Dear John,
You may have heard that last week Congress officially passed funding for almost every federal department and agency through September 2026. These funds come directly from your tax dollars, and as such, I want to take a moment to discuss how the funding process works and break down what exactly your money is paying for – and what it isn’t. |
Back in July 2025, President Trump signed his “One Big Beautiful Bill” into law. This bill moved through a special process called reconciliation, which is a funding bill that only passes when one party controls all chambers of government. Reconciliation is not tied to a specific fiscal year but instead makes additional changes to what is normally spent for various agencies and programs. I voted against this bill for many reasons, which I will share below, but it ultimately passed with the support of the Republican majority in Congress. |
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Over the past few months, Congress has passed the regular, annual appropriations bills, which determine specifics about where money goes within each department.
Think of it like this: the “One Big Beautiful Bill” is like a bonus the government gets on top of its annual salary. The party in charge can determine how much is spent and where, as long as there is a connection to spending, revenue, or our national debt. Now that the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and almost all appropriations bills have been signed into law, we are starting to feel the real impacts of this Administration’s priorities. |
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” slashed funding for Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion, leaving more than 13,000 residents in our district completely without health insurance coverage. On top of that, since Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expired at the beginning of 2026, 19,000 people in Chester and Berks Counties have lost their Pennie coverage, and about 5,500 of them cannot afford to replace this with any other health insurance.
All in all, the Republican majority’s budget has pulled health insurance from more than 33,000 people in our community, raised copays for almost 15,000 of us, and will directly cause $7 million of medical debt here in our district. |
As health care becomes less affordable in our community, additional strain is added to our local hospitals, which hurts every one of us – no matter where we get our health insurance. When I toured Phoenixville Hospital in November, health care professionals shared that they were already working beyond capacity to accommodate higher numbers of patients. As they explained, having more uninsured residents in our area means fewer people can get the preventative care they need, which brings more people to the emergency room and puts pressure on a hospital system already working hard to keep up. Additionally, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" undermines and destabilizes our rural hospitals across Pennsylvania. |
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The “One Big Beautiful Bill” ended investments in clean energy and home improvement credits, while also revoking already-approved grants that were supporting domestic energy production. As a result, here in our district, electricity costs have gotten about $200 higher. Now, our average monthly energy bill costs $426 in Reading and $623 in West Chester.
Grocery shopping hits us harder these days, too – in our district, a month of groceries is now almost $1,200 on average. Meanwhile, the Republican budget stripped SNAP benefits from 143,000 Pennsylvanians, leaving more people with less resources to buy food as costs keep climbing. |
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One of the most frustrating parts of this cost-of-living crisis is that it did not happen by accident. On top of a budget that fails to meet our basic needs, President Trump’s tariffs have spiked costs for many of the products we buy every day. For working- and middle-class families here in Chester and Berks, tariffs have directly added $1,980 in extra costs. |
Not only does this Republican budget spike health care and energy costs for most Pennsylvanians, but it does so specifically to line the pockets of the ultra-wealthy. People making over $1 million per year – less than three percent of Pennsylvanians – will receive $114 billion in tax cuts just next year alone. Because your earnings are paying for these tax cuts, hospitals in our community are under pressure, utility bills in our neighborhoods are barely affordable, and everything is more expensive. |
As I mentioned, Congress has passed bills to fund nearly every department and program within the Republican budget, with one exception: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Recent actions by ICE, including the killings of two American citizens and the Trump Administration’s efforts to block investigations of these deaths, have shown us that this agency – which was intended to keep our country safe – is fundamentally contradicting its mission and putting all of us at risk. |
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” also included a blank $75 billion check for ICE, as part of an even larger DHS budget, which was another reason I voted against that bill in July. My concerns about lawfulness and accountability for ICE have only grown since then, especially as the agency’s presence has encroached on our own backyard. In light of recent ICE arrests in Phoenixville and the $87 million detention center just purchased in Berks County, I am clear-eyed about my responsibility to protect our community. I have repeatedly voted against funding DHS as I work to restore lawfulness and accountability to ICE, because we all deserve an immigration system that is truly rooted in public safety and the rule of law. |
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While many parts of this current budget are harmful for our community, I am incredibly proud to have secured community funding grants for 14 major projects in Chester and Berks Counties, totaling $12 million worth of investments in our district. We have been fighting to fund these projects for over two years. From expanding memory care facilities for seniors with dementia to building and improving fire stations across our district, these grants provide direct support to address our real needs. You can read more about each one of the investments I secured here.
This is a challenging and dangerous time to serve in Congress, but I am committed to finding ways to support our community, no matter the obstacles. Securing this funding for Chester and Berks Counties is the result of that commitment. |
Last night in Phoenixville, I hosted my seventh annual State of the Sixth town hall, where I discussed these and many other issues our community has faced in the last year. If you missed it, you can listen to the State of the Sixth, along with all of my other previous town halls, via our online archives. I was grateful to connect with many in our community last night, and I look forward to sharing more about our conversation soon. |
Serving as our community’s representative in Congress is the honor and privilege of my lifetime and I hope you will reach out about the issues you care about. As always, please contact my office if you need assistance.
Sincerely, |
Chrissy Houlahan U.S. Member of Congress
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