EDMONDS—Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) hosted an in-person town hall event in Edmonds on Sunday, December 15, to discuss his priorities for the 119th Congress and hear directly from his constituents who he represents in Washington’s second Congressional District. He hosted a similar event in Ferndale the prior day.
For someone that has received over 40,000 emails from people expressing their views, in 2024 alone, Larsen said that holding town hall events with his constituents is not only a valuable way of informing them what he’s done over the last year, or so, but also a way to gauge what their concerns and values are directly.
In the wake of increasing threats of violence against Congressional leaders, from effigies left outside Rep. Larsen’s Everett office in 2023 to recent bomb threats made against Congress around Thanksgiving of this year, Larsen stood by the importance of public engagement, albeit showing up to his event with increased security.
Rep. Larsen has just been selected to continue serving as the lead Democrat (or Ranking member) of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for the upcoming Congress. Through this role, he said he will remain focused on building on important legislative wins like the FAA Reauthorization Act and the Water Resources Development Act, as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“It is an honor to be selected to continue serving as Ranking Member of the T&I Committee. This Congress, I worked with my colleagues on T&I to implement bipartisan laws that create good-paying jobs and improve America’s infrastructure,” Ranking Member Larsen said. “I look forward to continuing this work in the next Congress alongside Chairman Graves and to passing bipartisan legislation that will keep people and the economy moving while creating safer, cleaner, greener and more accessible transportation.”
At Sunday’s event, which took place in the Edmonds Plaza Room from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m., Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen opened with a few words about working with Larsen for several years on issues including the opioid crises, infrastructure and transportation, the environment, and much more.
“There is a lot to like about Rick, not just that we share the same hairstyle,” Mayor Rosen joked. “One thing is that he shows up, he is here, and he listens, and he pays attention. He wants to be on-site, not just sitting in a room without windows and talk about things. He also understands that there are short-term issues and long-term issues that we have to be dealing with and he’s working hard to make sure that there our jobs for people, and that everybody has access, and we cut down barriers so that everyone can participate in the government process.”
Also in attendance Sunday was County Councilman and State Representative Strom Peterson, Rep. Cindy Ryu, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Edmonds City Council President Vivian Olson, Edmonds City Council members Will Chen, and Susan Paine, Port of Edmonds Commissioner Selena Killin, Lynnwood Council President George Hurst, and Lynnwood City Councilman David Parshall.
In Larsen’s last year in Congress he attended nearly 300 meetings, traveled 62,856 miles to and from Washington D.C. and the second Congressional District, introduced 17 bills, and co-sponsored 299 bills. Just some of the bills he had pass involve adding Mount Vernon as a District Court location in Washington, reauthorized the Neotropical Bird Conservation Act, passed the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, and passed a bill to Mint commemorative coins to celebrate the soccer World Cup coming to Seattle in 2026.
As an avid sports enthusiast, and former ball boy for the original Seattle Sounders back in the day, Larsen said with the ability to mint coins and sell to collectors the money raised will be used to fund youth soccer programs in communities that otherwise would not have the opportunity to play.
A couple of years ago Larsen championed for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which President Joe Biden signed in November of 2021. There is still two years left remaining to this bill with approximately $250 billion still left to fund transportation and infrastructure projects nationwide.
Larsen helped pass the Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act that same year.
Since the BIL became law more than $386 million has been invested in transportation and infrastructure project just in Washington’s second congressional district.
Projects in Snohomish County that have benefitted from these dollars include but are not limited to; $25 million to construct a new six-lane multimodal bridge over Interstate 5 in Lynnwood, $400,000 to the City of Everett to develop a supplemental Speed Management Plan, and a whopping $341.4 million toward the Sound Transit Link light rail expansion to Lynnwood.
“Every day is infrastructure day here in Snohomish County,” said Larsen. “You can’t have a big league economy with little league infrastructure.”
Larsen’s priorities going into the 119th Congress will be working on lowering costs for healthcare and prescription drugs, combating the opioid crises and working with tribal leaders to be able to prosecute non-tribal drug dealers, and protecting the environment.
Though the opioid epidemic has run rampant through the state of Washington for several years it was exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Between February 2022 and February 2023, Washington State had the largest percentage increase in the United States with most overdose-related deaths being attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. In 2022 more than 75% of all of Washington’s drug-related overdoses were linked to opioids. While the United States witnessed a 3% decrease in overdose deaths during this period, deaths in Washington State increased 21%.
Going into the 119th Congress, which will take place from 2025 through 2026, Larsen said he suspects the biggest challenge with the Trump Administration will be their desire to provide tax cuts to the largest corporations and the wealthiest individuals while still needing to build out infrastructure and ensure senior citizens will have resources like Medicare. He worries that these tax cuts will interfere with the government’s ability to provide essential services for citizens’ overall quality of life.
This will be the closest majority that Congress has had since 1931 and in that congressional session the majority flipped three separate times. Larsen shared with the Lynnwood Times that he believes it will be difficult for Republicans to push their ideas passed the finish line, which will in turn, allow Democrats to fight for the things that are “helping the average American.”
As for Washington state, Larsen said he’s mostly looking forward to passing the next version of an infrastructure plan that would pave the way for the State’s next generation of transportation and infrastructure projects — something he credits to bringing unemployment in Washington down to approximately 4.5%.
Community questions and feedback
During the public’s opportunity to ask questions and address Rep. Larsen, the first question was critical of Larsen’s defense of Israel in the Israeli/Palestine conflict, and his reaction to pro-Palestinian protesters who demonstrated at one of his campaigning events.
Larsen informed the constituent that he co-sponsored HR 9649, which would restore funding for UNRWA, a refugee agency which the UN runs, and is pressuring Israel to administer humanitarian aid to Gaza immediately, however the politics in the Middle East have since grown far more complex.
“The U.S. needs to continue to support humanitarian aid, supporting a peaceful resolution, supporting a ceasefire, to get the hostages back home,” said Larsen.
As far as being challenged for “running away to the kitchen,” as the commenter worded it, Larsen defended his action stating if he doesn’t feel safe he’s not sticking around, correcting her that he did not “run” but “peacefully walked,” and said he has no apology for looking out for his own safety so that he could return safely to his family and enjoy the Seahawks.
Another question came from a concerned citizen regarding social security and Medicare for those of retirement age. Larsen reiterated that this issue is on his top priorities but, given the incoming administration, it could take a long time and effort. He added that he has the confidence of a strong vote which is “way more than the incoming President got.”
Other questions and comments encompassed the rise in powerful storms, and subsequent power outages, the best way to get in touch with representatives of congress, border security, and so on.
Author: Mario Lotmore
