An Update on the Work to Highlight Our Region's Priorities - and to Make Health Care and Child Care More Affordable
Hello, Folks –
Let me start this week with some promising news! As of last week, over 77% of all Washingtonians 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and over 71% of Washingtonians are fully vaccinated. That’s great news as we look to get this virus under control (if you haven’t been vaccinated, you can visit the Washington Department of Health’s Vaccine Locator or call 833-VAX-HELP to make your appointment today). Importantly, those higher vaccination rates have led to some welcome news from the Biden Administration – which announced last week that fully-vaccinated folks will soon be able to start crossing the U.S.-Canada border.
As someone who grew up in Port Angeles, I’ve seen firsthand just how important tourism is to our local economy. Unfortunately, many of our local businesses have had to struggle this year, particularly with ferry travel to and from Canada being shut down. That's why for months, I've been pushing to get the U.S.-Canada border re-opened. So, the announcement of the border re-opening soon is a big deal for local employers and their workers!
Let’s dig into more news…
Caring for Our Kids
As the dad of two kiddos, I know that working families in our region and around the country depend on affordable and accessible child care. Child care gives parents the opportunity to participate in the workforce and provides valuable educational opportunities for kids. That’s just one of the reasons I voted to pass the American Rescue Plan earlier this year, which included a number of provisions aimed at helping child care businesses, enhancing access to child care, and supporting kids and parents. This new law provides reassurance to families that their kids will be cared for and provides some help for child care providers who need to maintain their businesses during this pandemic.
Specifically, the American Rescue Plan included a new child care stabilization fund to help child care providers to reopen or stay open, provide safe and healthy learning environments, keep workers on payroll, and provide mental health supports for educators and children. In addition, there’s new flexible funding to make child care more affordable for more families by increasing access to high-quality care for families receiving subsidies, increasing compensation for early childhood workers, and meeting other care needs in our region. As I heard from some child care leaders from Kitsap County this week, this is making a real difference for families and for local child care providers in our region.
But we know that there’s more to do in order to support child care workers and protect access to child care during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why I’m working to pass the President’s Build Back Better Act – which, among other things, would make investments to lower the cost of child care for working families, expand the availability of high-quality child care, and raise wages for child care workers.
Through this investment, the vast majority of families would not pay more than seven percent of their income on child care. In fact, the Build Back Better Act could save Washington families thousands of dollars in child care costs each year. A new analysis released by the House Committee on Education and Labor found that the typical Washington family of four with one infant in full-time center-based child care would save over $13,000 each year. The typical Washington family of four with one infant and one child in full-time center-based child care would save over $27,000 each year. That’s a big deal!
I’ll keep working to get this legislation across the finish line to help the folks I represent. Stay tuned!
Highlighting Our Region’s Priorities
A critical part of my job is to elevate the issues important to our region—and I had two great opportunities to do that over the past few weeks.
Supporting Our Servicemembers
Last week, I hosted three members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense—including Subcommittee Chair Betty McCollum and Ranking Member Ken Calvert—for a visit to our region. The Defense Subcommittee holds the levers of funding for a number of important federal agencies and projects that impact our area, including the Departments of Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, and Army; the Military Health System; and other important programs related to military personnel.
During the visit, we toured Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Naval Submarine Base Bangor, and also held a roundtable discussion with small business owners who frequently work with our military installations.
Here’s why this visit matters. It’s one thing to tell my colleagues in DC about the vitally important work done at our region’s military installations by talented servicemembers and federal workers; it’s another for them to see that work first-hand. It’s one thing to tell my colleagues about the challenges facing a 130-year-old shipyard; it’s another for them to see those infrastructure issues (and the importance of making upgrades) first-hand. It’s one thing to talk about the innovative work being done by our local contractors; it’s another for them to hear from those local employers first-hand.
In other words, the visit to our neck of the woods by my colleagues was a big deal as we work to address some of the unique challenges and opportunities here in our region. You can read more about the visit here.
Supporting Tribal Communities and Protecting Our Environment
Since my last newsletter, I was also able to partner with Representative Marilyn Strickland and host Brenda Mallory, the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, for a visit to our neck of the woods. During her time in Washington, we met with Tribal leaders from our region for a discussion on the need for continued federal investments in Tribal communities and conservation efforts.
We know that for far too long, the federal government has failed to uphold its trust and treaty responsibilities to Native American communities. That’s why I’m grateful that Chair Mallory could come out to our region and hear firsthand about the steps needed to make real progress for tribal communities.
Combined with the earlier visit of Secretary Haaland to our region earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration is showing its committed to providing a whole-of-government approach to building more resilient communities, protecting our natural environment, and fulfilling the federal government’s trust responsibilities. I’m committed to partnering with them—and colleagues like Rep. Strickland—to make sure we make progress.
Lowering the Costs of Health Care
As this pandemic has shown, it’s more important than ever that we work ensure that every American has affordable and comprehensive health care. In the greatest country on the planet, we should embrace the notion that you shouldn’t go broke because you get sick – and you shouldn’t get sick because you are broke.
That’s why, as Congress works to pass the President’s Build Back Better Act, I’m pushing to ensure that we make health care more affordable. That includes providing more resources to expand access to health care for millions of Americans by strengthening the Affordable Care Act, closing the Medicaid coverage gap, expanding Medicare to cover hearing, vision, and dental for seniors, and making long overdue investments in home- and community-based care. And, I’m pushing to support our nation’s public health infrastructure and help us respond to future public health emergencies.
This past week, I was thrilled to meet with some of our region’s community health centers – including Community Health Care in Pierce County and the North Olympic Health Care Network in Clallam County—to talk about these efforts. I’m grateful for the critical care they have been providing to folks throughout this pandemic.
Working for You
Recovering our Orca & Salmon
This past Saturday was Orca Recovery Day! I joined an amazing group of volunteers at the Snow Creek Estuary Preserve in Jefferson County to plant some native trees and shrubs at the estuary. In the other Washington, I’m fighting on the Appropriations Committee for funding to support restoration efforts like this all over our region so we can recover salmon and orca. Many thanks to the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, the Jefferson County Conservation District, the Jefferson Land Trust, and the terrific folks who came out!
Helping One Another
Kitsap Strong is working hard to build community resilience and prevent adverse childhood experiences. Many thanks to Kody Russell and the Kitsap Strong team for hosting an informative event with community leaders last week!
Supporting Local Manufacturers
As someone who spent nearly a decade in economic development, it’s a huge priority of mine to help create more economic opportunity for folks in our region – and to support our local employers. I was thrilled to participate in national manufacturing week and join the Association of Washington Business for a multi-stop tour of the manufacturing industry to recognize some of the great work being done here in our region. We visited the West Sound Technical Skills Center, SAFE Boats International, and Life Proof Boats at Inventech Marine Solutions – and discussed steps we can take to grow manufacturing jobs and make things in America!
OK that’s it for now, folks. As always, I’m honored to represent you.
Sincerely,
Derek