September 21, 2015

Avoiding a shutdown

Dear Friend,

You can always count on certain things during the fall. The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and the Seahawks have kicked off another season. But these days, there are real concerns that Congress may also be kicking off a new tradition: shutting down the federal government.

For the second time in two years, Congress is playing a dangerous game of political brinkmanship. Congress has until the end of the month to pass a spending measure or else funding for our federal agencies will once again cease.

Honestly, it’s hard for me to explain the inexplicable. Imagine if a business had a management disagreement. Would the solution be to simply turn out the lights?

And yet, once again, we see some members of Congress suggesting that, if they don’t get their way on certain policy matters, they won’t support anyfunding bill. 

Our region can’t afford another harmful shutdown. Two years ago, we saw the impacts of the government shutdown. We saw workers at our Naval installations and at neighboring JBLM face furloughs. At the time, I spoke to realtors who had closings fall through as a result of those furloughs. 

We saw the Olympic National Park shut down, hurting employees, tourists, and the local businesses that depend on them. Local tribes, social service providers, and others faced funding interruptions.

The damage wasn’t unique to our area. Nationwide, we saw the shutdown cost our economy over $24 billion.

It’s time for Congress to act like adults. It’s time to end this grandstanding and take care of our finances. This should not be hard to do. We should not be threatening to turn our federal government’s lights off just to advance a policy priority. That’s why I’ve joined my colleagues in sending a letter to Speaker John Boehner calling on him to keep us in session every day until we resolve this mess.

I’ll keep pushing for common sense and more responsible budgeting.

Read on to see what else I’ve been up to!

Putting College Within Reach

The fall semester is gearing up at community colleges and universities across our region. These days some form of higher education is more important than ever. That’s true whether you are doing an apprenticeship, switching careers, or starting on a degree after high school.

It doesn’t matter if you want to be a computer programmer, work with advanced machinery, or build ferries; more and more jobs require at least some post-secondary experience. But lately students from all walks of life are experiencing a roadblock: The cost.

Whether it’s textbooks that seem to jump in price every year, rising tuition prices, or struggles to find housing, the key to the door of higher education is increasingly out of reach for many.

This makes it harder for folks to become the skilled workers our economy needs.

Many folks that do get out of college find that it’s challenging to jump start a professional life with a mountain of debt staring them in the face. Consider that in the United States we have $1.3 trillion of student debt and 40 percent of 20-somethings are carrying a debt load. At this point, student loan debt has now surpassed credit card debt in our nation.

One key tool we have to help fix this cost and debt problem is Pell Grants. Unfortunately, a budget proposal that this Congress voted on earlier this year would freeze the maximum award provided by Pell Grants for the next ten years.

Even without that cut, Pell Grants don’t have the impact they used to. In 1980 if you used Pell Grants at a 4-year public university those awards would cover nearly 70 percent of your costs to attend. In 2015 it now covers about 30 percent and is projected to go even lower.

These grants have been used by millions of middle class and low-income families to go to college and finish with a college degree. It’s time to revitalize the Pell.

That’s why I’ll soon be introducing a bill and working with my colleagues to jump-start our Pell Grant program. Our bill will increase the bang for your buck that these grants give to our students by increasing their purchasing power. The bill will include other changes to help students and their families stay out of debt.

Stay tuned for an update on how my bill will update this essential program when it’s ready to be introduced in the coming weeks!

Funding Important Priorities in our Region

Staying on the higher education front, I was happy to join the talented staff and faculty at Olympic College in Bremerton for a special announcement. OC has just won a Department of Education Grant to create a new student center for veterans. The school does so much for members of the military and their families in our communities by helping them transition into the next phase of their careers.

This grant is further proof of the quality work that they do. It’s also great news for the continued growth of OC as a destination for veterans and active-duty servicemembers. It will provide another key resource for military members to figure out the best way to further their own education and learn new trades at OC.  

I also got a chance to join Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, and the acting administrator for the Federal Transit Administration Therese McMillan in Tacoma for a big Link expansion announcement.

It was an exciting day and a reminder that big things continue to happen in our region. This investment will ensure that we are planning new corridors and lines the right way. Because it’s important that as the Link extends, we respect the walkability, ride-ability, and livability of the areas around these new stations.

The award will help the Link truly lives up to its name – connecting people all across Tacoma. It will go a long way toward respecting the character of our unique neighborhoods and making sure the process of expansion is one that includes all citizens. With it, we can make sure that the positive changes the Link brings translate to progress for everyone.

You can read more in the Tacoma News Tribune.

Fighting Wildfires and Combating Climate Change 

The largest wildfire in our state’s history hit Central Washington – and our state’s firefighters have battled around the clock to protect the communities near our state’s forests.

I’ve spoken in the past about the policy implications of these wildfires. We need to end the practice of fire-borrowing that inhibits the ability of the Forest Service to manage our forests and fight these fires. I’ve sponsored legislation to do that.

But the fires give rise to other needed actions as well. As a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, last week I spoke on the House floor about how these fires are a reminder that we must do more to confront threats like these that are exacerbated by climate change.  

You can watch my speech here.

Celebrating Sweet Success in Tacoma

I got a nice visit in DC recently from Pierson and Sara Clair of Brown & Haley, makers of Almond Roca and other delicious treats. They shared with me that at a recent Sweet & Snacks Expo (an event that I believe I was born to attend), their Roca Thins Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark was awarded the Most Innovative New Product. It’s just another great story about the good things happening in our region!

Spurring Innovation on Our Shores

Speaking of innovation.

When you think about the Internet, a lot of things come to mind.

Fantasy football. Online shopping.The ability to follow your friends (and your kids) on social media.

But we seldom talk about Vint Cerf who, in addition to having a catchy name, worked for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency and led the charge in creating the tool that now allows you book travel, buy movie tickets, and to act out new verbs like “tweet” and “google.”

Far too often, we forget that one of America’s key angel investors isn’t a billionaire entrepreneur or a venture capitalist: It’s Uncle Sam. If America is going to be a leader in the growth of quality jobs in the 21st-century economy, we need to put real investments into research and development.

I hope you’ll check out my op-ed in the Tacoma News Tribune for more on why I think we need a strong America COMPETES Act that can help us discover the latest revolutionary breakthroughs on our shores, not someplace else.

Working for You

The past two weeks I also got a chance to get out and meet with some of you. Here are a few highlights.

I had a great outing in Hoquiam for Loggers' Playday!

I started at the Rotary Pancake Breakfast, hit the 7th St Fair to chat with folks, then hitched a ride on the Hoquiam Police Command Unit for the Elks Club Grand Parade. I also got to say hi to the Grays Harbor College basketball team, and take a ‘bite out of crime’ with McGruff the Crime Dog.

The Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend was a hit once again this year. Tess found a new favorite joke too:

What's a pirate's favorite letter? 

He likes the Rrrrrr - but he loves the C.

I hope you had the chance to join me last Wednesday for our telephone town hall where I spoke about what I’m working on to get our Congress back on track and answered some great questions from folks throughout our region.

Thanks to all those who called in to share their thoughts.

Finally, if you’re making plans to travel to our nation’s capital for Pope Francis’ address to Congress on September 24th visit this link for more information on how you can submit a request for a ticket to watch it on the Capitol’s West Lawn.

As always, it's an honor to serve as your representative. Please don’t hesitate to holler if I can lend a hand to you or someone you know.

Sincerely,

 
Derek Kilmer