SPECIAL INTERESTS, LOBBYISTS, AND SUPER PACS HAVE CONTRIBUTED OVER $600,000.00 TRYING TO HIDE LOU CORREA’S LEGISLATIVE RECORD AS CORREA CONTINUES TO MISLEAD HIS COMMUNITY ON HIS SACRAMENTO RECORD.
The 46th Congressional District is being bombarded with advertisements and mailers promoting Lou Correa as dedicated to the community.
One single lobbying group, The National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund, has spent over $535,000 promoting Correa for Congress. This group of lobbyists came under scrutiny for its role in profiteering upon the sub-prime mortgage market which lead to the 2008 housing collapse. The housing collapse had an especially devastating impact on the Latinos community in Anaheim and Santa Ana, which was targeted for subprime loans to finance homes beyond their financial means.
Correa, a licensed real estate broker, used the housing crisis to help build his collection of rental properties, which extends from Anaheim to Santa Ana, and south to San Diego.
Correa’s campaign is terrified that his record of siding with corporate special interests on education, jobs, the environment, guns – even driver licenses for all Californians - will be exposed to the voters of the 46th Congressional District.
LOU CORREA SIDED WITH REPUBLICANS AGAINST DRIVERS LICENSES FOR ALL CALIFORNIANS
In 2003, Correa voted against SB 60, which would have provided drivers licenses for all Californian regardless of immigration status. Correa’s vote betrayed his community, one of the largest Latino districts in the state. Correa sided with the Republican caucus and anti-immigrant forces over Latino activists, the Latino legislative caucus and the Democratic Caucus. He has been lying about this vote throughout the campaign, betraying the trust of his community in his aspirations for higher office.
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=200320040SB60 LOU CORREA SIDED WITH REPUBLICANS TO DEFEAT THE MIDDLE CLASS SCHOLARSHIP ACT OVER A $300 MILLION DOLLAR TAX BREAK CORREA WANTED FOR HIS OUT-OF-STATE CORPORATE DONORS.
John Perez’s Middle Class Scholarship Act (AB 1500 and 1501) was co-authored by Assembly Speaker John Perez and 63 Senate and Assembly Democrats. The Middle Class Scholarship Act would have provided a scholarship covering 60% of fees and tuition at all California State University and University of California schools. All students in households under $150,000.00 were eligible for the full scholarship.
The Middle Class Scholarship Act would have covered over 92% of the households in the 46th Congressional District. According to the US Census, 30% of all children under 18 years of age in the 46th Congressional District live below the poverty line.
Correa claims he is committed to affordable higher education. But, during his time in Sacramento, tuition and fees for the CSU system more than tripled. Correa could have joined his fellow democrats to make college more affordable by passing AB 1500 and AB 1501. Instead, Correa fought for a $300 million dollar tax break benefitting large out-of-state corporations including his campaign donor, International Paper, which opposed the bill.
Latino Assembly Speaker John Perez singled out Lou Correa for the defeat of the Middle Class Scholarship Act, stating:
Correa "voted against the bill because he wanted a $300 million (tax) carve out (for out-of state corporations).”
"Today was an opportunity for the State Senate to join the Assembly in approving tax fairness for California businesses and college opportunity for middle class families. Unfortunately, even though most Senate Democrats supported the Middle Class Scholarship Act, we could not reach agreement with Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) or Senate Republicans that would achieve the two-thirds vote necessary.“
“It is disturbing that Senator Correa and so many Republicans would refuse to stand up for the middle class and instead continue to support a tax giveaway that favors out-of-state companies over our own.”
http://www.ocregister.com/totalbuzz/correa-469500-strong-speaker.html It is well documented that Correa sought to use the bill to leverage a $300 million tax carve out for large corporations. Correa admitted he was seeking a $300 million dollar tax carve out for large, out-of-state corporations. Correa was “especially concerned” about International Paper, a corporate campaign donor that was actively lobbying against the Middle Class Scholarship Act in the Senate’s Bill Analysis. International Paper is one of the largest paper companies in the world, with annual income of over 24 billion dollars. Correa pocketed campaign contributions from International Paper 10 days before he voted against AB 1500, and again 21 days after his vote.
http://cal-zccess.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1318753&session=2011&view=contributions Correa’s defeat of the Middle Class Scholarship Act is but one example of his tendency to put the needs and desires of Corporate Donors over the needs of his constituents. Another is his failure to support raising the minimum wage to $11 in 2014 (SB 935 -Leno).
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB935 .
After the vote, Correa hid his demands for a $300 million corporate tax break to students at the California State Student Association, claiming: “ I had no idea what I was voting on. They had brought up a bill – 100 plus (pages) and they asked us to vote “Yea” or “Nay” in five minutes. We didn’t know, so we voted ‘No.’”
http://www.dailytitan.com/2012/09/state-senate-denies-middle-class-scholarship/ With 63 of his fellow democrats co-sponsoring to the bill, students and the public questioned how Correa could possibly claim to be unfamiliar with the bill.
Correa’s plea of ignorance is a tactic he used to avoid more than a warning from the FPPC after he accepted undisclosed campaign contributions from a lobbyist, Kevin Sloat, at a fundraiser Sloat held for Correa at Sloat’s home. Sloat was handed a then-record $133,500.00 fine from the Fair Political Practices Committee.
LOU CORREA WORKED WITH THE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS TO RESTRICT A WOMAN’S ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING AND ABORTION SERVICES
In 2009, Planned Parenthood of California rated Lou Correa as having a “0%” voting record, and labeled him “Anti-Choice.” Correa was the only Democrat that did not receive a 100% rating in Senate in 2009, and joined the entire GOP caucus in being labeled “anti-choice.”
Correa:
(1) voted to prohibit state funding of family planning service providers;
(2) limit state funding for abortion services;
(3) ban certain abortion procedures,
(4) require parental consent before a minor can access abortion care, and
(5) provide biased information to women before they can access abortion care.
http://ppactionca-dev.pub30.convio.net/voter-resources/scorecards/2009-ppac-scorecard.pdf And that was just in 1 year. In 2013, Correa received a 77% rating from Pro-Life California. Correa voted against AB 154, which expanded access to family planning and early-term choice services.
LOU HAS CONSISTENTLY SIDED WITH THE NRA AND DONALD TRUMP TO OPPOSE COMMON SENSE GUN LAWS TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN AND COMMUNITIES FROM THE GUN VIOLENCE THAT IS RAVAGING SANTA ANA AND ANAHEIM
Lou Correa voted against closing the Bullet Button Loophole (SB 374), a loophole in the law which allows assault-style weapons to be legally sold in California with easily changeable ammunition magazines. This allows shooters to quickly change magazines to be able to inflict maximum casualties in minimal time, the very purpose of semi-automatic assault rifles.
http://time.com/4136757/san-bernardino-shooting-gun-law-bullet-button/ https://www.thetrace.org/2015/12/san-bernardino-shooting-bullet-button/ Instead of supporting common sense gun laws to protect California citizens from gun violence, Lou Correa has offered platitudes and condolences to victims of gun violence while following the NRA lobbyist's agenda.
Lou Correa:
- OPPOSED Banning high capacity ammunition magazines and conversion kits (AB 48)
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB48 - OPPOSED making it illegal to knowingly store loaded firearms that are accessible to minors (AB 231).
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB231 - OPPOSED extending the waiting period for gun purchases when the background check reveals potential criminal and/or mental health history requiring further investigation to determine eligibility to purchase weapons (AB 500).
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB500 - OPPOSED making it illegal to store firearms where they are accessible to felons, the mentally unstable, and others who are not legally allowed to possess a firearm and living under the roof as the legal gun owner (AB 500).
- OPPOSED requiring registration of homemade guns and assault rifles, AKA “Ghost Guns" (SB 808).
http://www.sanfernandovalleynra.org/2014/02/01/ and
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB808 - OPPOSED restrictions on ownership of Assault Weapons and .50 Caliber Browning Machine Guns (“BMG”) (AB 170).
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB170 - OPPOSED requiring a valid Firearm Safety Certificate in order to purchase a firearm (AB 683). Lou opposes license requirements for purchase of guns, despite overwhelming public support, even among gun owners.
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB683 LOU CORREA FAILED TO SUPPORT INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE IN 2014, WHEN 30% OF THE CHILDREN IN HIS DISTRICT LIVED BELOW THE POVERTY LINE
In 2014, Lou Correa failed to support SB 935, which would have raised the minimum wage to $11.00 an hour in 2015, $12.00 an hour in 2016, and $13 an hour in 2017.
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB935 LOU CORREA HAS OPPOSED DISCLOSURE OF WATER SOURCE ON BOTTLED AND VENDED WATER, VOTED AGAINST RECOGNIZING A HUMAN RIGHT TO SAFE, NON-TOXIC AND AFFORDABLE WATER, AND HAS CONSISTENTLY HAD THE WORST ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD OF ANY DEMOCRAT
Lou Correa voted against SB 685, the Human Right to Water Act, in 2012. SB 685 passed, establishing a right to safe, non-toxic and affordable water for human consumption. Correa also voted to hide the source of vended drinking water, whether that water was from a public or private source, and the county from which the water came. AB 301 would have required water sellers to disclose this information: Lou Correa voted to keep such information hidden from the public.
Large corporations have been bottling California's public water supply for years. This water is bottled and sold back to the public at an extreme profit.
At the same time, the cost of water to the public is rising, and penalties being imposed for overuse.
Swiss based Nestle Company has been bottling millions of gallons a year from San Bernardino's forests under a permit that expired over 25 years ago – a permit with an annual costs of $525.00. Nestle bottles over 700 MILLION gallons of water a year to sell back to the public at a staggering profit. As the public is ordered to cut back on water during the drought, with significant penalties at risk, corporations like Nestle bottle California's water to sell back to them.
Lou Correa voted to keep this exploitation of public resources a secret from the public to protect big corporate profits.
LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP CALIFORNIA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS HAS CONSISTENTLY RATED CORREA’S ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD AS THE WORST OF ANY CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT.
Correa has consistently sided with special interests to protect corporate polluters, failed to protect our water source from lead and contamination, and voted against ensuring Californians have a right to clean, safe and affordable water.
Just how bad is Correa’s environmental record?
In 2009, California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) scored Lou Correa's environmental voting record at 29%, 53 points below average Senate Democrat average. Correa had the environmental lowest rating of any Democrat.
In 2010, CLCV scored Lou Correa's environmental voting record at 30%, 61 points lower than the average Senate Democrat. Correa again had the environmental lowest rating of any Democrat.
In 2011, Lou Correa scored 29%, 57 points lower than the average Senate Democrat. Correa again had the environmental lowest rating of any Democrat.
Lou has consistently placed corporate profits, tax breaks, and special interests over the needs of his constituents, while collecting special interest and PAC money for his next campaign.
LOU CORREA IS THE CAREER POLITICIAN THAT IS THE CHOSEN CANDIDATE OF SPECIAL INTERESTS AND LOBBYISTS.
Allowing lobbyists and special interests flood money into elections drowns out the voice and interests of the community.
Lou Correa has consistently turned his back on his community on issues as basic as raising the minimum wage, protecting our drinking water supply from contamination, banning toxic chemicals from our children’s toys, restricting the flow of assault style weapons and guns onto our streets, and making college more affordable for our children. We cannot afford to have lobbyists and special interests buy another insider's election to Congress - and Lou Correa is the ultimate insider.