In the race for California’s newly drawn Third Congressional District, a lawmaker with lifelong ties to the area is vying for the seat, hoping to defeat a challenge from a physician who has worked in Washington, D.C., serving as a White House fellow during the Obama-Biden administration, and is new to this area.
Getting record gas and grocery prices under control has been a tenet of his campaign, state Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, told the Northern California Record.
“We need to get our economy back on track; folks are struggling mightily with record inflation, sky high gas and grocery prices, and it's making life really difficult for many families in our district,” Kiley said. “And unfortunately, it has been a result of failed policies and out of control spending, so that is going to be my top priority, so we can curb inflation and make gas and grocery prices affordable again.”
Kiley said he would continue to support tough on crime legislation.
“People are concerned about rising crime rates and this has resulted in many ways from policies that have defunded the police and weakened our criminal laws,” Kiley said. “And so I want, as a member of Congress, to support law enforcement, end early release of dangerous criminals, and restore appropriate consequences for criminal action.”
Kiley described the need to follow through on water storage infrastructure to address ongoing drought.
“I’ve seen our farmers and associated industries go through hardships in recent years because of state and federal mismanagement of water policy,” Kiley said. “Where we have squandered the rain when it comes, because we don't have enough storage, so I'm going to be an advocate for building more storage, getting Sites Reservoir built, as well as addressing policies that divert water from productive use and just release it into the ocean.”
Kiley also questioned why Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a special session for after the Nov. 8 election to tax oil companies.
“That is absolutely the wrong thing to do,” Kiley said. “The way to lower gas prices is not to impose a new tax on fuel. That will have precisely the opposite effect; it will make gas prices even higher, and they're already much higher in California than the rest of the country.”
Kiley said he continues to support suspension of the state’s gas tax and would also back one at the federal level. He has also called for an audit of all homelessness spending to see where the money is actually going.
“I proposed it at the state level but to the extent that we can ensure accountability at the federal level, then we should do that as well,” Kiley said. “We need to focus our resources on getting people off the streets and getting them the help that they need in order to stay off the streets and to turn their lives around.”
Democrat Kermit Jones did not reply to the Record’s request for comment.
“I was born and raised in our district; I grew up attending our local schools,” Kiley said. “I am someone who is going to fight for our area as a member of Congress.
“I’m going to fight to get our country moving in a different direction. We’re on the wrong track right now. We have an Administration failing in its policies that has completely wrecked our economy; I'm going to go into office and immediately get to work to get our economy on the right track to make everything more affordable and to move our country in a new direction.”