GOOD GOVERNMENT
Susan has never forgotten that it all starts with "We the People." As someone who believes holding office is public service, Susan is committed to making sure the federal government lives up to ideals of the American people. Susan knows how hard taxpayers work for their money and is a strong supporter of efficiency and transparency in federal spending. Susan also believes the integrity of our elections is a critical element of our democracy and that's why she's made election and campaign finance reform two of her signature issues.
Responsive Representation
As the proud Representative of California's 53rd district, Susan makes it a priority to make sure she and her staff listens carefully to constituent input and are as responsive to community concerns as possible.
- Susan's policy is to answer every constituent email and letter she receives.
- Susan and her staff meet with any constituent who requests a meeting.
- Susan and her staff make casework inquiries for any constituent who requests such services.
- Susan works hard to be accessible by holding listening sessions with constituents by phone and in person and sending regular congressional reports by e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and postal mail.
- To share your concerns with Susan, click here.
Pay and Benefits for Members of Congress
In these tough economic times when Americans are tightening their belts, Susan believes Congress should too.
- Susan has consistently opposed pay increases for Members of Congress.
- Susan voted to cut her own office budget by over 11 percent.
- Like other Americans, Susan and other Members of Congress pay into Social Security.
- Susan supported the STOCK Act, a measure to prevent Members of Congress from using insider information for personal financial gain.
- Like other Members of Congress, Susan participates in DC Health exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act.
Earmarks
- Susan is pleased that earmarks are no longer a part of the House appropriations process. Although she has supported certain local projects such as the San Diego Trolley that have been funded by earmarks in the past, she believes the funding system can be vastly improved to make it more accountable.
Campaign Finance Reform
- Susan has long supported public campaign financing because she believes it has the potential to limit the outsized influence of special interests in our electoral process.
- Susan opposed the Citizens United ruling and was a strong supporter of the DISCLOSE Act to bring transparency to campaign advertising.
- Susan is vocal supporter of the SEC proposed efforts to force publically-traded companies to disclose all campaign related donations.
Election Reform
A former President of the San Diego League of Women Voters Susan has a strong interest in bettering federal elections. Susan has served on the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections and is actively engaged in issues of election integrity.
Susan has consistently introduced inexpensive common sense election reform measures to greatly increase security, efficiency and participation in federal elections.
- The Universal Right To Vote By Mail Act --This bill would allow voters in all states to vote by mail for any reason. About half the states currently allow no-excuse absentee voting and it is very popular there. In the other states, voters must have a specific reason such as age, disability or travel to request an absentee ballot. In these states, work and childcare are often not valid reasons to vote by mail.
This bill would make voting more convenient and would level the playing field by allowing all voters the same opportunity. It also removes such additional requirements as notary signatures, doctors' notes and invasive personal information requests.Text; Press Release
- The Federal Election Integrity Act – This bill would prohibit chief state election administration officials from taking active part in political campaigns with respect to any elections for federal office over which the officials have supervisory authority. This bill passed the House on September 29, 2010 but has not yet come up this session. Click here to view the Press Release or here for a New York Times article on this issue.
- The TRAC Act – The bill provides grants to states for establishing absentee ballot tracking systems. To be eligible, tracking systems must allow voters to find out online or using a 1-800 phone number whether an elections office has sent out a ballot, whether a completed ballot has arrived back at the registrar's office, whether the registrar has counted the ballot, and if not, why not. H.R. 2510 passed the House on July 30, 2009 by voice vote but was not taken up by the Senate though portions of it were rolled into MOVE, a law to help military and overseas voters. Susan will continue to press for more extensive absentee ballot tracking.
- Military Voting – With so many service members changing addresses frequently or stationed in remote locations, getting the ballots back and forth for those who defend our democracy on time has been challenge in the past. Susan has a long history of supporting military voting efforts and is proud to have joined her colleague, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in sponsoring the SENTRI Act, H.R.3576, which would make several technical improvements to the military voting process to improve accountability and voting opportunities.