REPUBLIC – Rep. Michael Baumgartner held his first town hall on Monday in Republic as he campaigns for re-election.
Baumgartner held the meeting at Republic Elementary School Monday evening as part of a “12 counties in 12 days” tour across the 5th Congressional District. This was his first town hall of three he plans to do for his tour. He planned to hold a town hall Tuesday in Davenport.
Nearly 30 constituents were in attendance.
“I do worry about the political polarization in America,” Baumgartner said. “Just try to keep as friendly conversation as we can.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Baumgartner held a private fundraising event at Colville Pour House.
A mix of cheers and boos welcomed Baumgartner as he quickly entered the building.
Among those in attendance was Rep. Andrew Engell, R-Colville; Rep. Hunter Abell, R-Inchelium; Sen. Shelly Short; and Stevens County Commissioner Mark Burrows.
“Liar!” Shouted multiple protestors.
The town hall at the school did not have protestors.
“Out of all the town halls I’ve done, this is has been the most civil,” Baumgartner said.
The town hall brought questions of agriculture, border issues and healthcare.
Ferry County Health CEO Brian Lady and Chief Nursing Officer Zane Gibbons, who both were in attendance, asked how the state will navigate distribution of the Rural Health Transformation Program.
The federal program, which is part of the Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, is expected to alleviate projected Medicaid funding declines from 2026 to 2030. Washington state received $181 million to help rural healthcare.
However, Gibbons said he’s heard more rural hospitals are applying for funding, making it likely they will receive less funds than what they need, adding they were “close to going under” not long ago. They still haven't been notified by state officials on how much they will be receiving.
“Large healthcare providers have lots of lawyers and lobbyists, and they're pretty good at reading the laws and then qualifying for themselves. So I don't have a great specific answer for you on how we can control Olympia doing that," Baumgartner said.
He said at the state level, staffing and certain mandates have increased healthcare provider costs. He added Washington allowing people from surrounding states to get healthcare access is also part of it.
“We have tried to disincentivize states from putting illegal immigrants on health care. But in our state, you know, they budgeted $150 million of your taxes for illegal immigrant health care,” Baumgartner said.
"It's a complicated system, and one that we continue to work on, but we will do what we can to support you guys in rural healthcare," he said.
For border issues, a local resident asked about the trade war and the impact it has on border town businesses.
She said areas up north have lost many consumers.
Baumgartner acknowledged the importance of cross-border businesses and tourism. He said there's a possibility he will be meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Ottawa, in mid-June.
"It's fine to battle over hockey and all those sorts of things. We both have our national pride. But you know, America needs more allies, not less and I think the 51st state stuff was, was some stuff that didn't really accomplish a lot," Baumgartner said. "We've made a couple trips to the border, and I was really pleased our border security and our border personnel seem to have really good working relationship with Canadians."
He added there’s been added effort on the southern border and crackdown on immigration and fentanyl trafficking under the Trump Administration.
"But we are very worried about some of that stuff that come in through the northern border and coming through the area," Baumgartner said.
Dan O’Brien, a Ferry County resident, said his family owns ranches throughout Washington. He asked about the impact of trade deals in the industry in relation to the 2026 Farm Bill draft, asking why Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for meat products wasn't part of it.
Congress repealed origin labelling rule for beef and pork in 2015 due to retaliatory threats from Mexico and Canada. The farm bill passed the House and is now heading to the Senate and is the first to do so since 2018.
“I'm not opposed to foreign beef coming in, but I know that Americans will pay a premium for a USA made product, just like we did when we were kids,” he said.
Baumgartner said that since this was the first time a farm bill has made progress in eight years, he anticipates it could be a positive impact for agriculture across the country.
“We can work on that together,” he said.
