Dave Min, CA-47 candidate, 2024 election questionnaire

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: Dave Min

Current job title: State Senator

Political party affiliation: Democrat

Incumbent: No

Other political positions held: State Senator, SD-37

City where you reside: Irvine

Campaign website or social media: www.davemin.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.)

As reported by Politico (“Swing-district Dem breaks with Newsom on crime ballot measure”), I was the first Democrat in the California Legislature to publicly support the district attorneys’ ballot initiative to reform Prop 47, breaking with the governor and legislative leadership. While Prop 47 was well-intentioned, it led to unintended consequences that must be addressed. I have been a strong advocate for public safety in the state Senate, and have frequently voted against many of the criminal justice reform proposals offered by my Democratic colleagues.

In Congress, I would support a sensible approach to public safety, one that is tough on crime but also humane. There should be consequences for those who have broken the law, but we should also invest in programs that try to steer at-risk youth away from criminal activities — such as community programs and early intervention — and also to try to help those who have served their time more easily reenter society, including through more investments in job training and housing.

I’m proud to be endorsed by major police organizations, including PORAC and the Fraternal Order of Police, which collectively represent peace officers from every area in CA-47.

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.)

The Trump tax policies enacted in 2017 (the misleadingly named “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” or TCJA) were ruinous for our fiscal standing and a huge hit to our economic growth. TCJA, which was passed on a party-line vote by House Republicans, shoveled trillions of dollars to the wealthiest investors, including an obscene amount to foreign investors, while raising taxes on middle-class households and undermining lifeline programs like Social Security and Medicare. TCJA also hammered Orange County families by reducing the SALT deduction to $10,000, effectively raising our taxes by a massive amount.

Major components of the TCJA are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, and Congress will be asked to extend, or make permanent, the TCJA. I would oppose the extension of TCJA, and in particular, would oppose any efforts to extend or make permanent the SALT deduction changes to our tax code. Orange County’s working families deserve better than policies that raise our taxes so that billionaires can get even bigger tax breaks.

President Joe Biden has called for an overhaul of the U.S. 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.)

I am outraged by the alleged misconduct of the Supreme Court, including the allegations that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito took major payments, gifts and trips paid for by people or organizations with direct interests before the court, and failed to disclose these payments or recuse themselves from cases involving these parties. This type of corruption and cheating is unacceptable anywhere, but particularly in our highest court.

At the same time, members of the Supreme Court have declared that they are unaccountable to Congress, and they have repeatedly failed to submit to any binding, enforceable oversight regime. Enough is enough. We should put in place the same rules that exist for every other federal judge in America. They should be required to fully disclose any gifts they receive, have limits on the amounts of gifts they receive and recuse themselves from cases involving people who gave them gifts.

I support strong accountability measures on the court, and if they refuse to submit to these, I would support restricting or redirecting congressional funding for the Supreme Court until they do agree to a binding and enforceable code of ethics. In America, no one should be above the law.

Finally, I support term limits for Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court is writing laws from the bench, without any accountability or popular mandate. They should not be allowed to serve as monarchs for their entire lives.

Should there be an age limit imposed on presidential candidates? What about Congress or Senate? If so, what is that limit?

We want to ensure that our elected officials have the ability to do the job. However, people age differently, and so I think an age limit would be problematic. Ultimately, in a democracy, the people can make their own decisions on whether they believe a particular candidate lacks the necessary stamina and faculties for the job.

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.)

Yes. I support women’s reproductive autonomy and oppose any efforts to allow the government to restrict, ban or criminalize reproductive decisions made by women. Full stop.

I am proud to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Reproductive Freedom For All, and I am appalled by the national and state attacks on women’s reproductive rights. My wife Jane and I have been blessed to have three young children, and they so deeply enrich our lives. But that decision was one Jane and I made together. Whether it’s IVF, contraception or abortion, reproductive health care decisions should be decided by women, in consultation with their families and doctors, and NOT by the government.

In Congress, I would support federal legislation codifying Roe v. Wade at a national level and also legislation reinforcing access to contraception and fertility treatments as a basic health care right. I also oppose the MAGA Republican proposal to appoint a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.

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 assuage concerns about border security? (Please be specific in your response, and keep it to 250 words or less.)

I support stronger border security efforts and would vote for the bipartisan Secure Our Border Act, which significantly expands the authority of Border Patrol agents and provides large increases in funding for new personnel and equipment to help stop the illegal flow of people, drugs and guns across our border. Unfortunately, this bill, which was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council, was defeated by MAGA Republicans at the direction of Donald Trump, who sought to kill the bill so he could continue making border security a campaign issue.

I oppose a “deportation force,” particularly one headed up by Donald Trump, who has explicitly declared his intention to imprison his political rivals. On top of the massive potential for abuse of this blatantly unconstitutional proposal, such an effort would be counterproductive for public safety.

For my entire lifetime, I have watched as Republican and Democratic presidents turned a blind eye to the growing number of undocumented immigrants. As a result, we now have at least 10 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Sending a “deportation force” into hospitals, police stations and courthouses will not address this fundamental problem, even as it drives undocumented immigrants further into the shadows and causes them to stop seeking medical care or reporting crimes. This will make us all worse off.

Finally, when it comes to migrants seeking asylum, we should take a humane approach, maintaining the basic needs and civil rights of migrants until courts can make asylum decisions.

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.)

Price inflation for basic goods and food items was largely driven by industry consolidation and an overreliance on foreign supply chains, which were severely disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the short term, we should be investigating allegations of price gouging and market manipulation — and prosecuting and suing any companies found to have engaged in this type of activity, returning the proceeds to consumers — and also providing relief to consumers.

In the long run, we should be looking to bring more manufacturing and production back to the U.S. so that we are not so reliant on foreign companies and producers for our basic necessities. Programs such as the CHIPS Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which have sought to bring production lines in key industry sectors back to the U.S. through various incentives and mandates, are good first steps, but we should continue to push more policies like this.

I also support efforts to make rental housing and homeownership more affordable, including expanded funding for affordable rental housing, programs to help first-time homebuyers and efforts to incentivize the building of more housing across all price points. We must address the housing crisis in Orange County with urgency.

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.)

Housing affordability is one of my top priorities, as the high cost of housing is the top reason people are leaving Orange County and is also the main driver of homelessness in our region.

In the aftermath of the 2007-08 financial crisis, I became a leading voice pushing back against the ideologically driven claim that federal affordable housing policies had caused the financial crisis, extensively documenting that most of the subprime mortgages that defaulted did not actually qualify under federal affordable housing policies.

But unfortunately, the claim that affordable housing policies had caused the financial crisis took hold in Congress, leading to a steady disinvestment in the types of programs we needed to both develop and maintain our affordable housing stock.

We should be looking to restore and expand successful programs to expand homeownership and affordable rental housing, whether it’s increasing tax subsidies for developers to create more affordable housing or providing some down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers or otherwise. We also need to do more to encourage and incentivize the streamlining of local ordinances that prevent the creation of more housing. We need more housing in this country, and the federal government should lead on this effort.

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.)

We must do more to address the root causes of homelessness. This begins with expanding efforts to create and maintain affordable housing. Earlier in my career, I led the Center for American Progress’ efforts to bolster federal affordable housing funding and, as a state senator, I have worked to address chronic homelessness and expand housing production. I will use this experience to help find solutions for affordable housing in Congress.

For the chronically homeless, we must do more than just provide housing. By the time you see someone on the streets, they’ve typically been homeless for months or years, often creating a vicious cycle of substance and mental abuse problems and homelessness. The non-profit organizations on the front lines of dealing with chronic homelessness have reported the biggest barriers to their work are the difficulties in combining federal, state and local funding for housing and mental health and substance abuse services. We must reduce the red tape that is preventing us from housing and treating the chronically homeless.

Finally, while we should provide safe and stable temporary housing for those in need, we should also be emphasizing public safety and the rights of families to enjoy our public spaces.

After Tesla chief executive Elon Musk shared an AI-generated video purporting to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ voice, Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed 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.)

The rise of artificial intelligence, combined with the proliferation of fake news and conspiracy theories, has created a serious opportunity for foreign governments to try to interfere in our fair and free elections.

I support state legislation, such as Assemblymember Marc Berman’s “Defending Democracy from Deep Fake Deception Act of 2024,” to crack down on those who would generate deep-fakes or false AI-generated images or videos, but we should go further at the federal level. Those who try to interfere in American elections through the creation and propagation of fraudulent content should be subjected to strict criminal penalties.

But we should also go further in trying to ensure that real and credible facts are being promoted, by subsidizing and otherwise incentivizing objective journalism. In an era where credible news is often being buried by propaganda and crazy conspiracy theories — often promoted by hostile foreign actors — we must do more to ensure that objective facts and real news reporting are being given a helping hand. I support efforts to try to promote real news, including tax credits and the expansion of public broadcasting efforts.

What is one local infrastructure project you would push to secure funds for in the federal budget? (Please be specific in your answer.)

During my four years in the California State Senate, I have been proud to secure state funding for over $75 million in local priorities, including preventing wildfires, funding programs to direct homeless people to local shelters, intercepting trash in the San Diego Creek, expanding open spaces and parks and promoting clean energy innovation.

While there are many local infrastructure and other priorities I’d like to find federal funding for, including combatting coastal erosion, easing traffic congestion and dealing with the nuclear waste housed at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, my top priority would be to try to address the chronic and growing threat of wildfire that we are facing, both here in the South OC and more broadly across the state. The threat of wildfires has driven up home insurance costs (and caused insurers to leave the state) and also led to huge increases in our electric bills.

Two specific priorities we could fund to help with wildfire risk are funding to harden (and where appropriate, underground) electric transmission lines, as well as funding for brush clearing and thinning. New technologies have come online, such as automatic detection and shutoff devices that immediately detect downed wires and shut off power to that part of the grid before sparks can hit the ground, that can help to complement the more traditional (and much more expensive) undergrounding of electric transmission wires. And we should be mindful of the fact our part of Southern California has particularized fire risks that are different than those of most of the Western U.S. While most fire prevention funding goes to forest thinning, our fires here are typically started as brush fires, and we need to ensure that we receive our fair share of funding to clear brush near roads and campsites that might lead to massive wildfires.

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.)

We owe it to the next generation to fight for strong climate policy. Our children and grandchildren deserve clean drinking water, safe healthy air and the ability to live without fear of extreme weather events or unlivable heat waves.

I hope to leverage my financial policy background to create further incentives for investments in renewable technologies and infrastructure. It is clear green innovation will not only be critical for addressing the climate crisis but that it will also be a major economic engine. Small incentives — such as the kinds created in the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act — can incentivize massive investments of private capital into these areas and ensure America remains the leader in innovation and good-paying jobs.

I’d also seek to codify into statute the 30×30 conservation goals outlined by President Joe Biden in his 2021 executive order. 30×30 is an international goal to try to preserve and protect 30% of our open spaces and coastal waters by the year 2030, and scientists have articulated this as crucial for limiting the extinction crisis that is devastating our planet. I was proud to author legislation in the California State Senate along these same lines and will spearhead similar legislation in Congress.

What’s the No. 1 song on your playlist while you’re on the campaign trail?

“It’s Raining Min” (aka “It’s Raining Men”) by the Weather Girls.