117th Congress Achievements

Achievements:

• Leadership in the U.S. Congress

• Bills Introduced that Have Become Law

• Notable Co-Sponsored Legislation Signed into Law

• Major Legislation Signed into Law

• Boosting our Regional Economy

• Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic

• Securing Water for Our Valley

• Valley Local Projects

• Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

• Expanding Access to Healthcare

• Cutting Down on Government Spending 

• Fixing our Supply Chains

• Securing Funding for Public Safety

• Reducing Gun Violence

• Investing in Law Enforcement

• Improving Mental Health Services

• Cracking Down on Crime

• Combatting Domestic Violence

Leadership in the U.S. Congress

• Costa serves as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture which has jurisdiction over all policies and statutes relating to livestock, poultry, dairy, and seafood, including the promotion of such commodities and products, animal welfare, trade promotion, inspection, and marketing.

• Costa is co-founder and chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Crime Survivors and Justice Caucus, which works alongside allied organizations to identify, address, and elevate the needs of crime survivors through legislation, education, and public awareness.

• Costa serves as the U.S. Chairman of the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue, whichsupports relationships between members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the European Parliament. The inter-parliamentary group meets twice per year, once in the United States and once in Europe. Created in 1999, the dialogue is committed to bipartisanship and focuses on issues of mutual concern between the United States and the European Union: including trade, economic policy, energy, and climate policy, data protection, counterterrorism, and cybersecurity. 

• Costa serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Portuguese Caucus, which aims to strengthen the long-standing ties between the United States and Portugal.

• Costa launched the Congressional Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, which is committed to increasing organ and tissue donation and raising awareness of the national organ shortage.

• Costa serves as a member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which is charged with promoting, defending, and advocating for international human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant human rights instruments.

• Costa is Co-Chair of the Congressional Rodeo Caucus, which serves as an informal group dedicated to issues of the rodeo industry and helping to facilitate a constructive dialogue about animal welfare.

Bills Introduced that Have Become Law

• H.R.6023- Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Reauthorization Act: Bipartisan legislation would require the United States Postal Service (USPS) to sell approximately 45 million Saving Vanishing Species Stamps left in stock to promote wildlife conservation.

• H.R.3272 - Biodiesel, Renewable Diesel, and Alternative Fuels Extension Act: Legislation that would amend the Internal Revenue Code to extend and modify the tax credits for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and alternative fuels. This bill was signed into law as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

• H.R.2969 - Special Guerrilla Unit Veterans Service Recognition Expansion Act: Bipartisan legislation that expands eligibility for interment in national cemeteries to all Hmong and Lao citizens who fought in support of the United States during the Vietnam War. This bill was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2022.

• H.R.867 - High-Speed Rail Corridor Development Act: Legislation that would provide federal funding for federally designated high-speed rail corridors like California's High-Speed Rail project connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles via the San Joaquin Valley. Provisions from this bill were included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

• H.R. 9043 – Respect for Child Survivors Act: Bipartisan legislation to formalize a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) to implement the use of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in child sexual abuse and exploitation cases.  

• H.R. 7419 – Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2022: Bipartisan legislation that would provide funding to Children's Advocacy Centers to help victims of child abuse and strengthen law enforcement's response to hold perpetrators accountable. This bill was signed into law as part of the Respect for Child Survivors Act.  

• H.R. 3022 - To modify the project for flood control, Redbank and Fancher Creeks, California, to allow a non-Federal interest to establish conservation pools, and for other purposes. Costa secured $200,000 for Fancher and Redbank Creek projects to increase water supply, improve regional flood protection, and enhance environmental protection in a disadvantaged region.

Notable Co-Sponsored Legislation Signed into Law

• Ocean Shipping Reform Act ensures shipping carriers treat American exporters fairly by accepting U.S. cargo after bringing imports into the country.

• Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT)  Act, legislation that will treat toxic exposures as a cost of war and expand access to earned benefits and healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

• Access to Baby Formula Act grants the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the authority to waive certain requirements so that vulnerable families can continue purchasing safe infant formula with their WIC benefits during extenuating circumstances, such as a public health emergency or supply chain disruption. 

• Emmett Till Antilynching Act makes lynching a federal hate crime offense.

• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), modifies and reauthorizes through FY2026 programs and activities under the Violence Against Women Act that seek to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. This bill was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget.

• Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Actestablishes grants and requires other activities to improve mental and behavioral health among health care providers.

• PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act implements a program and a policy related to service dog therapy for veterans.

• Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and maintain three new centers of the Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (RANGE) Program in areas with interest from personnel and a need for additional mental health care for rural veterans.

• Bulk Infant Formula to Retail Shelves Act temporarily lifts tariffs on safe imported ‘base powder,’ a key foundational component that is mixed with nutrients and other ingredients to make the formula that parents buy on store shelves or online, through the end of the year. 

• Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act establishes a framework for immediate family members of a victim of murder under federal law to request a review of the victim's case file if the murder was committed more than three years prior, the murder was investigated by a federal law enforcement entity, all probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and no likely perpetrator has been identified.

• The Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the legacy of Harriet Tubman as an abolitionist.

• A resolution to award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration to the servicemembers who perished in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021, during the evacuation of citizens of the United States and Afghan allies at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and for other purposes.

Major Legislation Signed into Law

• Inflation Reduction Act, historic legislation to lower kitchen table costs, create millions of good-paying jobs through the most significant action on climate in American history and dramatically reduce the deficit.

  • Slashes prescription drug costs: For the first time empowers Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs; prevents Big Pharma from unjustified price hikes in Medicare; and creates a new out-of-pocket cap for Part D drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries of $2,000 a year – as well as a $35 per month cap on co-pays for insulin.

  • Lower health care cost:  Locking in lower health care premiums that save 13 million people an average of $800 a year, by extending ACA-enhanced subsidies for three more years.

  • Lower energy costs and delivers largest-ever climate action:  Invests in domestic energy production and manufacturing, while reducing carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030 with historic investments in energy security and tackling the climate crisis. 

  • Lower the deficit and reduces inflation: Makes a historic down payment on deficit reduction to fight inflation. According to 126 leading economists — including seven Nobel Prize winners, three former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers, and two former Treasury Secretaries — this law “will fight inflation and lower costs for American families while setting the stage for strong, stable, and broadly-shared long-term economic growth.”

• CHIPS and Science Act ensures the United States meets its capabilities to produce the most advanced chips at volume across the globe. 

  • Lowers costs for American consumers: by making more critical CHIPS components here in America, helping to end the shortage of chips that has driven up the price of everything from cars to consumer goods.  

  • Creates 100,000 new good-paying jobs: by building hi-tech manufacturing facilities here in America:

  • Ends our dangerous dependence on foreign manufacturers of chips: 

  • Turbocharges American R&D: powering America’s preeminence in basic research and next-generation technologies. 

• Honoring our PACT Act expands healthcare to over 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service. This is the first time in history that those suffering from exposure to burn pits and airborne hazards will receive healthcare benefits from the VA.  In particular, it provides additional coverage to post-9/11 veterans, K2 veterans, and Vietnam veterans, including those who served in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Now millions of American veterans finally have access to the care and benefits they’ve earned and rightfully deserve.

• The American Rescue Plan Act is a $1.9 trillion package to address the unprecedented coronavirus health and economic crisis.  Its provisions focused on crushing the coronavirus, returning children safely to classrooms, getting COVID-19 vaccines to the American people, putting dollars into families’ pockets, and putting people back to work.

• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes a historic investment in improving our infrastructure, which will modernize our roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, airports, broadband, and drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. 

• The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan, bicameral life-saving bill, is the most significant piece of gun violence prevention legislation in nearly 30 years.  From suicide and domestic violence to gun violence in our cities and mass shooting, the bill creates commonsense gun safety regulations to tackle the problem from all angles. 

• The Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act strengthened the financing of pension plans, thereby ensuring workers would receive the benefits they worked throughout their careers for. 

• Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization (VAWA) makes key improvements to address gaps in current law, including making vital new investments in prevention, improving services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, and sexual assault, and working to better protect Native American women. VAWA was included in H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, and was signed into law in March 2022 as part of that bill.  

• Ocean Shipping Reform Act lowers the costs of American consumers by cracking down on the exorbitant fees charged by international ocean shipping companies, which are then passed onto American consumers.  The bill also cracks down on the ability of international shipping companies, when they have delivered Asian exports to our West Coast, to refuse to take American exports back to Asia, leaving with empty containers instead – which costs America’s farmers and ranchers.

• Postal Reform Act of 2022 makes critical reforms that put the Postal Service on a much stronger financial footing.  For example, it eliminates the requirement that the Postal Service pre-fund retiree health benefits for all current and retired employers for 75 years in the future, allowing the Postal Service to save $27 billion over 10 years.  

• Access To Baby Formula Act helped improve access to infant formula for vulnerable families who depend upon the WIC program during the infant formula shortage crisis.  

• Emmett Till Antilynching Act explicitly designates lynching as a hate crime under federal law for the first time.  The bill is named in honor of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American youth from Chicago who was lynched while visiting an uncle in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman.  Before this bill being signed, there was no federal law explicitly prohibiting lynching.  The enactment of this bill corrected this historic injustice. 

• The Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act ended all importation of energy products from Russia into the United States in response to Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine.

• Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Actsuspended normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus in response to Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine.  It also authorized the President to proclaim increases in the rates of duty applicable to products of Russia and Belarus.  

• Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act, a bipartisan bill that bolsters Ukraine’s war-fighting capabilities and enhances lend-lease authorities available to President Biden. It also ensures that shipments of urgently needed weapons systems, ammunition, and military assistance in other forms arrive in Ukrainian hands faster and more seamlessly.

• Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act allows sexual harassment and sexual assault survivors to elect to file a case in a court of law rather than be subject to forced arbitration provisions in cases involving sexual harassment or sexual assault, which deprive survivors of their rights.

• COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act requires a designated officer or employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate the expedited review of hate crimes and reports of hate crimes.

Boosting our Regional Economy

• Advocated and secured a $65.1 million American Rescue Plan “Build Back Better Regional Challenge” grant for the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (F3) Coalition led by the Central Valley Community Foundation, to drive agriculture innovation and boost our regional economy. 

• Advocated and helped secure a $23 million American Rescue Plan "Good Jobs Challenge" grant for the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to develop and spur the Central Valley's economy and create new, good-paying jobs in industries of high demand. Combined, Costa secured a total of $88 million in federal funding to boost its regional workforce and economy. 

• Secured a $1.2 million federal grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to bolster Fresno City College's ability to train and prepare students for good-paying jobs in welding and automotive repair.

• Helped secure a nearly $20 million grant through the American Rescue Plan for Fresno State for the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiative, which supports dairy businesses in California, Oregon, and Washington in the production, marketing, and distribution of dairy products. Fresno State students will benefit from a new internship program and research positions that will prepare them for future employment opportunities in the dairy industry. Learn more about the initiative here.

• Delivered an $854,900 federal grant through the American Rescue Plan to support newly created food pantries and neighborhood market programs to meet the increasing demand for food distribution services in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in sixteen nearby rural communities including Allensworth, Alpaugh, Biola, Cantua Creek, Coarsegold, Goshen, Ivanhoe, Oakhurst, Pixley, Poplar, Raisin City, Richgrove, San Joaquin, Strathmore, Tranquility, and Traver.

• Delivered $72,300 through the American Rescue Plan to purchase food and equipment for food distribution and increase food storage capacity in the communities of Caruthers, Lemon Cove, and Springville.

• Costa and Congressional Democrats have fought for and won $407,666,109 in energy assistance for California households since last May.

  • American Rescue Plan: $203,610,805

  • 2021 Continuing Resolution: $179,228,041

  • Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: $4,177,848

Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic

Costa voted for the American Rescue Plan to provide us with the tools to crush the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure a strong economic recovery. From supporting our small businesses, and vaccinating our communities to reopening our schools, Costa has continuously advocated ensuring the Valley received the resources needed to overcome this dreadful pandemic. 

• Delivered over $1 million to California's Central Valley to help local governments continue providing vital services to residents like emergency and public health services, retaining employees, and strengthening our efforts to distribute vaccines and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 across the Valley.

• Delivered $1,009,228,375 for Community Health Centers to help vaccinate communities in California.

• Secured $299 million in child tax credits for over 92,000 families in my district.

• Delivered $15,068,884,546 to help K-12 schools in California reopen safely, stay open safely, and get students back on track. secured $72,961,905 to help K-12 schools in my district.

• Secured $14 million in broadband funding for schools and libraries in my district, and $660 million for California so students can connect to distance learning.

• Secured $35,489,874 in restaurant grants for CA-16 small businesses.

• Secured $23,982,849 in Shuttered Venue Grants (SVOGs) for music and entertainment businesses in my district, and $2,030,989,118 for small businesses across California.

• Successfully advocated for a 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for families struggling with food insecurity nationwide.

• Secured more than $55 million in funding from the Payment instead of Taxes (PILT) program for California to help defray the costs associated with maintaining important community services in tax-exempt federal lands in their jurisdiction:

  • Fresno County, $3.3 million

  • Madera County, $1.2 million

  • Merced County, $100 thousand

• Delivered $1,009,228,375 for Community Health Centers to help vaccinate communities in California.

Securing Water for Our Valley

• Costa delivered $3.5 million for the City of Madera to rehabilitate a 50-year-old corroded pipeline responsible for carrying the City's wastewater to its treatment plant.

• Costa delivered $500,000 to study the viability of a project to expand the single-purpose Los Banos Creek into a multi-purpose reservoir, which would provide long-term solutions to flooding, drought, overdraft, and subsidence in Fresno, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus Counties. 

• Costa delivered $279,000 for the City of Dos Palos to replace a water clarifier at the city's aging water plant to ensure uninterrupted service for residents.

• Costa voted to deliver funding for critical water projects with more than $200 million to build, expand and repair water storage projects in California that will improve the state's ability to withstand the devastating impacts of sustained drought.

  • $60 million for the B.F. Sisk Dam expansion project near Los Banos to develop more than 130,000-acre-feet of additional water storage; 

  • $80 million for construction of the Sites Reservoir, a 1.81-million-acre-foot off-stream surface storage reservoir in the Sacramento Valley; 

  • $50 million for the Los Vaqueros Reservoir expansion project in the Bay Area to develop an additional 115,000-acre-foot of water storage and new conveyance infrastructure; 

  • $15 million for the construction of the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir near Patterson, an 82,000-acre-foot off-stream storage reservoir.

• Costa voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which includes significant funding to repair our water infrastructure, including the largest investment in clean drinking water infrastructure in American history.  

  • $1.15 billion to improve water storage in California and the San Joaquin Valley, which could benefit B.F. Sisk Dam, Sites Reservoir, Los Vaqueros Reservoir, and Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir expansions. 

    • $25 million to the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Authority, to pursue the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project. The project is associated with the B.F. Sisk Safety of Dams Modification Project. Once complete, the project will develop approximately 130,000 acre-feet of additional storage.

    • $30 million for North of Delta Off-Stream Storage (Sites Reservoir Project) to pursue off-stream storage capable of up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water in the Sacramento River system located in the Coast Range mountains west of Maxwell, California. The reservoir would utilize new and existing facilities to move water into and out of the reservoir, with ultimate release to the Sacramento River system via existing canals, a new pipeline near Dunnigan, and the Colusa Basin Drain.

    • $82 million for the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Phase II to efficiently integrate approximately 115,000 acre-feet of additional storage through new conveyance facilities with existing facilities to allow Delta water supplies to be safely diverted, stored, and delivered to beneficiaries.

  • $3.2 billion to repair aging water infrastructure projects in California  

  • $3.5 billion to improve drinking water infrastructure in California 

  • $1 billion for rural water projects  

  • $500 million to repair aging dams and ensure safety, for projects like B.F. Sisk Dam/San Luis Reservoir    

  • $400 million for WaterSMART program grants for California water districts and farmers  

  • Funding to address drought, which includes:  

    • $1 billion to revitalize water recycling projects, which can expand water supplies   

    • $980 million to environmental programs in the West  

    • $250 million to bolster desalination water projects 

• Costa proudly voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which will provide $4 billion in drought resiliency funding to mitigate the impact of drought in the West, which would prioritize drought-prone areas such as the San Joaquin Valley. Costa was the only member from the central San Joaquin Valley to vote for this legislation. 

Valley Local Projects

Costa secured $11,004,664 from the Fiscal Year 2022 government funding package for 10 local projects that will respond directly to some of the most pressing needs in Fresno, Madera, and Merced counties. These include:

• $475,000 for Fresno City College to develop the Nurse Pipeline Extension Project, a collaborative program with Fresno State, to increase the number of Nurse Practitioners in the San Joaquin Valley;

• $1.9 million for the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation to construct a 60,000-square-foot training center in West Fresno to assist women, minorities, veterans, ex-offenders, at-risk and disconnected young adults, and other underrepresented individuals with job training and counseling;

• $500,000 to study the viability of a project to expand the single-purpose Los Banos Creek into a multi-purpose reservoir, which would provide long-term solutions to flooding, drought, overdraft, and subsidence in Fresno, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus Counties.

• $2 million for the Merced County Courthouse Museum to rehabilitate Merced County's most historic building, community gathering place, and educational resource;

• $279,000 for the City of Dos Palos to replace a water clarifier at the city's aging water plant to ensure uninterrupted service for residents.

• $3.5 million for the City of Madera to rehabilitate a 50-year-old corroded pipeline responsible for carrying the City's wastewater to its treatment plant;

• $950,000 for the City of Gustine to finish the water loop line from North Avenue to East Avenue, which will create a more stable and safe water distribution system;

• $625,000 for Madera Unified School District to ensure the district's approximately 5,500 English Language Learners address unfinished learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic;

• $475,000 for UCSF Fresno to construct an Alzheimer's Center and Center on Aging, which will provide clinical services for age-related care and serve as a center for geriatric and neurological education for students and residents;

• $300,000 for Advance Peace Fresno to intervene and help prevent gun violence by investing in communities and individuals disproportionately impacted by violent crime.

Secured Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

• Announced $555,295,299 in funding under the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the state of California, which would provide Californians with more transportation options, ease congestion in local communities, and reduce carbon pollution across the state.

• Secured $19.3 million to help San Joaquin Valley communities make transit safer and more efficient, funding new buses and rail cars, track and station repairs, and other safety initiatives.

  • Fresno- $4,338,876

  • Bakersfield- $3,189,817

  • Delano-$907,126

  • Hanford-$1,463,004

  • Lodi- $790,726

  • Madera- $966,660

  • Merced- $1,342,021

  • Porterville- $1,215,734

  • Turlock- $863,791

  • Modesto-$2,052,676

  • Visalia-$2,158,603

• Secured additional funding to support transit for seniors and persons with disabilities, funding key resources such as wheelchair lifts, mobility management programs, and accessible transit vehicles.

  • Fresno- $323,706

  • Bakersfield- $214,312

  • Modesto- $172,905

  • Visalia- $96,559

• Secured $9,558,501 to make much-needed improvements to San Joaquin Valley airports.

  • Fresno-Yosemite International Airport: $4,674,140

  • Fresno Chandler Executive: $295,000

  • Madera Municipal: $295,000

  • Firebaugh: $110,000

  • Los Banos Municipal: $159,000

  • Gustine: $110,000

  • Castle Airport: $159,000

  • Merced Regional: $295,000

  • Chowchilla: $159,000

  • Visalia Municipal: $295,000

  • Tulare Mefford Field: $159,000

  • Woodlake: $110,000

  • Reedley Municipal: $159,000

  • Meadows Field Bakersfield: $1,538,361

  • Bakersfield Municipal: $159,000

  • New Coalinga Municipal: $110,000

  • Hanford Municipal: $159,000

  • Mariposa-Yosemite: $159,000

  • Modesto City County-Harry Sham Field: $295,000

  • Porterville Municipal: $159,000

Expanding Access to Healthcare

• The American Rescue Plan helped Americans on Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans to save $67 a month on health insurance premiums – a total of more than $800 per person each year. Costa helped 590,000 people in California, and 6,000 people in his district newly enroll in health insurance.

• Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which makes health coverage more affordable for 13 million Americans by extending key Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits through 2025, benefiting nearly 25,000 people in my district.

  • Authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate the prices of high-cost prescription drugs starting in 2023.

  • Creates a new $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on prescription drugs (Medicare Part D) for Seniors on Medicare.

  • Caps insulin costs $35 per month for seniors and individuals with disabilities on Medicare.

  • Requires drug manufacturers to pay a rebate to Medicare if they increase their prices faster than the rate of inflation.

Cutting Down on Government Spending

• Cutting the Deficit in the Future: Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will make a historic down payment on deficit reduction of $300 billion to fight inflation. It honors our promise to the American people – and is fully paid for by making the biggest corporations and ultra-wealthy pay their fair share: 

• Establishes a 15 percent corporate minimum tax rate - which applies only to the 150 corporations earning over $1 billion in profits that pay less than 15% in taxes.

• Creates a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks to encourage companies to invest in production and workers instead of shareholder profits.

• Lowers the deficit and reduces inflation: Makes a historic down payment on deficit reduction of approximately $300 billion to fight inflation.

• NO new taxes on families making $400,000 or less and NO new taxes on small businesses: Not one middle-class person filling out their taxes will find that they are facing higher taxes or higher tax rates.

Fixing our Supply Chains

• The pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of our global supply chain, which is delaying shipments of everything from food to retail to healthcare supplies. Costa has been working on short-and-long-term solutions to strengthen our supply chains and make more products in America.

• Lowering the Costs at the Shelves: Took a lead role in passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which cracks down on exorbitant and unfair shipping fees charged by foreign shipping companies, which have increased costs for consumers on the shelves. 

• Tackling Rail Shipping Delays of Critical Goods: Introduced the Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act, to create a fair marketplace for Class I freight railroads and their captured customer. This will ensure that farmers and producers receive the livestock feed, fertilizer, and other goods needed to put food on America’s dinner table. 

• Improving our Nation’s Ports: Helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to tackle supply chain issues in the long term by repairing maintenance backlogs, reducing congestion near ports, and driving low-carbon technologies, which will ensure our supply chains are keeping up strong with our economic recovery.

• Holding Foreign Shipping Carriers Accountable: Introduced the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act to remove exemptions for foreign shipping carriers from federal antitrust laws and address unfair practices that harm American businesses like unjustified container rate increases, exorbitant detention, and demurrage fees, which have delayed critical goods to both American producers and consumers.

• Bringing back American Manufacturing: Everything from our cars, phones, microwaves, and TVs needs semiconductors to function. Democrats passed the CHIPS and Science Act, so we don’t have to depend on foreign countries for key components and support American supply chains, all while creating good-paying manufacturing jobs! 

• Addressing Global Food Shortages: Putin's war on Ukraine has fueled the global hunger crisis and disrupted our food supply chains. That is why I introduced legislation to address potential global food shortages by cutting through red tape to expedite the delivery of food aid to Ukraine and other affected countries until February 2025.

Securing Funding for Public Safety

• Delivered funding to the City of Fresno to increase police staff time to address rising violence and crime (including additional police vehicles). This funding helped Fresno's 911 call center to ensure that 90% of all emergency calls can be answered in 15 seconds.

• Secured $703,000 for Madera County Sheriff's Office to purchase a Rapid DNA system through the FY 23 government funding bill to bolster law enforcement's ability to quickly obtain accurate analysis, identify victims' remains, and relieve the backlog in crime laboratories.

• Secured $457,000 for Merced County Sheriff's Office to purchase a Rapid DNA system through the FY 23 government funding bill to bolster law enforcement's ability to quickly obtain accurate analysis, identify victims' remains, and relieve the backlog in crime laboratories.

H.R. 2471 – The Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Act (Signed into Law)

Earlier this year, I voted to pass the Commerce-Justice funding in the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which was signed into law and included such items as the following:

• Byrne JAG Grants: $674.5 million to provide state, tribal, and local government with critical funding necessary to support a range of programs such as law enforcement, prosecution, courts, crime prevention, drug treatment, and crime victim services, among other programs.

• Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grants: $512 million to hire community policing professionals, develop and test innovative policing strategies, and provide training and technical

• STOP School Violence Act: $135 million to support and assist county, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions in improving efforts to reduce violent crime in and around schools.

• Violence Against Women (VAWA) prevention and prosecution programs: $575 million for programs designed to develop the nation's capacity to reduce domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable.

Reducing Gun Violence

An overwhelming majority of Americans support common-sense gun safety reform. For the first time in nearly three decades, Congress enacted major gun safety legislation. I voted to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, historic gun reform that is the most significant piece of gun violence prevention legislation in nearly 30 years. This legislation was signed into law by President Biden.

From suicide and domestic violence to gun violence in our cities and mass shooting, the law creates commonsense gun safety regulations to tackle the problem from all angles.

• Provides for enhanced background checks for people under age 21 seeking to purchase a gun.

• Requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement, for gun buyers under 21 years of age, creating an enhanced longer background check of up to ten days.

• Includes $750 million to help states implement “red flag” laws to remove firearms from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

• Includes a key provision to close the “boyfriend loophole.”  Under this provision, individuals in “serious” “dating relationships” who are convicted of domestic abuse will be prevented from purchasing a gun.   

• Provides funds for improving school security and for mental health services in schools.

Additional Measures to Tackle Gun Violence:

• Reauthorizing the Assault Weapons Ban: Co-sponsored and voted to pass H.R. 1808 - Assault Weapons Ban Act, which would make it unlawful for an individual to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon (SAW) or large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD). (Passed the House) 

  • The legislation would permit continued possession, sale, or transfer of a grandfathered SAW, which must be securely stored. The United States then had an assault weapon ban from 1994 to 2004, when it expired. 

  • The number of deaths and injuries from mass public shootings was significantly reduced during the 1994-2004 assault weapons ban. The likelihood of mass Shooting deaths fell by 70 percent when the 1994-2004 Assault Weapons Ban was in effect. 

• Strengthening Background Checks: Passed H.R. 8 – Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would require a background check for every firearm sale. Additionally, I helped pass H.R. 1446 - Enhanced Background Checks Act, which would strengthen background check requirements applicable to proposed firearm transfers from a federal firearms licensee (e.g., a licensed gun dealer) to an unlicensed person. (Passed the House)

• Protecting our Kids: Co-sponsored H.R. 7910 - Protecting Our Kids Act which would make a significant difference in reducing gun violence. (Passed the House)

  • Ensuring individuals under 21 years of age cannot purchase assault weapons.

  • Banning the sale of and possession of large-capacity magazines.

  • Clarifying that bump stocks, which allow individuals to convert semiautomatic weapons into machine guns, are banned under federal law.

• New Technologies to Reduce Gun Violence: Passed H.R 6538 - Active Shooter Alert Act, which requires a designated officer of the Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator of an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network regarding an emergency involving an active shooter. (Passed the House)

Providing Resources to Law Enforcement 

• Retaining Essential Workers: Passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (PL 117-2), which included critical provisions to make our communities safer, by providing $350 billion to help keep police officers and other essential workers on the job. Since the pandemic began, 1.4 million of these essential workers (police officers, frontline health care workers, etc.) had lost their jobs, due to the tight budgets caused by the high expenses and reduced revenues created by the pandemic. This funding helped all our Valley police departments by retaining jobs, protecting their health, and keeping our communities safe. 

• Investing in Law Enforcement: Co-sponsored and passed the Invest to Protect Act to make targeted investments in local police departments and ensure those police officers in smaller communities across the country have the resources and training they need to keep themselves and their communities safe. Investments would be made in safety training, victim-centered response, officer recruitment and retention, mental health resources, and safety equipment. This bill would benefit local police departments that have 125 officers or fewer like the departments in the cities of Atwater, Chowchilla, Dos Palos, Gustine, Livingston, Los Banos, Madera, and Merced. Costa is an original co-sponsor of the bill. (Passed the House)

• Supporting Mental Health Services for Law Enforcement: Passed the COPS Counseling Act, bipartisan legislation to support law enforcement officers seeking mental health services, while ensuring privacy, confidentiality, and the resources they need to improve their health and well-being. (Signed into Law)

• Expanding Violence Prevention Programs: Co-sponsored and passed the Break the Cycle of Violence Act to create a federal grant program for violence intervention programs and initiatives. Costa is a co-sponsor of the bill. (Passed the House)

• Ensuring Justice is Served: Passed the VICTIM Act, which would establish a grant program within the Department of Justice to hire, train and retain detectives and victim services personnel to investigate homicides and non-fatal shootings. Costa endorsed this legislation through the New Democrat Coalition. (Passed the House)

Improving Mental Health Services

• Implementing Behavioral Health Emergency Units: Co-sponsored and passed the Mental Health Justice Act to create a grant program to allow states and local governments to hire mental health professionals to respond to behavioral health emergencies instead of the police. Costa is a co-sponsor of the bill. (Passed the House)

• Access to Services & Treatment: Passed the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, a bipartisan legislative package that expands access to treatment for opioid-use disorders and reauthorizes 30 critical programs to support mental health, substance-use-disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery. (Passed the House)

• Improving Mental Health Services at Schools: Passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which invests in programs to expand mental health and supportive services in schools, including early identification and intervention programs, school-based mental health and wrap-around services, improvements to school-wide learning conditions, and school safety.(Signed into Law)

• 988 Mental Health Hotline: Passed a continuing resolution to keep the government open, which included $62 million to support the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to expand suicide prevention services, through the implementation of call, text, and chat messaging. (Signed into Law)

• Supporting our Veterans: Passed the STRONG Veterans Act, gives the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) important new authorities and resources to support veterans’ mental health and well-being through increased training, outreach, mental health care delivery, and research. (Passed the House)

Cracking Down on Crime

• Tackling the Opioid Crisis: Passed the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, which expands patient access to life-saving evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorders by eliminating the X-waiver, which imposes arbitrary limits on providers' ability to prescribe buprenorphine. Also, it eliminates barriers to access to methadone, another evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorders. These barriers can prevent patients from getting timely access to treatment. (Passed the House)

• Tackling the Fentanyl Crisis: Passed the Extending Temporary Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act to permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs to ensure law enforcement can keep them off the streets. (Signed into Law)

• Addressing Rising Abuse of Methamphetamines: Passed the Methamphetamine Response Act, which designates methamphetamine as an emerging drug threat and directs the Office of National Drug Control Policy to implement a methamphetamine response plan. (Signed into Law)

• Combatting the Rise of Asian Hate Crimes: Co-sponsored and voted to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act helps tackle the dramatic increase in hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.  (Signed into Law)

• Designating Lynching as a Federal Hate Crime: Co-sponsored and voted to pass the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which explicitly designates lynching as a hate crime under federal law for the first time. (Signed into Law)

• Helping Solve Cold Cases: Co-sponsored and passed the Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act, which allows families of cold case victims to request a review of a case and potentially trigger reinvestigations. (Signed into Law)

• Combatting Retail Crime: Co-sponsored the Improving Federal Investigations of Organized Retail Crime Act, bipartisan legislation to address organized retail crimes hurting retailers and endangering public safety.

• Cracking down on Porch Pirates: Co-sponsored the Porch Pirates Actto apply the same federal penalties that apply to the theft of United States Postal Service (USPS) mail to the theft of commercial packages from private carriers such as Amazon, FedEx, and UPS.

Combatting Domestic Violence 

• Protecting Victims of Child Abuse: Introduced H.R. 7419 - Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA) Reauthorization Act would provide funding to Children’s Advocacy Centers to help victims of child abuse and strengthen law enforcement’s response to hold perpetrators accountable.

• Standing Up for Victims & Survivors of Crime: Introduced bipartisan legislation to formalize a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) to implement the use of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in child sexual abuse and exploitation cases.  

• Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault: Passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act allows sexual harassment and sexual assault survivors to elect to file a case in a court of law rather than be subject to forced arbitration provisions in cases involving sexual harassment or sexual assault, which deprive survivors of their rights. (Signed into Law)

• Supporting Victims of Domestic Violence: Successfully advocated and passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which reauthorized all current VAWA grant programs until 2027. Its reauthorization strengthened the response to healthcare services, sexual assault prevention, improved evidence-based practices, and increased access to services to cope and heal from trauma. Costa was an original co-sponsor of the bill. This bill was signed into law by President Biden as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 government funding bill.

• Closing the Boyfriend Loophole: Passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which includes a key provision to close the “boyfriend loophole.”  Under this provision, individuals in “serious” “dating relationships” who are convicted of domestic abuse will be prevented from purchasing a gun. (Signed into Law)

• Supporting vital Victim Service Programs: Passed the VOCA Fix Act of 2021, which addresses declining revenue by enabling new funding from out-of-court settlements, rather than relying directly on criminal cases, providing a significant boost to groups such as Fresno’s Marjaree Mason Center in helping crime victims and their families. (Signed into Law)