Dear fellow South Carolinians,
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Healthcare As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I took part in today’s hearing on the Graham-Cassidy health care bill. Our great nation is home to more than 320 million people spread across almost four million square miles. We have states with nearly 40 million people, and states with less than 600,000 people. To try and dictate health care policy from Washington, D.C. simply does not make sense. That’s why I support the Graham-Cassidy solution to empower states to make choices for their people based on their specific health care needs and trends. South Carolina faces different challenges than Oregon, so why would we try and force a one-size-fits-all system on them both?
The fact remains that Obamacare is failing the American people. Skyrocketing premiums, high deductibles and overall uncertainty in the marketplace means we need a new solution. By block granting money directly to states, we take a significant step forward in putting our health care system back in the hands of patients and their doctors while still protecting people with pre-existing conditions, repealing the individual mandate and stopping some burdensome Obamacare taxes.
Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2017 Last Thursday, I introduced the bipartisan Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2017 with my colleagues, Senators Durbin, Menendez, Young, Donnelly and Duckworth. This bill would protect children in federally-assisted housing from lead exposure.
South Carolina is home to some of the oldest standing public housing in the country, with buildings dating to the 1920s. We owe it to children both in South Carolina and across the country to ensure that proper inspections are taking place in regards to lead paint, which was not banned for use in housing until 1978. My mission is to ensure every child from every zip code in the country has the opportunity to succeed, and this bipartisan bill is an important piece of helping ensure low-income families have access to safe housing that can provide a stable environment for their children’s dreams to grow. You can read more about our bill here.
Tax Reform Due to our overly complicated and antiquated tax code, there are Americans who have not seen a raise in decades. We can and must do better. We need to tackle tax reform head-on to create a tax code tailored for the 21st century. That means lowering taxes for middle and lower income Americans and coming up with innovative ways to re-energize struggling communities.
You can read more of my thoughts on tax reform here and listen to my comments on tax reform during last week’s Senate Finance Committee meeting here.
Sincerely,
Tim |