Senator Murray: “It’s my job in the Senate to make sure our state’s priorities are the federal government’s priorities—and that your voices are heard. And that’s why I fought to secure this funding to make this center a reality.”
***PHOTOS OF THE EVENT HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined leaders from Bethel School District in Spanaway to highlight the groundbreaking of the Bethel Family Support Center, for which Senator Murray secured $3.5 million in direct federal funding. During the event, Senator Murray discussed the importance of the Congressionally-directed spending process that allows lawmakers to send federal dollars directly to local projects in their communities like the Bethel Family Support Center, and outline her continuing push to ensure schools have the resources they need to get kids’ learning back on track and support their mental health.
Senator Murray was joined by Cindy Marten, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education; Tom Seigel, Superintendent of Bethel School District; John Manning, President of the Bethel Board of Directors; and Jay Brower, Director of Community Connections for the Bethel School District.
“You know, when it comes to knowing what families in Washington state want to see happen where they live to make life better for them and their children in a really concrete way, I am confident I know better than any well-meaning bureaucrat back in D.C. who may never have even been to our state,” said Senator Murray. “It’s my job in the Senate to make sure our state’s priorities are the federal government’s priorities—and that your voices are heard. And that’s why I fought to secure this funding to make this center a reality. Because our kids shouldn’t be denied essential health and dental services they need just because their family has a tight budget.”
“I worked hard in the American Rescue Plan to make sure we provided school districts like Bethel with the resources they needed to safely return to the classroom and to help get students back up to speed. But I know that getting students back in the classroom with their friends is just step one, we’ve also got a lot of work to do to get kids back on track, address the mental health challenges they’re facing, and help support kids who are experiencing homelessness—who have faced truly unthinkable challenges over the past two years.”
The Bethel Family Support Center will provide social services, medical, dental and mental and behavioral health services to students in need. It will serve Bethel School District students and families in an area that has a 70% free and reduced lunch rate. Overall, Senator Murray secured more than $116 million in direct funding for local community projects across Washington state. A full list of local projects in Washington state that Murray secured funding for can be found HERE.
As Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Washington state kids are at the forefront of Senator Murray’s agenda. Senator Murray secured more than $1.853 billion in American Rescue Plan dollars for K-12 Washington state public schools and $680 million for higher education institutions in Washington state. In particular, these resources helped Washington state public schools get back to full-time in-person learning and meet students’ academic and mental health needs. Importantly, Senator Murray authored provisions of the American Rescue Plan to require school districts set aside at least 20% of their K-12 relief funding to help students catch back up academically—these funds will be critical as local school districts work to get kids’ learning back on track. The American Rescue Plan also extended Pandemic EBT to establish the first ever national Summer EBT program, a longtime legislative proposal of Senator Murray’s, and Senator Murray continues to push to extend and make these child nutrition benefits permanent.
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