Jimmy Panetta
| Candidate Name: | Jimmy Panetta (*incumbent) |
| Position Sought: | Congress – District 19 |
| Website / Social Media: | www.jimmypanetta.com Facebook: JimmyPanettaForCongress Twitter: @JimmyPanetta |
| Why are you running for office? |
| As a U.S. Representative, my job is to ensure that the federal government helps, not hurts, the people of California’s 19th Congressional District. Having grown up, gone to school, and worked in our Congressional District, I’ve seen first-hand how the federal government can affect people’s lives. By understanding our values and listening to constituents, I can effectively provide solutions for people by passing federal legislation, securing federal investments for local infrastructure, and helping people with personal issues that they have with the federal government. By making the federal government work for my constituents, I not only can affect their lives, but I also can restore their faith in our democratic institutions. |
| What makes you qualified for this position? |
| Having grown up, gone to school, and worked in our 19th Congressional District, I understand the values of California’s 19th Congressional District. Moreover, as a former prosecutor, veteran, and, a United States Representative since 2017, I know how to fight for the people of this place that I always have called home. In the U.S. House of Representatives, I serve on committees that are critical to my constituents, including the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax, trade, and healthcare issues, and the Armed Services Committee, where I work to bolster our national security by supporting our many military installations in the 19th Congressional District as well as our servicemembers and their families. I also serve on the Budget Committee, where I am working to improve our nation's fiscal outlook. I served on the Agriculture Committee in my last three terms in Congress, and continue to work closely with committee leadership on Farm Bill priorities for our local farmers, producers, and ranchers. Aside from my committees and bipartisan caucuses, I have strong relationships on both sides of the aisle in Congress, which I use to advance the interests of constituents in Northern San Luis Obispo County and throughout the district. The recent study on the bipartisanship of U.S. Congressmembers by the Lugar Center at Georgetown University found that I was the most bipartisan member amongst California’s Congressmembers. I will work with anybody who will help me fight for the values and people of California’s 19th Congressional District. As a veteran who served in the Afghanistan War, I also understand the needs of our local military installations and their importance to our national security. I will continue my work to support our military servicemembers, their families, and our veterans. As a former prosecutor, I understand the needs of law enforcement and will continue to push for more federal funding the ensure the safety of our community. As a grandchild of immigrants, I understand the positive impact immigrants can have on this country and our local economy, which inspires me to lead on immigration reform and push for more order and security at our border to keep our country safe. |
| What are the two hardest issues facing the candidate who wins the office you are running for? |
| The two biggest issues of California’s 19th Congressional District are the lack of affordable housing and accessible healthcare. That’s why I’ve worked hard to author, introduce, and pass legislation that will help reduce the prices of homes and healthcare. We need more affordable housing, so I've championed policies that would increase the housing supply while also reducing costs for homeowners and renters. I've authored and introduced federal legislation to create tax credits for first-time homebuyers and renters, create and increase tax credits to build middle-income housing for working families, reduce capital gains taxes for empty nesters looking to downsize and put more homes on the market, create more housing vouchers for renters, and bring back the mortgage interest deduction and the full deduction for state and local taxes. I’m leading the fight to prevent Medicare cuts, increase access to healthcare, and keep providers in the 19th Congressional District. My bipartisan Preserving Seniors’ Access to Physicians Act protects patients from planned harmful reductions to Medicare physician payments and keeps providers that serve our seniors in our communities, and I helped to reduce cuts in 2024. In the 117th Congress, we worked to pass historic legislation into law that expanded the Affordable Care Act, reduced prescription drug prices, including capping insulin at $35 per month for those on Medicare, and capped out-of-pocket expenses at $2000 per year for those on Medicare. I continue to support efforts to reform prior authorization and step therapy so seniors don’t have to wait months to get the right treatment. I’ve also led bipartisan legislation that will expand access to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), including my Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act to encourage physical activity and incentivize healthier living by allowing HSAs and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to be used for qualified sports and fitness purchases. I’ve introduced the Access to Future Cares Act, which allows patients to use HSAs to pay for preventive blood storage services and introduced the Oral Health Products Inclusion Act to include oral care products for HSA and FSA eligibility. Lastly, I always will fight to protect and preserve the Affordable Care Act. |
| How do you plan to address the issue of inflation and its impacts on your constituents if elected? |
| As I mentioned above and below, we can reduce costs by creating more affordable housing and reducing the cost of healthcare. Moreover, we must invest in the building blocks of many of our products, which are built using semiconductors. That's why I worked hard to pass into law the CHIPs and Science Act, which will re-shore this critical industry and protect consumers from supply chain shocks that could impact everything from electronics to appliances to cars. I've supported efforts to reduce energy prices and expand energy production by improving clean energy permitting and responsibly increasing oil and gas production, which has reached record levels. I've also supported efforts to give drivers relief from high gas prices by tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, my committee drafted and passed into law historic legislation, which provides tax credits and rebates for homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint and strengthened tax credits for clean energy production to lower electricity costs. I personally authored sections of the bill to provide tax credits for microgrid controllers and linear generators, which increase resiliency using clean energy, and green buses to help decarbonize transit. As I’ve mentioned, our legislation will lower healthcare costs for seniors and families. We have capped insulin prices at $35 and capped out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000 for those on Medicare. We continue to lower the cost of a range of prescription drugs as Medicare negotiates prices with insurers, as required by our legislation. I also support reducing, not increasing, tariffs for goods coming in from abroad. I strongly oppose any plan to put a 10% tariff on all imported goods, which will raise costs for families at a time when they need more relief, not price increases. I support increased trade with our allies both to counter China and provide consumers with more options and lower prices. I'm working with members of the Agriculture Committee to improve food safety to prevent the kinds of outbreaks that spike prices for products like eggs, beef, and chicken, and ensure these rules can be complied with without raising costs. I introduced the bipartisan Food Traceability Enhancement Act (H.R. 7563), which improves the Administration's recent food traceability rule and ensures that our producers can comply with new rules and protect consumers. I've also introduced the Safe American Food Exports Act (H.R. 7348), which would codify USDA’s role in negotiating regionalization agreements that allow livestock, poultry, and other animal products from unaffected areas of the country to continue to be safely exported in the event of an animal disease outbreak. Lastly, we must fix our broken immigration system to address labor shortages that cause price increases. For agriculture and our food system, I support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, H.R. 4319, which reforms the H-2A program to stabilize the agriculture workforce and establishes a program for agricultural workers to earn legal status through continued agricultural employment. I also support expanding H-2B visas and high-tech visas to address labor shortages that cause price increases in the services industries. |
| What major crime issues do you plan to address if elected and how? |
| Most recently, my constituents have been facing a growing amount of mail theft and retail theft. That's why I've introduced the Maximizing Agency Integration on Letter Theft Act, or MAIL Theft Act (H.R. 8596), with Rep. Young Kim of California. This bipartisan legislation requires cross-agency coordination on the issue of mail theft and raises it as a priority for federal law enforcement. I've also introduced legislation with Rep. Kim to address retail crime, the Federal Investigations of Organized Retail Crime Act (H.R. 316). This bipartisan bill directs federal agencies to create a cohesive strategy to improve coordination and information sharing among federal law enforcement agencies, increase collaboration with retailers, organized retail crime associations and state-run retail crime taskforces, and assist state and local authorities in compiling evidence for the prosecution of organized retail crime. We also are seeing the impact of illegal drugs like fentanyl and a related adulterant, xylazine. Known as “tranq” when mixed with fentanyl, xylazine is an easily accessible veterinary tranquilizer that is being used as a low-cost cutting agent for fentanyl, and, unfortunately, is spreading in California. I've worked with bipartisan members in the House and the Senate, in addition to the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration, to introduce the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act (H.R. 1839). This legislation would schedule xylazine as a Schedule III illicit substance under the Controlled Substances Act while also preserving its legitimate use for veterinarians and our cattlemen in San Luis Obispo County. I also am introducing legislation to provide grants to local prosecutors. Federally funding state and local prosecutors for the first time will mean District Attorneys’ offices will have the resources to deliver justice, discourage crime, and keep our communities safer. |
| How do you plan to address the issue of housing if elected? |
| I have authored commonsense, bipartisan legislation to address housing challenges in California’s 19th Congressional District. I introduced my bipartisan Workforce Housing Tax Credit Act (H.R. 6686) which would increase the supply of affordable housing for middle-income families who earn too much to qualify for low-income housing and not enough to afford a home in high-cost areas like ours. I have also championed improvements to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to build more affordable housing and supported legislation passed out of the House of Representatives which could double the number of LIHTC-financed homes built in California. I authored the bipartisan More Homes on the Market Act (H.R. 1321) which would double the capital gains tax exemption for home sales. I also authored the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act (H.R. 7707) to provide qualifying first-time homebuyers with a $15,000 tax credit to offset a down payment. I'm an original cosponsor of the Rent Relief Act (H.R. 6721), which would provide a tax credit for qualifying families to offset rental costs, and have introduced legislation to reinstate the deduction for mortgage interest, (H.R. 1384) which has expired. I've also introduced the Housing Access Improvement Act to increase the statutory cap of Project-Based Vouchers (PBVs) from 20 percent to 50 percent, ultimately allowing housing agencies to spur new locations where housing vouchers are redeemable. Project basing gives developers a guarantee of a future source of stable income for a project. In markets facing a housing shortage, this is one of the only tools housing authorities have to spur the construction of new, quality units. |
| What do you hope to accomplish in your first year in office if elected? |
| I will continue to fight to create more affordable housing and reduce crime by passing my legislation mentioned above. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I also will have an opportunity to re-shape the tax code as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires next year. I will work to ensure that we have a fair and competitive tax code to reduce our deficits while also supporting the small businesses and industries in San Luis Obispo County. I'm also working to pass a Farm Bill that includes priorities for our farmers, producers, and ranchers in San Luis Obispo County, especially our cattlemen. This includes ensuring more investment in research and development for our specialty crops and that cattlemen have fair access to the global marketplace. It also must modernize the Packers and Stockyards Act by fixing regulatory roadblocks and increasing meat processing capacity by allowing livestock auction market owners to invest in small and regional packing facilities. |
| What actions do you plan to take to reduce political divide? |
| I believe strongly in bipartisanship and working across the aisle to get things done for my constituents and the American people, regardless of their political party. I believe that attitude helps to bring down the temperature and improve our politics by demonstrating that bipartisanship is still alive and well in Congress. I'm a member of bipartisan caucuses, including the Problem Solvers Caucus, which is an equal number of Democrats and Republicans who meet to solve our toughest legislative challenges, the Bipartisan Working Group with members who look to find common ground on legislation that can move through Congress and make an impact in our communities, and the For Country Caucus, which is a group of Democrats and Republicans who all have served in the U.S. Military and work on issues which will support our national security, military members and families, and veterans. I've also been recognized by independent organizations for my bipartisanship. The Georgetown University Lugar Center's analysis found that I was the most bipartisan member of California’s Congressional Delegation, the 6th most bipartisan Democrat, and the 13th most bipartisan Member of Congress. Additionally, the Common Ground Committee gave me the 22nd highest bipartisanship score of all House and Senate members of both parties and the 15th highest score for a Democrat. This recognition demonstrates my commitment to legislating on a bipartisan basis and willingness to work with anybody who will help me fight for the people and values of California’s 19th Congressional District. |
