - I am fighting for common sense reforms that would benefit everybody and not just the privileged few. Please know that I will not stop fighting for all Floridians and the American people in Congress.

Another Republican Continuing Resolution

This week, Congress is expected to pass another Continuing Resolution, which would extend the current funding of the government to Dec. 22, 2017. Democrats are drawing attention to a number of critical needs that remain unaddressed, including reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which expired weeks ago, fixing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and providing adequate funding for disaster relief in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Island, as well as all those impacted by wildfires. Even as the President tweets "I don't see a deal," I continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that these priorities are met.

Standing up for Federal Workers

Last week, The House Rules Committee advanced a bill that would double the probationary period for U.S. Civil Service employees to two full years, in an effort to make it easier to fire employees without recourse or legal protections. For far too long, the Republican majority in Congress has treated Federal workers as if they are the problem, needlessly undermining civil service in order to drive employees away from government service. We should be strengthening our federal workforce through better training and more plentiful diversity programs. I offered an amendment to create exemptions to this onerous legislation, however, it was defeated 195-221 on a largely party-line vote. Hastings Offers Amendment #1 to H.R.4182, Exempting National Service Alumni from the two-year Probation periodFor more information on the various issues that I am working on, please visit my official website at www.alceehastings.house.gov. With warm personal regards, I remain,

Sincerely,

Alcee L. Hastings

Member of Congress

20th District of Florida

www.AlceeHastings.house.gov

(See video at: www.thewestsidegazette.com)