Upwards of 250 to 300 people were on hand for what's best described as an unprecedented, and at times, raucous town hall meeting with local congressman Tom Reed. However, the event made news even before Reed spoke when the Congressman's staff decided to move the event outside the North Harmony Senior Citizens Center. People in the crowd were respectful as Reed made his way through the crowd on hand...
Tom Reed: coming in
Reed laid down a few ground rules in order to ensure as many people could be heard as possible, including covering main topics his staff collected prior to the North Harmony session. The main one was whether to continue or repeal the Affordable Care Act...
Tom Reed: repealing the ACA
However, Reed did reach some common ground with a number of people. One woman says before the ACA was enacted, her healthy mother was paying huge monthly premiums...
woman and Tom Reed: health care costs
Reed also reached some consensus with many to look at eliminating the tax penalty for people who elected not to take part in the ACA. Other topics became much more contentious, including abortion rights, President Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, and Reed voting with the Republican majority on the House Ways and Means Committee to not force Trump to release his tax returns for lawmakers to review. Later in the day, the Corning Republican held town hall meetings in Cherry Creek, Great Valley, and Fillmore.
