U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This month marks the beginning of the second term in the People’s House for Southwest Washington’s congresswoman in what will again be a closely divided chamber.

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was sworn into the 119th Congress in early January, and it was announced last week that the sophomore legislator was selected to serve on the prominent House Appropriations Committee for the 2025-26 term. The committee, which is highly sought after among members of congress, holds the “power of the purse” and is tasked with determining and overseeing discretionary spending and funding the federal government.

In a news release, Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Skamania) stated that families throughout the country “deserve to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are being used in an effective, durable and responsible way,” and said she supported greater fiscal discipline and transparency and opposed wasteful spending in her first term.

“As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I look forward to working on bipartisan funding solutions tailored to our communities’ needs, priorities and values,” said Gluesenkamp Perez. “Living in unincorporated Skamania County, I’ve seen how investments in the nuts and bolts of community services can make a real difference empowering rural economies and our way of life. I’ll continue fighting to ensure federal resources reach rural and ag communities and benefit hardworking people across Southwest Washington.”

The committee and its subcommittees oversee the federal budget, which includes community projects funded via congressionally directed spending requests — commonly known as earmarks. For the 2024 fiscal year, $21.4 million in requested funding from Gluesenkamp Perez was ultimately included in that year’s budget, which the congresswoman’s office said was greater than 91% of her fellow first-term House Democratic colleagues.

That total included some $960,000 for the sewer main replacement project on Oregon Avenue in Long Beach, as well as $1.05 million for the Port of Willapa Harbor to purchase the only marine haul-service facility at the port.

The budget for the 2025 fiscal year has yet to be passed and signed into law. Gluesenkamp Perez submitted a $1.50 million request on behalf of the City of Ilwaco that would help fund a floating intake system for the city’s reservoir with the aim of improving drinking water quality. Another $1 million was requested in support of the veterans housing and resource center in Raymond.

Electoral reform

The congresswoman introduced her first bill of the new term last week, which would establish a select committee to “examine electoral methods and recommend reforms to reduce political polarization and strengthen our democracy,” according to a news release from her office.

If passed and signed into law, the Electoral Reform Select Committee Act that was introduced Jan. 7 by Gluesenkamp Perez and fellow moderate House Democrat Rep. Jared Golden of Maine would convene a bipartisan group of lawmakers to consider alternatives to the current winner-take-all electoral system.

The duo have floated several changes already, such as having multi-member districts with proportional representation, expanding the size of the House beyond its current total of 435 voting members for the first time since 1911, authorizing independent redistricting commissions to crack down on gerrymandering, and adopting instant-runoff voting — also referred to as “ranked choice voting” — to ensure winners represent a majority of voters.

Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement that more and more Americans, regardless of party or ideology, believe that democracy isn’t working for them and that the government is unreflective of their communities. This bipartisan select committee, she added, would examine the role our current electoral system plays in “exacerbating the hyper-partisanship, cynicism and obstruction that has taken over today’s politics.”

“It’s past time for Congress to set aside the conflict and chaos of clickbait politics and get back to work governing on behalf of the American people,” the congresswoman said.