U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, announced Monday her community projects funding request to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee.
The funding, if approved, would go toward 14 projects in the Third Congressional District, including two in Lewis County.
Gluesenkamp Perez requested roughly $15.5 million in total for the list of projects that she says were chosen based on eligibility as well as community impact and support.
Gluesenkamp Perez has successfully secured funding for local projects through the community projects funding process in the past, including more than $20 million in the 2024 fiscal year.
“Every day across Southwest Washington, good people are sitting down and coming up with solutions for their communities — instead of waiting for the federal government to tell them they need to jump through more hoops and wade through more red tape to help their neighbors.” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “The community project funding process is a way I can recognize these community-led efforts and proactively bring dollars home for projects that might have otherwise been underappreciated or difficult for small, rural communities to fund in another manner.”
An online interactive map created by the representative’s team is available at https://tinyurl.com/yckbwc58 and shows the location and descriptions of projects in Washington’s Third Congressional District that the representative has helped to fund in the past.
Altogether, Gluesenkamp Perez’s newest community project funding requests ask for around $1 million for each of the 14 projects. They include one districtwide project as well as three each for Clark and Pacific counties, two each for Cowlitz and Lewis counties and one each for Skamania, Thurston and Wahkiakum counties.
Funding for Lewis County projects is split two ways. The first project on the list is called the Napavine Agricultural Building Project and proposes allocating $1,015,000 in funding to the Napavine School District to construct a multi-function lab facility for the high school’s agriculture program.
According to the project description, student interest in trades is expected to exceed the school district’s infrastructure capabilities in the next five to seven years and the project will help more students participate in trades programs, including apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships and other workforce development opportunities that will contribute to the Napavine economy.
The other Lewis County project — the Lewis County Regional Fire Service Training Center — calls for $1 million in funding for Lewis County Fire Protection District 15 in Winlock.
According to the project's description, the funds would be used to purchase land and develop a combined fire service training facility to train regional agencies on the complexities of changing fire behaviors created by new technologies, including electric vehicles. It will allow different fire districts, regional law enforcement and other emergency management entities to train together locally in real-life situations, saving taxpayer dollars otherwise spent on out-of-area training.
The $850,000 in funding for Thurston County, if approved, will go to the City of Tenino in the south of the county for a new meat processing facility that would serve the new Southwest Washington Agricultural Business and Innovation Park.
In the project description, Gluesenkamp Perez said the regional meat processing facility will provide much-needed animal harvest, cut and wrap, and cold storage services for small and medium-sized businesses located in the 14 counties surrounding Thurston County, resulting in a better supply chain for local meat production.
Gluesenkamp Perez used the same community project funding process to secure $500,000 for the Agriculture Business and Innovation Park in the 2024 fiscal year.
All three of the funding proposals for the three nearby projects have already been approved by the House Appropriations Committee; however, the 2026 fiscal year funding bills still need approval by both the House and the Senate before the funding is secured.
In addition to the local projects, another project Gluesenkamp Perez is seeking funding for is aimed at improving salmon numbers throughout the district.
The congresswoman is asking for $1,031,000 for sea lion mitigation and salmon protection
The funds would be used for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s permitted program to remove sea lions consuming salmon and steelhead on the lower Columbia River and its tributaries.
The funding was included in the 2026 Commerce Justice, Science and Related Agencies funding bill that will be considered by the House Appropriations Committee.
Language submitted by Gluesenkamp Perez was also included in the bill to direct NOAA and state and Tribal partners to study the pinniped removal methods for the best efficacy and cost.
The legislation will need to pass the committee, House and Senate.
