Holiday Wishes!
Hello friends,
Happy Holidays! I’m excited to report that I’m nearly done with my Christmas shopping (I’ve got to find one or two more things for the girls!).
Unfortunately, as I write this, the holiday spirit is not exactly flourishing in Washington, DC.
As you may have seen from the news of the past week, there are still disagreements in our nation’s capital regarding government spending for the next year. President Trump has said he will refuse to sign both of the agreements on the table, and that he would be “proud to shut down the government.”
As a consequence, while Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate have largely agreed on the broad brushstrokes of a spending agreement (including more than $1 billion in funding for border security), once again our nation faces the prospect of a government shutdown.
I’m against shutting down the government. I know how bad shutdowns our for families in our region and the economy, especially at this time of year.
I’ve worked on ideas to end government shutdowns once and for all. As some of you may remember, I served on a special bipartisan committee focused on reform of the budget and appropriations process. And, while the end product of our work was defeated by partisanship, I am going to make a push in the New Year to introduce some of the ideas we came up with in hopes that some will pass, and DC can get out of this wasteful--and frankly idiotic--cycle of shutdowns. My colleague, Jodey Arrington from Texas, and I recently laid out some bipartisan thoughts on this in Roll Call.
I’ll post regular updates on this throughout the week on my Facebook and Twitter pages. Know that I’m doing my best as a member of groups like the Bipartisan Working Group to push folks in DC to do their jobs.
Ensuring Americans Have Access to Health Care
On Friday night, a federal judge in Texas made a ruling that potentially jeopardizes health care for millions of Americans. The judge ruled that, following Congress’s passage of the tax bill last year, the Affordable Care Act is no longer constitutional.
Typically, the executive branch defends existing laws in court. In this case, though, the Trump Administration chose not to defend any of the law -- not protections for people with pre-existing conditions, not provisions to allow young people to stay on their parents’ insurance until their 26th birthday, not even the closing of the prescription-drug donut hole for seniors.
It is expected that this ruling will be repealed. In the meantime, though, this decision creates real fear for the 800,000 families in Washington who have health insurance because of The Affordable Care Act. I’ve met with so many people over the years who don’t want the rug to be pulled out from under them. Please know that I’ll keep fighting for the notion that--in the greatest country on the planet--you shouldn’t go broke if you get sick or injured. If you have a pre-existing condition, you shouldn’t be denied coverage or face discrimination.
Speaking of health care …
I’m also continuing the fight to protect rural medical providers like Olympic Medical Center that are facing the prospect of significant reimbursement cuts. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced plans to reduce reimbursements by 60% at off-site clinics. I believe their rationale is flawed – and in violation of two laws passed by Congress.The Peninsula Daily News recently wrote about the issue and my efforts to go to bat for patients in our region here.
Growing New Opportunities in the Timber Industry
One thing that didn’t get a lot of attention is that last week is the fact that Congress passed a bipartisan Farm Bill, which is a big package of policies that invests in farmers and helps families nationwide who are struggling to afford food.
That’s a big deal for a bunch of reasons, but the thing I’m most excited about is that this year’s Farm Bill includes key parts of something I worked really hard on called the Timber Innovation Act.
Why is that a big deal? I’m glad you asked…
Scientists, conservationists, engineers and the folks who harvest timber for a living teamed up to develop a way to sustainably harvest smaller-diameter trees and turn them into innovative wood products like Cross Laminated Timber (CLT). This is a win-win. First, harvesting wood for CLT has the potential to make our forests healthier because it enables larger species of trees to thrive.
Beyond that, CLT can be used in buildings that are traditionally made from concrete, which means new developments can have smaller carbon footprints. And, best of all for us, using CLT makes buildings more earthquake resistant than concrete.
Pretty soon, our communities will be able to build really-cool structures out of CLT and employ the folks on the Olympic Peninsula who create it.
The technology to build with CLT is getting there. In fact, buildings made from CLT are starting to go up all over the world. The Timber Innovation Act will help America develop the technology to build skyscrapers and larger projects like apartment buildings. Components of the Timber Innovation Act in the Farm Bill include establishing a new performance driven-research and development program advancing tall wood building construction. Also included are federal grants to support state, local, tribal, university and private sector education, outreach, and research and development to accelerate the use of wood in tall buildings.
This cycle of making our forests healthier by sustainably harvesting small-diameter wood, milling that wood and turning it into CLT, and using CLT in new development projects is what I like to call Timber 2.0—an economic vision where folks throughout our state from Forks to Tacoma have great new jobs, the buildings we build are more sustainable, and our forests are healthier.
Getting there is going to take a team effort, and passing The Timber Innovation Act is a huge leap forward.
Applying new science and technology that leads to healthier forest and more jobs is exactly what the Olympic Forest Collaborative is doing. I had the chance to check in with this group earlier this year. Here’s more on how their work helps the environment and the economy.
Working For You
Connecting With Our Tribes
I had a great meeting with Chairman Pickernell of the Chehalis Tribe. I enjoyed catching up on the economic development projects that the tribe is working on.
Promoting a Healthy Community
A couple weeks ago, I toured the nearly-completed Summit Pacific Medical Center’s new Wellness Center. It was great meeting with Summit Pacific’s CEO Josh Martin about how they are changing the way we think about health and wellness in our community.
Supporting Veteran-Owned Businesses
I had a great tour of Old Soldier Distillery, a veteran-owned distillery in Tacoma. Thanks for doing business in our neck of the woods!
Building a Door!
I recently had the chance to build a door at the Simpson Door Company, one of Grays Harbor’s longest-running local employers. Simpson Door Company is a national leader and an innovator in their industry. For example, Simpson Door Co. made doors for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando (which my magical daughters and their muggle father find pretty awesome).
That’s all for this week...I wish everyone the best this holiday and going into the new year. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out if I can ever be of assistance. I’m honored to represent you.
-Derek