#YearofRabbit California Policy Dream List for Working Families
One year ago, I joined the Working Families Party to expand its organizing to the largest state in the nation- California. Tasked with the goal of activating an electorate which overwhelmingly voted for Bernie Sanders for President in 2020 and identifying and winning candidates who actually represent the working families of California, we got to work.
California Working Families Party endorsed 59 candidates in the 2022 election cycle and hosted more than 300 events– doorknocking, phonebanks, text banks and virtual townhalls to support them. In a promising story of California’s future, 56 of our WFP endorsed candidates identify as people of color and the majority are women.
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In our inaugural year, eight California Working Families Squad Legislators, committed to fight for tenant protections, climate justice and fair wages won, expanding our corporate free squad in Sacramento from two to eight. While Democrats dominate California, too many legislators have sided with big money, choosing Big Oil or Big Pharma over the health of our communities. In fact, Big Oil (more on this later), is the biggest political spender in California funding 78 out 120 state legislators.
Six Working Families mayoral candidates won, Karen Bass for Los Angeles Mayor, Paloma Aguirre for Imperial Beach Mayor, Ulises Cabrera for Moreno Valley Mayor, Eduardo Martinez for Richmond City Mayor, and Rex Richardson for Long Beach City Mayor and Sheng Thao for Oakland Mayor. (Check out our GOTV Rally for Karen Bass for Los Angeles Mayor with Senator Bernie Sanders co-hosted by the California Working Families Party!)
California WFP also backed progressive champions for Board of Supervisors, City Council and Board of Education races to impact local communities and build a pipeline of candidates for higher office. This is a promising bench in California where three out of four eligible voters under 30 is a person of color.
California Policy Dream List 2023-2024
“Liberals want to do nice things. And progressives understand that you have to take on powerful special interests to make it happen.” U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
Winning office is not our goal. Winning a Working Families policy agenda which lifts all working Californians is our goal. As we enter #YearofRabbit, a zodiac animal known for steadily moving towards their goal, here’s my California Policy Dream List- winnable, fundable + impactful.
1. Grow our California Squad to 20 by 2026, ensuring corporate free, Working Families champions make up ⅙ of our California legislature.
While this may seem small, a group of 20 courageous and energetic leaders can move an agenda while activating and organizing our base. They can shine a light on the corporate backed legislative agenda and introduce a peoples first policy agenda to positively impact the lives of everyday Californians.
2. Medicare for *ALL* Kids
At least 4M children across our nation lack access to health care today. While our ultimate goal is Medicare for ALL, starting with children is a good start. Imagine a world where all newborn babies, rich and poor, go home with a name, birth certificate and health insurance.
Providing children with health care is relatively cheap. The average child's medical needs, including vaccines and checkups, are routine, low-cost and preventative. Children make up a quarter of the U.S. population, but generate less than 12% of total health care spending and children would improve Medicare’s financial profile by lowering average costs.
Guaranteeing coverage for all kids would benefit all families– low-income and working-class families would be enrolled automatically without paperwork or expensive outreach and education programs in multiple languages. Medicaid is currently the third-largest anti-poverty program, responsible for raising 2 to 3M people out of poverty— reducing medical debt and bankruptcies. Medicare for Kids is also a subsidy to middle-class families who currently spend money on co-pays for visits and medication and sometimes significant or unaffordable deductibles. In fact, private health care does not guarantee access to care when out of pocket costs effectively eliminate access. In addition, all children will get continuous, uninterrupted care with a familiar doctor instead of getting yanked in and out of coverage due to parent’s change of employment, job loss or change in income.
Finally, we will raise a generation of voters who will not view Medicare as a socialist fantasy or nightmare but a generation which will have normalized a single payer healthcare system.
Oh, it’s also popular. According to a 2019 poll by Data for Progress poll, 80% of registered Democrats support Medicare for Kids.
3. Take on Big Oil
Big Oil is the biggest political spender in California, yet most voters in our blue state are unaware of the power the industry holds in Sacramento. 78 out of 120 California legislators, Republicans and Democrats, accepted oil money. California is the 7th largest oil producing state and continues to approve fracking permits as wildfires and smoke choke our communities. Worse, over 7M Californians live within one mile of an active oil well, putting them at greater risk of asthma, cancer and early births.
After a decade of organizing, this past September, the California legislature finally passed a bill (SB 1137) to ban NEW oil drilling within 3200 feet of homes, schools and playgrounds and within days, Big Oil announced they were gathering signatures to repeal this bill. Other billionaire corporations also unhappy with policies to support workers, gathered signatures to overturn AB 257, a first in nation bill to establish sectoral bargaining for fast food workers. Both have qualified for the November 2024 ballot.
We can defeat those pro-corporate ballot initiatives and go on offense. Finally tired of $8/gallon headlines, Democrats announced they would introduce a bill to penalize oil price gouging. Financial reports revealed that the five companies producing 97% of all of California’s oil and gas, quadrupled their profits in the first nine months of 2022. California had the highest gouge gap in the nation–billions of dollars went from the pocketbooks of hardworking Californians only to enrich billionaire CEO’s and shareholders. It’s time to fight back.
4. Raise the Minimum Wage: One Job Should Be Enough
The Fight for 15 had real, measurable impacts on workers' pay. This January, California’s minimum wage rose to $15.50 and an estimated 5.6M Californians will earn at least $20B more, an amount larger than all of California’s major public assistance programs combined.
Yet, we have still not kept up with the living wage needed across California. There is not a single county where a minimum wage worker can afford to rent a two bedroom apartment for themselves and their family. New York and Rhode Island introduced $21/hour and Idaho and Massachusetts introduced $20/hour. California can and should continue to lead this fight for minimum wage workers, the vast majority of whom are women.
And we should raise the minimum wage for all workers including incarcerated inmates who currently make pennies on the hour for jobs which include fighting California’s wildfires.
5. Tax Extreme Wealth
During the pandemic, billionaires grew $2 trillion while millions of Americans filed for unemployment or risked their lives as essential workers. 44% of that wealth grew in California alone. California has the most billionaires and the highest poverty rate in the nation. This is a policy failure.
In month, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Washington all introduced a Wealth Tax on the extreme rich. The California Wealth Tax is modeled on US Senator Elizabeth Warren's, specifically targeting extreme wealth over $50M and $1B. If passed, it would generate $22.3B/year for California. California has one of the most progressive income tax rates in the country, effectively taxing for example, a rich doctor who primarily earns their money through income. However, the wealthiest Californians report very little income– avoiding taxes on the vast majority of their wealth. We should remedy this inequity and tax all wealth.
5. Free Bus Pilots
It is exciting to see cities such as Washington DC and Boston pilot fare free bus programs while New York legislators consider similar proposals. Free bus programs make public transportation more accessible, encourage people to ride instead of drive, reduce congestion and pollution, and disproportionately benefit low-income individuals and families (again without the hassle of paperwork, expensive outreach programs and bureaucratic income verification). Imagine cities which provide free buses for residents and visitors to ride to work, school and play!
California is changing
Over the next decade, we are going to see the continued growth and power of California voters currently under 45. And they are disproportionately people of color and immigrants.
California is ready to lead a working families agenda for the nation. There is a growing base of multiracial, cross-class voters that want to tackle widening wealth inequality, the untenable affordability crisis, and wildfires turning our communities to ash. Our challenge is to organize that base of voters into a movement that can make this wish list a reality and deliver for the people.
