10th News: Autumn Leaves

October 7, 2022

I hope you and your family enjoyed the first weekend of autumn, and to those who observed Rosh Hashanah earlier this week, Shanah Tovah, Happy New Year—I wish you a year filled with good health, happiness, and peace.

I'm back in Washington this week after spending the Rosh Hashanah holiday with my family. Our first priority this week is striking a deal with the Senate to fund the government and avoid a shutdown Friday at midnight. I am optimistic that my colleagues on both sides of the Capitol will come together to keep our government open and serving the American people.

In the House, we're also working to pass legislation to improve access to mental health services for students and those covered under employer-sponsored health insurance plans, to promote fair competition in our economy, and to make voting more accessible to people with disabilities.

Last week we passed a number of important bills, including the Peace Corps Reauthorizing Act of 2021 and four public safety bills: the Mental Health Justice Act of 2022 to provide grants to train mental health professionals to assist in responding to emergency calls; Invest to Protect Act of 2022 to support police forces in small towns and communities with fewer than 125 officers; Break the Cycle of Violence Act to provide community grants for gun violence reduction programs; and the Violent Incident Clearance & Technological Methods (VICTIM) Act of 2022 to help communities improve clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings.

Also, in a significant step to help ensure confidence in our presidential elections, we passed the Presidential Election Reform Act (PERA) to reform the Electoral Count Act and make sure that the events of January 6, 2021, do not happen again. This bill now is with the Senate and will hopefully soon move to the President for his signature.

In an inspiring show of bipartisanship, both Republican and Democratic Members of Congress wore purple last Monday in mutual recognition of National Recovery Month. I was proud to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the end of substance abuse stigma. And I'm proud to have introduced the Substance Use Disorder Workforce Act, which would train more doctors to combat the opioid epidemic.

Finally, last week, I had the privilege to meet with some of Eduardo Uvaldo's wonderful family in my office in Washington. Eduardo was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who was tragically murdered at the Highland Park July 4th parade. His family shared memories of him, his life and his passions. After we met, they went to meet Senators to advocate for the Senate to take up the assault weapons ban I helped pass in the House in July.

Please keep reading for more information about what is happening in Washington and at home.

AROUND THE DISTRICT

Calling for Action to End Gun Violence

While the families of the victims of the July 4 shooting are advocating for an assault weapons ban in Congress, several local communities have recently passed resolutions calling for federal and state action on gun safety and violence. These communities, including Highland Park, Northbrook, Winnetka, Glencoe, and Wilmette, are rightfully tired of seeing and experiencing the devasting tragedy of gun violence in our country. They're asking for common-sense gun safety regulations such as more robust background checks, improved red-flag laws, barring dangerous people from owning firearms, ending illegal gun sales, and removing weapons of war from our streets.

I applaud these communities for taking up these resolutions. I'm proud that I helped secure $560,000 in federal funding this year for the Lake County Gun Violence Prevention Initiative, and I am working to secure another $750,000 for the coming fiscal year. In Washington, I helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Biden signed into law, to strengthen background checks for people under 21-years-old, incentivize states to enact red flag laws, crack down on illegal gun sales, and close the boyfriend loophole for domestic abusers. And I helped bring the Assault Weapons Ban to the House floor for a vote in which it successfully passed.

Additionally, as noted above, the House passed four public safety bills last week. These bills target the root causes of crime to break the cycle, invest in our law enforcement officers, help police clear cases to hold violent criminals accountable, and improve our response to mental health emergencies.

Enough is enough, and I will continue to call on my colleagues in both the House and Senate to maintain our momentum on this issue, so we can end the epidemic of gun violence and keep our communities safe. You can read about these resolutions by clicking below:

Ruck March of Lake County

It is estimated that every day, 22 veterans are lost to suicide. Last week, I attended the Ruck March of Lake County in Lake Villa. Walkers and marchers traversed 22 miles to honor and remember those we've lost and to support efforts to prevent veteran suicide. I am glad to be able to support their efforts, and I will continue to advocate for policies that support those who valiantly served our country.

Celebrating Korean American Association of Chicago's 60th Year

The Korean American Association of Chicago hosted a joyous Gala celebrating their 60th anniversary of serving the more than 150,000 Korean Americans living in Illinois. It was a great honor to be able to speak to those gathered on this happy occasion.

5 Tenth District Schools Recognized with the National Blue Ribbon Award

Also last week, I was excited to learn that five schools in our district—Daniel Wright Junior High School in Lincolnshire, Deerfield High School, and Wood Oaks Junior High School, Westmoor and Wescott Elementary Schools in Northbrook—were recipients of the the National Blue Ribbon Award. This is a prestigious recognition given to only 297 schools in the nation (and 17 in Illinois) for significant improvements in students' academic achievement. Congratulations again to each of these remarkable schools.

HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON

Celebrating Two Years of The Abraham Accords

Earlier this month, the Abraham Accords Caucus partnered with the American Jewish Committee and ISRAEL-Is, a non-governmental organization that connects young leaders from Abraham Accords countries to hold a roundtable celebrating the two-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords signing. We discussed how the Accords have positively impacted the panelists' lives and countries in the past two years.

When the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Israel signed the Abraham Accords on the White House lawn two years ago, they launched a shift toward peace, prosperity, and normalization of relations between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East and North Africa. My fellow Caucus co-chairs look forward to continuing our efforts to deepen and expand the Accords to advance safety and prosperity in the region.

Protecting Public Safety

We're often given a false choice between public safety and justice. We need to do both and that's why I was proud to help pass 4 bills in the House that would do just that. These bills target the root causes of crime to break the cycle, invest in our law enforcement officers, help police clear cases to hold violent criminals accountable, and improve our response to mental health emergencies. We all deserve to feel safe in our communities, and I'm focused on working to make that goal a reality.

Expanding Home Visiting and Mental Health Services

Last week in the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, I helped introduce and advance legislation to help families in the 10th District and across the country receive critical health services. I was honored to help lead the Jackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act and the Behavioral Health Integration Awareness (BHIA) Act along with my colleagues, Representatives Jason Smith (R- MO) and Drew Ferguson (R-GA).

You can read the full announcement here.

The Jackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act — named to honor Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (IN-02) who tragically passed away in a car accident in August — would double funding for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program over the next five years. In Illinois alone, about 17,000 families benefit from home visiting programs.

You can read the bill here.

The BHIA Act improves access to mental health services for Medicare beneficiaries in response to the mental health crisis by promoting behavioral health integration (BHI) billing codes in primary care, directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct educational outreach to health care professionals about BHI billing codes and services covered by Medicare. The BHIA will ensure that health care professionals are up to date on the latest requirements and procedures for billing behavioral health services for better patient outcomes.

You can read the bill's announcement here.

Urging the EU to Designate Hizballah as a Terrorist Organization

In my work on the Foreign Affairs committee, I co-led a bipartisan resolution urging the EU to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist organization, and I'm proud to share in passed the House last week. Hizballah continues to menace Israel and the entire Middle East by leveraging global financial connections to fund its nefarious activities. To mitigate the threats Hizballah poses to the region, the U.S. should lead our global partners, such as the EU, to recognize Hizballah in its entirety for what it is: a terrorist organization. This change would be an important step toward limiting Hizballah's ability to funnel foreign aid into terrorist activities by its military wing.

You can read the full resolution here.

Fixing a Tax Loophole and Providing Additional Funding for Gun Violence Prevention

I, along with Representatives Danny K. Davis (IL-07); Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09); Earl Blumenauer (OR-01); Tom Suozzi (NY-03); Gwen Moore (WI-04); and Dwight Evans (PA-03) introduced The Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act–legislation to create guaranteed annual funding for gun violence prevention. This bill would close an undeserved tax loophole to ensure that assault weapons are taxed like other firearms, and to direct the associated revenues to invest in community gun violence prevention efforts. Passing this legislation would be a critical step toward addressing the gun violence epidemic in my community and communities across the country.

You can read the full announcement here.

2023 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles

This week, the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) announced the 2023 standard premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for Part A and Part B programs—nearly all of which decreased from 2022.

The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $164.90 for 2023, an annual decrease of $62.40. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $226 in 2023, a decrease of $7 from this year's annual deductible of $233. The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible that beneficiaries pay if admitted to the hospital will be $1,600 in 2023, which is an increase of $44 from $1,556.

I applaud the changes to the Part B premiums to reduce the out-of-pocket health care costs for millions of seniors and beneficiaries living with disabilities.

You can learn all the facts and details about these changes here.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITY

Please visit my website at schneider.house.gov/local-resources to find resources for the following services, and more:

Affordable Internet Connectivity Program
Smart 9-1-1
9-8-8 Suicide And Crisis Lifeline, 9-8-8 for Veterans
Maternal Mental Health Hotline
Uniting for Ukraine
Unincorporated Residents Eligible for Flood Insurance Premium Discounts
Ride Lake County

IN CLOSING –

In my last newsletter, I introduced you all to Jake Kaplan, our new District Director, and I now want to take the time to introduce to you my casework team (C-Team) that works tirelessly to help assist you with various issues and federal agencies, ranging from Social Security and the IRS to Medicare and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The C-Team (pictured above) is led by Laura Hoyne and includes Patrice Campbell, Adrian Arellano, and Gloria Kuechenberg. At last count, the C-Team closed more than 2,000 cases and helped recover $3,483,123 for taxpayers.

I am grateful and proud to have a team dedicated to ensuring the federal government works for you. Please don't ever hesitate to call our office for assistance with a federal matter. I can assure you will be in good hands with the C-Team.

Stay strong, stay safe, stay healthy.
Sincerely,
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Bradley S. Schneider
Member of Congress