Recently Dr. Judy Chu made herself available to numerous political bloggers to answer questions about her background and her positions on several local initiatives that are up for a vote during the May 19 special election. I was pleased to be on the conference call, as throughout the 1990s, I'd heard a great deal about her time as mayor of Monterey Park, and how the demographics of the San Gabriel Valley were changing now that many immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the People's Republic of China were settling there. Now, much of the San Gabriel Valley is Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants, ethnic grocery stores, small ethnic businesses, Latino eateries, and tutoring academies for children.
Dr. Chu, a community college professor and former Garvey school board member, city council member, then mayor, has had a lengthy career based in the San Gabriel Valley. After several years as mayor of Monterey Park, she ran for California State Assembly and served there for three terms. From there, she successfully ran for the State Board of Equalization, the nation's only tax policy-making entity staffed with elected officials. She now serves as Vice Chair of the State Board of Equalization. Just a few days ago, she received the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Viillraigosa.
Candidate's Statement: Why I'm Running, Why I'll Win
[Some questions asked by other political bloggers I've designated as "Q"; Dr. Chu's responses are noted as "Judy Chu."]
Judy Chu: I still remember when, on December 18, President Obama's choice of Solis as Labor Secretary was announced. I was thrilled, as she and I have worked together for years on many projects. But I also thought, someone had to carry on Solis' legacy. I thought of all the good work she's done in the district, and how I myself have gone through quite a journey.
For me, it started when there was a proposal for English-only legislation in Monterey Park--I fought this, and ran for city council on a platform of bringing city together and an appreciation of diversity. From there, I was elected to and worked in the State Assembly. Two of the bills I'm proudest of: immigrants now get contracts in language that they were negotiated in. [At places like car dealerships, constituents would negotiate a contract in their first language, Spanish or Chinese, for example. Then when the contract was written up, it'd be in English and have a number of exploitative, unasked-for terms.] I've also successfully passed bills on domestic violence--for example, one woman in my district had an abusive spouse, an ex-felon, whom she divorced. But when it came time to divide their assets, she had to share half her retirement benefits with this abusive, convicted ex-husband. My bill protected her retirement benefits.
Why I'll win: I have deep roots in this district. I've run and been elected 9 times over 23 years. Voters have re-elected and promoted me to higher office. I have superior endorsements: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, co-founder of the United Farm Workers union Dolores Huerta, and over 75 mayors and council members in the district. (Also the California Democratic Party, and the entire family of Hilda Solis.) I have the endorsement of Los Angeles County Federation of Labor--especially important as this'll likely be low-turnout election. The LACFL can mobilize their union members in a Get Out The Vote effort, 40,000 of whom live in the district.
Fiscal Responsibility
Cynematic: Can you talk more about your tax amnesty bill of 2004? How did it work?
Judy Chu: My number one goal now: stopping the economic pain people are experiencing. There's a fiscal crisis: no spending, no lending. Paralysis. I want to take my fiscal expertise to Congress. I was chair of the appropriations committee in the State Assembly. I'd bring with me my experience and perspective on the State Board of Equalization for the past several years. We can make this more efficient; there's an $8.5 bn tax shortfall of people who don't pay income & sales taxes.
With regard to my tax amnesty bill--amnesty had not happened in the state of California for 20 years. It's not easy because you must deal with numerous tax agencies [the Franchise Tax Board, the Board of Equalization, even the DMV], and so on. Basically this is how it worked to bring in dollars: we offered a 2-month period to pay without penalty. That was the carrot. The stick? Increased interest rates of interest plus penalty if you didn't pay. We expected to bring in $300 m but brought in $4.3 bn.
As for the corporate tax loophole issue: it's particularly egregious as it allows corporations to set up phony headquarters in the Cayman Islands or Bermuda. It's time to close this loophole. In California, there's a 2/3 vote to get rid of tax loopholes through the legislature. But this is what I'd like to work on in Washington, DC.
Foreign Policy/U.S. Conduct on the War in Iraq
Q: What's your opinion on the statements by Rahm Emmanuel repeating the White House's "look forward and not backward" regarding the prosecution of those who authorized torture, versus Representative Jerry Nadler's statement saying he's not going to do that and his calls for Judge Bybee to be impeached?
Judy Chu: I was horrified when I read the [torture] memos. I couldn't believe this had been allowed to take place. ...America is better than this: there should be no waterboarding, insects in confined places, extended sleep deprivation of detainees.
I'm for the impeachment of Judge Bybee. It's totally inappropriate for him to be at the [Ninth Circuit] federal Court of Appeals.
Issues Affecting Asian Pacific Americans
Q: what do you feel are some common policy issues for Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) that can be resolved in Congress?
Judy Chu: One, there's the issue of the glass ceiling. Even though we generally have a higher level of education, we tend to fall behind in striving for the top of the business world or the workplace. We can take measures to monitor this and ensure there's equal opportunity for all.
Two, there's the issue of AAPIs as victims of hate crimes. In California's State Assembly, I chaired the Select Committee on Hate Crimes right around the time of 9/11. There was a 300% increase in hate crimes mistakenly targeting people of the Sikh faith and South Asian Americans, for example, as part of anti-Arab sentiment, all of which was scapegoating and wrong. We held hearings around the state, urging swift prosecution of perpetrators. We must strengthen hate crimes legislation on the federal level.
Three, language access. For example, we need greater language access and an overall policy in having census and other key forms translated in numerous languages. Census forms that were mailed weren't translated, but others were.
Cynematic: Representative Betty Brown of Texas caused quite a stir when she suggested Asian Americans change their names to make it easier for poll workers and others at election time. This was said in the context of Texas Assembly debate over a voter ID bill. There's now indication that signatures for a ballot initiative requiring photo ID are now being collected here in CA. Can you comment?
Judy Chu: We have to be careful of voter ID’s. it’s been a way to prevent people of color from exercising full voter rights. We must look at such measures carefully and especially their attempts to suppress voter participation. I think that this is something that voters of color must rally around, and must, at this point, protest unless there is some proposal that makes sense. I don’t think at this point we should have such a thing. I think the Betty Brown situation is very disturbing and insulting for her to say that people should deny their heritage to participate in the electoral process. Plus, she didn’t really apologize. She had a Republican friend say that she apologized, but she never actually apologized. We also need more pressure for her to actually apologize.
Consumer Lending
Q: There have been bailouts for banks, but what about high college student loan burdens? There's also an educational barrier for Latinos who tend not to take out these loans. Can you comment on some solutions?
Judy Chu: We need to address the barriers that students encounter in education. College is becoming less and less affordable. Tuition has increased 54% in the last decade. I think we need to cut the interest rates on student loans. I know there’s a proposal to cut it by half. We also need to increase Pell grant amounts. Pell grants have been great way to support students in obtaining higher education. We need to also give undergrad students who agree to teach in our schools tuition assistance. It would also increase the quality of people who teach by encouraging top performing students into the teaching profession. I also think there needs to be loan forgiveness for 10 years of working in public interest/service careers.
Thoughts on State Ballot Initiatives 1A-1F
Judy Chu: I have many mixed feelings, except for 1B ($9.3bn to education it was supposed to have in first place). Most are flawed--you're in a "hold your nose" position.
I am for 1B, but in order to get that, you have to vote for 1A, which is not the greatest, but a rainy day reserve is best part. Other parts aren't so good. A spending cap's not advisable--having done budgets, this is inflexible.
1C I cannot support. Modernization of lottery via securitization of lottery? No. Debt service is the biggest part of our budget, and doing it via gambling is not a good idea. Not sure how I'll vote on 1A and 1B.
I do, however, support 1F.
Winning on May 19
Q: What are some of your strategies for May 19th voter turnout?
Judy Chu: We've planned an aggressive outreach effort. Absentee ballots just dropped, so it'll be key to get people to fill out the absentee ballots. We need the masses to help us talk to people. We have an enornous number of volunteers, but we need more. And phonebanking is key, in case it's hard for you to walk a precinct. We can find a place for everybody--for anyone who wants to volunteer.
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Voting Records
California League of Conservation Voters Scorecard 100% rating for pro-environment votes (pdf)
Fundraising deadine: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 represents the last day for candidates to file financial disclosures prior to the May 19 election. Help a progressive, pro-choice woman of color candidate for Congress go to DC, and continue to advocate for middle class working people, veterans, women, students, and people of color!
You can donate at WomenCount's ActBlue page.
Through Emily's List.
Through Judy Chu's official campaign website.
This is part 2 of a Run, Mama, Run series on women running for public office featuring Congressional candidate Dr. Judy Chu. Part 1 was here. Come back for a final interview where we find out more about the person behind the positions.
Cyematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.
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