December 29, 2015

Year in review

Dear Friend,

I hope you had a terrific holiday! Thankfully, the Kilmers had a fun few days of family, friends, food and football (that’s about as much alliteration as I can use in a sentence – my high school English teacher, Mrs. Elliott, would be proud).

First things first: Congrats to the Huskies and the Cougars for two Boxing Day victories in bowl games. Sophie and I pounded through a whole vat of the Kilmer Secret Recipe Bean Dip and watched some good football. As we look to 2016, both teams are going to be fun to watch.

As we head into the New Year, it’s good to reflect on 2015 and look forward to the year ahead.

There were a few things about 2015 I’d like to forget -- I hope to never again wear a Tom Brady jersey after a Seahawks Super Bowl loss.

At the same time, there were some highlights…having Congress wrap up in time for me to see my Sophie and Tess in their dance recital will be something I’ll remember for a long time. And I’ve shown great restraint by only seeing Star Wars twice so far…Speaking of which, I was happy to see Sucher and Sons Star Wars Shop in Aberdeen get some well-deserved attention on TV!

I’m thankful to everyone who has signed up to receive this newsletter. I think democracy works best when our elected officials are available, accessible and accountable to the people they represent. I enjoy sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly of Congress with you and trying to give some sense of why these issues matter. I look forward to carrying on this tradition in 2016.

In today’s newsletter, I want to give a review of the year that was. Usually, this lands in your inbox on Monday but given that it’s special edition it’s coming to your inbox on Tuesday. As you’ll see, I’ve been busy!

Seeing Some Progress

As you’ve heard me say before, I remain committed to seeing our economy move forward and trying to get this Congress to move forward too. Far too often, we haven’t seen much good, and we’ve seen far too much bad and ugly. Thankfully, though, in the last two months we saw Congress make some honest-to-goodness progress for our region and the nation. Here are a few highlights:

Funding the government and avoiding a damaging shutdown. Before heading home for the holidays, Congress passed a bipartisan government funding bill. The compromise wasn’t perfect but that’s the nature of compromise. Personally, I found it relieving to see the political grandstanding put aside. Importantly, the spending bill makes critical investments to move our economy forward - and keep us a step ahead of our competitors. For example, unlike the funding bill from earlier this year that cut education funding by $2.5 billion, this bill made improvements in K-12 and early learning. It enhanced funding for research and development – through the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. In addition, this new law provides vital funding to protect the iconic waters of the Puget Sound as well as reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which I’ve written about previously, to protect the natural landscapes that make our state famous. Furthermore, the bill makes improvements in funding for our veterans so we can better show the men and women who serve their country that we have their back. All in all, the bill averted another damaging government shutdown while making investments that will support job growth and invest in our future. You can read below for some additional parts of the appropriations bill that I worked on.

Providing tax relief for hard-working Americans. One of the most perplexing aspects of Congress has been its approach to tax policy. Year after year, Congress passes “tax extenders” which continue the prior year’s tax policies. Usually this is done at the last minute or, even worse, policies are enacted retroactively, failing to provide any certainty or predictability for families and small businesses who are just trying to make ends meet. The bill that was passed earlier this month made some important changes – and did so permanently. For example, the enhanced child tax credit for families with kids, the earned income tax credit that provides tax relief for working families to be lifted out of poverty, and the Enhanced American Opportunity tax credit to help families paying for college were all made permanent. Policies to encourage small businesses to invest in research and development and to purchase equipment were made permanent. And, importantly for folks in our state, this new law makes the state and local sales tax deduction permanent. That puts money back in your pocket (the average savings from the deduction is more than $600 per year) and ends an inequity that has hurt Washington state for too long. The tax code is still too complex and in major need of reform, but the bipartisan bill that passed represents progress.

Supporting transportation investments in our neck of the woods and throughout the country. I’ve written numerous times about the failure of Congress to address transportation investment. Rather than providing long-term funding, it used duct tape and chicken wire, funding roads and transit three, four, or five months at a time. Importantly, Congress passed a five-year transportation bill that makes investments in fixing roads and bridges and improving transit services. By passing a five-year bill, it gives more certainty to local governments, contractors and workers who need to know whether funding will be available. That’s good news for jobs, businesses that need to get their products to customers and folks who routinely face traffic pile-ups.

Fixing the broken No Child Left Behind law. Over the past few years, I’ve written about the failings of the No Child Left Behind Law. That law was overly prescriptive, with the federal government micromanaging decisions best left to local school districts – and educators. Congress recently passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, a bipartisan bill that works to ensure that all kids graduate ready for college or a career but reduces the over-testing and the one-size-fits-all approach that made No Child Left Behind unworkable. Importantly, the new law also does right by students in Central Kitsap who have missed out on proper impact aid funding. These resources are critical to the learning experience of military-connected students and now we finally have a chance to restore them to help our kids succeed.

We’ve still got lots of work to do in the New Year. Personally, I’d like to see Congress get to work on a National Strategic Agenda to create long term jobs, address our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, secure Medicare and Social Secure, and put our country on a path to building shared prosperity for all Americans.

Remaining Accountable and Accessible to YOU

When I’m home it’s important to me that I hear from you. That’s why I spend my time running from pillar to post, listening to your ideas and concerns regarding how we can bring “People Power” back to our democracy. In 2015, I held 6 town hall meetings, 4 telephone town halls, and visited more than 75 small businesses in our region.

That’s not to mention all the service club meetings, parades, VFWs, and chats I’ve had with you everywhere from the Bainbridge Island ferry to a Pierce Transit bus in Tacoma. I also held “office hours” in places like Montesano and Hansville to give people the chance to share their concerns or priorities with me one-on-one. In addition, every few months, I spent time talking with our shipyard workers at the gates and even took an early-morning commute on the Kitsap Transit bus to hear from workers on their way to the shipyard.

Hopefully we got a chance to chat in 2015. If not, I look forward to the chance to interact in 2016!

Here are a few snapshots to give you a sense of where we’ve been!

Making Government Work for You

One of the most important things my office does is help the government work for you. We’ve helped seniors access the benefits they’ve earned, veterans get the recognition they deserve, and small business owners grappling with a federal agency.

Over the past year we’ve saved folks in our region more than $266,000 and helped with everything from fully restoring a retirement package someone rightfully earned to reversing blunders that led to Social Security being taken away.

I hope you won’t hesitate to holler if I can lend a hand to you or someone you know.

Advancing Our Priorities on the Appropriations Committee

This year I was selected by my colleagues to serve on the House Appropriations Committee. It’s been an honor to work on passing the bills that fund the government agencies and programs that support people in our region. I’ve continued to work with my colleagues to make sure we can put together responsible bills that help address key issues facing our region and the nation.

Here are some of the initiatives I was proud to champion:

Early Earthquake Warning Funding: This year’s government funding bill included more than $8 million for an early earthquake warning system on the West Coast. I’m proud to have worked on this with Senator Murray and we’ll continue to push until the system is updated and operational so it can serve as eyes and ears for folks on our coast.

Puget Sound Restoration: If you’ve ever fished, swam, or dug for clams in the Puget Sound you know that this body of water is essential to our region’s economy and environment. This year’s funding bill includes critical investments to continue restoring the Sound. As cofounders of the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus, my colleague Rep. Denny Heck and I will continue working with our local, state, and tribal partners to protect these waters for future generations.

Veterans Choice Program: In our neck of the woods it often takes longer for veterans to get to appointments at the nearest VA clinic. I’ve fought hard to change that and expand a program that makes it easier for veterans with long drive times to get care closer to home. With the new funding deal, the total distance plus the time it takes for someone to actually step foot in the doctor’s office will be incorporated into the decision regarding someone’s eligibility to get care. That’s progress for vets in our region.

Tacoma Light Rail: This year the nation took notice of our push to increase transit options for commuters. The expansion of light rail was helped along with $75 million from a Small Starts grant and other competitive investments from federal agencies. People in Tacoma - residents and visitors alike - will be able to get around better when these efforts move forward.

From reauthorizing a key tool that invests in our open spaces - the Land and Water Conservation Fund - to expanding broadband access in rural communities to investing in our local military installations, I could write a couple more pages about the funding agreement. For a look at some of the other highlights, please take a look at this release on my website.

Bringing People Together

Rather than dividing us, I want us to figure out how to bring people together and make progress on the things that matter.

Over the last few years I've been trying to do that with regard to how the government manages our federal forests. We've brought together folks from industry and the conservation community to figure out how to advance our shared values. As someone who grew up on the Olympic Peninsula and has seen our communities often divided on these issues, working to build a more collaborative approach is important to me.

It's been heavy lifting but we're making progress. This year, we officially launched the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative to show we can responsibly increase our harvest in a way that can benefit the health of our forests.

We’ve made some real strides this year toward showing we don’t have to choose between protecting our environment and creating a more vibrant economy. Healthy forests keep our waters clean and provide habitats for all kinds of amazing wildlife. Our forests have also provided an important source of timber that supports our mills, decent middle-class jobs, and the local economy.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack came to Aberdeen to see what we are all about and walked away impressed.

That was phase one. Now we are entering phase two. We have found some needed consensus around restoring our forests, promoting harvest levels, and supporting local communities. Now it’s time to push for outcomes. We’re working to get some pilot projects out the door. For this effort to be productive over the long haul, we need the participation of the community, which is why we launched a series of public meetings, starting with a great one in Forks this month.

Focusing on our Future

This year I also joined a group of young(er) members of the House to launch a group called the Future Forum. We are focused on the issues impacting young Americans, many of whom are exceptionally talented but feeling burned by student loan debt and roadblocks to opening a business.

We brought members of the group to the Puget Sound region to sit down with local veterans, talk to students at a town hall, and sit down with millennial workers.

As part of the Future Forum, I’m committed to furthering quality affordable education. And less debt. Right now nationwide student loan debt is $1.3 trillion, exceeding credit card debt and just behind home mortgages.

To that end, in 2016 I’ll be working to restore the power of Pell Grants. This tool has been used by millions of middle-class and low-income families to go to college. Stay tuned for legislation on this front in the New Year.

Getting Recognized for the Work We’re Doing Together

I have the honor of representing more veterans than just about every member of Congress. So it’s important to me that we have the backs of the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to defend our way of life. AMVETS is a group focused on assisting all veterans and is an outstanding partner to work with to ensure our veterans get the respect and care they deserve. I was humbled to receive their Silver Helmet Award, an honor they give to one member of Congress each year for his or her work on behalf of veterans. It means a lot to me to be able to partner with AMVETS and other veterans groups to tackle challenges veterans face like educational barriers, discriminatory practices, homelessness, and access to medical care.

Our region is also known for its natural beauty and diverse wildlife. That’s why I’m such a big proponent of our parks and outdoors spaces. Investing in them means investing in jobs, the communities supported by national parks, and their visitors. I was honored this year to receive the Friend of the National Parks Award and look forward to partnering with them to protect parks for current and future generations. And of course, I’m hopeful that next year’s award will have a picture of Olympic National Park on it.

Fighting for Workers

As we celebrate the holiday season many of us probably rushed to the grocery store to knock out some last minute shopping. That might have been a little harder this year as Haggen closed more than 100 locations up and down the West Coast, including in our region. These closures left many clerks, bakers, stockers, and managers out of work. Even worse, contract language agreed to between Haggen and Safeway-Albertsons stipulated that Haggen employees wouldn’t be allowed to work for competing grocers.

Thankfully, at my urging, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reversed the policy and provided these employees with additional ways to find work. I don’t want to see this situation happen again to others. That’s why I introduced a bill that would ensure grocery store workers don’t face restrictions seeking new jobs.