Yes, the federal government has a role to play in helping California with homelessness, which has reached crisis proportions across the state. The most immediate action the federal government can take is by increasing the availability of tax credits, grants, and housing vouchers. The federal government must also work with local communities and governments to find ways to expand shelter capacity, including support for more permanent housing. I’ll continue to be a strong advocate for cities and communities across the 7th Congressional District to ensure they are receiving adequate resources from the federal government. We also cannot lose sight of the growing homelessness crisis facing our veterans. Our veterans have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and we must be there when they need us the most. I’ve repeatedly pressed the Veterans Affairs Department to ensure funding for programs that reduce homelessness among our veterans. I’m also proud that I helped secure housing vouchers for the Mather Veterans Village in Rancho Cordova to stay on schedule. The Village provides critical assistance and housing to homeless and disabled veterans.

As a doctor, I know that health care should be a right, not a privilege. And getting sick shouldn’t mean bankruptcy or a second mortgage. Our nation deserves a healthcare system that enables both opportunity and prosperity.

I am proud to be leading the bipartisan efforts in Congress in bringing about universal coverage to ensure everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. While not perfect, the Affordable Care Act has insured more Americans across the country, including in California. We have to continue to build upon the gains made under the ACA, including expanding coverage and reducing premiums. I have introduced two pieces of legislation to do just that. The Pathway to Universal Coverage Act would provide grants for states to experiment with auto-enrollment for the uninsured, with the potential of expanding health care coverage to millions of Americans. The Easy Enrollment Act would help maximize health insurance coverage by aligning tax season with health care open enrollment, which would allow families to make more informed decisions when they are not financially strained.

As the son of parents who immigrated to America in the 1950s, I know the value of hard work and that America is a land of opportunity. Unfortunately, our immigration system is broken, and Washington gridlock has gotten in the way of meaningful reform. We need policies that make our country safe and our economy strong. I continue to support bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform, much like which passed the Senate under the previous administration, which would secure our border, allow our economy to grow, and provide a pathway for citizenship. We need policies that keep families safe while encouraging the best and brightest people to stay in America so they can start their companies and create jobs here in the U.S.

Like communities across the country, Sacramento is facing an aging infrastructure. Poor infrastructure endangers residents, discourages new business, and slows down our economy. To create jobs and build an economy that works for the middle class, we need to get back to the bipartisan American tradition of investing in our future. We should be exploring new revenue streams such as infrastructure banks in order to pay for the much-needed increase in investments for infrastructure. Improving Sacramento County’s infrastructure will help modernize our economy, help our businesses, and make our communities safer.

I believe that there are three areas that are likely to achieve bipartisan agreement in the next term of Congress. 

The first being infrastructure which is receiving the attention of both the Trump Administration and Speaker Pelosi.

The second is Criminal Justice Reform which has received support from both the President and Democrats and Republicans in the Congress.

Thirdly, homelessness and the plight of our veterans who've we dispatched overseas to fight our wars,

 The last are is the continuation of support for National Defense and the War on Terror.

Yes, the Federal Government does have a roll in solving the homeless problem, but really in very specific areas such as homeless veterans, affordable housing and drug interdiction in respect to opioid crisis and the explosion of methamphetamines. In addition the Federal Government should seek to expand funding opportunities for local agencies through the Continuum of Care process in order to address addiction and mental illness.

I think that the more important question is, “can we continue to spend like there is no tomorrow?” The Federal Debt and Budget Deficits are at all time highs;The Trump tax cut was a good stimulus to the economy, but in the absence of further need for economic stimulus I believe the focus should be on reducing spending.

I'm for a balanced budget going forward and fiscal responsibility.  

I don’t support Medicare for all. Like Obamacare, it is a big-government -one-size-fits-all approach that in the end will raise healthcare costs and will only satisfy politicians and bureaucrats. And it will be hugely expensive.

The Republican Study Committee in the House released on November 1, 2019, a plan for Healthcare that can help with affordability by concentrating on protecting, empowering, and personalizing Healthcare for patients. Its key components are:

• Unwinding ACA’s “Washington-centric approach” and returns most of the regulatory authority back to the states;
• Undoing ACA’s expensive and mandatory essential health benefits, annual lifetime limits, preventive care with no cost-sharing, dependent coverage, and metal actuarial tiers (bronze, silver etc.), and allows states to prescribe these principles;
• Not allowing insurance carriers to rescind, increase rates, or refuse to renew a person’s health insurance if they should develop an illness after enrollment;
• Allowing individuals with chronic and risky medical conditions to have access to affordable state-run Guaranteed Coverage Pools, subsidized by federal grants;
• Restructuring the guaranteed issue and prohibition on coverage exclusions to reward continuous coverage and promote portability in the individual marketplace;
• Restructuring ACA premium subsidies and Medicaid Expansion federal matching programs to fund state-administered grants to subsidize health insurance for low-income individuals, while protecting the medically vulnerable, such as low-income pregnant woman and children, that Medicaid was created to help;
• Changing the tax code to provide for equal treatment of employer and individual health insurance markets;
• Expanding the use of pre-tax Health Savings Accounts (HSA), including using them to pay for insurance premiums, and increases allowable yearly contributions from $3,500 to $9,000 for individuals and from $7,000 to $18,000 for families;
• Extending portability protections (contained in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act for employer-sponsored health insurance) to the individual market;
• Eliminating the employer mandate; and
• Promoting the use of innovative healthcare solutions such as telemedicine, direct primary care, association health plans, and health sharing ministries.

I would support this effort.

I believe that any immigration policy that comes forward needs to be based upon several core principles:

Immigration is  first a national security issue. Allowing millions of unidentified persons to enter and remain in this country poses grave risks- whether it be from terrorism, crime or economic burden. One only needs to look at the prison population, to know that the undocumented place a severe burden on our society. I believe America’s borders can, and should be secured.

Secondarily I believe that we need to follow existing law in terms of a strict enforcement policy. Specifically, for enforcement at places of employment, including prosecution for using false social security numbers; limiting the rights of aliens in deportation proceedings and abuses of the refugee status; tracking down aliens who overstay their visas; and denying federal funds to “sanctuary cities.”

I believe that we should prioritize immigration to people that can contribute to society, and to those that have family to vouch for their support, so they won’t be a burden on the taxpayer.

In terms of the DREAMERS, I believe that we should create a path to residency- given certain conditions such as not having criminal convictions and being gainfully employed or completing their education or military service.

I think the focus of the question should be “how are we going to fund our needed infrastructure improvements, rather than what  new financing methods are we going to adopt.”

We need to look at lowering the costs of repairing our infrastructure and there are a variety ways of doing it-

• Adopt design-build process, rather than a lengthier, costlier design-bid-build process for all Federally funded projects.
• P3s ( Public/Private Partnerships) Allow private entities to fund construction.
• Amending Davis- Bacon Act to allow for less costly labor
• Requiring States to to cost-share for Federal projects.
• Prioritize funding for critical infrastructure and allow for the streamlining of National Environmental Protection Act reporting for those projects- the Federal Government shouldn’t be paying for bike trails and other non-critical infrastructure.

One area that we need to focus on very soon is the Federal Highway Trust Fund. It is going to go broke in FY2022 if nothing is done.

Five solutions are being suggested: 

• 1.)VMT Tax- (Vehicle Miles Traveled) is a commuter tax- the government would track your mileage- it is a little too big brother for me- it would require government to monitor your mileage.
• 2.)Increase in Federal Gas Tax ( It hasn’t been raised since 1993) and is a flat tax ($0.1853) and the inclusion of an increase on the Federal Excise Tax on tires so that electric and hybrid vehicles pay their fair share. Likely to be a solution, although not a popular one in California.
• 3.)P3s and tolls- probably wouldn’t fix the problem completely but could be a part of the solution. 
• 4.)Roll back the 2017 tax cuts ( top tier 37% back to 39.6% and dedicate to Highway funding. Not a favorable solution ion my eyes.
• 5.) Prioritize and realign spending on interstate highways and regional transit and not local transit. Should a CA commuter pay for the subway in NY?