Kitsap News Group sent freelance reporter Mike De Felice to Washington, D.C., to spend a week with the 6th District’s U.S. Rep. Emily Randall (D-WA), who recently was engaged in marathon committee meetings with the government’s budget in the balance. This, the final installment of a three-part series, examines the congresswoman’s involvement in caucuses that impact Kitsap County.

Maintaining the glistening waters of Puget Sound and steering federal monies to Washington State Ferries are two goals of the 6th District Congresswoman Emily Randall.

When the freshman member of Congress came to Washington, D.C., after being elected last November, her aim was to join caucuses that could benefit her district. The 6th District includes the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas as well as parts of Tacoma.

The Puget Sound Recovery Caucus was a natural fit for Randall, whose district includes Puget Sound, which surrounds the Kitsap Peninsula. The group focuses on safeguarding the Sound through steps to mitigate pollution from urban stormwater runoff, and protecting and restoring habitat. Randall says protecting Puget Sound is a priority of hers.

“There’s not a person that I’ve talked to in our county, Democrat or Republican, who doesn’t enjoy the Puget Sound and doesn’t want to make sure that we keep it clean — clean from oil spills or from wastewater discharge from the Navy,” Randall said. “Our constituents are worried when those things happen. They also want to make sure that we’re preserving the habitat, the salmon and the Orca.”

Unlike a congressional committee established by the U.S. House or Senate, a caucus is an informal group of lawmakers who share a common interest in an issue. “We don’t see this work happening anywhere else, and we want to lead the charge on the work,” she explained. “We’re often a place where folks who advocate for the Puget Sound will come and bring their ideas. We can then generate policy.”

Several Northwest groups concerned about the environmental health of Puget Sound endorse the caucus.

“The Puget Sound Recovery Caucus has long been a strong advocate in Congress for the recovery and protection of Puget Sound,” said Larry Epstein, deputy director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “We are fortunate to have such dedicated leadership in our congressional delegation. Through their support, we can continue making investments that protect public health, strengthen local economies, restore vital salmon habitats, and build resilience against flooding.”

Ed Johnstone, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, voiced a similar sentiment.

“Recovering Puget Sound is absolutely essential to the protection and continued exercise of our treaty-protected rights. The (caucus) can help us build climate resilience and face ongoing challenges from unchecked human development and recreational impacts from an ever-expanding population,” Johnstone said.

The caucus was co-founded in 2013 by Randall’s 6th District predecessor, U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer. Last Congress session, the group was chaired by Kilmer and 10th District U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA). Randall was invited to co-chair the caucus alongside Strickland this session.

Other caucus members are fellow Washington state U.S. Representatives – Suzan DelBene (1st Dist.), Pramila Jayapal (7th Dist.), Rick Larson (2nd Dist.) and Adam Smith (9th Dist.).

Ferry caucus

Randall is working to form a new caucus on Capitol Hill that would focus on supporting and improving ferry systems across the nation. The move could prove beneficial to WSF, which has faced significant funding challenges in recent years, impacting ferry service and staffing.

Randall has experience with the state’s ferries, having been a ferry caucus member during her time as a senator in the state legislature.

“We had ferries in our district and knew we needed to advocate for more funding for ferries and infrastructure,” Randall said. “When I came (to D.C), I looked to see if we had a ferry caucus because it’s not just Washington state that has ferries. There’s a huge system in Alaska. There are ferries in San Francisco and in other parts of the country, [like] the Great Lakes.”

Since ferry systems exist around the country, Randall hopes to assemble a bipartisan group of representatives that will work together to fund marine highways nationwide.

WSF needs federal assistance to update its fleet, Randall said, adding that most of the funding for regional ferries comes from state allocations, not from federal funding.

“We have to build new boats and continue staffing up. The system can’t sustain on only the old ferries. They are nearing the end of their useful life, having gone under mid-life maintenance and repair. They still break down and we still lose ferry service on the Kitsap Peninsula, especially,” Randall said.

One task the congresswoman would like the new group to undertake is to rewrite policy that would allow WSF equitable access to certain federal funds. Currently, there’s no unified funding mechanism to make that happen.

“There are some buckets of federal money that only the Alaska system qualifies for and the Washington state system doesn’t. That was something I had my eyes on when I was at the state legislature. Without changes to the budgetary language for some buckets of money, we will never be able to qualify for federal aid for our ferry system,” she said.

Randall said she hopes the new ferry caucus will launch by mid-summer.