Get the Facts: Claims from KCRA 3 Congressional District 3 debate with Kevin Kiley, Jessica Morse
Updated: 8:02 PM PDT Oct 23, 2024
In the race for Congress. There is *** lot on the line in California’s third district from the shores of Lake Tahoe to Roseville, from the Pluma National Forest to Death Valley. Tonight. The candidates answer questions that impact you. The cost of living, quality of life and health care, meet the candidates, Republican Kevin Kylie and Democrat, Jessica Morris. This is the KCR *** three debate for Congress district three. Now moderator Ashley Zavala, welcome to the debate between candidates running to represent California’s third congressional district. *** quick overview of the rules for tonight. Each candidate will have *** minute to respond to questions. We’ll have about 30 seconds for follow up or rebuttals. Viewers at home will hear *** time like this once *** candidate’s time is up, we received many viewer questions and we thank you so much for submitting so many. We have incorporated as many as we possibly could into tonight’s debate. We flipped *** coin to determine who will lead us off tonight. Jessica Morse won that coin toss. So we’ll start with you, Miss Morse. We’re gonna begin with fire mitigation. As our first question, the federal government owns more than half or 58% of California’s forest lands while the state owns just 3%. What would you do in Congress to protect those lands and essentially the state from wildfire? Yeah. Thank you. And thank you to everybody for tuning in tonight. I’m five generations from the Sierra foothills and this has always been my home and I’ve spent the last five years as secretary at the California Natural Resources Agency leading the state’s efforts on wildfire mitigation. How do we get ahead of this crisis? How we, how are we resilient to fire the strategy that works in which I want to continue to do in Congress is investing inside of communities. This is home, hardening and defensible space. So your homes don’t burn from embers, investing around communities. These are strategic fuel breaks like the one we got up and Cofax that saved Cofax from the Oak fire and investments around across our entire watershed landscapes to be able to get ahead of this crisis so that our forests and wild lands can safely except fire the way they were supposed to versus these catastrophic mega fires that we’ve been seeing. I was proud to be *** member of the Federal Wildland Fire Commission. And when I get to Congress, we have *** clear plan to be able to actually get fire mitigation across the finish line. And I’ll be honored to be able to serve that in Congress. This thank you, Mr K. Same question. What would you do in Congress to protect those forest land? Well, good evening, everyone. And thanks so much for tuning in. It’s an honor to be the representative for our district, *** district where I was born and raised and went to public schools. And while I’m still just in my first term, we’ve already had *** lot of success in bringing unprecedented federal resources to our district to help our local communities. And that includes millions of dollars specifically for fire resilience in our district. There are five national forests in my district and I’ve spent *** lot of time out in the forest with the forest service with the folks who are doing this mitigation work. And I’ve tried to get them every resource possibly can. And indeed, we have had unprecedented amounts of money coming in, but we also need need to make it easier to do forest management work by eliminating needless regulations. And I do have to say, well, my opponent just gave you an answer about what she would do. She claims to have been in charge of this for Governor Newsom for the last five years. And we’ve had some of the worst fires in state history and we’ve had *** fire insurance crisis that has spun absolutely out of control. So what we need is to have effective forage management practices, not someone who has *** record of negligence on this very issue. Mr Carley, thank you. You mentioned insurance and actually that’s our next viewer question. When it comes to wildfires, the climate crisis is bearing down on all parts of this nation in different ways here in California and in your district, as you know, uh, is in the form of wildfires, many people in this district have been forced to sign up for California’s fair plan that risks insolvency at this point. What can the federal government do to address this insurance problem? You are absolutely right. You know, this crisis has just spun out of control. People are being kicked to the fair plan. They’re having to pay five times as much as what they paid before. What I’ve tried to do is at least soften the blow financially by giving people *** tax relief based upon how much their premiums went up and by sponsoring the Safe Homes Act, which is going to give people *** tax credit based on the home, hardening work they do on their own home. But the reality of the situation is that in order to get the fire insurance crisis under control, we need to improve our forest management. And once again, we have *** candidate here who worked for Gavin Newsom for the last five years and we’ve had some of the worst wildfires in state history when they’ve done nothing to address the fire insurance crisis. And all the while Governor Newsom collects collected $720,000 in campaign contributions from insurance companies. While my opponent worked for him. What I’ve been doing in Congress is trying to bring unprecedented resources to the folks who are managing our forests so we can make them safer and we can mitigate risk. Is there anything Congress could do better as *** follow up here to help ensure that those resources get to your district quickly? Absolutely. What we need to do is build on the success. For example of what happened in the Christmas Valley, you know, the calder fire was one of the most devastating fires in state history, but it could have been *** lot worse. It could have engulfed the entire town of South Lake Tahoe, if not for *** mitigation project that had been done in the Christmas Valley. And that project was thanks to special legislation to expedite Forest management, specifically in the Tahoe Basin. I’m sponsoring the Fix Our Forest Act and the Effective Forest Management Act to allow that relief to be spread throughout the National Forest System. Thank you, Mr Kylie Miss Morse. The insurance question. The same one goes to you. What would you do in Congress to try to help with California’s insurance problem? Let me first address our record on fire. First of all, Kevin Kylie actually voted against expediting tools that help save South Lake Tahoe from the Caldor fire. He voted against *** $3 billion wildfire resilience initiative which I secured through the legislature to be able to get through projects, everything from fuel breaks to the goats grazing here in Roseville. We got 1200 projects on the ground in record time and Kylie voted against this $3 billion initiative three times when he was in Congress. Only because he was interested in playing partisan games with our fire safety rather than actually stepping up. It was *** bipartisan effort. I am so proud of the fire resilience work. So there’s two things we need to do on insurance. And Kevin Kylie is proposing to put *** band aid on *** bullet hole. We need real reform and we need it right now and I will deliver that in Congress. What I will do is actually invest in, in federal fire insurance reform so that we create incentives for insurance companies to start driving risk reduction rather than putting that cost back on the homeowner. Thank you, Miss Morris Mr Carly. Do you want to respond to her claims about your votes? I do and I want to thank KCR *** for being kind of an honest broker in this election because KC, the very station we’re debating on right now did *** fact check about all the ads and they found mine to be true. They found my opponents to be completely false. And incredibly, she then continued to air the ads after she was caught lying and this has happened every time she’s for Congress, she’s been rebuked for dishonesty by the Sacramento be by case by Politifact, even by *** judge who had to step in and penalize her for trying to deceive voters. Miss M Do you want 30 seconds to respond to that? I do. I’m so proud of my record and my work, I have *** proud career in service, everything from national security being on the ground in Baghdad as *** civilian with U *** ID to working with the defense department and the state department and last to serve the people of California in the California Natural Resources Agency. I’ve served Republicans. I served Democrats. Kylie has been playing political games with my record because he knows that his record can’t stand up to mine. And that’s what classic politicians do. That’s why we need to change. We need *** public servant. I will stand up for you and I tell the truth, Miss more. Thank you. Our next topic is going to be the Federal Emergency Management Agency and disaster relief. Miss More. We’re going to stick with you. Fema is right now under scrutiny as it responds to recent disasters on the east coast Congress already approved billions before they broke for recess and are facing calls to come back to approve more. What would you do in Congress to ensure that disaster response is efficient and cost effective? I was on the ground in paradise for the campfire recovery. Volunteering for *** month. I saw incredible resilience, but I also saw incredible trauma that I hadn’t seen since I was in Baghdad. And I realize that we need our emergency work to move faster and more quickly. And we can’t stand for bureaucracy and red tape to slow us down from getting the needs on the ground to both respond to *** disaster. But also FEMA has *** critical role in mitigating and preventing disaster. When I get to Congress, I will cut red tape just like I did at the state so that we can actually get these projects moving quickly. One of the unique things I want to do is actually help get our watersheds and safe in shape and we can use FEMA resources to do that if we classify our upper watershed. And remember, 60% of California’s water comes from this congressional district. If we classify our upper watershed as, as natural infrastructure and critical infrastructure, it unlocks federal dollars to help get in there and proactively do the forest management needed to safeguard our watersheds and our community. Thank you, Miss Morris. Just *** quick follow up there. Besides water. Is there any other red tape? You would specifically try to cut to do this? Absolutely. One of the things I did on the mitigation front in California was we cut state contracting law down from *** year to 10 days. We were formed environmental review timelines that were taking two years down to four weeks and we change state grant processes so that they can get on the ground quickly. FEMA has been slowing us down. And so when I get to fema, I’m going to work on making sure they have exemptions and tools and pathways so that we can actually lift the hood, fix the red tape so that our mitigation work can get on the ground within weeks of getting the appropriations rather than years. Thank you, Miss M Mr Kylie. We’re going to stick on this topic, but I have *** different question for you. Former President Donald Trump has said he would withhold disaster relief funds from California most recently saying this over his differences in water policy with state leaders. Do you agree with those plans? And if not, what would you do to prevent that from happening? I don’t know the context of those remarks, but I’ll tell you this, regardless of who the president is, I will fight in every way I can to get relief for our district and for our state and for proof of that. Just *** what happened last year, just days after I took office, we had unprecedented storms throughout California that wreaked havoc on my district. And I led *** bipartisan effort to get *** declaration of emergency at the state level. And from President Biden, and we’ve got *** lot of federal support that came in after that in order to help folks get through that to get their power back and then to recover. But it is true that we do need to have major reform when it comes to FEMA because when in these communities that have been struck by storms and fires and other disasters, fema often makes it way too difficult to rebuild and way too difficult to get victims, the support that they need to take one example, folks who have gotten *** settlement from PG and E currently, that is being taxed. And so I’ve sponsored legislation that is actually successfully passed through the House in order to make it. So when you’re compensated from being *** victim for *** wildfire, you don’t have to pay taxes on that settlement. Mr Kelly. Just *** quick follow up. I know you said you weren’t aware of the comments. But if Mr Trump gets re elected and he were to withhold disaster relief from California over policy differences, what would you do in that situation? Of course, I will fight to get whatever relief that we can. Although it is true that I think we need reform and how those resources are deployed. You know, when you look at what’s happening in our forests, we’ve made it way too difficult to actually do proactive forage management projects. And I have to say, you know, Governor Newsom, who my opponent worked for for five years slashed $150 billion *** million dollars from the fire prevention budget. And then worse capital Public Radio found that they lied about it. We didn’t even know that the work wasn’t being done because cap radio found they exaggerated the work they’d done by *** staggering 690%. Thank you, Mr Ky. We’re going to stick with you on our next topic, which is Social Security. The annual Social Security and Medicare Trustees report released in May said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035 without action from Congress. What should Congress do to address the depletion? Well, as *** matter of first principles, we absolutely have to protect social security and Medicare for me, that is non negotiable. So I help pass the non the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, which is going to save two $1 trillion for taxpayers. But I said from the get go, we cannot do that at the expense of our seniors. We protected Social Security and Medicare and we actually increased benefits for our seniors. But this is connected to the situation at the border as well because when you have millions of people coming in, if they start collecting benefits, that’s going to place enormous strain on the system. In fact, we already see that happening in California, Governor Newsom who my opponent worked for for five years is giving free medical, free health care to everyone here illegally costing taxpayers $3 billion *** year. Meanwhile, our own citizens are not being well served by me because the reimbursement rates are so low. But ultimately, the way that we can shore up the system is by catalyzing economic growth. That’s why I am *** strong proponent of regulatory reform that’s going to get rid of needless regulations in order to support small businesses and empower job creation, Miss Morris. Same question goes to you. How should Congress deal with the depletion? Yeah. Social security is uh really vital for our seniors. My first job was actually helping to protect um seniors in um when I was working in *** nursing home in Sacramento in high school. And um and I see that they need to retire with dignity. And so the best way to actually shore up um social security in particular and close that gap is to invest in closing the wage gap. Right now, people pay $120,000 who earn $120,000 pay 6% into their, into their social security every year. But somebody paying *** million dollars earning *** million dollars only pays 0.7 percent of their income. We need to make sure that people are paying the ultra wealthy are paying into social security to keep that solvent for our seniors. But my opponent has actually voted against seniors every step of the way and he has voted against them from cutting meals on wheels to closing social security offices that they can go to, to preventing negotiations for prescription drug prices which lowers cost for. Thank you, Miss M Mr K. You want 30 seconds to respond to that. I would and I just remind folks that this is *** candidate who has been condemned for dishonesty by KCR ***, by the Sacramento, by her fellow Democrats, by Politifact and even by *** judge. And if you want to look at my record on seniors, I point you to *** letter from the *** ARP in which the *** ARP gave me credit for saving *** critical program for seniors and Medicare that’s going to give millions of seniors better access to Medicare benefits. Thank you, Mr K, Miss Morse. I want to go back to you on our next topic which is health insurance. This is another viewer question. Health insurance premiums continue to soar with double digit increases. Year after year, the annual health insurance cost to cover *** family of four is about $24,000. What should Congress do in order to bring those costs down? First, I think we need to be able to have negotiation from the government with private companies to be able to drive down these costs. I want everyone to have the option to purchase Medicare if they want it. And we also need to shore up and rural and health care and rural investments because we are seeing maternity wards closing in *** because our rural health care system cannot sustain the entire private sector. But Kevin Kylie is being funded by pharmaceutical companies and large corporations that are driving up our health care. And I also want to address his accusations against me. Kevin K, the only person lying on the stage is you. I am so proud of my record and my work. It actually stands up to credulity, but you are the one who has actively played partisan games during the fire crisis. You were slinging mud at cal fire and these workers who were out there need deep in poison oak, delivering fuel breaks for us and you were sitting on the sidelines rather than rolling up your sleeves and helping us get the job done. Mr Carly, I’m going to go to you again. This, this question is about health insurance. What should Congress do to bring costs down for families? And I’ll just say she’s at it again. It’s not me that has made these accusations against KCR the very station we’re debating right now and they did *** fact check and found your ads and these other wild allegations to be false. But in some sense, the rising cost of health care is tied to the broader that is harming so many folks, especially in California. Thanks to the misguided policies of, of Governor Newsom who my opponent works for, worked for for the last five years. But when it comes to health care specifically, you know, the cost of premiums keeps going up while access is going down. It could take months to get an appointment. Even if you’re on private insurance. If you’re on medical, you might not get an appointment at all. So there are *** few things I think we need to do. Number one, we need to support our critical access. There’s *** number of them in my district and I’ve been to many if not all of them. Number two, we need to make costs more transparent to consumers. So you don’t get surprise bills. Number three, we need to empower patients to act as consumers with things like health savings accounts. So they have more choices. Number four, we need to expand access with things like telehealth where it makes sense. And number five, we need to focus more on preventative health care. So there are incentives for providers to treat problems early on that will save enormous costs as well as allow people to live longer and healthier lives. Thank you, Mr Kiley. We’re going to stick with you. Our next topic is abortion. California is one of 21 states where the procedure remains accessible and legal following the overturning of Roe versus Wade by the United States Supreme Court. You are on the record as saying you would not support *** total national abortion ban. But if the majority of Republicans in Congress do try to move forward with *** national ban, what will you do to make sure that this issue is still up to the states? I will not support it in any way, shape or form. I believe this is *** state issue and California has made its decision California voters placed an individual right around access to abortion in the state constitution itself. And there is no federal role in terms of interfering with that. And I’ll just reiterate. It was actually on this issue where my opponent has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads that this very station KCR called false. And again, this is part of *** pattern where neutral fact checkers, neutral observers for fellow Democrats, even *** state Superior court judge, I said this is *** candidate who is dishonest in terms of how she goes about talking to voters. So, uh at the end of the day, federal abortion policy is not *** disputed issue in this race. But what is an issue is that we have *** candidate who is asking to be your representative who has been caught trying to deceive you time and time again. M Morse. Do you want to respond to that? Yes, absolutely. Kyle. It’s not about what you say Kevin on, on abortion. It’s about what you do and you have an *** plus rating from anti choice groups around the country. You have an *** plus rating when you’re in the legislature. He has an *** plus rating in Congress. Kevin Kylie will vote against reproductive rights every chance he gets, he already has voted to take away reproductive rights for members of the military. He has voted to jail doctors who provide abortion care and he has voted to take away medication, abortion from women in California, which covers 60% of our miscarriage and abortion treatments here. He will take away our abortion rights if we give him the chance. Thank you, Miss. Thank you, Miss M I just have *** quick follow up for you. Specifically, California is seeing an influx of women from out of state who are seeking this procedure. What should Congress do to ensure that California can continue providing that service to not just Californians, but those from out of state. Congress needs to pass national reproductive care and we need to pass it. Now, women in California and across America can no longer afford to have our rights ricocheting around the court system. We need *** lot to protect us. When I get to Congress, I will pass that law and then I will work on tools that actually make it safer and easier for women to have families and choose to have families. Let’s invest in contraception education, prenatal care, child care, early childhood development. These are the tools that make it more that allow us to thrive as *** society because these issues are vital to us. I met *** doctor in Roseville the other day who is an OBGYN here and her offices are filled with women flying in from out of who have had miscarriages and in their moment of grief and pain, they are getting on an airplane coming here to get vital treatment. So they don’t die of sepsis, abortion rights are not *** state’s rights issue anymore. This is *** human rights issue and I will be *** champion for all this more. Thank you. All right. Now we’re going to move to our rapid fire around. It’s just *** yes, no or brief statement when, if you are prompted for one. All right. So Miss Morse, we’re gonna stick with you regardless of the winner. Will you accept the results of the upcoming presidential election? Mr Kylie? Same goes to you Mr Kiley. Do you support the US continuing to support Ukraine in its regional conflicts? Yes, military aid. And there needs to be accountability for where the money is going. Miss Morris. Same question to you. Yes, it is vital that we hold Russia in check and if Ukraine doesn’t do it, then NATO will have to step in and, and that would require deploying of us troops. Ukraine is doing the world service right now. Thank you, Miss Morris, Miss Morris. I’m going to stick with you. Do you support continuing to provide billions in military aid to Israel in its regional conflicts? I support humanitarian aid and defensive aid to Israel in the region. And I want to work to make sure we end this war and start restoring human rights in those areas. Thank you, Miss Morse. Mr Kyle. Same question goes to you. Yes, I do and I’ll say what Morse refuses to say, which I believe that Israel has the right to defend itself and the United States needs to stand by it. Thank you, Mr Kylie. All right. It’s been *** lively discussion so far. We’re going to take *** quick break when we come back. We’ll hear the candidates final statements. Welcome back to our debate for California’s third congressional district. Now we will move to the candidates final statements. And Mr Kylie, we’re going to start with you. You have one minute. Well, thank you everyone for tuning in. This is the district where I was born and raised and went to local public schools and it’s always been my home. So when I fly off to Washington DC, even though I’m *** long way away, my focus is always on what’s gonna benefit our communities. Here in last year’s budget, I was able to get $24 million in funding for specifically local projects for our roads, for water, for public safety. And we have another 22 million coming in this year’s budget. And I just recently got through the House of Representatives and signed into law by President Biden, the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, which is going to unlock $415 million for forest management and to protect Lake Tahoe for generations to come. So that is always my number one priority is fighting to protect our quality of life in this area, maintained *** quality of life that doesn’t exist in other parts of California. We don’t have the level of waste and crime and homelessness that you have in places like L *** and San Francisco and even Sacramento. But that could change if we don’t have the representation. So I would be honored to receive your vote for *** second term. So I can keep fighting to keep our community *** great place to live, to work, to raise *** family. And thank you, Mr Kylie Miss m your final statement, I’d be honored to earn your vote and to serve you in Congress in five generations from Plaster County. And my parents were public school teachers here. So my family instilled in me *** very deep commitment to service. I took that commitment all around the world serving in national security roles under George Bush and under Barack Obama. It was never partisan. I came home and serve the people of California as Deputy secretary, working on wildfire resilience efforts. I was able to secure $3 billion initiative for new programs to get 1200 fire resilience projects on the ground in record time and cut red tape so we could move that quickly. But my opponent, he voted against this initiative three times, not because he didn’t like the project, but because he just didn’t want Democrats to have *** win. He defines winning as the other party losing and our issues are not partisan. Our issues are serious. I define winning as lowering your fire insurance as improving your health care as fighting to reduce fire risk and improving and protecting women’s reproductive rights. And I would be honored to serve you in Congress. Thank you, Miss m Thank you, Mr Kylie for joining us for viewers at home. You can learn more about this race and more on our case. Three up voter guide. Thank you so much for joining us. Have *** great night. So.
Get the Facts: Claims from KCRA 3 Congressional District 3 debate with Kevin Kiley, Jessica Morse
Updated: 8:02 PM PDT Oct 23, 2024
Both candidates for Congressional District 3, Republican incumbent Kevin Kiley and Democrat Jessica Morse, made several claims in Tuesday night’s debate on a variety of issues that KCRA 3 fact-checked.Here is a look at what’s true and false. (Watch the full debate in the video leading this story.)Wildfire ResponseKiley: “ claims to be in charge of this for Gov. Newsom for the last five years when we had some of the worst fires in state history, and we had a fire insurance crisis that has spun absolutely out of control. So what we need is to have effective forest management practices, not someone who has a record of negligence on this very issue.”False. Morse, at least in her ads, has not claimed to be in charge of the state’s wildfire mitigation and response. Her position was specifically in the California Natural Resources Agency as deputy secretary of forest and wildland resilience, but it is not Gov. Newsom’s top fire official. The person in charge of the state’s wildfire mitigation and response is the director of Cal Fire, who has been Joe Tyler since 2021. Thom Porter was the director from 2019-2021.California’s Insurance ProblemKiley: “Governor Newsom collected $720,000 in campaign contributions from insurance companies while my opponent worked for him.”True. Campaign finance records show Gov. Newsom between 2019 – 2022 received $725,000 in political donations from the insurance industry, according to Open Secrets.Source: Gavin Newsom Top Industries • OpenSecretsMorse: “Kevin Kiley actually voted against the expediting tools that helped save Lake Tahoe from the Caldor Fire.”“He voted against a $3 billion wildfire resilience initiative which I secured through the Legislature to be able to get through projects, everything from fuel breaks to the goats grazing here in Roseville. We got 1,200 projects on the ground in record time and Kiley voted against this $3 billion initiative three times when he was in Congress.”Mostly true. However, these votes did not happen when Kiley was in Congress, they happened when he was an Assemblyman. Two votes were against the state’s overall spending plan housed into budget bills that included fire funding, SB 170 in 2021 and AB 179 in 2022. On SB 901 to address wildfires in 2018, Kiley did not have a vote recorded.In Congress, Kiley is part of the House Republican caucus that voted last year on an appropriations continuation that cut wildfire suppression funds.Source: FACT SHEET: Republicans’ Extreme Continuing Resolution | House Committee on AppropriationsMorse: “When I get to Congress I will cut red tape just like I did at the state, so that we can actually get these projects move quickly.“We cut state contracting law down from a year to ten days, we reformed environmental review timelines that were taking two years down to four weeks and we changed state grant processes so they can get on the ground quickly.”True. Morse was part of Gov. Newsom’s administration that made these changes to state law, and she was among state leaders involved in developing the state’s wildfire strategy.Kiley: “Gov. Newsom who my opponent worked for five years slashed $150 million from the fire prevention budget and then worse Capital Public Radio found that they lied about it. We didn’t even know that the work wasn’t being done because CapRadio found they exaggerated the work they had done by a staggering 690%.”True. This information comes from a high-profile investigation in the summer of 2021 Source: Newsom Misled The Public About Wildfire Prevention Efforts Ahead Of Worst Fire Season On Record – capradio.orgHealth CareKiley: “Gov. Newsom, who my opponent worked for for five years, is giving free Medi-Cal, free health care to everyone here illegally costing taxpayers $3 billion a year.”True. Gov. Newsom’s administration has expanded access to the state’s health insurance to immigrants, regardless of age and immigration status. It’s an effort that’s expected to cost the state $3.1 billion a year.Source: California is expanding health care coverage for low-income immigrants in the new year | AP NewsMorse: “My opponent has actually voted against seniors every step of the way and he has voted against them from cutting Meals on Wheels, to closing social security offices that they can go to, to preventing negotiations for prescription drug prices which lowers cost for seniors.”True. Kiley did vote for initiatives that attempted to do this, including a House bill that attempted to make cuts to raise the debt limit. Kiley voted on the appropriations continuation legislation that also included funding for social security offices. House Republicans, a caucus Kiley is a member of, did propose repeals to the Inflation Reduction Act that empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.Sources: Meals On Wheels America alarmed by harmful funding cuts in House bill to raise the debt limit, Kevin Kiley Votes To Gut Critical Programs for Californians While House Democrats Avert Shutdown – DCCC, Bills, Republicans’ Extreme Budget Guts Medicare and Takes Health Care Away from Millions of Americans | House Budget Committee DemocratsMorse: “Kiley is being funded by pharmaceutical companies and large corporations that are driving up our healthcare costs.”True. Campaign finance records show Starkey Hearing Technologies is among his top contributors. The top industries that help fund his campaign include hospitals, nursing homes and health professionals.Source: Rep. Kevin Kiley – Campaign Finance Summary • OpenSecretsKiley: “In some sense, the rising cost of health care is tied to the broader inflation that is harming so many folks, especially in California thanks to the misguided policies of Gov. Newsom.”False. Kiley did not mention any of Newsom’s specific policies, but as it relates to health care, experts note health premiums have gone up in California, regardless of who is in office. Gov. Newsom expanded access to Medi-Cal to low-income residents regardless of immigration status to ensure as many Californians as possible are insured and getting preventative care. Taxpayers foot an expensive bill when someone without insurance seeks care at an emergency room, for example.Newsom’s administration also created the Office of Health Care Affordability, which caps industry cost increases and regulates health industry consolidation.Source: PolitiFact | Health care is front and center as Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom prepare for Fox News debateAbortionKiley: “I will not support it in any way shape or form. I believe this is a state issue.”True. KCRA 3 fact-checked this while reviewing ads from both Morse and Kiley.Fact-checking Kevin Kiley, Jessica Morse attack ads in 2024 raceMorse: “Kiley has an A+ rating from anti-choice groups around the country.”“Kiley will vote against reproductive rights every chance he gets. He has voted to take reproductive rights away for members of the military. He has voted to jail doctors who provide abortion care, and he has voted to take away abortion medication from women in California.”True. Kiley has the rating from Susan B Anthony’s list, a leading anti-abortion group. Kiley voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act which sought to prevent a national abortion ban. Kiley voted for HR 26, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and voted to prohibit the Department of Defense from paying for abortion services. He also supported an effort to limit access to mifepristone.Sources: Rep. Kevin Kiley | National Pro-Life Scorecard, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives – Vote Details, FACT SHEET: House Republicans Endorse a National Abortion Ban with Zero Exceptions in Latest Budget | The White House, Final Vote Results for Roll Call 300For more information about the November election, including key issues and other races on the ballot, check out the KCRA 3 Voter Guide.Find more political news from our national team here.
Both candidates for Congressional District 3, Republican incumbent Kevin Kiley and Democrat Jessica Morse, made several claims in Tuesday night’s debate on a variety of issues that KCRA 3 fact-checked.
Here is a look at what’s true and false.
(Watch the full debate in the video leading this story.)
Wildfire Response
Kiley: “[Morse] claims to be in charge of this for Gov. Newsom for the last five years when we had some of the worst fires in state history, and we had a fire insurance crisis that has spun absolutely out of control. So what we need is to have effective forest management practices, not someone who has a record of negligence on this very issue.”
False. Morse, at least in her ads, has not claimed to be in charge of the state’s wildfire mitigation and response. Her position was specifically in the California Natural Resources Agency as deputy secretary of forest and wildland resilience, but it is not Gov. Newsom’s top fire official. The person in charge of the state’s wildfire mitigation and response is the director of Cal Fire, who has been Joe Tyler since 2021. Thom Porter was the director from 2019-2021.
California’s Insurance Problem
Kiley: “Governor Newsom collected $720,000 in campaign contributions from insurance companies while my opponent worked for him.”
True. Campaign finance records show Gov. Newsom between 2019 – 2022 received $725,000 in political donations from the insurance industry, according to Open Secrets.
Source: Gavin Newsom Top Industries • OpenSecrets
Morse: “Kevin Kiley actually voted against the expediting tools that helped save Lake Tahoe from the Caldor Fire.”
“He voted against a $3 billion wildfire resilience initiative which I secured through the Legislature to be able to get through projects, everything from fuel breaks to the goats grazing here in Roseville. We got 1,200 projects on the ground in record time and Kiley voted against this $3 billion initiative three times when he was in Congress.”
Mostly true. However, these votes did not happen when Kiley was in Congress, they happened when he was an Assemblyman. Two votes were against the state’s overall spending plan housed into budget bills that included fire funding, SB 170 in 2021 and AB 179 in 2022. On SB 901 to address wildfires in 2018, Kiley did not have a vote recorded.
In Congress, Kiley is part of the House Republican caucus that voted last year on an appropriations continuation that cut wildfire suppression funds.
Source: FACT SHEET: Republicans’ Extreme Continuing Resolution | House Committee on Appropriations
Morse: “When I get to Congress I will cut red tape just like I did at the state, so that we can actually get these projects move quickly.
“We cut state contracting law down from a year to ten days, we reformed environmental review timelines that were taking two years down to four weeks and we changed state grant processes so they can get on the ground quickly.”
True. Morse was part of Gov. Newsom’s administration that made these changes to state law, and she was among state leaders involved in developing the state’s wildfire strategy.
Kiley: “Gov. Newsom who my opponent worked for five years slashed $150 million from the fire prevention budget and then worse Capital Public Radio found that they lied about it. We didn’t even know that the work wasn’t being done because CapRadio found they exaggerated the work they had done by a staggering 690%.”
True. This information comes from a high-profile investigation in the summer of 2021
Source: Newsom Misled The Public About Wildfire Prevention Efforts Ahead Of Worst Fire Season On Record – capradio.org
Health Care
Kiley: “Gov. Newsom, who my opponent worked for for five years, is giving free Medi-Cal, free health care to everyone here illegally costing taxpayers $3 billion a year.”
True. Gov. Newsom’s administration has expanded access to the state’s health insurance to immigrants, regardless of age and immigration status. It’s an effort that’s expected to cost the state $3.1 billion a year.
Source: California is expanding health care coverage for low-income immigrants in the new year | AP News
Morse: “My opponent has actually voted against seniors every step of the way and he has voted against them from cutting Meals on Wheels, to closing social security offices that they can go to, to preventing negotiations for prescription drug prices which lowers cost for seniors.”
True. Kiley did vote for initiatives that attempted to do this, including a House bill that attempted to make cuts to raise the debt limit. Kiley voted on the appropriations continuation legislation that also included funding for social security offices. House Republicans, a caucus Kiley is a member of, did propose repeals to the Inflation Reduction Act that empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
Sources: Meals On Wheels America alarmed by harmful funding cuts in House bill to raise the debt limit, Kevin Kiley Votes To Gut Critical Programs for Californians While House Democrats Avert Shutdown – DCCC, Bills, Republicans’ Extreme Budget Guts Medicare and Takes Health Care Away from Millions of Americans | House Budget Committee Democrats
Morse: “Kiley is being funded by pharmaceutical companies and large corporations that are driving up our healthcare costs.”
True. Campaign finance records show Starkey Hearing Technologies is among his top contributors. The top industries that help fund his campaign include hospitals, nursing homes and health professionals.
Source: Rep. Kevin Kiley – Campaign Finance Summary • OpenSecrets
Kiley: “In some sense, the rising cost of health care is tied to the broader inflation that is harming so many folks, especially in California thanks to the misguided policies of Gov. Newsom.”
False. Kiley did not mention any of Newsom’s specific policies, but as it relates to health care, experts note health premiums have gone up in California, regardless of who is in office. Gov. Newsom expanded access to Medi-Cal to low-income residents regardless of immigration status to ensure as many Californians as possible are insured and getting preventative care. Taxpayers foot an expensive bill when someone without insurance seeks care at an emergency room, for example.
Newsom’s administration also created the Office of Health Care Affordability, which caps industry cost increases and regulates health industry consolidation.
Source: PolitiFact | Health care is front and center as Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom prepare for Fox News debate
Abortion
Kiley: “I will not support it in any way shape or form. I believe this is a state issue.”
True. KCRA 3 fact-checked this while reviewing ads from both Morse and Kiley.
Fact-checking Kevin Kiley, Jessica Morse attack ads in 2024 race
Morse: “Kiley has an A+ rating from anti-choice groups around the country.”
“Kiley will vote against reproductive rights every chance he gets. He has voted to take reproductive rights away for members of the military. He has voted to jail doctors who provide abortion care, and he has voted to take away abortion medication from women in California.”
True. Kiley has the rating from Susan B Anthony’s list, a leading anti-abortion group. Kiley voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act which sought to prevent a national abortion ban. Kiley voted for HR 26, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and voted to prohibit the Department of Defense from paying for abortion services. He also supported an effort to limit access to mifepristone.
Sources: Rep. Kevin Kiley | National Pro-Life Scorecard, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives – Vote Details, FACT SHEET: House Republicans Endorse a National Abortion Ban with Zero Exceptions in Latest Budget | The White House, Final Vote Results for Roll Call 300
For more information about the November election, including key issues and other races on the ballot, check out the KCRA 3 Voter Guide.
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