By Luisa Loi
La Conner Community News
During a virtual town hall last Thursday, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen shared what he and other members of Congress have been doing to support low-income Americans and curb President Donald Trump’s executive powers.
In his opening remarks, Larsen — who represents Washington’s second congressional district — acknowledged the rising cost of living, saying that gas prices in Mount Vernon and Anacortes have gone up by 30% in a year, or by $1.28 — a spike he attributed to the Iran war.
Recently, Larsen supported a resolution — which the House of Representatives passed with bipartisan support on June 3 — that symbolically asks Trump to withdraw U.S. forces or seek congressional approval to continue the war. As of Wednesday, the resolution was headed to the Senate.
Larsen is co-sponsoring legislation to restore Affordable Care Act tax credits — which expired in January — and make them permanent, as well as legislation that would reverse the cuts to health care funding resulting from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.
Larsen also supports the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which provides grants for planning and community development activities, increases the maximum eligible income for grants that support low-income housing, exempts certain housing-related activities from the environmental review process, and more, according to Congress.gov.
Due to the rising cost of health care, rural hospitals have been struggling. In May, Larsen joined Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican, in introducing the “Ensuring Rural Health Care Access for Military and Tribal Families Act,” which would allow Island Health in Anacortes to be designated as a critical access hospital.
According to Larsen’s website, this designation would increase Medicare reimbursement rates, provide access to the 340B drug discount program, remove the need to scale down services and help close the hospital’s funding gap.
Last month, Larsen’s BUILD America 250 Act passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee — of which he is the top Democrat. The act invests $580 billion into Washington’s transportation and infrastructure, creating thousands of jobs.
Another win was marked with the passage of the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025, a bill that reauthorizes the Northwest Straits Commission for seven years. The commission works to restore the shoreline and remove derelict vessels in Skagit County, among other marine restoration projects in the Northwest Straits region.
Luisa Loi is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
