Shaheen Introduces Amendments to Budget Resolution that Would Protect Families and Businesses from Rising Prices, Keep Americans Safe and Lower Health Care Costs

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a top member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will offer dozens of amendments to the budget resolution tonight that would help make health care more affordable, lower the costs of energy bills, protect American consumers and businesses from rising prices imposed by President Trump’s tariffs and keep Americans safe by enhancing military preparedness, strengthening our air traffic controller workforce and investing in the northern border. 

“While some of my Republican colleagues seem set on using tonight’s process to carve out a path to give tax cuts to the wealthiest in the country on the backs of working Americans, I’m urging bipartisan cooperation on commonsense opportunities that would allow working families to keep more of their hard-earned money and enhance public safety,” said Shaheen. “We have a real opportunity to deliver lasting results for our constituents who are grappling with high costs—unfortunately, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are instead focusing on delivering a tax cut for the wealthiest while slashing programs millions rely on.” 

Below is an overview of the dozens of amendments Senator Shaheen will offer for consideration tonight. 

To help lower everyday costs, Shaheen will offer amendments that would: 

• Support housing affordability by preventing construction cost increases due to tariffs and delays and expanding investment in housing development. 

• Help households afford groceries, including preventing broad tariffs which would raise the price of food or cuts to food aid for families. 

• Prevent funding cuts to child care or early childhood education programs helping New Hampshire families. 

• Support affordable housing in disaster recovery by rebuilding with resilient and cost-effective methods, especially those that lower home insurance rates. 

• Lower sugar prices for American businesses and consumers harmed by the U.S. sugar program. 

To help make health care more affordable and accessible, Shaheen will offer amendments that would: 

• Prioritize Affordable Care Act tax credits that give 22 million Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance. 

• Ensure that Medicaid expansion programs aren't eliminated by drastic cuts to federal funding, including New Hampshire’s Granite Advantage covering more than 60,000 Granite Staters. 

• Ensure that patients suffering from diabetes do not face unnecessary barriers to care, including access to $35 insulin. 

• Ensure hospitals and doctors working in rural areas can keep their doors open and continue providing lifesaving care for their patients. 

• Ensure that our community health centers can continue to provide vital care to their patients. 

To help enhance public safety and keep families secure, Shaheen will offer amendments that would: 

• Make investments in the Air Traffic Controller workforce and overturn the reckless firing of hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration personnel critical to aviation safety. 

• Improve cell service and communications for emergency services along the northern border. 

• Ensure that DHS has the technology needed to monitor and defend the U.S.-Canada border against the flow of drugs and illegal migration. 

• Raise pay for U.S. Bureau of Prisons correctional officers in New Hampshire and across the country. 

• Preserve funding for programs that support survivors of sexual and domestic violence. 

• Ensure local law enforcement agencies and communities are not left with the bill for unfunded federal mandates. 

• Prioritize the deportation of undocumented individuals who pose threats to our national security or public safety. 

• Ensure that increased funding for the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security is focused on stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. 

To help lower American households’ energy costs, Shaheen will offer amendments that would: 

• Protect Americans from higher energy costs for gas, heating oil and propane due to broad tariffs. 

• Protect bipartisan investments that lower energy costs, promote electric grid reliability and improve drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, including addressing PFAS contamination. 

• Protect families, farmers and businesses from higher energy costs by ensuring energy saving and renewable energy projects funded by Congress continue. 

• Prevent Congress from blocking state or local governments from updating their building codes to protect life and property, reduce losses from disasters or lower energy costs for families. 

• Support energy efficient building construction and retrofits to lower energy costs and enhance electric grid reliability. 

• Support resources that help make home heating more affordable, including energy assistance from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and weatherization. 

To help bolster America’s national security and support American service members and their families, Shaheen will offer amendments that would: 

• Support military service members, veterans and families, including by protecting family members who were recently fired from federal employment solely because they were new to a job. 

• Replenish the defense industrial base ramping up to support Ukraine. 

• Replenish the defense industrial base ramping up to support the defense of Taiwan. 

• Ensure that the United States continues its commitments to NATO, which supports the collective defense of the United States. 

• Resume U.S. foreign assistance that counters Chinese influence. 

• Ensure that federal employees essential to national security are not impacted by the OMB buyout and federal hiring freeze memos. 

• Require oversight over wasteful spending. 

• Protect DoD's policy that ensures service women receive the same coverage for contraception as civilian women. 

• Ensure that service women, who are stationed in areas without access to reproductive care, through no fault of their own, can be reimbursed for the cost of travel. 

• Ensure that U.S. farmers do not suffer economic harm due to the freeze on U.S. assistance. 

• Protect U.S. small businesses and contractors from a pause on U.S. foreign assistance. 

Additional amendments would: 

• Prevent a reduction in postal service for rural America, including by preventing the closure of processing centers. 

• Ensure that Americans are protected against fraud, price gouging and higher rental and housing prices caused by illegal price information sharing. 

• Support funding to assist Afghan SIVs and refugee resettlement. 

• Cut more than $40 billion in wasteful agriculture spending going to large corporate farm operations while preserving benefits to small family farms. 

• Ensure strong funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission. 

• Prevent adding $5 trillion of tax cuts to the national debt and raising interest rates when the Federal Government is already paying $1 trillion per year in interest. 

• Support screening for Avian Flu both domestically and overseas. 

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