Congresswoman Angie Craig end of year update

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 30, 2019

CONTACT
Jen Gates
Jen.Gates@mail.house.gov

Congresswoman Angie Craig Gets Results for Minnesotans in First Year in Congress

[12/30/19] – Since January, Rep. Craig has prioritized listening to and working for her constituents. She has worked with anyone, including across the aisle and with the administration on policies that benefit Minnesota’s Second Congressional District, and has pushed back on any policies that will harm them.

That’s why the most recent bill Rep. Craig introduced was the bipartisan Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 with Reps. Meadows (NC-11), Bustos (IL-17) and Gianforte (MT-At large) aimed to save significant taxpayer dollars by cutting down on government waste in the form of overpayments, underpayments, improperly documented payments or payments made to ineligible recipients.

“I am humbled and honored to represent our families in Minnesota’s Second District. Every day, I look for ways to find common ground on the issues that impact the lives of hardworking Minnesotans,” said Rep. Craig. “I will never stop fighting to lower the cost of health care, invest in our infrastructure, support our family farmers, and fund special education and career and technical skills in this country.”

Over the past year, Rep. Craig has authored 17 bills and cosponsored another 339, more than two-thirds of which are bipartisan. She has hosted 12 town halls, her office has held 18 mobile office hours and saved $130,463 dollars for Minnesotans.

Here’s a closer look at her work:

Lowering the cost of health care and prescription drug costs

Rep. Craig is working to make high-quality, affordable health care available to every Minnesotan in their community. She has:

• Introduced State Health Care Premium Reduction Act aimed at lowering the cost of health insurance by an estimated 8{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} for people in the individual market place. Her bill has bipartisan support, passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee and is incorporated in the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019.
• Introduced the Emergency Access to Insulin Act to provide states with federal grants to set up short-term emergency insulin supplies for uninsured and underinsured patients, help patients find affordable and long-term insulin options and penalize big pharmaceutical companies for excessive price increases.
• Cosponsored a suite of bills to lower the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs, including:
  • The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which has passed out of the House
  • The Price Relief, Innovation, and Competition For Essential Drugs (PRICED) Act
  • The BLOCKING Act
  • The Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act

• • The CREATES Act, which was included in the House End-Of-Year package and passed with overwhelming bipartisan support

 Investing in Our Schools, Students, and Teachers

Rep. Craig believes all our students deserve high-quality education – including fully funded public schools. Our teachers must have our unwavering support, and a range of post-secondary options should be incorporated into our schools. She has:

• Led the cosponsorship of the bipartisan IDEA Full Funding Act with Republican Rep. Pete Stauber to finally fully fund special education, alleviating some of the pressures our schools face that cause them to rely on passing referendums.
• Introduced the 21st Century Workforce Partnerships Act to help address Minnesota’s forecasted workforce shortage.
• Cosponsored the Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2019 aimed to invest unprecedented levels in our schools by rebuilding the physical grounds of schools and increasing broadband access.
• Cosponsored the bipartisan Restoring Tax Fairness for States and Localities Act which gives educators a $1,000 deduction for out-of-pocket classroom expenses.

Supporting Family Farmers

Rep. Craig grew up watching her grandfather farm until the farm crisis of the 1980’s forced him out. That’s why she fights tirelessly to support our family farmers on the Agriculture Committee. She has:

• Worked for months to help finalize a United States-Mexico-Canada final trade agreement that is good for family farmers and protects American workers – without providing a hand out to big pharmaceutical companies.
• Introduced the Responsible & Efficient Agriculture Destination (TREAD) Act to give farmers and ranchers more flexibility (150 air miles) to finish their routes when transporting live animals and perishable goods.
• Introduced the bipartisan Seeding Rural Resilience Act to address the insufficient mental health resources in our rural communities.
• Introduced the bipartisan Feed Emergency Enhancement During Disasters (FEEDD) Act which would give farmers and ranchers additional emergency flexibility and help alleviate feed concerns.
• Cosponsored the Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 aimed to help farmers restructure their debt amidst this difficult farm economy, this bill passed out of the House in July and was signed into law by the President in August.

Fighting for Transportation and Infrastructure Improvements

Rep. Craig is a strong advocate for local transportation and infrastructure priorities across the District. She has:

• Introduced the bipartisan Local Water Protection Act to protect local water quality with voluntary conservation through state and local partnerships. This bill has passed on the House floor with overwhelming bipartisan support.
• Introduced the bipartisan Resilience Revolving Loan Fund of 2019, a bipartisan bill to provide low-interest loans to local communities to invest in disaster prevention projects, which passed out the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with unanimous bipartisan support.
• Asked Second District communities for their local transportation priorities, which she brought to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ahead of the surface transportation bill expected next year.

Defending our Democracy

Since her first day in office, Rep. Craig has been working to get big money out of our politics, make it easier to vote, and keeping conflicts of interest out of Washington.

• The first bill Rep. Craig cosponsored was the For the People Act, aimed to end the dominance of big money in our politics, and make it easier to vote – which has now passed the House.
• Rep. Craig also sponsored the Restoring Integrity in Democracy Resolution which prohibits Members of Congress from serving on for-profit boards, which was included in the For the People Act.
• Rep. Craig introduced the HUMBLE Act which bans former Members of Congress from lobbying, bans individual stock ownership among Members, bans the use of House facilities as former Member perks and bans the use of taxpayer money for first-class airfare.

By the Numbers 

• 17 bills, amendments and resolutions introduced
• 339 bills cosponsored
• More than 75{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of her bills are bipartisan
• 6,543 Miles traveled from Belle Plaine to Wabasha and everywhere in between
• 12 town halls
• 18 mobile office hours
• 280 outreach meetings
• 36,387 letters sent
• 383 Minnesotans helped navigate the federal government
• $130,463 saved for Minnesotans