Rick is working hard to get our priorities to the forefront of the discussion about the government funding bill — but the handful of extreme Republicans proposing devastating cuts to essential social safety nets would rather treat them like bargaining chips than what they are: critical lifelines.

That is simply unacceptable.

Rick's take on this situation is featured in the Everett Herald this week:

Read the Article

Here's a snippet:

"Larsen said Republicans in the House are proposing "draconian cuts" that would have big impacts on lives. For example, House Republicans wanted to cut $14.7 billion from Title I, a program that provides funding for low-income schools.

"Those bills will reflect some very serious cuts in important services," he said. "So we can't really tolerate what they propose right now."

Larsen's priorities are to maintain these safety net services. He also wants to maintain the levels of investment in transportation infrastructure.

"It's one reason why we have such a low unemployment rate, because women and men are working in building the next generation of our infrastructure," he said.

Larsen called the Republicans leading the cuts the "chaos caucus."

"In my view, they are a fractured caucus, unable to lead and that is bad for the institution of Congress," Larsen said.

"I'm the strongest supporter for Ukraine aid," he said. "We will get more aid to Ukraine to push back the illegal invasion of Russia."

Rick will be in touch with updates. In the meantime, take a moment to read the article today.

More soon,

Team Rick