Pramila Jayapal

A PROVEN RECORD OF FIGHTING FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

As a longtime community organizer, Pramila believes in the power of the grassroots and the people to enact real change, but she’s seen the stifling effect “dark money” has had on the ability of everyday citizens to make their voices heard.

That’s why in the State Senate, Pramila spearheaded a letter to Congress, signed by all members of the Democratic caucus, calling on them to overturn Citizens United.

ENDING SECRET MONEY IN CAMPAIGNS

Pramila knows that campaign finance reform at the state level is only the beginning and that nationally our system is still rigged for corporations and the wealthy. In Congress, Pramila supports a Constitutional Amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s decision, returning power to Congress and the states to regulate campaign finance, and giving each of us an equal voice in our democracy. She is a strong supporter of City of Seattle's Democracy Voucher program.

FIGHTING FOR BETTER WAGES

Higher wages build strong communities and a stronger economy. That’s why Pramila played a lead a role in the coalition to pass paid sick and safe days in Seattle, and helped organize immigrants for raising the minimum wage. It’s also why the Seattle Mayor appointed her to the committee that developed the successful proposal for raising Seattle’s minimum wage to $15. Then on her third day in the State Senate, Pramila introduced legislation to increase the state minimum wage to $12 across the state. In Congress, she is fighting to increase the federal minimum wage to ensure all working people earn the wages they deserve, and to ensure that there are no tip penalties that particularly hurt women and workers of color working in service industries.

PROTECTING AMERICAN JOBS

Washington has a long history with trade, and it’s critical to our economy, but corporate giveaways hidden into trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) do nothing to protect good paying jobs here are home. In Congress, Pramila is standing up to these backroom deals and make sure workers are helping negotiate fair trade deals that protect workers here and abroad - including pushing for a NAFTA renegotiation process that benefits workers. The question is not are we for or against trade. The question is how do we structure trade deals that are actually beneficial to workers here and around the world and beneficial to our environment? In our trade pacts, Pramila is pushing to support domestic contractors in government procurement, stronger labor and environmental standards, and eliminate dispute resolution provisions that favor corporations and allow them to run roughshod over environmental and safety regulations.

INVESTING IN THE ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE OF AMERICA

For decades we’ve put off badly needed repairs to our nation’s infrastructure, resulting in crumbling bridges, overcrowded transit systems, and dangerously outdated electric grids, all while millions of skilled American workers remain unemployed. That’s why in Congress Pramila is supporting efforts to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, to put people back to work and make the long overdue improvements to our seaports, bridges, interstates, mass transit and energy platforms that serve as the backbone of our economy. In Washington's 7th District, she is a pushing to fully fund repairs and improvements to the Ballard Locks - the most heavily-trafficked locks in the country - as well as robust funding to keep the construction of Sound Transit's light rail extensions on schedule.

FIGHTING FOR BETTER WAGES

Higher wages build strong communities and a stronger economy. That’s why Pramila played a lead a role in the coalition to pass paid sick and safe days in Seattle, and helped organize immigrants for raising the minimum wage. It’s also why the Seattle Mayor appointed her to the committee that developed the successful proposal for raising Seattle’s minimum wage to $15. Then on her third day in the State Senate, Pramila introduced legislation to increase the state minimum wage to $12 across the state. In Congress, she is fighting to increase the federal minimum wage to ensure all working people earn the wages they deserve, and to ensure that there are no tip penalties that particularly hurt women and workers of color working in service industries.

PROTECTING AMERICAN JOBS

Washington has a long history with trade, and it’s critical to our economy, but corporate giveaways hidden into trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) do nothing to protect good paying jobs here are home. In Congress, Pramila is standing up to these backroom deals and make sure workers are helping negotiate fair trade deals that protect workers here and abroad - including pushing for a NAFTA renegotiation process that benefits workers. The question is not are we for or against trade. The question is how do we structure trade deals that are actually beneficial to workers here and around the world and beneficial to our environment? In our trade pacts, Pramila is pushing to support domestic contractors in government procurement, stronger labor and environmental standards, and eliminate dispute resolution provisions that favor corporations and allow them to run roughshod over environmental and safety regulations.

INVESTING IN THE ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE OF AMERICA

For decades we’ve put off badly needed repairs to our nation’s infrastructure, resulting in crumbling bridges, overcrowded transit systems, and dangerously outdated electric grids, all while millions of skilled American workers remain unemployed. That’s why in Congress Pramila is supporting efforts to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, to put people back to work and make the long overdue improvements to our seaports, bridges, interstates, mass transit and energy platforms that serve as the backbone of our economy. In Washington's 7th District, she is a pushing to fully fund repairs and improvements to the Ballard Locks - the most heavily-trafficked locks in the country - as well as robust funding to keep the construction of Sound Transit's light rail extensions on schedule.

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

Pramila knows that early education provides a strong start that can have a long lasting and far reaching positive impact in the lives of our children and our community. She was named a Children’s Alliance Champion in the State Senate for her efforts to pass the Early Start Act that put an additional $158 million into early childhood education and she’ll continue to be a strong advocate for early childhood education in Congress.

SUPPORTING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS

America’s public schools teachers have one of the greatest responsibilities in our nation. That’s why Pramila fights for increased teacher pay and benefits, so we can attract and retain the very best. And she’ll work to get rid of unnecessary testing that burden teachers so that they can get back to preparing our children with the skills they need to compete in the 21st-century economy.

FIGHTING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

In the State Senate Pramila served on the Equity and Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee, where she led critical conversations about equity in all education policies. She pushed for reforms that take into account the individual student rather than just aggregate data points. She also helped create a model policy for language translation and interpretation for Limited English Proficient parents and  fought for additional support for teachers of bilingual and special needs kids.

Pramila understands the importance of higher education to our economy and believes all hardworking students deserve the opportunity to receive the education they need to succeed. In the State Senate, she introduced the Washington Promise program, which would provide two years of guaranteed tuition at community and technical colleges for all eligible Washington residents. She was also a key player in the passage of our state’s DREAM Act, working with allies across Washington to ensure children of immigrants have the opportunity to attend college.

ENDING COLLEGE DEBT

In Congress, Pramila is continuing to advocate for closing the higher education gap for low-income students and children of color. She believes that no student - regardless of background or income level, who is willing and able to go to college - should  be denied because they can’t afford the cost. Pramila introduced the College for All Act in the House (Bernie Sanders introduced its counterpart in the Senate) to make public universities and colleges tuition free for 80 percent of all students, allow existing student borrowers to refinance and slash their interest rates in half, and make community college free for all.

PROMOTING A CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY

In Congress, Pramila is pushing for a clean energy economy that invests in alternative energies, like solar and wind power, and put an end to toxic fracking and deep water drilling that threatens our environment. She supports research and development of next-generation technologies that curb greenhouse gas emissions and improve our health while promoting economic growth and protecting our most vulnerable communities.

A PROVEN RECORD OF FIGHTING FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT

As a community activist, Pramila Jayapal has brought communities together from around our state to combat climate change because she knows that protecting our environment isn’t an isolated issue. It affects all aspects of our progressive movement — from fighting poverty to women’s health to immigration reform.

As a state senator, Pramila helped lead the effort to strip bad environmental provisions from the transportation package and fight for the largest investment in multi-modal transportation options. She also helped pass incentives for electric vehicles and investment in the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure. As ranking member of Parks and Natural Resources, Pramila stopped attempts to undermine environmental provisions that preserved funding and access to state park lands.

COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE

Pramila is standing up to climate change deniers in Congress and fighting for immediate action on climate change — pushing to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. and around the world. She is a proud co-sponsor of the "100 by '50" Act, which lays out a road map to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, including a just transition for workers in the fossil fuel industry. Pramila understands the dire consequences any further delay will have on our environment, public health, and local fishing and tourism industries.

WITH GUN RIGHTS COME GUN RESPONSIBILITIES

I believe in comprehensive and common sense gun reform that increases the threshold of responsibility that comes with owning a gun. This is why I co-introduced a bipartisan bill which would raise the minimum age requirement from 18 to 21 for gun buyers purchasing any firearm. Other solutions that would keep guns out of the wrong hands include requiring universal background checks for every purchase, an idea supported by over 80 percent of gun owners, closing gun sales loopholes, enacting protections that make sure those with severe mental illnesses do not have access to guns, and ensuring guns are locked and secure where children won’t access them.

BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS AND BUMP STOCKS

New technology has drastically evolved many products since the 2nd amendment was enacted in 1791. Yet, while we have updated our laws to protect us from faster cars, such as requiring airbags and seatbelts, Congress is severely neglecting its responsibility to protect men, women, and children from new gun technology. Enough is enough -- it’s time to ban large capacity, semi-automatic assault weapons and bump stocks.

On February 27, 2019, Pramila introduced the Medicare For All Act of 2019 in the House of Representatives, with 106 original co-sponsors. This historic legislation would improve upon the popular Medicare program and expand it to everyone in the United States.

THE PROBLEM WITH TODAY’S FOR-PROFIT SYSTEM:

Today’s for-profit health care system in the United States of America is ineffective, inefficient, and produces much worse health outcomes than other industrialized countries.

The U.S. spends about 50% more per person on health care, more than any other industrialized nation.

Yet, the life expectancy in the U.S. is lower than other nations and our infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate is much higher.

Nearly 30 million people are uninsured and at least 40 million people cannot afford the cost of their co-pays and deductibles.

Two-thirds of people who file for bankruptcy cite medical issues as a key contributor to their financial downfall — not because they don’t have health insurance, but because their insurance isn’t enough to protect them.

The United States currently pays the highest prescription drug costs in the world and one in five patients skips doses or fails to fill prescriptions because of the expensive costs.

A HISTORY OF STANDING UP FOR IMMIGRANTS

In response to the backlash against immigrant communities after 9/11, Pramila created OneAmerica (formerly called Hate Free Zone) to fight back against the civil liberties abuses of the Bush Administration against Arabs, Muslims and South Asians, and protecting thousands across the country from deportation and detention.  As Executive Director for 11 years, she helped organize tens of thousands of diverse immigrants in the fight for immigration reform, including bringing a gender lens to immigration and working to keep families together.  She also led efforts for immigrant integration in Washington state, registering 23,000 New Americans to vote, serving as Vice Chair of the Governor’s New Americans Policy Council, and helping to establish the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs in Seattle.

Under Pramila’s leadership, OneAmerica grew into the largest immigrant advocacy organization in the state, and played a key role in passing the 2014 DREAM Act, protecting drivers licenses for all residents regardless of citizenship, and passing a New Americans Executive Order that helped facilitate immigrant integration through citizenship, English Language learning and cross-cultural understanding.

ENACTING JUST AND HUMANE COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

Our immigration policies should reflect our values of family, human dignity and work.  In Congress, Pramila  is working to pass just and humane immigration reform that provides legalization and a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, reunites families, protects immigrant workers on the job, and fully embraces the contributions that immigrants make to our society. She introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which would phase out the use of for-profit immigrant prisons and drastically overhaul the nation's immigrant incarceration system to eliminate human rights violations.

ENSURING AMERICA CONTINUES TO WELCOME REFUGEES

America has always been a country that has welcomed refugees from around the world who are escaping economic, political and social turmoil. Pramila believes this is a critically important role for America to play in a world of global migration where more than 1 billion people are on the move.  In Congress, she is working to ensure we continue to accept refugees in numbers that reflect America’s global status in the world and history of compassion, and that we provide them with the support and services needed once here.

A HISTORY OF STANDING UP FOR LGBTQ EQUALITY

As Executive Director of Hate Free Zone of Washington (now OneAmerica), Pramila led the organization to sign the amicus brief in the landmark marriage equality case Andersen v. King County. Pramila pushed for LGBTQ equality as a long-term organizing project, leading to One America joining the coordinating committee of the Washington United for Marriage campaign — turning out the vote for marriage equality across the state. She also brought together national LGBTQ and immigration rights groups to broaden the movement and have an even greater impact for change.

In Congress, she has championed efforts to fight against Donald Trump's unconstitutional and discriminatory trans military ban. In the State Senate, Pramila fought back Republican efforts to repeal protections for transgender individuals to use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. She also voted to protect LGBTQ youth, by prohibiting the practice of conversion therapy for minors.

FIGHTING FOR FULL LGBTQ RIGHTS

Despite recent victories, 31 states still lack clear non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. In Congress, Pramila is a member of the Congressional Equality Caucus and strongly supports the Equality Act and the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which establishes protections against discrimination for LGBTQ people in employment, housing, credit, education and adoption among others. In addition, she is fighting for fair and accepting schools for LGBTQ young people, to put an end to conversion therapy, and to provide needed funding for programs that assist homeless LGBTQ youth.

MAKING THE WEALTHY PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE INTO SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

In yet just another example of the rich getting richer on the back of working Americans, currently someone making millions of dollars a year contributes the same amount of money to Social Security as someone making $118,500 a year.  In Congress, Pramila is fighting to end this inequity by supporting legislation to lift the income cap on Social Security so that everyone pays the same percentage of their income into Social Security.  In addition, Pramila believes that we need to invest where there is the greatest need and supports reducing benefits for high-income earners who have greater financial security and do not often rely on Social Security benefits in retirement.

INVESTING IN LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS

In Washington, nearly 20% of the people will be 65 or older by 2030 and by 2060, the population of people who are 85 or older will more than triple. That’s why in the State Senate, Pramila worked with her colleagues to fund a study to look at long-term care solutions for Washington’s growing senior population. She is continuing that work in Congress to ensure we are properly investing in the programs that will take care of America’s seniors for generations to come.

Pramila is working to reform the funding formula for Social Security benefits so that the annual cost of living adjustments are more reflective of senior spending patterns rather than simply inflation.

STANDING UP FOR VETERANS’ HEALTHCARE

Pramila is working to ensure veterans receive the quality care they deserve by holding the VA accountable while protecting it from shortsighted cuts and investing in proper care for our veterans, including expanding mental health services. Pramila's team of caseworkers have returned about $350,000 to constituents and worked to resolve countless issues for veterans seeking help with federal agencies.

As a member of the Healthcare Committee in the State Senate, Pramila worked to ensure disabled veterans received the medical assistance they needed by helping make it easier to access supplemental benefits for disabled care.

HELPING VETERANS SUCCEED IN CIVILIAN LIFE

Taking care of the men and women who have risked their lives in order to protect our freedoms means so much more than ensuring their medical needs – it means helping them succeed when they get home by providing them with the education and jobs that will allow them to thrive in civilian life.

The New GI Bill has benefitted millions of veterans, but it’s also been abused by some institutions in the for-profit school sector, often leaving veterans in debt and with a subpar education. Pramila is working to crack down on abuse within the GI Bill program and close the loopholes that have allowed veterans to be taken advantage of. She supports efforts to expand veteran small businesses and improve job counseling and placement services so that veterans’ skills can be put to good use in the civilian workforce.

ENDING VETERANS HOMELESSNESS

It’s unacceptable that any veteran would face homelessness after making the sacrifices they have for our country. In Congress, Pramila is fighting to end veterans homelessness for good by making mental health and counseling services more accessible, streamlining the VA disability claim process for quicker service, and nationalizing the Housing First program that provides unconditional stable housing first and then addresses any underlying issues that may be contributing to the homelessness.