This week, I voted to advance the budget resolution—an important procedural step to keep our nation's legislative process moving forward. This is simply the first stage before our committees begin drafting bills to determine our priorities. Among these priorities are doubling the standard deduction, expanding the child tax credit, and maintaining the death tax exemption. These are policies that make a real difference for working families, farmers, and small business owners, and allows them to keep more of their hard-earned money.

There's been a lot of political rhetoric about what the budget resolution does and doesn't do, so I want to be clear: this week's budget resolution doesn't include any specific policy requirements. I've heard from people all over the Central Valley about the importance of Medicaid and SNAP, and I absolutely support these programs.

Earlier this week, I spoke on the House Floor to Majority Leader Scalise, urging that the final budget package reflects the needs of Central Valley families and strengthens programs like Medicaid and SNAP. The Majority Leader confirmed his willingness to do so.

My priority has been and will continue to be standing up for Central Valley families, and I made it clear that I will only support a final bill that protects essential resources like Medicaid and SNAP.

In California's Central Valley, many communities face a shortage of healthcare professionals, leading to limited access to essential medical services. I've seen firsthand how this affects families seeking timely and quality care. To address this critical issue, I reintroduced the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act. This bipartisan legislation aims to increase the number of qualified physicians practicing in our rural areas by allowing foreign-trained doctors to serve in these communities. By expanding this program, we can attract more qualified physicians to our region, ensuring that residents have better access to the healthcare they deserve.

Yesterday, I was proud to reintroduce the Eliminating the Marriage Penalty in SSI Act (EMPSA) alongside Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03). No one should have to choose between love and financial security, yet outdated Supplemental Security Income (SSI) rules unfairly penalize married individuals with disabilities. Currently, benefits for a married couple who both receive SSI and have no other income amount to 25% less than the total they would receive if they weren't married. This is unacceptable. The EMPSA Act removes the marriage penalty for SSI individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, ensuring married adults aren't penalized by the federal government. 

This week, I co-led the re-introduction of the Federal Retirement Fairness Act to help federal employees who have been shortchanged on their retirement benefits. Many federal workers, including U.S. Postal Service employees, began their careers in temporary roles where they couldn’t contribute to their retirement savings. As a result, they're faced with the difficult decision of either working longer than planned or retiring without the benefits they deserve. This bipartisan bill will allow them to make up for those lost years and contribute to their retirement to ensure they can retire on schedule.

While I was in Washington this week, Team Valadao was out in the Valley connecting with the community. This week, my staff attended Wonderful Citrus' 75th Anniversary Celebration and Citrus Symposium in Delano. Wonderful Citrus cultivates and harvests over 74,000 acres of fresh citrus to be shipped around the world each year, and I'm happy my team was able to celebrate with them. Team Valadao also went to the grand re-opening of the Albertsons on Mount Vernon Avenue in East Bakersfield. They had a great time meeting everyone and were honored to see the official ribbon cutting.

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 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!

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