Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for coming out. I know it has been a busy weekend for you all. This is the kind of thing that we want to be involved in. This is the kind of thing we want to be able to interact with members of congress and see what their positions are. Like a lot of journalists, i am a fan of the wire, the series. There is a great line, one of my favorite characters on the show, Lester Freeman had early on which was all of the pieces matter. That is the case here. All of these forums matter. All of these candidates matter. All of their policy decisions matter. All of their voters matter. The way they interact with people, the way they talk to voters and the way they talk to unions and their way to talk to the press, it all matters. We want to be a part of that. That is why we are so happy to be here and so happy to be a part of this form. I would like to introduce our moderator, Lisa Matthews to the forum. Lisa is a 20 plus Associated Press veteran. She is now the deputy news editor. She is just slightly busy these days. And then one for video in 2010 about the effects of the great recession. She is also a past president. I could not be more thrilled. Thank you so much, jason. Welcome, everyone. To the 2023 and u h w candidate forum. This is brought to my roll call, news outlet that has been covering capitol hill since 1955 and the grass was Advocacy Organization encourage california. I will be moderating this discussion and asking questions on behalf of the Associated Press. Working alongside me for approximately the next 90 minutes will be a panel of esteemed journalists. All three of them experiencing National Issues including health care, california politics, the u. S. Congress as well as labor issues. First, Melanie Mason covers california politics for politico. Next, we have been a restless who has been reporting on the senate race for the los angeles times. And completing the panel, we have Sandy Robbins who covers health care and congressional issues for roll call. I just want to say what a fantastic audience you are. Lets get down to business. As moderator, i will preserve the integrity of this forum. It is my job to ensure that the questions asked of each candidate actually gets heard. This should not be directed at each other. The audience gathered here today in the room and those viewing online want answers. We have limited time. I am going to be a human guardrail to ensure we dont get sidetracked by tangents, personal attacks or long speeches. This is not the house floor. During this forum, we will go through 12 rounds of questions. Our panelists will take turns directing a single question to each candidate and they will be asked to answer. After each of the three questions answered the question, the journalists on the panel are guaranteed one followup question per round. Our timekeeper will make sure no one exceeds the allotted time. A bell that sounds like this will let candidates know they are out of time and must yield the floor. When it is my time to ask questions, usually the moderators prerogative, i may or may not direct the same questions each candidate. Same questions were submitted by and you h w members. Are you ready . All right. In the interest of fairness, we will use alphabetical order to introducelater the order for opening and closing statements and questions have been determined by drawing straws before the program. Welcome to the stage the top announced candidates in the 2024 u. S. Senate race. Barbara lee. [applause] katie porter. [applause] and adam schiff. [applause] all right, we are going to hear Opening Statements from the candidates with each speaking for one minute. We begin with ms. Porter. Rep. Porter good morning nuhw. I am so thrilled to be here to personally thank you for the work you have been doing for our communities and i do not just mean when you are on the clock caring for patients. Im talking about your policy work, political activism, your commitment to saying not good enough. When employers cheat your patients. You deserve a partner at the federal level who just like you is never afraid to take on the corporate bosses and win. My entire career has been about holding big corporations and cheaters accountable. Im a single mom who ran for congress a few years ago to stand up for greedy corporations who are rigging the rules against us and our families. I have never taken corporate pac money and i refuse lobbyist money. That is the kind of senator you will have with me, one who will always fight for you. Lisa thank you, ms. Porter. Next up, adam schiff. Rep. Schiff hello my friends in labor, how are you tonight . It is a pleasure to be with you and im also proud to be joined by my wife eve. Yes we are adam and eve. Im running for the u. S. Senate because we need an effective leader who can get things done and deliver for california. That is what i have done in the house. We need someone who can take on the biggest fights and can succeed. I have taken on corporate president s and u. S. President s. I have taken on special interests and Supreme Court justices. As a young prosecutor, i fought against Big Oil Companies and big contractors and i won. I fought russian spies and drug lords and won. As a state senator i wrote the california patient bill of rights and we got that done. I was proud to be the 21st vote for nursing staff ratios. Now that we have them and we have had them for a long time we need to enforce them. [applause] lisa thank you. Thank you mr. Schiff. Barbara lee. Rep. Lee good morning. Good morning. Rep. Lee it is an honor to represent the 17,000 strong nuhw members in my hometown. You are my hometown union. I am proud to represent you. And i know you know your values are my values. I am not running to represent the rich and powerful but to represent you. The people. To create good paying union jobs. I introduced the first singlepayer bill in the legislature. [applause] medicare for all, to end corporate greed that fuels our Health Care System. Like many californians i know what it is like to live one paycheck to paycheck. I raised two little boys on public assistance and food stamps. In are golden state of 40 million people, 20 million, are one paycheck away from poverty. Lisa thank you. Ok. Off to a wonderful start. We are going to move to the first round of questions for the panel of journalists. Remember, each candidate gets one minute to answer controlled by the clock and the bell. The option for a short followup. Melanie mason of politico. You get first crack. Melanie recent changes in California Law are meant to address one of the most difficult questions when it comes to Mental Health policy. How to provide Behavioral Health care to Vulnerable People who are resistant to seeking treatment. Proponents including Governor Newsom have said these reforms are a humane solution to people who need critical care. Civil bs Civil Liberties groups say they infringe on individual rights. This is a question for all three of you. Do you believe policies, such as the program where family members can petition a judge for a treatment plan, individuals with untreated schizophrenia, or related illnesses, or are the right approaches . Should they be replicated on the federal level . Rep. Porter we all know we are facing a Mental Health crisis in this country. You see it in patients and our workforce and our families and schools. The first and most important solution we can deliver is holding Big Insurance Companies and Health Care Companies accountable to actually let you do the work of healing people before they get to the point where they need that kind of care. I believe it is appropriate for families and loved ones and Mental HealthHealth Care Workers to have the ability to go to a court. I want to see the strongest civil rights protections possible. We cannot forget the legacy of oppression and civil Rights Violations that caused us to end this approach of force treatment in the first place. It is important that we have options for people who are watching a loved one struggle for healthcare workers who are unable to heal because of a patient who is too sick to get themselves care. But this cannot cross the line ever into incarceration. [applause] congressman schiff, same question. Rep. Schiff legislation in Congress Called the path act would provide federal resources to help those with mental illness, help those with substance abuse. We need to surge resources to try to address this problem. There is a balance. People have a right to be safe in their homes and parks, safe in their neighborhoods. At the same time people have a right to shelter. People have a right to live in a safe environment. We ought to allow the experiment to play out before we agree at a National Level to replicate it. We have to strike the right balance between making sure we can get people treatment that may be a danger to themselves or others but also protect Civil Liberties. I think the governor was right to start this experiment. We have to see what works. One thing the federal government can do is develop metrics and evaluate, this is working and this is not working. People are generous. They want to help those who are homeless. At the same time they want to make sure tax dollars are being used appropriately and effectively. Lisa now congresswoman lee. Rep. Lee my background is psychology and Mental Health. I started at a community Mental Health center. [applause] rep. Lee i understand what it means to be first of all a danger to oneself and to others. It used to be 5150. However it is extremely important, again, as a Mental Health professional, that families be engaged early on in helping to identify what has taken place with an individual. It is important with care to not move too quickly because people with Mental Health crises need crisis intervention for the most part. They may not need longterm care. The families and neighborhoods and the community is critical in supporting people who are going through the emergency crises. It is so important that we rule out incarceration but be there for the families and those individuals. Lisa melanie, would you like to follow up . Melanie i would like a yes or no answer from all three of you. This march you will appear on the ballot alongside a 6. 3 million bond to build up to 10,000 treatment beds or Supportive Housing units for people struggling with Mental Health or addiction. Should california voters approved this bond . Yes or no . Yes. Yes. Yes. Lisa alrighty then. Moving on. Next we have been from the Los Angeles Ben from the los angeles times. Ben californias minimum wage is at 15. 50. All three of you have cosponsored legislation by bobby scott that would raise the federal minimum wage which is set at 7. 25 to 17 by 2028. Given the high cost of living, is that sufficient . Give me a specific number for what you would like to see the federal minimum wage at and then what the state minimum wage should be. We are going to start with 3 of shift. Representative shift. Rep. Schiff i would like to see it higher. In california i was on the picket line with seiu 99. These were nurses and bus drivers and cafeteria workers being paid 25,000 a year. We wonder why people are homeless. You pay them 25,000 a year and they are going to be homeless. We have to provide a livable wage. Not just a minimum wage but a livable wage so they can provide for themselves and have a roof over their heads. When i was a kid, my father was a traveling salesman, he was in the clothing business and made 18,000 a year. On the strength of that income my parents bought our first home. For 18,000. I want people to be able to afford good safe housing and we are not going to get it at a minimum wage. What we need is a livable wage that will vary from place to place arion states should have flexibility. But there ought to be him and him him but there ought to be a minimum. Ben representative lee . Rep. Lee 17 should be the floor. That is unacceptable anywhere in the United States, especially california. Not just raising the minimum, we have to get to a living wage. Here, even 25 an hour is bare minimum. If we are going to only stop at 25, 30 per hour, we have to have the federal government make sure the resources for Affordable Housing, making sure we expand the section eight program, make sure we have deposited systems for those who cannot afford the 12,000 of deposits for rents. The federal government has a responsibility to enhance the quality of life for people who can barely make it working two and three jobs, commuting two and three hours a day. Not enough money for child care. The federal government i believe is a government that has to provide for people who cannot make it in this country and the state. Ben represent a reporter. Representative porter. Rep. Porter corporate profits are the highest they have been in 70 years. Why . Because we have a washington that is consistently putting the interests of big corporations ahead of the interests of workers and families. That is why we have not passed the minimum wage bill despite democrats and republicans having their turn at being in charge in washington. We need to make sure we are resetting the will rules resetting the rules in washington. We cannot keep trying to backfill . 50, one dollar, two dollars at a time on the picket line for your families, what washington has failed to do, which is reset our economy and make sure the workers who create value are getting paid what they deserved. Deserve. Lisa followup . Ben i left melanies yes or no question. Just a number, federal and among wage. What would you put it at . Rep. Lee 50 an hour. [applause] rep. Schiff i would like to see 25 minimal wage. Rep. Porter we should have 20 at the federal level and 25 in california indexed to inflation automatically increasing. Lisa sunday a ramen of roll call, the floor is yours. We are in the midst of a growing Mental Health and addiction crisis. What would be your First Priority as a senator to broaden the pipeline of Mental Health and Substance Use care workers and lets start with congresswoman porter. Lisa congresswoman porter . Rep. Porter im sorry. I was listening for barbara. This is an easy one. Pay them more. That is the fundamental problem. We need to pay them and empower them to heal. Not to treat them like they are dealing with corporations but to treat their patients like human beings to allow them to heal and help people recover. We do not have a lack of interest in Metal Health CareMental Health care jobs among young people. They understand the crisis. We have a lack of people wanting to do these jobs because they do not want to work for corporate bosses who are going to abuse them, take advantage of them, skirt the law, and find their own Mental Health at risk while they are trying to provide Mental Health care to others. The short story is we will have the Mental HealthCare Workforce that we need when we start treating Mental Health care workers with the respect and pay they deserve. [applause] lisa congressman shchi congressman schiff . Rep. Schiff we need to forgive student debt and make sure other students do not become indebted. We need the workforce to train people to provide Mental Health care services. I have introduced legislation to raise salaries for healthcare educators to increase the pipeline so we can bring more people into the profession. And we have to pay people well enough to do this important work. We have all had personal experiences with our founding members being in hospitals, in rehabs. My father is 95. We are in and out of the hospital and rehab. I see the work you do. He is a difficult patient, i have to tell you. You need to be paid and we need to have the staff, that means we need the money and the training and the system to make that possible. Lisa congresswoman lee. Rep. Lee i chair the social work caucus in the house and part of what we have been working on through legislation to increase the number of Mental Health workers is to allow for medicare and medicaid to reimburse Mental Health workers. Secondly we have to understand that you do not have to be a psychiatrist or psychologist to be a competent Mental Health worker. We can have Mental Health workers who are trained, again having the resources to train people who want to go into Mental Health, we need to have certified programs and we need to be able to make sure we pay people what they deserve. That is not just a minimum wage but a living wage. When i started my community Mental Health center we had a category of workers called parent professionals who were trusted amuck on the community, trained on how to address emergencies and crises in Mental Health trusted in the community, trained on how to address emergencies and crises in <