Submitted by Rep. Rick Larsen’s office.

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) will meet with San Juan Island Family Resource Center Director Jennifer Armstrong to discuss the child care needs of San Juan County residents and the historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit on July 14.

Child care capacity decreased by nearly 50 percent in San Juan County during the pandemic. In March, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a nearly $1.9 trillion relief package Larsen supported that included a temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit to help working families pay for food, gas, child care services and other vital expenses. Larsen supports long-term, structural investment in child care, including making the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent.

Larsen will then meet with San Juan Community Theatre Executive Director Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey to hear how the nonprofit theater was able to safely reopen this summer and discuss the theater’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) award. The SVOG initiative was amended by the American Rescue Plan, legislation Larsen supported, to further prevent widespread closures of performance venues across the United States.

Larsen will then visit Mitchell Bay Farms and Sweet Earth Farms to discuss regenerative farming practices and federal relief for agricultural producers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including an estimated $10.4 billion in the American Rescue Plan to strengthen the nation’s food supply chain.