It’s been a long road for a man who grew up as the son of a farmworker in Ventura County to become a Santa Barbara County Supervisor, and now, a member of Congress.
Making the jump from local to national politics is always a big one, but there’s no question it’s been a particularly different one for Democrat Salud Carbajal.
The 24th District Congressman took office in January, starting at the same time as the new Trump Administration.
Carbajal sat down with KCLU's Lance Orozco in his Washington, D.C. office to talk about issues ranging from healthcare and the environment to the climate right now on Capitol Hill.
The big issue right now is the Republicans latest health care proposal, which supporters say is a phased repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but Democrats like Carbajal believe would be a significant step backwards in efforts to help tens of millions of Americans.
The congressman says the really frustrating thing is rather than trying to improve the existing plan, the Republican approach remains to basically try to start from scratch with wholesale changes. He says while Democrats are willing to sit down to talk about potential improvements to the Act, there is no interest in negotiations.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its assessment of the Senate version of the Republican proposal Monday. It projects that if it became law, 22 million more Americans would be uninsured by 2026. It also says for the average single person, insurance premiums would rise 30% by the end of 2019, but them drop by 2026. Republican leaders are pushing for a vote this week.
Carbajal says he has huge concerns about another Trump Administration initiative. It’s a review of the status of a number of newer national monuments, with an eye towards dropping protections so they can be developed. On the list is the nearly 250,000 acre Carrizo Plain National Monument in southeastern San Luis Obispo County. He’s lobbying the Secretary of the Interior to try and keep the monument’s status intact.
Carbajal represents all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and a slice of Ventura County. The congressman was elected in 2016 on a platform which included working to promote job growth, and fighting for immigration reform, and continuing efforts to protect the coastline.
He admits that he, like other new and existing members of Congress are finding themselves sidetracked with issues they could have never imagined even a few months ago.
