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Hello Rapp Up! readers. New Rural Virginia sat down this week with Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton to ask her about what the last Congress accomplished that will make a real difference for rural communities, but also how she is working concretely to represent the citizens of the 10th Congressional district. NewRuralVa: Although you are not new to Congress, the 10th district was redrawn last year in a way that gives you more rural constituents, including here in Rappahannock County. What can your new constituents expect from you? Wexton: Representing and working for my constituents is an incredibly important part of my job. In fact, our office staff provide fantastic constituency services. There is one woman in the office I call the “social security whisperer”, because she is able to get people’s benefit problems straightened out almost immediately. We have other people who can help with IRS problems, or veterans’ benefits, or if your passport expired and you need it renewed urgently, and so on. We are here to help, so please reach out to us, either online at Wexton.House.Gov or by phone at 703 234 3800. I also spend a lot of time looking at how we can help local governments with their priorities. Congress has something called “community project funding” which allows representatives to help their district with very specific projects. In my previous district, I was able to use that funding to help local communities with projects like water treatment, road improvement, or safety service enhancements. To do this well, it is really important to talk directly with county supervisors and town mayors, however. I will soon be visiting Fauquier and Rappahannock to do just that. NewRuralVa: Your constituency is primarily suburban and exurban, but there are also sizable areas with rural populations. Many recent Democratic legislative successes – like Infrastructure and the CHIPS and Science Act – appear to benefit urban and suburban areas over rural areas. Wexton: I’m not going to concede that these accomplishments are just going to benefit urban and suburban parts of the country, I don’t think that’s accurate. I think that broadband is going to be a game changer, especially for school kids. A lot of infrastructure projects are going to be coming through a lot of places, like water systems and treatment. Starting this January 1st, senior citizens are not paying more than $35 for their insulin. It’s going to make a huge difference for people no matter where they live. Another thing is tax credits for energy efficiencies for your home. Heat pumps have a very big tax credit that will make it affordable for people to save fuel costs, especially compared to propane or oil which are not only expensive but prone to sudden price swings. I’m not going to concede that we won’t have jobs in the rural economy either. My colleague Morgan Griffith from Southwest Virginia is pushing for a chip factory in his district. NewRuralVA: Let’s turn to what we might expect from the new Congress. One critical problem for rural communities is the lack of affordable, high-quality child care. What could this year’s Congress do about that? Wexton: This is a huge issue for so many people. Not only is childcare hard to access but it is extremely expensive. In fact, there had been pretty comprehensive child care legislation in our plans last year, but a couple senators did not want to vote for it. This year (with a Republican majority in the House) it is going to be even harder, as Republicans have always opposed federal funding for child care. There are some federal funds available for certain things - early childhood education, for example. However, that requires teachers with advanced degrees, and they command higher salaries than the sector can afford. A huge problem is that many childcare centers won’t accept babies under six months of age, while many parents do not have paid family and medical leave. That kind of leave would allow women to take 12 weeks off after birth without having to worry about going bankrupt or losing their home. No medical leave also makes it extra difficult for parents to take time off to keep their kids healthy. So family and medical leave legislation would really improve the quality of life for families. And we (Democrats) will keep trying to get it. These are complicated problems. One thing is clear - there cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution. Rural communities, for example, may have different needs and different solutions than urban ones. Republicans, however, have always opposed any kind of mandated leave, so it is not likely this year, but I will look for any opportunity to address this. NewRuralVA: This has been a great conversation. Thanks for speaking with us today. Want to learn more? Follow Congresswoman Wexton’s Facebook page here.
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