After accepting an award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for her support of businesses on the house floor, U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground speaks to a small crowd gathered in the banquet room of the Holiday Inn Express in Chehalis in June 2015.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., will be meeting with stakeholders from Toledo, Vader and Pe Ell on Friday to discuss her work to restore each town’s ability to qualify for a grant program.
Federal data determined the cities were too affluent to qualify for Community Development Block Grants in August 2014.
Since then, Herrera Beutler has been working on a solution so the towns will be eligible for grants.
The congresswoman plans to meeting with stakeholders from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday at Toledo’s wastewater treatment facility, which was funded by CDBG money. Herrera Beutler plans to tour the facility and then meet with officials from the three communities.
Herrera Beutler has been working with the Washington Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the impacted communities in Southwest Washington for solutions.
The congresswoman and U.S. House leadership that oversees HUD sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office in November 2014 requesting the agency use alternative data sources to change the status of Toledo, Vader and Pe Ell. She also invited HUD Secretary Julian Castro to visit the towns to see the disconnect between their classifications and on-the-ground needs.
