U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer speaks at a Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting Tuesday. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer speaks at a Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting Tuesday. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

U.S. Rep. Kilmer talks jobs, training, healthcare at Sequim chamber meeting

SEQUIM — While looking more toward solutions that spur economic growth than the partisan infighting in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer brought a sense of levity on a visit to Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s annual picnic in the park.

“I was asked to give a 20-minute update on what’s happening in Congress; I’m reticent to do that because you’re eating,” Kilmer joked at the luncheon, held at Pioneer Memorial Park on Tuesday.

Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula.

“There are two or three things that keep me up at night. The first is we’re in the midst of massive, disruptive economic change,” he said.

“The benefits and pain [of those changes] is not felt in the same ways in the same places,” Kilmer said, citing a study by the Economic Innovation Group that found since 2011 more than half of the new business start-ups are created in the 20 percent of most flourishing communities, while the 20 percent least-flourishing communities have gotten worse.

“In a lot of communities I represent … we’ve got a jobs problem. That absolutely drives the work I do.”

In response, Kilmer said, legislators are looking at a number of bills to help people get training or retraining. He said he supports legislation to help school districts better fund vocational programs and for students to get better access to financial aid.

Kilmer also said he’s hopeful for legislation that would help people get retrained or get more education when their industry changes and their jobs becomes less relevant or obsolete.

“The days of starting a job and staying at that job for 50 years are increasingly over,” he said. “I think one of the roles of government is to help people negotiate economic change rather than be victims of it.”

Kilmer also touted the idea of increasing broadband internet access for rural communities.

“I wish I could tell you there’s a silver bullet [for boosting jobs]; that’s just not true,” he said. “It’s more like silver buckshot. It’s a lot of things.”

In response to an audience question Kilmer railed against a decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cut Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for medical facilities not located near community hospitals.

The decision would hit Olympic Medical Center (OMC), which has facilities in Port Angeles and Sequim, to the tune of $47 million over the next decade, he said.

That move sparked a lawsuit by American Hospital Association and Association of American Medical Colleges, in which OMC is a plaintiff.

“It’s completely tone-deaf to have a policy like that in a rural area,” Kilmer said, and noted that he joined a bipartisan bill to halt CMS’s decision, known as “site neutrality,” to help protect medical centers in rural communities.

“Unfortunately the law is being ignored,” Kilmer said. “OMC is pursing litigation. We’re pursuing legislation.”

________

Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. Reach him at editor@sequimgazette.com.

More in News

Jon Picker, airport and marina manager for the Port of Port Angeles, describes runway sections for William R. Fairchild International Airport on a diagram of the terminal area. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Fairchild upgrades completed

Ribbon cutting is planned for Dec. 12

Clallam County eyes changes to park fees

Public hearing on adjustments set Dec. 12

Rich Foutch of Active Construction, Inc., in Tacoma paints a line on the roadway at the new roundabout at Kearney Street and state Highway 20 for the placement of temporary stripes in a pedestrian crosswalk on Monday in Port Townsend. The temperatures have to be in the mid-50s to install permanent striping, he said. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Roundabout striping

Rich Foutch of Active Construction, Inc., in Tacoma paints a line on… Continue reading

Proposal to rename Sequim road put on hold

Rotary, city to consider other options to honor local Olympian

Researcher: Managed forests needed to fight climate change

Wood products can replace existing fossil fuel-based materials

Jefferson County updates fee schedules

Environmental Public Health up 6 percent

The downtown Port Angeles Christmas tree is surrounded by people during a lighting ceremony on Saturday at First and Lincoln streets. The 30-foot tree will stand at the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain plaza through the holidays. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Lit up for the holidays

The downtown Port Angeles Christmas tree is surrounded by people during a… Continue reading

tsr
Community Aid seeks support for Toys for Sequim Kids

Nonprofit helps hundreds of children with Christmas presents

Planned electrical outage in Forks on Thursday

A planned power outage in Forks will affect electric service… Continue reading

Nordland man dies of injuries from Nov. 14 wreck

A second person involved in a two-car collision on Nov.… Continue reading

Santa Claus, portrayed by Stephen Rosales of Sequim, waves to the crowd after his arrival by vintage fire truck at Centennial Place in downtown Sequim on Saturday, part of the city’s Hometown Holidays celebration. Santa, accompanied by Irrigation Festival royalty, greeted children next to the city’s Christmas tree in an event that also featured music by the Sequim City Band and a lighted tractor parade. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Holiday tradition

Santa Claus, portrayed by Stephen Rosales of Sequim, waves to the crowd… Continue reading

District 3 chief pick bows out

Fire officials could resume search in ’24