PASSED: Murray Delivers $372 Million More for Washington State, $1 Billion More for Child Care & Pre-K, Puts Working Families First in Setting Funding Priorities In Second Six-Bill Package

Press Release

“We have finally passed all twelve bills to fund the government—and I’m proud to be sending a $1 billion increase in funding for child care and early learning programs to President Biden’s desk. Whether it was parents from every part of our state who are struggling to find or afford child care, or servicemembers from Naval Base Kitsap to Fairchild Air Force Base who have been struggling to make ends meet—I worked hard to negotiate funding bills with Washington state families in mind. Washington state families want the federal government to invest in our teachers and students, our mayors from Vancouver to Spokane want more resources to tackle the opioid crisis, and small businesses across our state want stronger workforce training programs. I worked hard, under tough fiscal constraints, to ensure Washington state priorities were reflected in our nation’s spending bills—and that we strengthened or protected critical federal investments that matter most to our state.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Parents, small businesses, and just about everyone says again and again that child care is unaffordable and too hard to find in every part of our state. I worked hard to secure a $1 billion boost for child care and early learning programs in this bill to help lower child care costs for more families in Washington state—we have a lot more that needs to get done, but I’ll keep pushing for progress every way I can.

I fought hard to make sure this bill protects critical funding that helps communities tackle the opioid epidemic, which has been so devastating in Washington state, and was able to secure $4.6 billion overall to support substance use disorder prevention and treatment programs nationwide—alongside Congressionally Directed Spending for local programs from Everett to Vancouver that will help more people who are struggling with addiction get the lifesaving treatment they need.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

The most valuable asset we have when it comes to our national defense are the brave women and men who put their lives on the line to keep us safe. The defense funding bill I negotiated will give our servicemembers a much-needed pay raise, clean up dangerous PFAS chemicals at our military bases, and invest in important sexual assault and suicide prevention initiatives. If we want our service members to be ready, they need to know their kids are safe and this bill will help expand access to child care for military families.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

This bill is important to ensuring we have a capable and responsive federal government that delivers for the American people and supports small businesses and consumers while going after scammers and fraudsters. I’m glad to have secured $9 million to move forward on a new National Archives facility in the Seattle area and nearly $80 million for critically needed and urgent safety upgrades at the federal courthouse in Tacoma. This bill will also fund a new program I established through my bipartisan retirement bill to help people find their lost retirement accounts and recover their hard-earned investments. Importantly, this bill will also support the brand-new Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy at the White House that I created to make sure the federal government is better equipped and ready to respond to the next pandemic.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

I worked hard to secure $100 million for Coast Guard Base Seattle in this bill, along with new funding for the Puget Sound Whale Desk and efforts to help address staffing shortages at Washington State Ferries. This bill is a bipartisan compromise that will provide some important new resources to help meet increased operational needs at our border—and importantly, new resources to stop the flow of fentanyl way up the supply chain and at our ports of entry.

Source