John Larson

John has long been a leader in times of crisis. As then Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, he worked closely with President Obama during the financial crisis to help Connecticut residents get back on their feet. Their efforts led us to one of the strongest economic comebacks in history. 

When the Covid pandemic hit, John once again stepped up and delivered real results. He led the way in getting Americans relief, helping craft one of the most consequential and important bills of our generation: The American Rescue Plan.

The American Rescue Plan put money in people’s pockets, vaccines in arms, kids back to school, and Americans back to work! It put us on a path to recovery during one of the darkest times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the key components of the Rescue Plan was a massive federal investment in our schools and towns. The 1st Congressional District received $200+ million for our schools and more than half a billion in total funding to ensure our children and our communities have the resources needed to build back better.

John and the entire CT delegation fought tirelessly for this funding. They spoke to towns across Connecticut, who told them that urgent relief efforts would be slowed and complicated if funding did not go directly to towns and schools. 

“We decided that we would have some of the [American Rescue Plan funding] go to the state and some of it go to the cities and municipalities and counties directly….John Larson was instrumental in making sure that happened…” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

In addition to his leadership in securing town and school funding, John also spearheaded numerous other Rescue Plan provisions involving tax relief, affordable health care, and unemployment assistance. He is especially proud to have fought for the Child Tax Credit, championed by CT’s own Rosa DeLauro, which benefits over 115,000 families in the First Congressional District and has lifted more than 8,000 First District children out of poverty.

John’s effective leadership during crises all comes back to listening to his constituents. Since the very start of the pandemic, he has worked closely with community leaders and constituents, holding dozens of tele-town halls and virtual forums to hear from them directly. He has also partnered with the North End of Hartford’s Three Church Partnership, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and various local businesses to support those hit hardest by Covid-19 – including our health care workers. As we continue to build back better, John will continue to listen and lead for the 1st District.

John grew up in a blue-collar family, in a blue-collar neighborhood. He learned from an early age the challenges of paying bills and putting food on the table, and he’s never forgotten how difficult these experiences were for his family. 

John is on a mission to build an economy that works for families like his own growing up, not just the top 1%. To him, that work starts by supporting our working families, strengthening our unions, and increasing economic opportunity.

John has always put families first. As CT Senate Pro Tem, he authored the nation’s first family and medical leave bill and sponsored an agenda focused specifically on helping Connecticut’s families. 

During his time in Congress, John has continued to get real results for our working families. John recently helped pass the Child Tax Credit, one of the biggest investments in working families in American history.  Introduced by CT’s own Rosa DeLauro, this tax cut benefits over 350,000 Connecticut families, over 115,000 families in the First Congressional District, and will help lift more than 8,000 children in the First District out of poverty.

Now, John is working closely with Speaker Pelosi and President Biden to build on this historic achievement with investments in affordable child care, universal pre-K, and paid family leave.

These initiatives are essential to strengthening our workforce and ensuring no one has to choose between their jobs and their family. Most importantly, they are essential to our kids, who will receive critical early education and spend more of their formative moments with their parents.

Fighting for workers and organized labor is personal to John. At a young age, his godfather, John Shaughnessy Jr., then President of Connecticut Telephone Workers’ Union, instilled in him a powerful understanding of their importance. 

John has worked hand in hand with unions ever since, achieving landmark victories for workers. Just this past year, he helped save union pension plans from financial collapse, winning the years long battle to pass the Butch Lewis Act as part of the American Rescue Plan. Workers across the country will retire with the benefits they spent their lives earning because of this critical achievement. He also teamed up with labor groups and advocates to reverse harmful COVID relief restrictions and give unions access to critical funding as part of the American Rescue Plan. 

The Covid pandemic has underscored and emphasized the importance of unions. It has also lit a fire under union membership, with thousands of workers striking for better pay and conditions right now. 

Workers are calling for change, and John is right there with them in Congress. He won’t rest until Congress has passed the PRO Act and protected the right to organize for generations to come. 

Every American should have access to the opportunities and the education needed to realize the American dream. Throughout his time in Congress, John has worked to expand economic opportunity and level the economic playing field.

In Hartford, his efforts have centered around getting results for the city’s North End. Decades of isolation and discrimination, a lack of investment, and various other factors have made the North End one of the poorest zip-codes in the country. John has been fighting tirelessly to change that, helping the neighborhood become designated as a federal “Promise Zone”, which gives it exclusive access to grants and federal support.

John was also the first to propose a bold solution to reconnect the North End to the rest of the city; a solution that will now become reality thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure bill! Reconnecting the North End to the rest of the city will open the doors of economic opportunity in the neighborhood and correct the past mistakes of Connecticut’s highway planning. 

These are transformative steps forward, not just for the North End, but for all of Connecticut. John will continue to work with community leaders across the state to build on these results and further expand economic opportunity.

At the national-level, John is also fighting to raise the minimum wage, lower the out of control costs of secondary education, expand access to high speed internet, and more. These bold solutions are vital to ensuring every American has a fair chance at success.

Climate change is here now. In Connecticut and around the world, we are already seeing its effects on our air quality, wildlife, the severity of natural disasters, and more. We can’t wait any longer to cut our emissions and create new green energy jobs while we’re doing it.

John knows this. That’s why he hasn’t waited for gridlock to clear in Washington to take bold action and get results.

As a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, John has spearheaded numerous clean energy tax credits, which have sparked a boom in solar, wind, and other zero emission technologies. John also co-founded the House Fuel Cell Caucus, where he is an aggressive advocate for Connecticut’s growing fuel cell industry and where he has led investments in fuel cell technology.

The progress made through these investments is proof that we can mitigate climate change, while creating good paying jobs and keeping the US competitive into the 21st century.

And John continues to fight tirelessly for more – for the transformative solutions we need to address our climate crisis.

As one of its very first cosponsors, John is fighting for the Green New Deal – an activist-driven climate plan that will slash emissions while creating blue-collar jobs and boosting our economy. He is working closely with the bill’s author, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to grow its support base and incorporate its elements into the Build Back Better Act. Upon its passing, the Build Back Better Act will be the largest investment in combating climate change in our nation’s history. 

John is also fighting for a tax on carbon pollution – the most effective and direct way of fighting climate change. His carbon tax bill, The America Wins Act, puts the Green New Deal into action and would slash carbon emissions in half within a decade.

We can stop climate change – with the Green New Deal and John’s America Wins Act, and with continued green-energy investments spearheaded by John and his colleagues. Climate change is here now, but so are the solutions, and John is fighting for them in Congress.

In 2010, as then Chair of the Democratic Caucus, John worked closely with President Obama to pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and provide health coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans.

The ACA fundamentally changed health care in the United States. This groundbreaking bill helped ensure no one could be refused health care coverage because of a pre-existing condition! Americans with asthma, diabetes, cancer, and other medical conditions can no longer be denied coverage because of John’s efforts.

John has continued to expand the ACA since it became law. Just this year, he helped thousands sign up for coverage through AccessHealth CT and led the passage of legislation lowering health care costs for thousands of policy holders in Connecticut. More than 30,000 CT households will see their health care costs drop to nearly $0 per month because of these efforts! 

John has continued to deliver real results on healthcare reform, and he’s far from done. 

Next up, is John’s “Medicare for All Who Want It” plan. This bold solution would create an affordable, high-quality public option through the Medicare system. Anyone who wants would be able to buy-in to Medicare and everyone, even those on private insurance, would see their premiums drop.

John is fighting every day for this effective, practical solution. He’s also fighting to include hearing, dental, and vision coverage in Medicare and to lower out of control prescription drug prices. He’s already made real progress, helping pass the landmark “Build Back Better” bill in the House and thereby setting the stage for Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and cap drug costs for seniors.

John won’t settle until the Build Back Better Act is across the finish line and until every American is adequately covered. Because health care is a human right.

Our nation’s infrastructure has been in desperate need of repair for decades. Many have talked about getting it done. John and his colleagues followed through and delivered real results for the American people. 

The bipartisan infrastructure bill is a historic victory for the country, and for Connecticut. It includes $6 billion in direct funding to our state, in addition to hundreds of billions in competitive grants. This funding will be used to repair our roads and bridges, upgrade our public transportation, protect our water supply, and expand internet access across the state. 

Most importantly, it will boost economic growth and create thousands of good-paying, blue-collar union jobs for CT residents.

For Greater Hartford, this funding is a truly once-in-a-generation opportunity. Over 50 years ago, Hartford’s riverfront was blocked off by I-91 and it’s North End isolated from the rest of the city by I-84. This created the number one traffic chokehold in all of New England, the I-84/I-91 interchange. 

John was the first to propose a bold vision to reduce traffic, recapture the riverfront, and reconnect the North End. Now, he’s delivered the funding needed to make this vision a reality.

We now have the opportunity to transform Greater Hartford, and with it the entire state. Economic and recreational opportunities will multiply, communities will be brought together, and commute times will be cut in half. We can face the challenges of repairing our aging roads, bridges, and even the dangerously old levees that defend Central Connecticut from devastating floods.

This incredible progress will all be possible because of the tireless advocacy of our unions, workers, and community leaders, and because of consensus builders and leaders like John in Congress.

A decade ago, Republicans tried to privatize Social Security, which would have destroyed this vital program. 

Then, John Larson stepped in. John knew firsthand how critical Social Security was for the American people; his mother, Pauline, had needed the modest benefits to help pay for years of medical bills. For the sake of seniors like Pauline – as well as disabled Americans, veterans, families who’d lost their loved ones, and future retirees –  benefits could not be cut. They were already too low!

The conversation surrounding Social Security had to change. So, John worked day and night with his colleagues to change it, traveling across the country to advocate for a bold new solution to America’s retirement crisis.

Today, after years of outreach and hard work, John’s efforts have been incredibly successful in transforming the landscape of Social Security politics. 

His landmark new bill – Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust– cuts taxes for middle-class beneficiaries, extends program solvency, and expands benefits across the board – a drastic shift from earlier proposals. Democrats have rallied behind the bill, with nearly 200 House Democrats co-sponsoring on the very first day it was introduced. 

While some, like Donald Trump and Senator Lindsey Graham, continue to push to cut and privatize Social Security, John has been there at every turn to stop them. 

In the next few months, John looks forward to working with the Biden administration to pass Social Security 2100 and finally ensure that no American, who has paid into the system their entire life, retires into poverty. 

John is endorsed by numerous organizations that are fighting to save Social Security. They know first hand just how effective a champion he has been.