Climate change is an existential threat to our planet. I don't just vote the right way - I proactively lead on these issues.  Recently, I introduced, and the Board of Supervisors passed, legislation making San Francisco the first large city to require solar panels on the rooftops of new construction (https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4438267&GUID=99F24F0E-9F7C-4BAB-BB66-C52BE78AD5E7).  I have consistently supported Clean Power SF, San Francisco's community choice aggregation program. Furthermore, I authored first of its kind legislation to require water recycling in large new developments in San Francisco (https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3852092&GUID=C46BB8E2-D068-4E91-A7F1-EDBB2A90B5E3).  I also have pending legislation to make it easier for homeowners to install simple graywater systems in their homes and pending legislation to require water sub-metering in new multi-unit buildings. I am a strong advocate for trees, and I recently introduced a ballot measure - along with a coalition of environmental and community groups - to shore up and expand our street trees, with dedicated funding to stop their decline and allow for a more robust urban forest.

California must continue to lead the way. As described above, I am a strong advocate for solar energy - and other renewable energy (such as our local CCA) - and I will work on the state level to expand renewable energy. I support the full passage of SB 350 to ensure a 50% reduction in vehicle fuels by 2030.  Furthermore, I support Senator Pavley’s SB 32 which will require a 90% reduction (from 1990 levels) of greenhouse gases by 2050 as well as extend California's cap-and-trade system to 2050.  I also support a comprehensive regulatory framework around methane emissions.  Methane’s impact is 84 times more damaging in terms of climate change than carbon dioxide.  The Porter Ranch/Alisio Canyon Methane disaster in Southern California has had the same damage to the climate as driving a car 2 billion miles, and response and recovery to date has cost $665 million.

Because of my strong and proactive leadership on environmental issues, I received a solo endorsement from the California League of Conservation Voters and am the officially endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party. I am also honored to have endorsements from Senator Mark Leno, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Kamala Harris, and Congresswoman Jackie Speier.

The state of California needs to invest in housing, transportation and public education.  I support revenue measures including the reauthorization of Prop 30, split-role Prop 13 reform as well as restoring the Vehicle Licensing Fee to historic levels.

Reforming our approach to housing creation and housing affordability is a key priority for me. It’s no secret that San Francisco, and the Bay Area as a whole, is a wonderful place to live.  Our region has grown and will continue to grow, and we need local and regional solutions to address our housing shortage and escalating housing costs. For years in San Francisco, our housing production has failed to keep pace with population growth, we've put unnecessary restrictions on the kinds of housing that can be built, and we've made it way too hard and time-consuming to build affordable housing. These choices have driven rents and home prices to astronomical levels. We need to think differently about housing, and I work hard to do just that.  We also need to do more to stabilize people in their housing during these challenging times, and this goal is a priority for me. For example, I have long supported Senator Leno's efforts to reform the Ellis Act, and I've authored multiple pieces of legislation to help keep tenants stably housed. Addressing our housing crisis requires a clear-eyed commitment to three approaches – encouraging smart approaches to housing creation, building more affordable housing more quickly, and ensuring housing stability for existing residents.

I also push the envelope on sustainable housing policies. I've supported transit-oriented housing developments, ranging from large projects like Park Merced to smaller infill projects. I authored legislation to streamline the permit process for affordable housing, to provide developers with a density bonus to add more affordable units, to allow for micro-units, to make it easier to build student housing, to allow people to add in-law units in their buildings, and to provide a density bonus for property owners performing seismic retrofits.

I support raising California’s minimum wage. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, I have supported raising the minimum wage in San Francisco.  We need to make all efforts to support a vibrant working class in San Francisco.

I would support a “matching funds” program in State elections that is modeled after San Francisco’s matching funds program.  These would minimize the influence of moneyed interests in state politics.

We need world-class rail and public transportation systems - complemented by taxis, ride sharing, car sharing, and biking - to support it. If people live closer to where they work, shop, go to school, and go out and if they are able to get where they are going without owning a car or by driving their car less, we can significantly reduce our carbon footprint. The critical need for more and better transit is at the intra-city level, regional, and statewide. We simply need to do everything in our power to allow people to be mobile without having to drive.

Sustainable housing and transportation policy has been a high priority for me as a member of the Board of Supervisors, and it will be a high priority for in the State Senate. I represent San Francisco on the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation Commission, I chair the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, and I serve on the Board of Supervisors Land Use & Transportation Committee and previously chaired that committee. I've authored various pieces of legislation to promote sustainable transportation, including a ballot measure tying transit funding to population growth  (https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3186838&GUID=00B00AD2-E515-40AF-93D8-F0201DFA697A) in order to increase transit capacity, requiring (for the first time) residential development to pay transit impact development fees, requiring the preparation of a Subway Master Plan and a Late Night Transportation Plan, and making it easier for developers to include publicly accessible car sharing spots in new developments. I've strongly supported funding for bike and pedestrian infrastructure improvements, helped champion the rollout and expansion of Bay Area Bike Share, and authored legislation to remove bureaucratic obstacles to street design changes necessary to improve transit and to make our streets safer for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians.

I support encouraging the City to increase its use of recycled/reclaimed and other non-potable water to water the plants and lawns in our parks, clean our streets, and flush our toilets. I also support incentivizing San Franciscans to increase residential use of recycled/reclaimed and other non-potable water. According to the PUC, about one-third of indoor water use is from toilets. I support the PUC’s rebate program to replace older, high-flow toilets with newer, high-efficiency toilets and/or dual-flushing toilets. I also support expanding the PUC’s rebate program to the use of recycled/reclaimed and other non-potable water for residential use on plants, lawns, and other residential uses.

1. Education is a top priority in California and has been a central part of my policy and advocacy work. I was President of the Board of Education, and I currently serve as Chair of the City and School District Committee. If elected, I will work with stakeholders to identify all sources of funding in order to improve public schools statewide--especially schools that disproportionately serve students with great needs. In addition, it is crucial we restore tax equity by amending tax loopholes like proposition 13 and protecting laws that provide school funding proposition 30 and 98.

2. I have been the strongest proponent for acquiring and building affordable housing on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I challenged San Francisco to make the City more affordable by setting the goal that 33% of all new housing that is built should be affordable for low- and middle-income households. In addition, I established the forward thinking standard that 40% of housing that is built on public land should be affordable to these same households. Most recently, I negotiated with the San Francisco Giants to achieve this goal on one of the largest vacant public parcels remaining, getting the Giants to increase the percentage of affordable housing from 33% to an unprecedented 40%. 54% of all of San Francisco’s affordable housing is being built in the district that I represent. Furthermore, I have stood up for tenant’s rights, passing the boldest tenant protections ordinance in the country to counter frivolous and profit-incentivized evictions.

3. Another legislative priority for the upcoming year for me addressing housing homeless children and their families. We have a limited window of opportunity to end the cycle of poverty for the next generation, and it must include stable, safe, and clean housing. If we do not address this now, we guarantee that the homeless child today suffers chronic homelessness and intransigent poverty as an adult. I am actively partnering with the mayor as well as experts in the arena of housing, finance, and family homelessness to fully implement a roadmap to end the family homelessness by 2019.

I have been the strongest proponent for acquiring and building affordable housing on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I challenged San Francisco to make the City more affordable by setting the goal that 33% of all new housing that is built should be affordable for low- and middle-income households. In addition, I established the forward thinking standard that 40% of housing that is built on public land should be affordable to these same households. Most recently, I negotiated with the San Francisco Giants to achieve this goal on one of the largest vacant public parcels remaining, getting the Giants to increase the percentage of affordable housing from 33% to an unprecedented 40%. 54% of all of San Francisco’s affordable housing is being built in the district that I represent. Furthermore, I have stood up for tenant’s rights, passing the boldest tenant protections ordinance in the country to counter frivolous and profit-incentivized evictions.

I have been a leading voice to close the income gap. Last year, I authored the ballot measure to increase San Francisco’s minimum wage to $15/hour. This is the strongest minimum wage ordinance in the country and was passed overwhelmingly by San Francisco voters in November 2014. Furthermore, I authored a tax exclusion legislation to attract technology companies and small businesses in a corridor in my district with the highest commercial vacancy rate in San Francisco in 2011. The commercial vacancy rate has fallen as low as 2.4% in most parts of my district and this corridor is now home to Twitter, Uber, Square, Dolby, and Zendesk. I am committed to creating good paying/family wage jobs, so that diverse residents can continue to live in the Bay Area.

We cannot close the income gap if residents don’t have access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation. We need to do more to invest in mass transit, improve our roads, and give people the option to walk or bike - safely - on our streets.

I have led a citywide campaign with Supervisors Yee and Avalos to reduce our traffic fatalities to zero by 2024 through increased enforcement, education, and engineering of city streets.  60% of our city’s collisions are happening on 6% of our city streets, and I represent the District with the highest number of traffic collisions and fatalities in the City. Our office has convened a monthly D6 pedestrian and bike safety workgroup for the last four years bringing together our diverse constituents including SRO tenants, condo homeowners, seniors, and  working class Latino and Filipino families in the Tenderloin and SOMA. A citywide coordination effort is critical to change this culture with a mix of immediate interventions and long-term improvements that the City can take to save lives. Furthermore, I have pushed for protected bike lanes to help reduce traffic congestion and our carbon footprint.

I am also a member of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, the body that oversees the design, construction and operation of the new Transbay Transit Center, which is currently under construction and includes the extension of the Caltrain commuter rail from 4th and King Station and the future California High Speed Rail. Transportation is a key issue in District 6 and the city and I am committed to relieving traffic gridlock and improving pedestrian safety.