What California’s 3rd District congressional candidates got wrong (and right) in debate
Was Kevin Kiley correct when he said Californians are leaving the state in record numbers? Yes.
Or when he suggested The Bee’s editorial staff branded the 2020 election system “tarnished?” No.
The day after Kiley, Scott Jones and Kermit Jones, candidates for the Third District congressional seat, met for a 30-minute debate, The Bee looked at some of their more contentious statements and sorted fact from hyperbole.
They are competing in Tuesday’s primary for the new Republican-leaning district. There is no incumbent. The top two vote-getters will advance to the November general election.
Kiley, a Rocklin assemblyman, and Scott Jones, Sacramento County sheriff, are Republicans, Kermit Jones, a physician and Navy veteran, is a Democrat.
KCRA3 and CapRadio hosted the debate. Some of the candidates’ claims:
What did The Bee say?
KILEY: “Even very left-leaning outlets like The Sacramento Bee editorial page have said the election system was tarnished in 2020 because of a lot of things that went on.”
DISCUSSION: Kiley’s comment was part of his response to CapRadio reporter Nicole Nixon’s question about whether Biden was legitimately elected in 2020. Neither Scott Jones nor Kiley would give a yes or no response. Kiley said the answer “depends what you mean by legitimate.”
Then he offered his take on the Bee editorial page.
On Wednesday, his office cited a September 20, 2020, editorial questioning then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s decision to award a $35 million contract to a public affairs company connected to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. The award, the editorial said, “raises serious questions about Padilla’s judgment.”
Padilla, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to the U. S. Senate in Jan. 2021, was engaged in ‘’strange and secretive behavior,” The Bee said.
The editorial board, though, never questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s victory. “Biden beat Trump. Republicans must concede the election and accept peaceful transition,” was the headline on a November 9, 2020 editorial, two days after Biden had secured enough electoral votes to win.
“The headline on our editorial on Wednesday said it all: Kevin Kiley and Scott Jones are a disgrace. They are both educated, they should know better, and yet they continue to repeat variations of the ‘Big Lie’ about the 2020 election promoted by Donald Trump. This lie and the people who push it are a threat to our democracy,” said Marcos Breton, California opinion editor, Wednesday.
Is DC fighting inflation?
SCOTT JONES: “This economy is out of control and there’s not only nothing being done at the federal level, there’s not even an acknowledgement at that level that there’s anything wrong.”
DISCUSSION: Prices have been rising at their steepest level in 40 years. The UCLA Anderson forecast Wednesday said that in the current quarter, prices in California will go up an average of 9.2%.
Asked Wednesday to elaborate, Jones said in an email “There has never been ONE acknowledgment from this White House that anything OTHER than (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or the pandemic caused this inflation, gas prices, out-of-control food prices, etc. etc. No policy acknowledgment or corrective course on anything they’ve done to get us here.”
Washington has tried to take steps to ease the pain. The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates twice this year, with several more increases expected throughout this year. Higher rates are aimed at cooling consumer and business demand, thus leading to lower prices.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly acknowledged the inflation problem. Tuesday, he met with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell–originally appointed by former President Donald Trump–and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Jones said Wednesday Biden proved the point. “The President completely abdicates any role in controlling inflation by simply saying ‘That’s the Fed’s job, I won’t meddle,’’’ he said. Biden, as have most previous presidents, has tried to respect the Fed’s independence.
Suspend the gasoline tax?
KERMIT JONES: “We need to actually consider pausing the gas tax. That’s 75 to 80 cents at the state and federal level. Various Democrats and Republicans have advocated for that. That’s money that needs to be in people’s pockets and not in the coffers of the federal government.”
KILEY: “I’m glad Mr. Jones supports that proposal.”
DISCUSSION: Californians now pay the nation’s highest gasoline taxes and fees, 86.5 cents a gallon, and the tax is likely to go up 3 cents July 1. Proposals to suspend the state tax, led by Kiley in Sacramento, are being considered by the Legislature.
Efforts in Congress to suspend the federal governments’ 18.4 cents a gallon tax have gone nowhere. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has been a leading skeptic.
“There’s no guarantee that the savings, the reduction in the federal tax, would be passed on to the consumers,” she said earlier this year. And less gas tax revenue would mean less money for highway maintenance and construction.
Higher health care costs?
KILEY: “We’re getting word now there’s gonna be a huge spike in Obamacare premiums, perhaps by the end of the year, which is going to raise rates, premiums in some cases by well over 50%”
DISCUSSION: Premiums for those using the health insurance marketplace–usually people unable to get coverage through their employers–were held down this year and last year by subsidies that are now slated to end. Without them, premiums this year would have been 53% higher on average, says the nonpartisan KFF, which studies health care issues.
Congress could act to renew some subsidies, but deadlines are approaching fast.
“Nearly all of the 13 million subsidized enrollees will see their out-of-pocket premium payments rise if the…subsidies expire,” KFF reports. Many people could still be eligible for some help.
If Congress waits until the end of the year, though, when the subsidies are about to expire, “there could still be a disruption if states and the federal government do not have enough lead time to update their enrollment websites to reflect the enhanced subsidies.”
That could mean many people would face a big premium in January, “putting them at risk of losing coverage due to non-payment,” KFF said.
A mass California exodus?
KILEY: “I’ve seen here in California how the regulations that we have on every industry absolutely put a stranglehold on our economy. That’s why people are leaving California in record numbers.”
DISCUSSION: “Last year saw the largest net migration out of California in the previous 40 years of data. It stemmed from a large but not record loss of Californians to other states, coupled with a significant slowdown in international immigration,” Eric McGhee, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, told The Bee Wednesday.
Hans Johnson, senior fellow at PPIC’s Higher Education Center, reported that since 2010, about 7.5 million people moved from California to other states, while 5.8 million people moved to California from other parts of the country.
But, Johnson found, those moving to California are more likely to be employed, earn high incomes, have higher education levels and are less likely to be in poverty than those who leave.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 2:39 PM.
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