E-Newsletter

On any given week here in the House of Representatives, I vote on a wide variety of legislation that affects Virginians in different ways. This past week (June 20^th) was no exception. Below is a breakdown of just a portion of the bills I voted on.

The CHOICE Arrangement Act

The Custom Health Option and Individual Care Expense (CHOICE) Arrangements Act, which I voted in favor of, codifies a 2019 Trump Administration rule allowing small businesses to reimburse employees for buying their own health insurance on the individual market through health reimbursement arrangements, as well as providing tax-advantaged funds for qualified medical expenses.

The bill also expands Association Health Plans by allowing those who are self-employed to come together to create a buying pool for health insurance. This is beneficial for certain sectors, with sole practitioners, who need more health care options and flexibility.

One such sector are REALTORS® who usually work for a brokage but are almost always legally considered self-employed. When the Trump Administration instituted this change in 2019, REALTORS®, among others, saw premium reductions of over 50 percent.

Unfortunately, Democrats in the House are against this flexible health care proposal. No Democrat voted for the bill.

Further, the Biden Administration has worked to prevent these health plans from being used. I believe they want more individuals in the flawed health insurance exchange, Obamacare. 

The Administration has even gone so far as to have taken action to stop Virginia from enforcing a state law allowing these same kind of health insurance benefits. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to Governor Youngkin in May saying CMS would step in to enforce “specified federal market reforms” if Virginia continued to fail to do so.

If CMS were to do this, it would prevent individuals, like REALTORS®, from joining together to buy health insurance, which helps to lower their premiums and costs. 

Other groups that could benefit include accounts, lawyers, and insurance agents in small firms.

The CHOICE Arrangements Act also allows for groups to band together across state lines to purchase health coverage. This is great for folks in the Ninth District who live close to the state line (Bristol, Bluefield, Martinsville, and Galax).

Eliminating a Tax on Those with Good Credit

In the aftermath of the 2008 housing crisis, government-sponsored mortgage insurers (like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) began charging a one-time fee as a risk-based pricing tool to encourage responsible lending. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration’s Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) created a new rule updating how the fee was set, based on a borrower’s credit score.

Much to the shock of most everyone, the new fee structure penalized those people with good credit and rewarded those people with not-so-good credit. Borrowers with good credit scores would be charged higher fees, while those with not-so-good credit scores would have their fees lowered.

With this new rule, the Biden Administration expects those with higher credit to subsidize those who are a riskier bet.

How does that make sense? Why would we punish people for working hard to improve their credit score?

In response to this new rule, House Republicans brought H.R. 3564, the Middle-Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023, to the floor. This bill, which I voted for, eliminates this new tax on homebuyers with good credit, ensuring that the Administration cannot force Americans to subsidize risky loans. Also, 14 Democrats crossed the aisle and voted for it.

Censuring Adam Schiff

Additionally, I and other House Republicans voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the former Chairman of the Intel Committee. While Chairman, Rep. Schiff falsely claimed for years that he had proof of Russia colluding with former President Trump. He used his power as the Chairman to weaponize the Intel Committee, lying to the rest of Congress and the American public about what he knew. Schiff’s censuring follows Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s removal of Schiff from the Intel Committee in January.

Now House Republicans have held Rep. Schiff accountable for years of lying. And with this censure comes a House Ethics investigation into Schiff’s actions.

As seen above, the House covered a wide breath of subjects on the House floor. And this is only a few from the entire week, along with hearings and meetings.

Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India addressed Members of Congress at a Joint Meeting of Congress.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.

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