S. Krishnamoorthi

Raja would shift billions of dollars in tax breaks for wealthy financiers toward boosting thousands of new small businesses and the jobs they create.

“By repealing the carried-interest tax break for wealthy Wall Street financiers, and redirecting those funds to entrepreneurs starting new small businesses across the country, we can create thousands of new jobs and strengthen our economy for the long-term,” said Raja in releasing his plan.

“We know that small businesses create the most new jobs in America. Changing our tax policies to support small business growth should be a no-brainer,” he added.

As president of a successful local small business, and as the former Deputy Illinois Treasurer, Raja has a unique perspective on how government can help or hinder small business growth and development.

Raja’s four-point plan to boost small business creation includes:

Doubling the current SBA loan guarantee from the current $5 million up to $10 million. This would help small businesses gain access to financing from banks in greater amounts and on better terms than possible today.

Double the tax credit for new business startup costs from the current $50,000 to $100,000. Additionally, many expenses such as phone bills and mileage incurred by small business owners would be treated as business rather than personal expenses for tax purposes.

Provide student loan forgiveness for the real job creators: Starting a business is a service to the community. Our program will provide substantial debt relief for almost 100,000 graduates who start businesses and create 650,000 jobs over the next decade.

Expand the Small Business Innovation Research program: This revenue-neutral proposal would direct a greater share of federal R&D funding to our nation’s small businesses that create most of the new jobs in our economy.

Raja estimated the cost of his proposal at $15 billion over the next ten years. Repealing the carried-interest tax break for hedge-fund managers would save an estimated $17.4 billion over that same period, which would more than pay for Raja’s small business plan while still reducing the deficit.

“My plan would build on the Small Business Act of 2010, which provided tax relief and provided capital for thousands of small businesses,” Raja said. “Small businesses create most of our new jobs and should be a much higher priority than continuing unjustified tax breaks that help hedge fund managers.”

As the former president of an Illinois company that researches and develops solar energy technology, Raja understands both the science and economics of climate change, and he knows that the time for America’s clean energy future is now. A cleaner environment and a stronger economy are not competing goals, as many in Congress seem to believe. Instead, nations that lead the way in developing clean energy technology today will gain a competitive advantage in creating the high-paying jobs of tomorrow.

In 2018, Raja founded the bipartisan Congressional Solar Caucus to raise awareness for how policymakers, business leaders, and academic experts can work together to foster jobs, growth, and America’s leadership in the solar industry.

During his time in Congress, Raja has led a bipartisan effort to dedicate funds for programs to lower solar costs, making clean energy a more financially viable option for families and businesses throughout Illinois’ 8th district and the country. This effort was a part of the Energy & Water appropriations bill that was signed into law in December of 2019.

The Paris Agreement among 195 nations provides a framework for global action on the climate, and the U.S. is well positioned to lead the way. Unfortunately, President Trump is attempting to block this progress, having withdrawn America from this historic agreement. Many members of Congress have also claimed that the human contribution to climate change is unproven. This is absurd, as the vast majority of scientists and experts agree that global climate change is man-made.

Now is the time to combat this global threat in a smart way that saves our environment while preserving and creating jobs. Raja’s first resolution in Congress, H.Res.85, sought to compel the White House to stay within the Paris Agreement and to work with US allies that signed the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. Even though President Trump has initiated withdrawal, Raja remains hopeful that this action can be reversed after the next election. America, in concert with other countries, must work to reverse the damage being done to the global environment.

For his efforts in defending the environment and advocating for the expansion of green energies, Raja has proudly received the endorsement of the Sierra Club.

Raja Krishnamoorthi is running with a five-point plan, called his “Working Families Agenda” to help more Americans achieve economic security and the middle-class.

“While the numbers say that we’re finally recovering from the Great Recession, the working families I talk to are finding it harder and harder to get ahead,” Raja said. “We need policies from Washington that make sure hard work is rewarded and economic security is within reach of every family across our land.”

Raja’s plan would help more working families earn a living wage, qualify for overtime pay, receive paid maternity leave, earn paid sick leave and obtain tax benefits to help with the cost of raising children. In addition, Raja remains committed to supporting America’s seniors by protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare for current and future generations.

Specifically, Raja’s Working Families Agenda includes:

Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and link future increases to inflation.

Enact into law President Obama’s executive order that workers earning less than $50,000 automatically qualify for overtime pay.

Require paid maternity leave for all women in the workforce.

Grant workers the ability to earn up to seven days of paid leave annually when the worker or family members have medical needs.

Expand the federal child tax credit to help working families with the cost of raising children.

“As a small businessman, I know that what’s good for our workers is good for our company,” said Raja “We need to make sure that hard work is rewarded and that workers with families can achieve a middle-class life.”

“Congress needs to renew its focus on helping to get and keep people in the middle class. That’s why I’m running for Congress, to put working families first.”

Raja supports common-sense gun laws to keep guns out of the wrong hands and reduce the epidemic of mass shootings that are occurring throughout the United States. Among the measures he supports are closing the “gun-show loophole” by extending background checks for gun purchases to gun shows; reinstating the expired federal ban on assault weapons; and improving the reporting system to help keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, convicted felons, and those with severe mental illnesses. Raja also supports allowing the government to fund research on gun deaths and gun safety, something that is presently forbidden.

In the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Raja introduced H.R.4018, a bill to provide a three-day waiting period before a person may receive a handgun. This legislation is designed to prevent would-be mass shooters from acquiring immediate access to lethal weapons, providing more time to prevent the next mass shooting. Furthermore, gun suicide is one of the leading contributors to gun deaths and to suicides in the United States, and creating a longer waiting period can provide the time to save a significant number of lives. Too many young people are dying from an epidemic of gun violence, and we must do what we can do protect the public from guns in the hands of those who would seek to do harm.

I strongly support the Affordable Care Act and have voted consistently against Republican attempts to cripple or repeal it. It has afforded millions of Americans who formerly lacked health insurance the coverage they need while preventing insurance companies from excluding those with pre-existing conditions. I regret that millions of Americans have lost coverage under Obamacare through the Trump Administration’s policies and regulations that are hostile to its intent.

I believe that healthcare in this country should be a right and not a privilege and that we must continue to strive to attain universal coverage. I believe the best way to accomplish that is by adding a public option under the Obamacare health insurance exchanges, so that people and families have an affordable alternative to private insurance. Such an option would provide competition for private insurance and, in so doing, could help drive down overall costs.

I also believe that Congress should end the current ban on the federal government’s ability to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry for recipients of Medicare and Medicaid. This would utilize market forces to drive down prices and make prescription drugs more affordable for all Americans – just as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has done successfully on behalf of millions of veterans who served in our military.

Finally, many of the most successful prescription drugs have been developed through the work and support of federal researchers and federal grants. I believe that taxpayers, who have paid for these advances in drug research and development, should reap some of the rewards for their investment. We ought to explore ways to limit or cap the profits that pharmaceutical companies are reaping from drugs developed with the help of taxpayers in order to reduce their exorbitant costs.

Utilizing a combination of tax incentives, expanded Pell Grants and a streamlined loan application process, Raja’s four point-plan plan for affordable college would tear down the barriers that are contributing to our nation’s increasing income inequality and hurting our economic growth by helping more children from working families obtain a higher education.

“Study after study shows that a higher education paves the way to career success and higher incomes,” Raja said in releasing his four-point plan. “And by helping more families afford a higher education for their children, we can help make sure that the U.S. remains the leading economic power in the world.”

The Raja Krishnamoorthi Plan for Affordable College includes:

A new Opportunity Tax Credit that allows families with up to $200,000 in annual income to claim a total of $15,000 in tax credits per student. These tax credits, of which a large percentage could be refundable, would reduce the amount of debt that students would incur in order to pay for college.

Increasing the maximum Pell Grant by 75 percent — increasing investment in Pell Grants would enable more low income families to afford sending students to college.

Creating a 401k-style plan whereby employers match employee payments on student debt, with contributions exempted from income and payroll taxes. Businesses would benefit through tax incentives to hire a more educated workforce while helping their employees to retire their student debt.

Streamlining the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) form through the use of prior-year data already available to the IRS. This would eliminate many questions on the application and allow students to more easily access financial aid.

Raja’s four- point plan for affordable college would be fully paid for by cutting unnecessary military programs including, but not limited to, littoral combat ships and the Osprey tilt rotor aircraft. This could free up tens of billions of dollars in the next decade that would be better invested in helping more students attend college.

“As the child of immigrants to this country who struggled financially to get by, loans and scholarships enabled me to get a higher education,” Raja said. “Unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more difficult for families like mine to afford a higher education today.”

“By changing our spending priorities in Washington and providing the right incentives to families and businesses, we can make sure that the next generation of Americans has the tools and knowledge they need to succeed.”

As the son of legal immigrants to the United States, Raja recognizes that our country is a nation of immigrants as well as a nation of laws. There is no question that our current system is broken and must be repaired. Raja is working in Congress for comprehensive immigration reform that protects our homeland, secures our borders, and offers a path to citizenship for undocumented workers who have staked roots in this country, lived peacefully without incident, and have agreed to pay penalties and fines, pay their taxes, learn English, and go to the back of the line.

Raja is a co-sponsor of H.R.3440, the DREAM Act. This legislation, originally written by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), provides a path to citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants who have known no other home and have meaningfully staked their roots in America. We should welcome these young people, enabling them to pursue a higher education and contribute to our nation’s future. Indeed, many of these DREAMers have already contributed meaningfully to our country’s security by serving in our nation’s Armed Forces. They represent the very best attributes of our country, and we must incorporate them into the fabric of America.

Raja believes that foreign students who have earned a graduate degree in the United States and entrepreneurs who have secured enough investment to start a business here should be granted a temporary visa to pursue their dreams in our country. In a global economy where knowledge is key, we ought to welcome those with the ideas and knowledge to create new businesses and jobs in America. As such, Raja is a co-sponsor of H.R.392, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act.

Finally, Raja rejects the un-American idea that whole classes of people should be barred from entering this country because of their ethnicity or religion. He is a co-sponsor of H.R.1503, the Statue of Liberty Values (SOLVE) Act, legislation that would nullify the travel ban executive order signed in early 2017. Raja supports efforts to strengthen protections against terrorists from abroad while making sure that we maintain the values and principles that guide our nation and make it a beacon of freedom and hope around the world.

Our nation is falling behind in maintaining and modernizing our transportation network, which hurts our economy and our ability to compete in the world. This is why Raja seeks to create a federal infrastructure bank. Such a bank could provide low-interest loans to states and cities to help finance crucial projects like roads and transit systems. It’s a way to take the politics out of critical road and transit policy, enabling us to start building the future our children deserve.

Raja would finance the infrastructure bank by ending the oil depletion allowance – a tax break for the oil industry that would save the Treasury more than $10 billion over the next ten years. That amount could generate close to $100 billion in capital for infrastructure projects around the country. Once capitalized, the bank would be self-perpetuating as its loans are repaid.

Raja points to two transportation projects benefiting Chicago’s Northwest Suburbs that would be good candidates for such loans: the Metra Star line and the Elgin-O’Hare expressway. The Metra Star line would connect the suburbs outside of Chicago by rail. Early projections indicate its ridership would exceed any existing Metra line. The Elgin-O’Hare expressway would provide a long-sought western access to the airport. The long-delayed project may face an uncertain funding future if state or federal funding is disrupted again due to politics, and this plan would ensure that these projects would remain on track for completion in a timely manner.

In addition, Raja is a co-sponsor of H.Con.Res.63, legislation supporting efforts to enact a bold jobs and infrastructure package that benefits all Americans. This legislation prioritizes public investment in our infrastructure, expands wind and solar power, modernizes our energy grid, and promotes energy efficiency while avoiding fossil fuel-based projects to create a new infrastructure built on 21st century clean energy jobs. Finally, the legislation prioritizes the need to build infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters and cyber-attacks. As we face threats from our climate and enemies abroad, it is imperative that we can depend on our infrastructure at all times. This legislation reflects Raja’s belief in an America that provides good jobs to hard-working Americans, creates a clean energy economy for the 21st century, and prepares for any challenges we may face along the way.

There is no responsibility of our national leaders more sacred than protecting the homeland and keeping our families safe.  Raja knows this, and as president of a company that researches and develops infrared night vision technology to keep our troops safe, Raja will fight to ensure our military has the resources it needs to carry out its mission anywhere in the world.  But the challenge to our nation and its leaders is to respond to the threat of international terrorism without sacrificing American values or the rights and liberties that are the bedrock of our democracy.

The United States must remain engaged on a global scale by contributing to military operations aimed at destroying ISIS and other terrorist organizations.  U.S. soldiers should not be leading those operations, but rather supporting the efforts of those who live in the region through training, logistical help and coordinated air strikes.

Here at home, Raja knows we must redouble our efforts to identify and stop those individuals who have been radicalized and intend to commit terrorist acts.  That starts with keeping weapons out of their hands through expanded background checks that work in real time, as well as banning the purchase or possession of guns by individuals on the no-fly, terrorist watch list.

As we protect and promote our own American interests, Raja believes we must also remember to protect and promote our exceptional standing among nations as a beacon of hope, opportunity, and personal liberty throughout the world.  This means engaging in active diplomacy– both to strengthen our longstanding alliances and to search for areas of potential agreement with those nations whose interests conflict with ours.

Social Security and Medicare are two of the most successful programs in our nation’s history, moving millions of people out of poverty and enabling them to live their golden years in dignity. Nevertheless, they have been under constant attack by those who oppose those programs on ideological grounds.

Raja believes that Social Security and Medicare are sacred promises that we have made to our senior citizens. He will fight in Congress to protect those programs and help secure them for future generations. Now is not the time to shirk our commitment to America’s seniors, but rather to strengthen these programs and make sure they exist for the generations yet to come.

First, Raja supports raising the cap on income subject to Social Security withholding, which is currently set at $118,500 per year. Raising the cap could greatly extend the solvency of the Social Security trust fund while ensuring that everyone pays their fair share.

Second, one of the greatest contributors to the cost of Medicare is the rising price of drugs. Yet, at the behest of the special interests, Congress has prohibited the government from negotiating prices for prescription drugs provided through Medicare part D, which the VA has done successfully for years. This law benefits drug companies at the expense of senior citizens, and Raja will work to repeal it – which will reduce both the cost of drugs for our seniors and the cost of Medicare overall.

The men and women who risk their lives to protect our country deserve our utmost gratitude and support. We must treat them with the same respect and devotion they have shown to our country. That requires a full, wide-ranging support system that ensures our veterans have access to education, good jobs, health care (including mental health services), and anything else they may need upon return to civilian life. It also means providing support for their spouses and loved ones.

The federal government has recently taken steps to expand educational and employment opportunities for veterans with the passage into law of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, also known as the “Forever GI Bill.” Raja co-sponsored and voted in favor of this law because of its beneficial amendments to the GI Bill, including its removal of time limits to use its benefits (previously set at 15 years), its expansion to National Guard and Reserve members and Purple Heart recipients, its expanded emphasis on STEM scholarships, its protection of funds for recipients at schools that close mid-semester, and its easing of red tape for veterans to access their benefits. These changes reflect Raja’s belief in a government that supports our veterans for their service, prepares them for the jobs of the future, and provides protections and ease of access to ensure they can make the most of their benefits.

In addition, Raja wants to reduce veteran homelessness. Since 2010, veteran homelessness has decreased by 36%. While the trajectory is certainly positive, the thought of any member of our armed services sleeping on the street is unacceptable. Raja believes the federal government should provide cities and states with the resources necessary to ensure that all veterans have access to employment support, tenant assistance, and counseling services.

The cornerstone of our veteran support system is health care, and earlier reports of delays in care and secret waiting-lists are unacceptable. For veterans to have the health care they deserve, we need to improve efficiency and accountability at the VA. This begins with improvements in technology and integrating the various VA systems. Recent adjustments have improved claim-processing times, and Raja believes this work should be accelerated. Additionally, improved whistleblower protection and transparency requirements would make the VA more accountable to the public.

Raja also supports turning President Obama’s 2012 executive order on veterans’ mental health care into law. This executive order has led to increased mental health staffing at the VA, higher capacity for the veterans crisis line, and new partnerships between the VA and community mental health services. These efforts must continue – especially in helping the thousands of brave American men and women who served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan.