KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – In two major stops in Lake County on Saturday, Congressman Mike Thompson gave updates on the latest issues in Washington, from health care to immigration.
Thompson, a Democrat from St. Helena who has served Lake County in Congress for 18 years and was a member of the State Legislature before that, held a town hall at Kelseyville High School on Saturday afternoon, following up later in the day with his 26th annual ravioli dinner at Boatique Winery.
Even though it was a clear and warm spring Saturday, the afternoon town hall drew a crowd estimated to be around 250 people, a fact that didn’t surprise Thompson.
“Since November more people seem to be interested in what’s going on in Washington, DC,” Thompson said.
He said he’s held a number of town halls around his district that have drawn hundreds of people each, some of them requiring that people be turned away due to lack of space. At one he held at Piner High School in Santa Rosa along with State Sen. Mike McGuire, Thompson said 2,000 people showed up.
Although those events specifically were dedicated to discussing the aborted effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Thompson said more people are coming out to town halls in general, which he plans to continue holding.
“It's going to be our involvement and our continued involvement that will make sure that we keep going in the right direction,” he said.
On hand with Thompson at the town hall was a group of local, state and regional officials, including Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry; Sheriff Brian Martin; Lake County Board of Supervisors members Moke Simon and Tina Scott; Nancy Mitchell from the Lake County Veterans Services Office; Community Health Initiative, Napa County Executive Director Elba Gonzalez-Mares; and Lake County Assistant Superintendent of Schools April Leiferman, each offering brief updates for their agencies.
Among the updates, Aguiar-Curry said she’s working to create a blue ribbon committee for revitalizing Clear Lake, as well as projects related to agricultural apprenticeships for young people, a constitutional amendment that will help counties and cities pursue funding for affordable housing and public infrastructure, and rural broadband.
“I listened. I heard,” she said of community concerns.
One of the main topics at the town hall was health care and the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.
“We were able to have a victory in Congress last week in regard to the Affordable Care,” said Thompson.
However, he cautioned, “Don't take your eye off the ball. This fight's not over.”
That’s because the majority of Republicans in Congress still want to repeal the ACA, although Thompson said he’s not sure the president knows what he wants to do about it.
Loss of the ACA would have heavy consequences for California, which Thompson said stood to lose 300,000 jobs and $20 billion under the repeal bill.
“It would have been a hard hit for all of us Californians,” said Thompson, asserting it would have imposed an age tax.
The Republicans still need to find money to support their plans for tax cuts. “We've got to be very, very careful about how we go forward here,” said Thompson.
He said Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has said he wants to come back with another ACA repeal bill, otherwise the president might work with the Democrats to do a bipartisan bill.
Thompson said it seemed to him that working in a bipartisan manner to do something good for the American people is something Congress should be thinking about doing, calling Ryan’s sentiment “un-American.”
The ACA made important improvements by allowing young people to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26 and preventing people with preexisting conditions to be denied coverage, he said.
He went on to explain that no bill – at any level of government – is done being adjusted once it’s passed. Before the ink is dried, it’s important to start working on improvements and addressing unintended consequences. “Health care is no different.”
Regarding improving the ACA, Thompson said there are things that can be done right away, and there are things the president can do administratively. “The administration has a pretty heavy hand in this.”
He said the ACA won’t implode on its own, but the president can do things to cause it to implode. Some of those actions, which the president already has taken, including taking out funding to promote enrollment and removing money to help offset costs in high-risk areas. There’s also a Republican lawsuit that, if it succeeds, would prevent subsidies from being spent without specific congressional action.
Thompson said there are not enough private markets, and even in Lake County there are only two providers. That’s why he and others supported the public option. “We cannot become distracted and we cannot become divided.”
Gonzalez-Mares said 8,823 individuals gained Medi-Cal thanks to the ACA, and another 2,060 more gained coverage through the exchange.
She said the ACA has dropped the uninsured rate across California from 16 percent to 9 percent, preventive care is being used more and consumer protections increased.
Panel responds to variety of questions
Among the questions asked of Thompson and his panel of officials during the town hall included an inquiry about whether there was funding to build a dam on Scotts Creek. Scott said a committee of Scotts Valley residents had been organized to consider issues related to flooding in that area.
Thompson was asked about the “Cadillac” health care plan he has as a member of Congress. He said he and his wife actually pay about $800 a month for health care, not including vision and dental, for a plan he said is very similar to what others may have in the community.
The panel was asked about why roads aren’t be repaired. “Money,” said Aguiar-Curry, who urged people to support SB 1, the transportation package proposed by state legislative leadership to generate $52 billion over 10 years through increased gas tax and vehicle registration fees for statewide infrastructure improvement.
They also were asked about what the state of California is prepared to do in response to climate change concerns. Aguiar-Curry said California is the safest place to be when it comes to that issue.
“California is always going to have our eye on the ball for climate change,” she said, noting the state will continue to fight for clean air.
Sheriff Martin was asked about how the passage of the Truth Act, which took effect earlier this year, impacts his agency’s operations.
That law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year, requires that when the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, places a detainer on someone in local law enforcement custody for the purpose of interviewing or deporting them, the local agency holding the person must must serve a copy of that detainer request to the individual in question.
“My priorities are not to enforce federal immigration law. My priorities are to make sure our communities are safe, and that our communities are safe for everybody,” said Martin.
He said he and Supervisor Scott met with the acting head of ICE in Sacramento the prior week, and that agency official made it clear he will enforce the federal laws for which he is responsible.
Even so, Martin said the Truth Act and the discretionary abilities of sheriffs across the state come into play. He said sometimes law enforcement is asked by ICE to hold individuals who are in custody due to minor offenses beyond their dates of anticipated release. “And there is not a sheriff in the state of California that does that.”
In Sacramento County space is held in the jail for ICE detainees. “In Lake County we do not do that,” Martin said, adding that he will provide information to ICE about violent offenders but not about every individual accused of a crime, especially minor issues.
Martin said the sheriff’s office had two requests for ICE detainers in the previous two weeks, one for an individual who bailed out quickly, one for a person who wasn’t in custody for violent charges.
“I'm not sworn to enforce all laws,” Martin said, emphasizing that’s not what his oath says, and pointing out that he doesn’t enforce tax law or even laws relating to federal waterway regulations.
“I’m here to serve our community,” he said, explaining that he wants the community to feel safe, report issues and know the sheriff’s office will take care of them.
Thompson thanked Martin, adding it was the best appropriate response that he could give.
“This is going to be a bit of a struggle,” Thompson said of issues with federal law enforcement agencies and immigration.
He said his Democratic caucus the week before met with Homeland Security head John Kelly after he had blown off the Latino Caucus the previous week. Thompson said he has never seen a cabinet secretary from either party be as rude and dismissive to members of Congress as Kelly.
Thompson asked Kelly at the meeting about the concerns of law enforcement that ICE agents wear jackets and vets with the word “Police” written on them in huge letters. That’s a concern for local law enforcement, who have spent years working with immigrant communities.
At that point, Thompson presented a letter signed by 50 of his colleagues also raising issue with the practice. Kelly said he would take the letter but would not do anything about the issue.
“We have a real uphill battle in trying to make sure that this administration recognizes that they have a responsibility to local communities across our country. This is where the rubber hits the road,” Thompson said.
There also were questions at the town hall about sanctuary cities, with Aguiar-Curry noting that California in particular is in the crosshairs over the issue. “Our president is looking at us as a target.”
Thompson was asked if he supports privatizing the school system, and he quickly answered with a one word answer: “No.”
He also answered questions about helping getting federal recovery dollars to Lake County for the wildland fires and flooding, and noted he’s committed to working with local and state officials to ensure that they get every available federal dollar.
Likewise, he recognized the high costs for higher education, and recounted efforts that Democrats have made to support the Pell Grant system.
He also was asked about the investigation into President Trump’s Russian ties and his tax returns. Thompson said he agrees with Sen. John McCain of Arizona that there needs to be an independent investigation.
“A foreign government who is an adversary injected themselves into our election,” he said. “They worked to disrupt our democratic process, and that on its own should have everybody in this room and everybody across the United States of America hopping mad.”
Dinner with friends
Later, at his evening dinner event, Thompson would acknowledge the energy across the country right now regarding the developments in the federal government.
“There’s a silver lining to what is depressing us,” he said, noting that people are energized and are once again attending town halls, which he said are “back in popularity today.”
Thompson said he was excited about the turnout at those events, including the one he hosted earlier that day.
He brought up concerns about potential cuts to government operations proposed by the president, including taking $100 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has responded to Lake County during tis recent disasters. There also are concerns about impacts to the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“I’m going to fight like hell to make sure we get the best deal for our district and our country,” Thompson said.
He said he will work with the president and the majority party, and shares their interests in investment in infrastructure.
Thompson said immigration also needs to be fixed, and there is bipartisan support for addressing it.
A former eight-year member of the House Intelligence Committee, Thompson said the “shenanigans” of the last several weeks related to that committee have cast a cloud, and the matter of Russian election interference needs to be investigated.
He added that, in the midst of the turmoil in Washington, it meant a lot to him to be able to return home to his district and be with friends.
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