Issue Position: Jobs and The Economy

Issue Position

Minimum Wage
I support the Fair Minimum Wage Act. Minimum wage has not kept pace with the cost-of-living and I believe that full-time minimum wage workers deserve the dignity of being able to provide for their families. While $10.10 is not enough for working-class Americans when cost-of-living increases are factored in, I support quickly moving to this benchmark as we continue to press for appropriate living wages. I support increasing the minimum wage for tipped workers, whose wages have been stuck at $2.13 per hour for 21 years. I will advocate for yearly increases in the wages paid to tipped workers up to the tip credit of 70% of the minimum-wage. I believe it is important that we index future increases to the consumer price index (CPI) to ensure that minimum wage grows in proportion with inflation.
Pay Equity
I support federal legislation to end sex- and race-based wage discrimination and I will work to ensure that more effective remedies are available for victims of pay inequity. This is an economic justice issue. In 2013, on average, women earned 77 cents to every dollar men earned for the same work. African American women earned just 64 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. These disparities hurt American families and we have an obligation to fix it.
Employment Discrimination
I support legislation to outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age.
Worker Rights
I support legislation that requires companies to guarantee at least seven paid sick days per year. Workers who are sick but report to work because they cannot afford not to jeopardize workplace safety and productivity. I oppose any efforts to exclude workers from the protections of the 40-hour workweek. I will work to prevent more workers from being denied the absolute right to overtime pay. These are basic provisions that unions fought for and we must not dismantle or weaken them.
Collective Bargaining
I firmly support workers' rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining, and I believe that workers' rights are civil rights. Workers should be protected from any intimidation tactics or coercion that acts as an impediment to exercising the right to organize. I oppose a national right to work bill that would prohibit union members and their employers from voluntarily agreeing to union security provisions. I oppose efforts to limit the ability of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) or the National Mediation Board to engage in rule-making to streamline and modernize procedures for forming unions and to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and Railway Labor Act (RLA).
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
I will support efforts to expand the FMLA to cover workers in companies that have fewer than 50 employees. We need to treat workers with more compassion and respect and expanding FMLA will do just that. Far too many workers in America are not currently covered under FMLA.
Worker and Consumer Protection
I support legislation to extend Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) coverage to millions of state and local employees who are currently excluded. I believe in strong protections for workers to reduce the number of workers who are injured, killed, or sickened from their jobs. I will oppose any legislation that would make it more difficult or impossible for government agencies to develop and issue new, needed safeguards to protect workers, the public and consumers. I support legislation that will make criminal violations involving the death of a worker a felony rather than a misdemeanor. I also support maintaining an autonomous and appropriately-funded Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) with a single-director structure.
Whistleblower Protection
I support legislation to strengthen whistleblower protections for workers who raise job safety or ethics concerns. I have been part of exposing corruption in a public school setting, and within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at Region 4. We must allow employees the ability to raise these concerns without fear of employer retribution.
Veterans' Preference
I oppose any legislation that repeals or weakens Veterans' Preference hiring regulations. Providing opportunities to veterans who have served our country should be a national priority. We must ensure that those injured or disabled in service have opportunities for meaningful participation in the workforce.
Budgets
I pledge to vote against any austerity budgets that cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid funding. I oppose any measure that cuts funding for aid programs designed to assist the poor, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Women, Infants and Children (WIC). I support The Better Off Budget, which addresses growing inequalities, seeks to help working people and working families, creates jobs, and reduces the deficit. We can rein in our debt and deficits with a shared-sacrifice approach contingent on making corporations and the mega-wealthy pay their fair share. The Better Off Budget, and the estimated creation of 8 million jobs by 2017, with a reduction of the deficit by at least $4 trillion.
Infrastructure Investment
I support funding to address the dire infrastructure needs facing this country. In addition to providing desperately needed improvements to critical transportation, utilities, and public health projects, infrastructure investments will create new jobs and stimulate the economy. Infrastructure investments championed by Franklin D. Roosevelt created jobs that helped lift the economy out of the Great Depression, and we are reaping the positive impacts of transportation and to this day. I support a new multi-year surface transportation authorization with a dedicated source of funding separate from the federal budget in order to repair and upgrade our transportation system. I also support investments in smart grid infrastructure and technology.
Buy America Laws
I support strong Buy America laws. I support making sure that the federal government invests in American manufacturers with its purchasing power to sustain growth for American jobs.
Tax Policy
I support simplifying the tax code and eliminating loopholes that result in corporations not paying their fair share of taxes. I believe we should reverse the Bush tax cuts on long term capital gains and I support the estate tax.
Trade Agreements
I vigorously oppose "Fast Track" trade authority for all trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and I will insist on transparency in all future trade negotiations. We should have trade policies that factor in the impact on the overall economy, workers, and the environment. Trade secrecy does not foster transparency or security; it opens the door to greater risks for America and the rest of the world. Our economy is now suffering from the unintended consequences of lost jobs resulting from NAFTA. I will oppose legislation to implement any bilateral, regional, or unilateral free-trade agreements that do not require enforcement of internationally recognized workers' rights and environmental standards.

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