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Tuesday November 6, 2018 — California General Election
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California State SenateCandidate for District 4

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Photo of Phillip Kim

Phillip Kim

Democratic
Community Organizer
142,817 votes (42.9%)
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My Top 3 Priorities

  • Expanded and Improved Medicare for All
  • Rent Control and Affordable Housing
  • Workers' Rights, Union Organizing, and a Public Jobs Guarantee

Experience

Experience

Profession:Community Organizer / Musician
Labor Outreach Coordinator, Bernie 2016 Presidential Campaign (2015–2016)
Food Server / Shop Steward, Thunder Valley Casino Resort (2007–2014)

Education

Cornell University — Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Government (2006)

Biography

My name is Phillip Kim and I have lived in Northern California for over 10 years. For 7 years I worked at Thunder Valley Casino where I was a proud union member and shop steward, always fighting for my coworkers.

Now I’m honored to work as a community organizer for a progressive nurses' union, continuing the fight for healthcare and social justice. Before moving to California I graduated from Cornell University in 2006 with a BA in government.

I am running for State Senate because we need a progressive voice for working people in the state legislature. Unfortunately politics has been corrupted by corporate money. The middle class continues to disappear, the healthcare system is broken and too expensive, and the cost of rent is skyrocketing.

I will challenge the insurance & pharmaceutical companies by pushing for a more efficient Medicare-for-All system that will guarantee healthcare for all Californians. I support a repeal of Costa-Hawkins to allow cities to have more effective rent control laws. I want to protect net neutrality and create public high speed internet.

I will fight for full funding for schools -- including music, art, other extracurriculars -- and free public college tuition. We can use public banking to develop better infrastructure and affordable housing. We should end mass incarceration and fix our racist criminal justice system. We need to ban fracking and rapidly shift to clean energy. And we have to protect our immigrant brothers and sisters.

Who supports this candidate?

Organizations (5)

Questions & Answers

Questions from League of Women Voters of California Education Fund (5)

What do you think the State should do to encourage affordable housing for all Californians?
Answer from Phillip Kim:

We need rent control and we need to build more affordable housing.

I support Prop 10, which would repeal Costa-Hawkins and allow cities to have more effective rent control laws. People are struggling to pay the rent and they need relief.

And ultimately we need to build more publicly owned "social housing." In countries like Austria, Sweden, and Finland they have decent publicly owned housing for low and middle income people. And we should focus on high density mixed use zoning near mass transit hubs.

According to a "Civility In America” survey, 75% of Americans believe that the U.S. has a major civility problem. If you are elected what will do to address this?
Answer from Phillip Kim:

We can explore conflict resolution classes in our schools. We should make sure that our schools are fully funded with small classroom sizes. We should make sure that our children have extracurricular opportunities to interact with their fellow students. And we should wipe out economic insecurity in California by encouraging a mass wave of union organizing and creating a public jobs guarantee.

Climate changes, and the shifting between very wet weather and drought, worry Californians. What strategies would allow your district to both satisfy its water needs and protect the environment? Please be specific.
Answer from Phillip Kim:

We need to ban fracking and rapidly transition to clean energy. California is the third highest oil producing state in the country. For the sake of our future survival on the planet we need to do more.

We need to reevalauate our water usage in the state. Certain corporate agricultural interests are consuming too much water and depleting our aquifers. We need to speed up implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

What programs or strategies would you suggest to meet the educational needs of young, low-income Californians?
Answer from Phillip Kim:

We need full funding for our schools, including programs for music, arts, and technical education. We should look for progressive forms of taxation on the wealthy to fund this. And we need to modify Prop 13 so that corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

We should also make all public colleges and universities tuition free. California is the fifth largest economy in the state. We have the resources to accomplish this.

Currently there isn't enough money in the state retirement system to pay for all the benefits promised to government workers. What would you do as Senator to address the state’s unfunded pension liability?
Answer from Phillip Kim:

Tax the wealthy with progressive forms of taxation.

Who gave money to this candidate?

Contributions

More information about contributions

Source: MapLight analysis of data from the California Secretary of State.

Videos (4)

Policy Positions
— October 1, 2018 California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA)

Roseville, CA

Policy Positions
— October 1, 2018 The Orion

Chico State

Policy Positions
— October 1, 2018 League of Women Voters of Butte County

Chico State

Policy Positions
Candidate Forum — October 1, 2018 Yuba Sutter Chamber of Commerce

Yuba City High School

Candidate Contact Info

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