Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
MORE: Read all the candidate responses in our Voter Guide
Name: Norma J. Torres
Current job title: Member of Congress
Political party affiliation: Democrat
Incumbent: Yes
Other political positions held: State Senate, State Assembly, Mayor of Pomona, City Council Member of Pomona
City where you reside: Pomona
Campaign website or social media: www.NormaTorres.com
Californians will decide on a proposition this November that would scale back some of Proposition 47, a 2014 voter-approved measure that reduced penalties for certain theft and drug offenses. What is one way the federal government could help states like California balance criminal justice reform with enforcing the law? (Please be specific with your proposal, and keep your answer to 200 words or less.)
A one-size-fits-all approach to reduce or eliminate minimum sentencing at the federal level hurts and ties the hands of local jurisdictions who are trying to keep their communities safe.
Proposition 47 was a well-intentioned but failed policy that hurt communities more than it helped. The upcoming vote on Prop 36 is a welcome opportunity to reverse the worst of these changes and restore law & order to our communities.
Congress should fund law enforcement agencies and simultaneously address the root causes of crime, drug abuse, and homelessness. This includes interrupting the school-to-prison-pipeline with adequate investment for childcare, early childhood education, afterschool programs, sports, and our K-12 school facilities and teachers. It also includes a global approach to address economic drivers in source nations to stem the flow of narcotics across the US border.
The federal government should encourage local municipalities to create Youth and Family Master Plans to facilitate information on available resources for families struggling with youth delinquency and addiction. By creating seamless wrap-around services we support children at every stage up to and including job training programs or college prep services. With opportunity, we keep our kids out of trouble, off the streets, and on the right path.
Recent efforts to expand the federal deduction for state and local taxes, called SALT, have failed. What changes would you like to see, if any, to SALT? (Please keep your answer to 200 words or less.)
Californians already pay more than our share of federal and state taxes so I would like to see an immediate repeal of the SALT deduction cap that was implemented in 2017’s HR 1.
Among the many hurtful provisions that were included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Republicans and President Trump, the $10,000 cap on SALT deductions has had extremely disproportionate and negative effects on my constituents and residents of major donor (tax donor) states like California and New York who already pay more than our fair share in federal taxes.
At a time when families continue to live paycheck to paycheck, we should not be hitting families with a double-whammy of being taxed twice on their earnings.
The Republican 2017 HR 1 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the largest tax increase on the middle class in modern US history.
President Joe Biden has called for an overhaul of the US Supreme Court, including mandatory ethics rules. What reforms, if any, do you believe the Supreme Court needs, and how would they be enforced? (Please be specific with your proposal, and keep your answer to 250 words or less.)
No one in America should be above the law – yet life-time appointed federal judges including but not limited to the Supreme Court justices enjoy a degree of practical immunity to many of the same standards that apply to most people in the US including their fellow public servants.
That’s why as a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the administration of the Federal Courts, the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government I have written legislation, letters, and levied a pressure campaign on the Courts to enact reforms.
I do believe the Supreme Court should be subject to an enforceable code of conduct (mandatory ethics) as President Biden has proposed, but I also believe we need legislation like a bill I co-lead that would ensure employees working within the federal Judiciary enjoy the same anti-harassment protections afforded under Title VII. Right now, sexual assault or harassment claims are handled internally by the Administrative Office of the federal Judiciary, and despite over 3 years of trying to gather data about how these claims are resolved, the internal processes for these claims remain opaque.
Rooting out a workplace culture and environment that rewards silence over truth and ethical conduct is a key priority of my work, because I believe we must ensure no American is above the law, especially those charged with interpreting it and delivering justice for all of us.
Should there be an age limit imposed on presidential candidates? What about Congress or Senate? If so, what is that limit?
Public perception is the ultimate and most powerful determinant of one’s ability to serve and carry out their duty – we should always let the people decide who best represents them.
Would you support legislation that protects women’s access to in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments nationwide? Why or why not? (Please be specific in your answer, and limit your response to 200 words.)
Forks. I support legislation to accomplish this and have actively encouraged this White House to protect access to in-vitro fertilization, including protection for clinics and clinicians who perform these life-giving services.
We should support families who make the conscious decision to conceive and raise a child, with or without the help of in-vitro fertilization – rather than discourage it. Family planning is an intimate, private decision-making process that only a woman and her family should be left to make – without government interference or influence.
The Republican Party’s platform, following the summer convention, calls for the “largest deportation effort in American history.” Is this something you support? If so, what would such an effort look like? If not, how would you assess concerns about border security? (Please be specific in your response, and keep it to 250 words or less.)
No. I strongly oppose the rhetoric the former President uses when describing the issue of immigration, especially his deplorable characterization of hard working immigrants in America.
Yes, we must secure our border, and as a former LAPD 911 dispatcher, I strongly believe in law and order. If someone has committed deportable offenses, we should deport them. At the same time, we must align our federal immigration policies to reality: we face a worker shortage across every sector in the United States and we remain a nation that has thrived, not suffered, by accepting immigrants.
We cannot return to Republican policies that ripped children from their parents and put them in cages and foil blankets. We must have a humane immigration system that secures our border and allows a humane and transparent asylum process.
We must preserve our national security first, to successfully do this we must fund our border protection agencies and vastly expand our capacity to address claims for asylum by having more judges and legal representation for potential asylum seekers at our legal ports of entry.
I have been a champion of the need for the United States to address the root causes of immigration, from Central America where US policies and posture can have a dramatic effect on the pressure of local populations to immigrate or stay in their countries of origin. By being more aggressive and strategic in our efforts to assist Central American nations stabilize themselves, we will reduce the immigration crisis more effectively.
Cost of living is high on the list of concerns among voters, particularly among younger people. What is one bipartisan proposal you have to alleviate concerns about high prices or cost of living? (Please be specific in your response, and limit it to 200 words.)
I frequently agree industry, constituent, and government discussions in Washington and California to address drivers of rising costs including supply chain disruptions, inputs for the logistics industry, and factors that make homeownership unattainable. It’s also why I created the Air Cargo Caucus, to bring logistics industry stakeholders like UPS, FedEx, and Amazon to share bipartisan solutions to bring jobs to our region.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I helped author once-in-a-generation investments in our infrastructure and manufacturing sectors and influenced landmark legislation to deliver for the Inland Empire.
These include: -CHIPS & Science Act (bringing manufacturing back home); -Inflation Reduction Act (reducing energy costs, capping monthly insulin to $35 for seniors, and reducing internet costs for working families with the Affordable Connectivity Program); -Investment in Infrastructure & Jobs Act (modernizing Ontario Airport, fixing our roads, and expanding our transit systems),
Specifically, on the Appropriation Subcommittee dealing with Housing and Transportation, I created a bipartisan grant program to assist our cities to plan and expand Transit-Oriented development, building affordable housing along transit corridors to reduce the costs of both. Expanding this program will help Inland Empire families who spend almost 55% of their average annual income on those two factors alone.
Californians continue to point to housing affordability as one of their top concerns. What is something the federal government could do to lessen the financial burden people feel, whether that’s with renting or buying a house? (Please be specific in your answer, and limit it to 200 words or less.)
As the Chair of the New Dems Affordable Housing Task Force, I work with Republicans and Democrats to bring industry and community advocates together to address the rising costs of living including rent, mortgages, insurance, and transportation. I have hosted dozens of meetings in Washington and California to listen and work on solutions to regional problems like the global lumber shortage, the rising cost of living for college students, or the funding shortfalls our local cities are facing.
This year, I facilitated a discussion with California’s Insurance Commissioner and the entire California Congressional delegation to address the increasingly volatile home and fire insurance markets evaporating in states like California.
One proposal to lessen the financial burden of housing for families is to expand the construction of new housing and apartment stock – raising supply to closer align with demand bringing down total costs for renters and buyers.
Ultimately, the government must bring an all-above, all-hands-on-deck approach to tackle housing affordability. The government must increase access to safe, reliable lending options for families, increase funding to support state and local efforts to incentivize first-time homebuyers, and stabilize the economy to encourage the Federal Reserve to continue to bring down mortgage interest rates.
What do you see the federal government’s role as in helping local municipalities tackle homelessness? (Please be specific in your answer, and limit it to 200 words or less.)
Aside from enacting policies that stabilize and grow the national economy and create jobs – the federal government has failed to significantly increase funding for affordable housing vouchers and facilities to meet the need and demand.
Ultimately, homelessness is inexorably tied to the lack of opportunity and living-wage jobs. To get people off the streets we must create good paying, permanent jobs by supporting, not punishing corporations willing to invest and set up shop in our communities as well as developing the critical partnerships needed to build a pipeline of skilled workers.
In the Inland Empire, it means better, proactive and strategic long term planning as well as building more housing stock that is affordable and diversified to include manufactured housing.
We also cannot talk about homelessness without addressing the massive issue of narcotics and drug addiction that is afflicting our communities. The federal government must do more on the global stage to address the root causes of drug trafficking, but the government, including the State of California must get out of the way of local municipalities who are taking important measures to curb drug abuse on our streets.
After Tesla chief executive Elon Musk shared an AI-generated video purporting to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ voice, Gov. Gavin Newsom voted to enact legislation to make it illegal to manipulate someone’s voice in an ad. What is something the federal government could do to protect people from deep-fakes, or false AI-generated images, videos and audio? (Please be specific in your response, and keep your answer to 200 words or less.)
Aside from enacting policies that stabilize and grow the national economy and create jobs – the federal government has failed to significantly increase funding for affordable housing vouchers and facilities to meet the need and demand.
Ultimately, homelessness is inexorably tied to the lack of opportunity and living-wage jobs. To get people off the streets we must create good paying, permanent jobs by supporting, not punishing corporations willing to invest and set up shop in our communities as well as developing the critical partnerships needed to build a pipeline of skilled workers.
In the Inland Empire, it means better, proactive and strategic long term planning as well as building more housing stock that is affordable and diversified to include manufactured housing.
We also cannot talk about homelessness without addressing the massive issue of narcotics and drug addiction that is afflicting our communities. The federal government must do more on the global stage to address the root causes of drug trafficking, but the government, including the State of California must get out of the way of local municipalities who are taking important measures to curb drug abuse on our streets.
What is one local infrastructure project you would push to secure funds for in the federal budget? (Please be specific in your answer.)
Transit options bring more affordable mobility options for Inland Empire residents, but more importantly, major transit projects bring long term, permanent jobs and economic development to our region.
I strongly support the development of public transportation including the Gold Line to Montclair, expansion of the Ontario International Airport, as well as the Brightline West project, to bring the first high-speed rail project to the West Coast (from Las Vegas, NV to Rancho Cucamonga, CA).
With specific regard to Brightline West – as a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, I worked hard to ensure we created a successful private-public partnership which now includes over $6 billion in private investment towards this massive project. The project also includes labor agreements to ensure good-paying union jobs are created in our local communities.
For Brightline, I worked tirelessly to clear the way for the project, including writing letters to the DOT as well as advocating for the project with the Secretary of Transportation directly on his visits to my district. On the Committee – I help ensure billions of dollars were allocated to transit and rail projects like this through both the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act. To ensure the Inland Empire receives its fair share, I have created Specific grants to provide local cities the technical assistance needed to submit successful grant applications.
What is one environment or climate policy you’d champion if elected? (Please be specific with your policy proposal, and keep your answer to 200 words or less.)
I am a champion on many of these issues, especially as it relates to clean air because the Inland Empire, which is downwind from Los Angeles, often suffers the nation’s worst air quality and highest levels of Nox chemicals.
Most recently, however, I have taken to championing the little-known issue of nitrate and arsenic in our drinking water. The Inland Empire and our watershed basin that ends around Prado Dam suffers some of the nation’s greatest concentrations of high nitrate levels in our groundwater due to the old farms and dairies that once lined the Chino Valley Water Basin.
This year, I worked across the aisle with conservative Republican, David Valadao of the Central Valley to introduce the Removing Nitrate and Arsenic in Drinking Water Act – because we must begin to allocate resources to address the removal and mitigation of these harmful contaminants in our groundwater supplies.
What’s the No. 1 song on your playlist while you’re on the campaign trail?
Dear Mr. President by 4NonBlonds
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