The candidates discussed the state's financial responsibility for health and social services amid declining federal grants. Candidate David Steebe emphasized the importance of working collaboratively with federal partners to secure available matching grants and bring federal dollars back to the state. Candidate Diana Perez noted that while the state cannot replace every lost federal dollar, targeted state investments are necessary to prevent rural medical clinics and behavioral health facilities from closing.
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Election 2026: League of Women Voters General Election Candidate Forum · Sep 30, 2026 · 25:11–25:26 · Watch on CVTV ↗
Keywords: federal grant
What was said
24:06 When you have a majority, there is no accountability and it's really hard. I've tried asking for some of those databases. It's on the homeless. But they wouldn't even give me a hearing because they didn't want me to find that information out. And that's a problem. Our gas tax, we need to know where that money is going. So I had Jake Vi, he's the chair of transportation, come down I think last week. I'm trying to get that slough bridge fixed. We've already had fatalities there. Got them underneath that bridge. I think I've got that up to a top priority. But we need to spend our money that we're collecting for our roads and fixing our roads. And right now we've got 158 dilapidated bridges. We need to fix Washington with that. Thank you. So candidate Stevie, federal grants are going away for health and social services.
25:03 What is the state's responsibility for financing these services? So we need to make sure that we are smart with that. There are a lot of federal grants out there that we need to make sure that we capitalize on. There are always matching grants that you have to do. We need to make sure that we understand and we're not getting caught up. I hate the politics. And whether or not it's an R or D, once we get elected, I'm up there to represent everybody. And so some of the federal grants that are out there, we need to make sure that as a state we look at that and say how is that going to benefit us and participate in that stuff. We have a duty and ownership to our citizens to make sure that they're taken care of, they feel safe, they have health, they have jobs. I think we need to really work with the feds and make sure.
26:02 I've had a lot of success with that, working with Maria, working with, I don't know, our federal partners, our senators, making sure that we are bringing back the dollars to take care of our state. Thank you. Candidate Perez. Yes. When federal dollars for the healthcare shrink, everyone feels it. You feel it at a child's checkup. You feel it at a parent's medication, doctor's appointment, and it's also a rural clinic survival.
Evidence (1 match)
cross_cutting keyword 25:11–25:26 federal grant
hington with that. Thank you. So candidate Stevie, federal grants are going away for health and social services. What is the state's responsibility for financing these services? So we need to make sure that we are smart with that. There are a lot of federal grants out there that we need to make sure that we capitalize on. There are always matching grants that you have to do. We need to make sure that we understand and we're not getting caught up. I hate the politics. And whether or not it's an R