Last week, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) held a housing roundtable, visited a community health center, and honored service academy nominees in Vancouver, as well as touring Thurston County to celebrate the opening of the Tenino Ag Innovation Park, visit Rochester High School, and hear from seniors in Rainier.

“If we want to increase our self-sufficiency as a nation and make it possible for hardworking families to get ahead, we need to be building more homes and growing more food. I spoke with home builders and ag producers about the regulatory reform and investment we need to get there – as well as with the next generation who will help us make it happen,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “I also met with seniors and care providers at the front lines of our mental health and fentanyl crises – and I heard in the starkest terms who will suffer in our communities as a result of reckless cuts to Medicaid. Hearing from you is how I can most effectively fight for our communities’ priorities in Congress, rather than letting a D.C. agenda inflict itself on us.”

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez kicked off last week with a housing roundtable with local home builders and the Building Industry Association of Clark County. Clark County is the fastest growing county in Washington state, and the group discussed ways to keep up with demand, invest in the next generation of tradespeople,  and the federal barriers that are making housing development more difficult.

In February, the Congresswoman introduced the CONSTRUCTS Act to expand training in the construction trades in order to increase the supply of residential housing units.

Afterward, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez visited Sea Mar Community Services Northwest to meet with behavioral health providers about their work supporting those in mental health crisis and fighting addiction, as well as how their work will be impacted by cuts to Medicaid.

Earlier this month, the Congresswoman voted against a budget reconciliation bill that would impose new, difficult-to-navigate red tape for Medicaid and threaten healthcare coverage for roughly 21,000 people across Southwest Washington. The legislation passed the House and is now being considered by the Senate.

Last month, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez helped introduce the bipartisan Fight Fentanyl Act to ensure law enforcement officers have the resources they need to fight the flow of fentanyl and illicit substances into our communities.

The following day, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez toured Rochester High School, visiting metal, woodshop, agriculture, and robotics classrooms. She finished her visit by meeting with student leaders in FFA, SkillsUSA, FBLA, and the Sports Medicine program to hear how she can best support them in Congress.

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has now visited high school career and technical education (CTE) programs in all seven counties in Southwest Washington.

The Congresswoman strongly supports making CTE courses more widely available to 6th graders statewide. In November, she wrote to the Washington state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to extend the use of federal Perkins funding for CTE courses beginning in 6th grade, rather than 7th grade. The OSPI responded that it was a legislative priority for the state and helped ensure a bipartisan bill was introduced in the state legislature, which was recently signed into law.

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has introduced bipartisan legislation to expand the eligible uses of 529 education savings plans to include the tools necessary for technical careers, as well as bipartisan bills to improve awareness of trades pathways.

Afterward, the Congresswoman heard from constituents over lunch at the Rainier Senior Center. She shared an update about her work in Congress, as well as taking questions about housing affordability and permitting reform, impending cuts to Medicaid, and the need to support the skilled trades.

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez wrapped up the day speaking at the grand opening of the Agriculture Innovation Park in Tenino, a new space to empower small-scale ag producers and make local food more accessible.

Last year, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez brought home $500,000 of federal funding for the project, and she is working to secure additional funds to support the development of a regional meat processing facility on site. In February, she introduced the bipartisan Farmland Security Act to increase transparency and oversight of foreign ownership of American farmland.