Larsen set to make a visit to Friday Harbor

||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U .S. REP. RICK LARSEN |||

Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) will meet with San Juan Island School District Superintendent Fred Woods to discuss how Department of Education funding freezes are impacting local teachers and students. Last week, following pressure from Rep. Larsen and other members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, the Department of Education released more than $12 million in funding to Northwest Washington state school districts.

Then, Rep. Larsen will visit the Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center (JLSFRC), a nonprofit that provides a variety of community services including housing and utilities support, medical and nutrition services, transportation and behavioral health services. Rep. Larsen will discuss how the Big Ugly Law and other federal funding cuts are impacting the San Juan County families that JLSFRC serves. 

Then, Rep. Larsen will meet with members of the Northwest Straits Commission (NWSC)  and the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee to visit a habitat restoration site at Jackson Beach. In April Rep. Larsen introduced legislation to permanently reauthorize funding for NWSC, a community-led effort to restore marine habitats in the Northwest Straits region and address local threats to marine environments.

Then, Rep. Larsen will meet with the Mullis Community Senior Center and Friday Harbor Food Bank to discuss the impacts of cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in Republicans’ Big Ugly Law. The new legislation contains the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in U.S. history. More than 328,000 people in Washington state will lose their health care because of the Big Ugly Law, and 57,000 people could lose some or all of their food assistance.