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Dear neighbor, 

As always, I hope this email finds you and your family healthy and well. 

I am writing to let you know that this week in Congress, I am fighting to ensure we pass transformative legislation to help the communities in our district heal and build back better in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hurricane Ida damage, and the continued toll that violence takes on our community. This moment is a historic, once in a generation opportunity to improve people’s lives across our district and nation, and I am putting the needs of NY-16 constituents first as I work to deliver this important legislation.

Over the last year, our community has had to endure an unspeakable amount of difficulty in the wake of health, economic, and environmental crises. These overlapping crises have exposed how urgently we need to repair our crumbling physical infrastructure, which in many cases could not withstand Hurricane Ida. They have also revealed our crumbling social infrastructure. Families struggled to make ends meet, seniors faced mental health challenges alone as they isolated from loved ones, and youth tragically turned toward violence in the face of a limited social safety net. Through the American Rescue Plan, which delivered historic relief programs like the improved Child Tax Credit, we saw the potential for the government to help us recover. Passing the Build Back Better Act alongside the smaller bipartisan infrastructure bill is the essential next step for our district.

Since February, I have been working to ensure that infrastructure bills address the climate crisis and include support for the most vulnerable among us. I am leading the effort to include long overdue Social Security Income (SSI) reforms in this package, which would help 20,000 beneficiaries in our district and allow more people with disabilities and older adults to qualify for the program. In addition, I have put forward a “Make Polluters Pay” provision that would tax the top fossil fuel producing corporations, because the oil and gas industry should pay for the destruction they have caused, not my constituents. This tax would raise $500 billion for climate-resilient and green infrastructure investments, which could include essential local improvements like flood-proofing highways and roads. And as Vice Chair of the Education and Labor Committee, I am fighting for over $80 billion in green school infrastructure so that schools like those in New Rochelle and Mamaroneck can be resilient against severe flood events like Ida, and so that students across our district have the healthy classroom environments they need to safely return to school.

In addition, I have joined my colleagues in advocating for key pieces that will directly benefit our district, including:

• $2.5 billion nationwide in funds for violence prevention. Recent tragic events in the Bronx, Mount Vernon, and Yonkers underscore the importance of holistic violence intervention programs that support youth and address the root causes of violence. With the Build Back Better Act, federal grants for local violence prevention would allow communities like ours to invest in violence interruption, workforce development, and school-based support for at-risk youth. 

• $82 billion nationwide for public school infrastructure. I’m a former educator and in my district, we have schools that have been in disrepair for years. Our kids are breathing in mold and mildew. They’re exposed to toxins like lead in the water. No child should have to learn in a classroom where there are no windows, no A/C, no heat, and the buildings have rodent infestations. 

• $450 billion nationwide for universal child care and universal pre-K. Access to affordable, quality child care can make all the difference, but so many families continue to struggle finding and affording it. Build Back Better would cap a family’s out of pocket contribution for child care at 7 percent of their household income. Our district is majority Black and brown people and making child care universal would be transformative for children and families who previously couldn’t access this critical opportunity that leads to better social and educational outcomes. 

• Overdue improvements to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for the more than 20,000 constituents who rely on the program by allowing participants to accumulate up to $10K in assets and savings, instead of $2K, without losing their benefits. 

• $8.5 billion nationwide in community development funds that could help develop and preserve community centers, after-school facilities, senior centers, and childcare facilities to ensure the Northern Bronx and Southern Westchester have the funding needed for climate-resilient repairs. I know many of the communities in our district are in need of new community hubs, and I am hopeful that my advocacy for these funds will help deliver these changes.

• $322 billion nationwide for affordable housing investments and NYCHA repairs to help end homelessness in our district and support housing stability. These funds would create 35,000 new deeply affordable and supportive homes across New York. They would also be used to repair roofs, lead issues, and pipes in NYCHA properties.

• Allows the federal government to lower prescription drug prices so that everyone in our district, regardless of your insurance plan, could have access to life-saving medication. Given recent insurance lapses for thousands in my district, I know how essential this provision is.

• More than $15 billion for VA facilities that serve our veterans by making long overdue improvements to facilities and making sure we prioritize climate resiliency into projects. 

These are just a few of the much-needed investments I’m working with my democratic colleagues and the White House to advance. Everyone in New York’s 16th Congressional District deserves healthy, climate resilient, and safe communities. I look forward to continuing to work to pass President Biden’s agenda and deliver this change for our district. 

As always, do not hesitate to reach out if my office can be of assistance. We look forward to hearing from you. If you would like to follow along with my advocacy this week, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter at @RepBowman, on Instagram at @congressmanbowman, or on Facebook at facebook.com/repbowman. 

Sincerely,

Jamaal Bowman