The Issues 

• Priority #1 -- Jobs and the Economy!  With our country experiencing severe long-term unemployment, a stagnant jobs picture, and the worst levels of poverty and income inequality since the Herbert Hoover administration, creating jobs and getting our economy back on track is Jared's most urgent priority.  Jared's plan for job creation and economic growth includes:
• Pass the American Jobs Act, but don't stop there:  Jared supports President Obama's plan to spur job growth among middle class families and small businesses -- where it is needed most.  It's a good first step, but we must do more --   including greater investments in education and research, and much greater investments in critical infrastructure such as roads and bridges, public transportation systems including light rail and high speed rail, building retrofits to dramatically improve energy efficiency, expanded broadband in rural and underserved areas, renewable energy generation and transmission, and water and wastewater treatment systems.      
• Bold action to prevent foreclosures:   Ending the foreclosure crisis is critical to getting our economy back on track.  Since the real estate bubble burst in 2008, nearly 6 million Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure, and there are 3.5 million pending foreclosure proceedings.  Worse, more than 14 million Americans are still underwater in their mortgages and some experts predict 10.4 million mortgages will slip into default unless Congress takes bold action.  Jared has consistently supported state legislation to avoid foreclosures and will continue to do so in Congress.  That starts with supporting President Obama's plan to help millions of struggling homeowners refinance at very low interest rates.  But Jared will go further by working to pass so-called "cram down" legislation, which authorizes Bankruptcy Courts to reduce the principal down to fair market value and modify interest and amortization rates on residential mortgages.  At no cost to taxpayers, this bankruptcy reform could help millions of struggling families stay in their homes.   
• Help small businesses create jobs:  Jared understands that small businesses are America's most powerful jobs engine.  But in the wake of the global financial crisis, and with many business owners unable to use their homes as collateral due to the real estate collapse and sub-prime mortgage crisis, small businesses are struggling to get the  working capital they need to create jobs. President Obama's job creation tax credits for small business and additional tax credits for hiring veterans and wounded warriors are a good start, but Jared supports a stronger federal role in ensuring access to capital by small businesses, including microlending loan guarantees and passing legislation to allow credit unions to do business lending.  Jared has a strong track record of listening to and working with the small business community, which is why he consistently receives the highest legislative ranking from California Small Business Association and California Small Business Roundtable.   
• Win-Win Solutions for Business and the Environment:  Building on his achievements in the state legislature, Jared will continue to champion innovative win-win solutions that create jobs and grow the economy while also improving and protecting the environment.  He will work to pass a national renewable energy portfolio standard, a low-carbon fuel standard, and other proven policies that create jobs by growing the clean energy economy while also helping address enviornmental and national security needs.  In the 2nd Congressional District, the resource economy is especially important and Jared understands that sustainable and functional natural resource management policies are critical to the viability and success of natural resource-releated industries like fishing, forestry, tourism, and our diverse agricultural sector.       

• Sensible Debt Reduction --Jared believes our national debt crisis must be confronted immediately; but that we must do so in a sensible and balanced way that doesn’t harm seniors or put our fragile economic recovery at risk.  Solutions include targeted cuts in spending, including substantial reductions in military spending; increasing revenues by allowing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire and eliminating special tax breaks and loopholes such as those for oil companies; and key investments in education, clean technology and infrastructure to grow the economy.   Jared believes it was necessary to raise the debt ceiling this year to ensure our fiscal stability and continued economic recovery, and that such critical decisions should not be politicized.  Members of Congress should never seek to leverage their budget or policy priorities by threatening to shut down government or cause a default on American financial obligations.  

• Education -- There is no higher priority for Jared than ensuring that every American has the opportunity to receive a quality public education.  Jared believes that greater investments in the continuum from pre-K to higher education, including the development of a highly skilled workforce for a clean energy economy, are critical to our global economic competitiveness.  He also supports immigration policies that recognize the need to keep the brightest international students working in the United States after getting their degrees from our colleges and universities.  Similarly, Jared regards the DREAM Act as a commonsense investment in keeping our country safer and making our economy stronger by offering legal status to bright young undocumented immigrants who are willing to serve in our military or pursue higher education.   [Read more...]
  
  
• Healthcare Reform -- Jared believes making quality healthcare more affordable and accessible for individuals, families and employers is one of the most important policy challenges facing our state and nation.  Jared will defend and work to expand the Affordable Care Act, which will improve our healthcare system and bring relief to middle class Americans by providing protections against skyrocketing insurance premiums, reducing unfair business practices, protecting millions of people against the loss of their homes because of a catastrophic illness, helping small businesses provide coverage to their employees, and improving our overall quality of life, fiscal stability, and global economic competitiveness.   While fighting Republican efforts to repeal the legislation, Jared will also work to improve and expand it, including creating a public option. 

• Energy and Environment -- Our future economy and our national security depend on creating new clean energy jobs in California and throughout the country, and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.  Jared opposes offshore drilling in California, the environmentally destructive Canadian tar sands pipeline, and oil exploration in sensitive areas like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  He supports higher fuel efficiency standards, low-carbon fuel standards, renewable energy portfolio standards, and other clean energy policies that spur innovation and job creation while significantly reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.  Jared has also been a champion for distributed renewable energy solutions, and believes community-based energy initiatives such as Marin Clean Energy and the community choice aggregation plan under consideration in Sonoma County are important strategies for accelerating the development of renewable energy sources and creating local clean energy jobs.  On nuclear, Jared supports California’s moratorium on nuclear plants and has gone further by calling on President Obama to match Germany’s ambitious plan to decommission all nuclear power plants within a decade and replace them with a combination of increased renewable generation and energy efficiency.  As a former Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Jared brings unique environmental experience and expertise to his work as a legislator  – and has produced impressive results across a broad range of environmental issues. [Read more...]

• Foreign Policy, Peace, and National Security -- Jared believes in a strong national defense focused on actual threats to our security, and that neither our security nor our standing in the world is advanced when our military is engaged unnecessarily.   While honoring the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, Jared supports significant changes in our military and foreign policy.  This includes downsizing and re-focusing our military on modern security needs instead of the costly global forward-positioning left over from the Cold War.  On Iraq, Jared opposed the war from the beginning and supports the President’s efforts to expeditiously bring our troops home from that country.  Jared also believes it is past time to end the war in Afghanistan and favors a much more expedited troop withdrawal than what the President is pursuing.  

• Women's Rights -- Jared is firmly pro-choice and has a long track record of fighting for women’s rights.   In his career as a state legislator, Jared has compiled a stellar  pro-woman, pro-choice voting record scoring a perfect 100% for his career with Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the California National Organization for Women.  In addition, Jared has authored legislation to support nurses, raise money for breast cancer research, and prevent unjustified health insurance rate increases.

   

• LGBT RIghts  -- Jared believes in equal rights for all Americans and has a strong record of standing up for gay and transgender rights and fighting discrimination.  Jared has compiled a perfect 100% career voting record from Equality California.  Specifically, he voted for legislation to ensure marriage equality, recognize out-of-state same sex marriages, prohibit discrimination against transgendered individuals, establish the ability for transgendered individuals to obtain new birth certificates that reflect their change in gender, and created  “Harvey Milk Day”.  In Congress, Jared would support President Obama's historic decision to allow gays to serve openly in the military (ending the "don't ask, don't tell" policy), and would work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).