This week, I joined Reps. Rob Bresnahan, Chellie Pingree, and Josh Harder in introducing the Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities Act. The Central Valley grows the food that feeds our nation, and this bill helps connect our farmers directly with local families and food banks to deliver healthy, homegrown food where it’s needed most. Through these agreements, funds would be used to purchase local, fresh, and minimally processed foods like meat, seafood, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit, and poultry. This bill is a bipartisan effort that invests in our farmers and communities, and I’m proud to help lead the charge.

If you can’t get an answer from a federal agency in a timely fashion or if you feel you’ve been treated unfairly, my office may be able to help. While we can’t guarantee a favorable outcome, we’ll do our best to help you receive a fair and timely response to your problem.

If you’d like to speak to my staff about an issue, please contact my Hanford office at (559) 460-6070 or my Bakersfield office at (661) 864-7736. We are ready to assist at the other end of the line.

On Monday, Team Valadao attended the Mid Kings River Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting to discuss revisions to the region’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan. Later, they met with John Cardoza, Project Director at Sustainable Conservation, to discuss the innovative work his team is doing in CA-22. Part of that work includes building a new system that blends dairy lagoon water with freshwater to irrigate forage crops—improving water and nitrogen use efficiency while increasing crop yields. In Kern County, my staff joined a planning meeting to support preparations for the upcoming Bakersfield Veterans Symposium, scheduled for August 8th. Later on, they presented a certificate to Kabab City in honor of the grand opening of its newest location in Hanford—its sixth location in the Central Valley.

On Tuesday, my team attended the Kings County Board of Supervisors meeting to discuss local initiatives, including plans for future development and civic engagement. At the Tulare Veterans Memorial Building, Team Valadao attended a veterans "Coffee and Social" before meeting with the City of Tulare Community Development Director Mario Anaya to discuss ongoing local projects. Later in Bakersfield, they toured the Brundage Lane Navigation Center—the first Mercy House program in Kern County. The Center offers 150 beds and provides wraparound services for adults experiencing homelessness.

On Wednesday, Team Valadao presented a congressional certificate to the Porterville Fire Department in recognition of its new Dräger training tower. This state-of-the-art facility will help ensure our firefighters are fully prepared to protect the community in all emergency scenarios. They also presented a certificate at the grand opening of the new Lindsay disc golf course, a fun, family-friendly addition to the community. Later, my staff met with Joe Garcia, President of the California Farmworker Foundation. They finished the day by presenting certificates at the Kern County Public Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership graduation ceremony.

On Thursday, my team presented a certificate to Centro Cali Brewing at their ribbon cutting ceremony in Bakersfield. After, they met with the Executive Director of the Tulare Pregnancy Resource Center to learn more about their important work in CA-22. In Tulare, Team Valadao celebrated the grand opening of the Business Innovation Zone—a new space designed to support entrepreneurs, promote small business growth, and drive technological advancement in the region. To end the day, my staff attended the Eagle Mountain Casino Business After Hours Multi-Chamber Mixer.

Today, Team Valadao joined Kern County's 5th District Supervisor, Chairwoman Leticia Perez, and representatives from the Kern County General Services to celebrate new amenities at Virginia Avenue Park. To close out the week, my staff attended the Armando Apodaca Remembrance Reception to deliver a letter of condolence to the family of a respected community leader and long-time Tulare County resident.

Trying to get an answer from a federal agency can often be a time-consuming and frustrating process. If you ever need help navigating a federal agency, you can visit my website here or call my Hanford office at (559) 460-6070. My team is ready to assist you!

Tratar de obtener una respuesta de una agencia federal a menudo puede ser un proceso frustrante y que requiere mucho tiempo. Si alguna vez necesita ayuda con una agencia federal, puede visitar mi sitio de web aquí o llamar a mi oficina de Hanford al (559) 460-6070. ¡Mi equipo está listo para ayudarte!

Our question this week comes from Roy in Bakersfield. He heard that Medicaid and Medicare weren't cut in H.R. 1, but they also weren't increased to the levels Congressional Democrats wanted, so he asked for an explanation.

Thanks for your question, Roy. There's been a lot of disinformation surrounding the healthcare provisions included in H.R. 1, or the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. To start, H.R. 1 didn't touch Medicare benefits, and Medicaid was not cut. In fact, Medicaid spending is projected to increase by 26% over the next 10 years. Only in Washington, D.C. could a spending increase be described as a cut.

Medicaid was originally created to assist our most vulnerable—children, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, and seniors. Since the Affordable Care Act expanded the program in 2010, costs have risen to a level that's no longer sustainable. H.R. 1 doesn't make cuts or remove anyone from the program, but it does ask able-bodied adults without children or dependents to participate in their community, whether through work, school, job training, or volunteering. These policies are designed to help people prepare for the workforce, contribute to their communities, and makes sure the program is around for the long haul.

It will take years for the provisions in H.R. 1 to go into effect, but when they do, I'll continue to advocate for access to care for my constituents. My office is here to help answer any questions related to the bill, so please don't hesitate to reach out.

Do you have a question about my position on an issue? How the Congress operates? My thoughts on the news of the day?

Send your first name, town, and question to AskDavid@mail.house.gov and I might answer yours right here in one of my weekly newsletters. Make sure to subscribe to my weekly email updates to see if your question was answered!

If you want to share your opinion with me on issues of importance, you can always contact me on my website.

Did you know you can now sign up for texts from my office to stay up to date on my work in Washington D.C.? To sign up to receive updates from me directly to your phone, just text VALADAO to (559) 387-4346 and you will be automatically subscribed. You can also sign up for text alerts using this form here.  

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