Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
John Delaney presidential campaign, 2020
Date: November 3, 2020 |
 Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen
|
Candidates on the issues • Battleground states • Electoral College • Pivot Counties |
September 29 debate • October 7 debate • October 15 debate • October 22 debate • Democratic debates |
Democratic • Republican • Libertarian • Green • Constitution |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
| “ | We can go down the road ... with bad policies like Medicare for all, free everything and impossible promises that will turn off independent voters and get Trump re-elected. That’s what happened with McGovern. That’s what happened with Mondale. That’s what happened with Dukakis. Or we can nominate someone with new ideas to create universal health care for every American with choice, someone who wants to unify our country and grow the economy and create jobs everywhere. And then we win the White House.[1] | ” |
| —John Delaney (July 2019)[2] | ||
John Delaney is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Maryland's 6th Congressional District from 2013 to 2019. Delaney formally declared his candidacy for president on July 28, 2017, in a Washington Post op-ed.[3] He was the first Democratic candidate to announce a campaign for the 2020 election.[4]
In his op-ed, Delaney stated that he would focus on "preparing our country for the future" by addressing "[t]echnological innovation, automation and globalization."[3] In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Delaney said he thought the American people are looking for a leader to bring the country together, and he pledged to work on only bipartisan proposals during his first 100 days as president.[5]
Delaney in the news
- See also: Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing and Editorial approach to story selection for the Daily Presidential News Briefing
This section featured five news stories about Delaney and his presidential campaign. For a complete timeline of Delaney's campaign activity, click here.
- January 31, 2020: Delaney announced that he was ending his presidential campaign. His campaign said in a press release, “John does not want the good work of his campaign to make it harder for those like-minded candidates on the bubble of viability in many Iowa precincts to advance in the Iowa caucuses and garner delegates.”
- January 30, 2020: Delaney began his final campaign in Iowa with stops in Muscatine and Cedar Rapids.
- January 27, 2020: Delaney campaigned in Iowa with stops in Cedar Falls and Tripoli.
- January 24, 2020: Delaney spoke at an economic forum in New Hampshire.
- January 22, 2020: Delaney campaigned in Iowa with stops in Elkader, West Union, and Decorah.
Biography
Delaney was born in 1963 and grew up in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey. His father was a union electrician, and Delaney has credited scholarships from the union and other community organizations with allowing him to attend Columbia University. He graduated with a B.S. from Columbia in 1985 and went on to receive a J.D. from Georgetown University in 1988.[6][7]
After graduating from Georgetown, Delaney worked as a lawyer at Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge. From 1990 to 1992, he co-owned and ran a healthcare firm, and in 1993, he co-founded HealthCare Financial Partners, a publicly-traded company that provided loans to healthcare companies. In 2000, Delaney co-founded another publicly-traded lending company, CapitalSource.[8][9] He was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004.[10] Delaney founded Blueprint Maryland, a nonprofit organization focused on economic development and job creation, in 2011.[11]
On November 6, 2012, Delaney defeated incumbent Roscoe Bartlett (R) for Maryland's 6th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was re-elected in 2014 and 2016. Delaney did not run for re-election in 2018.
In 2018, he published a book titled, The Right Answer: How We Can Unify Our Divided Nation.[8]
Campaign staff
- See also: John Delaney presidential campaign staff, 2020, Presidential election key staffers, 2020, and Presidential campaign managers, 2020
The table below shows a sampling of the candidate's 2020 national campaign staff members, including the campaign manager and some senior advisors, political directors, communication directors, and field directors. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available.[12] For a larger list of national campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action.
| John Delaney presidential campaign national staff, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| Xan Fishman | Campaign manager | Chief of staff, office of Rep. John Delaney | @xanfishman |
| Tracey K. Friedlander | Senior advisor | Senior advisor, Inter-American Development Bank | N/A |
| Michael Starr Hopkins | National press secretary | Communications director, Sean Shaw for Attorney General of Florida, 2018 | @Theonlyhonest |
| Samantha Price | Policy director | Senior legislative assistant, office of Rep. John Delaney | N/A |
| Kandie Stroud | Communications director | President, Stroud Communications | @stroudpr |
Endorsements
- See also: Presidential election endorsements, 2020
The following table shows noteworthy endorsements for this candidate. Individual endorsers tracked include current DNC members, governors and other state executives, members of Congress, mayors of large cities, state legislative majority and minority leaders, and former presidents and vice presidents.[13] Endorsement tracking halted after former Vice President Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee on April 8, 2020.
| Noteworthy endorsements for John Delaney, 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | State | Party | Date | |
| U.S. representative Juan Vargas | CA | Democratic Party | February 27, 2019 source | |
| U.S. representative David Trone | MD | Democratic Party | July 28, 2017 source | |
Democratic presidential primary polls
PredictIt markets
Campaign finance
The following chart shows Democratic presidential campaign fundraising, including both total receipts and contributions from individuals, as well as campaign spending. Figures for each candidate run through the end of June 2020 or through the final reporting period during which the candidate was actively campaigning for president. The total disbursements column includes operating expenditures, transfers to other committees, refunds, loan repayments, and other disbursements.[14]
Satellite spending
Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[15][16][17]
This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.
Democratic presidential primary debates, 2019-2020
- See also: Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
The following table provides an overview of the date, location, host, and number of participants in each scheduled 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate.
Debate participation
Delaney participated in two of the Democratic presidential primary debates; the June 2019 debate and the July 2019 debate.
Campaign advertisements
This section shows a sampling of advertisements released to support or oppose this candidate in the 2020 presidential election.
|
|
Campaign travel
Ballotpedia compiled the number of days each Democratic presidential candidate has spent in the four early primary states—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada—from January 1, 2019, through February 29, 2020.
Information about the candidates' schedules was sourced from The Des Moines Register, NBC Boston/NECN, The Post & Courier, The Nevada Independent.[18][19][20][21]
The following table shows the number of days each candidate spent in each early primary state between January 1, 2019, and February 29, 2020. Candidates marked with an asterisk did not have complete information available for one or more states.
Campaign themes
The following campaign themes and issues were published on Delaney's presidential campaign website:[22]
| “ |
Infrastructure Investment in infrastructure is long overdue as spending on infrastructure in relation to GDP has steadily dropped over the past several decades, with most funding coming from state and local governments. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. a D+ average on our infrastructure. Not only is infrastructure funding necessary to improve the system, investing in rebuilding crumbling infrastructure is a job creator and will boost the economy. Infrastructure has the second highest return on investment for the government. Delaney will pay for his plan by raising the corporate tax rate to 27% and increasing the federal gas tax to account for inflation since the last increase and indexing it for inflation going forward. Projects supported through Delaney’s infrastructure plan will be governed by federal labor protections including paying workers prevailing wages. Infrastructure Bank Delaney has been an ardent supporter of the need to create an Infrastructure Bank. While in Congress, he introduced bipartisan legislation that would create an Infrastructure Bank to make it easier and cheaper for states and local governments to invest in local infrastructure in the categories of transportation, water, energy, communications, and school facilities. As part of his infrastructure plan, Delaney proposes capitalizing an Infrastructure Bank with $50 billion which can leverage $750 billion of infrastructure projects around the country while encouraging public-private partnerships. Highway Trust Fund American roads and mass transit have been systematically underfunded which has led to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) giving our roads a D on their annual report card with mass transit receiving a D-.1 Not only does the Highway Trust Fund, the main source of federal funding for roads and mass transit, struggle to remain solvent but the current level of funding still leaves massive shortfalls in meeting total needs for surface transportation. To address these deficiencies, Delaney proposes increasing the HTF with a one-time boost of $200 billion, bringing the Fund to almost $850 billion over the next 10 years. It is paid for by retroactively indexing the gas tax to inflation and by raising the corporate tax rate to 27%. Delaney’s plan will increase direct investment by the Highway Trust Fund by 50% over the next decade. Climate Infrastructure Fund Climate change has led to more frequent and dangerous storms, which have resulted in widespread damage across the country. These storms have had devastating effects including increased forest fires and flooding. What meteorologists deem as 100- year floods have been occurring with more frequency, leading to widespread destruction to land, people’s homes, and public infrastructure. Recently in Iowa when the levees broke along the Missouri River, communities were flooded resulting in billions of dollars in damage and forcing people from their homes.2 We also need to make our energy transmission systems more efficient to better conserve energy and avoid waste. We need to invest in and improve climate resilient infrastructure to protect communities against the effects of climate change, which is why Delaney proposes the creation of a $60 billion Climate Infrastructure Fund that will allow state and local governments to invest in and prioritize projects that will expand and improve climate resilient infrastructure in addition to improving energy efficiency in our systems. This will also pay for Delaney’s previously announced Carbon Throughway, an infrastructure project that will transport captured carbon from the Midwest and transport it for permanent sequestration and reuse in the Permian Basin. In addition to the Infrastructure Bank, increasing the Highway Trust Fund, and increasing funding for climate infrastructure, Delaney proposes creating five funds that match state and local investments 4:1 in specific categories. Water Infrastructure Matching Fund While cracked roads and bridges are readily apparent to anyone who looks around, equally important infrastructure exists below ground that we can’t see. Around the country, too many cities are suffering from poor water quality and crumbling water systems. The crisis in Flint, Michigan is just one tragic example of the serious health effects of not ensuring that every American has access to clean water. Aging water systems have led to nearly six billion gallons of treated drinking water lost daily due to leaking pipes.3 ASCE rated American water infrastructure a D while wastewater received a D+. In addition, American ports and harbors have been underinvested in, even while they facilitate almost 99% of overseas trade and are responsible for $4.6 trillion in economic activity.4 To facilitate changes in shipping and the size of the ships, ports need continued investment to modernize and maintain operability. To address the insufficient focus on water infrastructure, Delaney proposes supplementing WIFIA and the existing state revolving funds with the creation of a new $40 billion Water Infrastructure Matching Fund to allow state and local governments to have dedicated funding to invest in ports and harbors and fix aging water systems to ensure a Flint water crisis never happens again. School Infrastructure Matching Fund In too many districts, America’s public schools are overcrowded and outdated. Public school buildings on average are more than 40 years old, and structural deficiencies in school buildings are associated with poor health and decreased academic performance.5 No child should have to attend school without adequate air conditioning, with crumbling ceilings, or with drinking fountains with water too contaminated to drink. Delaney’s $40 billion School Infrastructure Matching Fund will allow state and local governments to build new schools to keep pace with growing populations and to make necessary improvements to existing facilities. Deferred Maintenance Matching Fund Years of partisanship and government gridlock have meant that we only address major infrastructure problems through expensive new projects or in response to a crisis or an emergency. We need to confront the deferred maintenance needs of existing infrastructure to keep systems in good repair and prevent disasters. Demand is growing for freight and passenger rail capacity, and our current system is ridden with maintenance backlogs on projects with an average age of 111 years.6 In addition, there are more than 47,000 structurally deficient bridges in the US, and at the current rate of maintenance work it would take more than 80 years to make the needed repairs.7 Delaney will address this problem by creating a $40 billion Deferred Maintenance Matching Fund to assist states and municipalities in taking care of the infrastructure we already have. Areas Left Behind Matching Fund State governments have limited capacity for new infrastructure projects and face significant financial constraints, which means that projects in prosperous areas often receive priority while disadvantaged communities can have their needs neglected. Lack of investment is a problem for both urban and rural communities. Struggling urban neighborhoods need robust transit networks, like the canceled Red Line light rail project that would have served inner-city Baltimore, and rural communities have transportation infrastructure needs, including bridges and tunnels, that are passed over in favor of larger projects in more populous areas. We need to consider the cost of not investing in struggling communities and to address the persistent funding gap. To encourage states to invest in the infrastructure needs of economically-distressed communities, Delaney will create a $40 billion matching fund dedicated to projects in areas that have been left behind. Rural Broadband Matching Fund Access to high-speed, reliable broadband is a necessity in the 21st century. Communities rely on it for employment and academic opportunities and to connect people to telemedicine providers. However, almost 40% of those in rural areas lack access to reliable broadband, putting them at a disadvantage to the rest of the country.8 To close the gap and ensure rural America has access to the necessary technology, Delaney will create a $40 billion Rural Broadband Matching Fund dedicated to building broadband infrastructure. Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform our economy, but without an effective national strategy to prepare our workforce 54 million workers could be displaced by 2030. We need a National AI Strategy focused on employment, security, and ethics. If we lose our global leadership in developing these technologies, the economic risks are potentially devastating. The U.S. must create a whole of government strategy that will provide the tools and skills necessary for the country to win the international AI race. For that to occur, the U.S. must: Prioritize resources to eliminate gaps in national abilities compared to other high-tech countries Invest in areas of research that deserve additional funding Develop incentives for high-tech professionals to work for the government Support an immigration system that values high-tech professionals Crack down on international intellectual property (IP) theft Delaney’s AI proposal would set up an interagency coordinated process to better prepare the U.S. for the AI revolution focusing on four main points: 1. The Future of Work Upgrade educational curriculums to ensure the U.S. has the technical talent needed for jobs of the future Close the skills gap in the U.S. by enacting universal Prek-14 (two-year community college or technical school) to ensure the U.S. population is educated and prepared for jobs of the future Transition to portable benefits, including decoupling health care from employment, to allow for Americans to seek new jobs and new opportunities without the burden of feeling tied to a single employer Develop a social contract with the communities that are negatively impacted by AI, including expanding worker retraining programs Support public/private AI partnerships to promote coordination between government and private sector Incentivize the private sector to offer employer-sponsored training and education 2. National Security Advance AI defense capabilities to ensure the U.S. can defend against future technological threats Lead the international community in establishing rules of engagement to ensure the technology does not lead to a lower threshold for violence 3. Privacy Develop federal privacy standards to ensure transparency of how advanced technology is impacting individuals’ rights For example: Companies should not be able to use your smartphone or other device to monitor your facial expressions as you look at content and ads without your consent 4. Programming Bias While it is tempting to think AI can make unbiased decisions, we actually risk bias being baked-in to the programming that perpetuates human bias with no clear ways to rectify it once the bias is incorporated into the algorithms Partner with the private sector and non-profits to develop best practices against AI technology inheriting human biases BetterCare John Delaney believes that health care is a fundamental right. He is proposing a universal health care plan, BetterCare, that will provide high-quality care to everyone and replace our outdated system of employer-sponsored insurance. As President, he would roll this plan out to the American people after we fix the damage that the GOP has done to the Affordable Care Act and improve upon it. This way, Americans would once again get the benefits of the ACA while the nation and Congress have the time it takes to reform health care. Tying access to health insurance to employment forces workers to stay in jobs they don’t like, distracts entrepreneurs from their main focus of running their businesses, and prevents wages from increasing. Delaney’s health care proposal: Create a new public health care plan for all Americans under the age of 65 while preserving traditional Medicare. The new plan would protect the reforms delivered by the Affordable Care Act, including guaranteed coverage of preexisting conditions and essential health benefits, and would make access truly universal. At 65, people would transition into Medicare. Medicaid would be absorbed by the new plan. The highly trusted Medicare provider network could be used for the new plan. Guarantee universal coverage. Individuals would be automatically enrolled in the new public plan, with no complicated procedures to follow. People would be allowed to opt-out and receive a tax credit to buy their own insurance policy if they choose. Keep private insurance options. Individuals and employers will be able to purchase and negotiate supplemental coverage from private insurers to cover additional health needs. These supplementals could merge into the basic plan to make it easier for the user. Employers would be encouraged to negotiate group rate supplemental plans that would merge with the basic governmental plan so that employees would be able to keep similar health care plans, many of which are very popular and important to American families. In order to be sustainable, universal health care needs to be paid for. Delaney’s plan will lower the overall cost of health care and put the government on a responsible fiscal path. Pay-fors (numbers are based on a 10-year projection): The tax subsidy for employer-sponsored insurance costs the government more than $3.7 trillion and depresses wages for working Americans. Allowing the government to negotiate drug prices would stop the transfer of wealth from working families to corporate executives and shareholders of pharmaceutical companies. This would save the government nearly $850 billion. This plan would replace the ACA, and savings from ending the ACA’s tax subsidies would total $760 billion. Current federal Medicaid spending is projected to be more than $4.8 trillion, which this plan would absorb. States are projected to contribute more than $2.9 trillion to Medicaid. States would continue to pay their share for the current Medicaid population and the federal government would cover the cost of expanded coverage. Implement cost sharing for higher-income individuals to fund an increase in reimbursement rates for primary care providers. Climate Change John Delaney is serious about tackling climate change. It’s a big problem and it requires big solutions, which is why Delaney is announcing his $4 trillion Climate Plan that is full of new ideas and innovative solutions. According to the IPCC, limiting global warming to 1.5°C will require achieving net zero emissions by 2050. We are already seeing the early effects of climate change, and that level of rapid emissions reductions is necessary to avoid the catastrophic consequences that would result from any further delay. The difference between the warming we have already experienced and the 2°C warming we could see if we don’t act now to reduce emissions is a greater risk of water scarcity, increased sea-level rise, greater damage to ecosystems and animal habitats, declines in human health, and the displacement of millions of people. In addition to the environmental effects, the Department of Defense has characterized climate change as a threat multiplier. Delaney’s plan will put us on the right track to reduce emissions in time to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. However, we need the international community to come together to combat global warming which is why Delaney would also rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement on Day 1 of his presidency. Carbon Fee and Dividend The largest component of Delaney’s climate plan that will have the biggest impact is his Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal. It is time we put a price on carbon to end polluters’ free ride. While in Congress, Delaney introduced the first bipartisan Carbon Fee and Dividend bill in over 10 years. The proposal starts the fee at $15 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent and increases the cost by $10 each year. Implementing a carbon fee, where the revenue is returned to the American people, is the best method for providing the market incentives to reduce our emissions. Delaney’s Carbon Fee will reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2050. Taxpayers would also be given options with what to do with the dividend, including investing in a tax-advantaged savings account like a 529 for future education purposes or a retirement account. The Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal has bipartisan support from various industries in the private sector as well as the environmental community. However, we need more innovative solutions that will get us to net-zero emissions by 2050. Direct Air Capture/Negative Emissions Technology (NET) Reducing new carbon emissions and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy will not be enough to limit global warming. According to the IPCC, to achieve net zero emissions and prevent warming in excess of 1.5°C we will need Negative Emissions Technology, including direct air capture, to remove a minimum of 100 Gt of CO2 from the atmosphere. This technology is currently too expensive to be implemented at the necessary scale, which is why Delaney proposes ending the federal government’s fossil fuel subsidies and making an annual $5 billion investment in NET. Delaney will promote NET, thus bringing down the cost, through a reverse auction program that gives first access to government subsidies to the companies that can capture and store atmospheric carbon for the lowest cost. By promoting innovation in NET and implementing the carbon fee, Delaney will create a powerful financial incentive to capture carbon instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. As emitting carbon becomes more expensive due to the increasing carbon fee, it will be more economical to capture the carbon and avoid paying the fee. Increasing Renewable Energy Research Budget 5-Fold We will solve climate change the American way, innovating our way out of the problem. This will require continued robust government support. Delaney proposes a 5-fold increase in DOE green energy programs, including the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and the Office of Nuclear Energy. This investment will support research to improve energy storage, battery performance, sustainable transportation technology, grid efficiency, renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon capture, advanced nuclear, and energy conservation technology. To continue private sector investment in the renewable energy economy, Delaney will bolster renewable energy tax credits. Challenge Grants To spur climate change innovation in the private and non-profit sectors, Delaney will create a new challenge grant program for significant innovations in: Preventing and stopping wildfires Reducing emissions from agriculture Reducing emissions from manufacturing Electrification of freight Energy storage and transmission Climate Corps Delaney proposed the creation of the Climate Corps as part of his National Service Program. The new program would provide opportunities for recent high school graduates to work in low-income urban and rural communities where the Corps members would support these communities’ transition to a green economy, work on environmentally friendly projects, and fight climate change by working on the ground. Under-resourced communities for too long have suffered the most from pollution and climate change, all too often lacking clean water to drink and clean air to breathe. We must provide the manpower and resources to support these communities and recognize that all Americans have a right to a clean, safe, and healthy environment. In partnership with the government, community-based organizations, and local businesses, Climate Corps members can help communities: Identify the most pressing local needs that are hindering the community from transitioning to more environmentally friendly practices Provide information and support to families about sustainability, energy efficiency, and renewable energy Assist in clean energy projects including solar installation, improving building efficiency, developing community gardens, and increasing awareness about sustainable practices Carbon Throughway Climate change skeptics often invoke the false choice of having to choose between jobs or the environment; we can create jobs AND fight climate change at the same time. That’s where the Carbon Throughway comes in. The Carbon Throughway is a $20 billion infrastructure project that we will construct to safely transport captured CO2 to sites for permanent sequestration and reuse. Building the Carbon Throughway will create tens of thousands of jobs and spur new R&D and innovation in carbon capture. The project would be built with federal labor protections using American steel under a project labor agreement and pay workers prevailing wages. To the extent possible, the Throughway will be built along right of ways of existing pipelines and always abide by the strictest environmental standards. As the carbon fee raises the price of releasing emissions and new innovations in NET make carbon capture cost-effective, the Carbon Throughway will provide an additional financial incentive to capture carbon by facilitating its transfer for commercial uses and permanent sequestration. Climate Corps Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our world. The effects will only get exponentially worse over time without strong commitments from the government and the people to address it. In addition to calling for the implementation of a carbon tax and dividend, investing in negative emissions technology that will remove carbon from the atmosphere, and increasing the renewable energy research budget 5x, Delaney proposes the creation of the Climate Corps. The Climate Corps would be part of his National Service Program and would provide opportunities for recent high school graduates to work in low-income urban and rural communities. They would support these communities’ transition to a green economy, work on environmentally friendly projects, and fight climate change by working on the ground. Under-resourced communities for too long have suffered the most from pollution and climate change, all too often lacking clean water to drink and clean air to breathe. We must provide the manpower and resources to support these communities and recognize that all Americans have a right to a clean, safe, and healthy environment. In partnership with the government, community-based organizations and local businesses, Climate Corps members can help communities: Identify the most pressing local needs that are hindering the community from transitioning to more environmentally friendly practices Provide information and support to families about sustainability, energy efficiency, and renewable energy Assist in clean energy projects including solar installation, improving building efficiency, developing community gardens, and increasing awareness about sustainable practices As we have seen throughout this country and the world, the youth are energized, engaged, and ready to roll up their sleeves to do their part in combating climate change. The Climate Corps will help harness that enthusiasm and channel it into transformative projects. Opioids In 2017, more than 47,000 people in the United States died from a drug overdose involving an opioid. That’s an average of 130 people dying every day. Opioids, used improperly or for an excessive amount of time, are dangerous drugs that are a threat to public health. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisors, the opioid epidemic cost our economy $504 billion dollars in 2015 – 2.8% of GDP.1 This includes increased healthcare costs, increased criminal justice costs, decreased productivity, and – most importantly – the loss of human life. The costs are staggering. A recent study2 found that individuals who took non-opioid pain medications over the course of 12 months for chronic back, hip, or knee pain had similar pain-related function compared to those on opioid medications, but reported significantly less pain intensity and had fewer adverse medication-related symptoms. As president, Delaney would implement policies to not only address the scope of the ongoing epidemic, but support policies to prevent new cases of addiction. Prevention Require physicians who prescribe opioids for longer than 3 days to have the patient sign a disclosure that clearly explains the addictive nature of opioids and of the potential for addiction the longer the patient takes the opioid. Education can be one of the best tools to prevent opioid addiction by ensuring the doctor and the patient have a frank and honest conversation about the drug. Require prescriber education on safe opioid prescribing. Expand access to alternative pain management options including physical therapy, and non-opioid medication and treatments. Require federal, state, and private payers to cover non-opioidpain treatments without significant copayments or administrative barriers. Continue and expand investment in medical research into non-opioid pain treatments. Strengthen federal enforcement efforts through DEA, CBP, FDA, etc. to reduce the supply of illicit opioids and the diversion of prescriptionopioids. Hold pharmaceutical executives responsible for their part in fueling the opioid epidemic. Treatment Ensure Access to Evidence-Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment Maintain federal funding to states (STR and SOR grants) to build out treatment capacity or help states develop other sustainable funding streams to maintain access, particularly in underserved communities. Enforce and expand mental health parity laws. Require federal, state, and private payers to cover medication assisted treatment and behavioral health counseling without significant copayments or administrative barriers. Invest in workforce development and training for mental healthcare workers. Create new and build on existing incentives like the National Health Service Corps to attract medical professionals to underserved communities. Expand access to evidence-based substance use disorder treatment in the criminal justice system. Strengthen and expand programs to help pregnant and post-partum women get access to treatment as well as programs to provide short- and long-term care to children born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. Expand the use of telemedicine. Invest in Recovery Invest in programs to help those in recovery stay in recovery through job training and placement services, housing support, and other social services that help people rebuild their lives. Funding for programs Create a new block grant for states that would be funded by implementing a 2 cent tax on morphine milligram equivalents in a prescription pain pill. WhiteHouse.gov NCBI Commitment to Black America The U.S. has a long and difficult history when it comes to the treatment of African American and other minority communities. While we have taken meaningful steps to update our laws and regulations to address racial discrimination, we have still not ended systemic racism. In addition, economic data continues to show stark racial inequality. In 2017, the median income of black households was nearly $28,000 lower than the median income for white households, and black Americans lived in poverty at more than double the rate of white Americans. The lack of upward economic mobility persists as a major issue for black families. Black households are more likely to be at the bottom of the income distribution, and more than half of black children born in the lowest-income households remain at the bottom as adults. For white households in the same position, two thirds of children will rise to higher income quintiles as adults. In order to level the playing field and create a country that works for all Americans, there are clear racial disparities that must, and can, be addressed. Access to Capital and Investment Disparity 6.5% of American households are unbanked, meaning that no one in the household has either a checking or a savings account. For black households, that rate is 16.9%. Delaney has proposed legislation to create nonprofit banks to increase access to banking services in distressed communities. Banks don’t currently serve these communities. To solve this problem, we need to allow for philanthropic, non-profit banks, specifically to serve these distressed communities Ensure minority entrepreneurs have access to capital (an example is to create a new SBIC program to encourage entrepreneurship and focus venture capital investment to distressed communities) Restore CFPB’s focus on anti-discrimination regulations in financial services to ensure people aren’t discriminated against Invest targeted infrastructure funding in minority communities to address issues including inadequate water systems and expanding public transportation Create a federal grant program to fund start up incubators and accelerators at HBCUs Institute a tax credit to promote venture capital investments in minority-owned businesses Education Disparity Education is the great equalizer. All students, however, don’t have access to the same quality education. Since public schools are funded primarily through property taxes, schools in lower-income areas receive fewer resources to prepare their students for the future. In 2016, the funding gap between predominantly white and predominantly black school districts was $23 billion. Additionally, the graduation rate at U.S. public high schools is 69% for black students versus 86% for white students. Increase funds to low income schools through increases to Title I funding Expand universal education to include Pre-K through 14 (includes two year community college or technical training) Expand 0-3 child care availability for low income families Expand federal grants for community-based programs focused on supporting and mentoring struggling students like the non-profit organization, Thread, located in Baltimore, MD Expand programs that help low income urban families achieve financial stability through education and job training Health Care Disparity There are vivid and unacceptable racial disparities in U.S. health outcomes, especially in the maternal mortality rate. During 2011-2014, the pregnancy related mortality ratio for black women was 40.0 deaths per 100,000 live births, while for white women it was only 12.4 deaths per 100,000 live births. Additionally, life expectancy for black Americans is 74.7 years, nearly four years lower than the average for white Americans, and the cancer mortality rate for black Americans is 16% higher than for white people. We must do better. Delaney’s universal health care plan will eliminate a clear barrier to accessing care and medical services Implement Pay For Success programs like the Nurse-Family Partnership program in South Carolina to improve health outcomes during first two years of a child’s life Criminal Justice Disparity Our criminal justice system has a demonstrated clear bias against people of color. Black people, who are approximately 13% of the US population, make up 40% of the incarcerated population. A Delaney administration will work to: End or limit the use of money bail in the federal criminal justice system and encourage states to pursue similar reforms. Cash bail is excessive, discriminatory, and costly for taxpayers and communities End for-profit prisons Eliminate mandatory minimum sentences Increase funding for public defenders End the death penalty Increase funding for police body cameras Promote “ban the box” policies Provide federal funding for training and support of police officers designed to prevent racial profiling and generally encourage de-escalation Reemphasize Obama era DOJ oversight authorities of law enforcement practices that demonstrate a pattern of abuse or misconduct Remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and create strong federal guidelines and taxation polices to support decisions at the state level Increase federal support for recidivism reduction programs that have proven to be effective Increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to increase community policing Increase funding for programs to ensure police departments and first responders are well funded, particularly in areas suffering from high crime rates. Department of Cybersecurity In response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, we created the Department of Homeland Security. In response to continued cyber attacks, we should create the Department of Cybersecurity. As technology advances and threats evolve, the government must be able to adapt to new challenges it faces. That means ensuring the country has the strategy and infrastructure in place to best meet the challenges. In response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, experts identified weaknesses and recommended the creation of a new cabinet level agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), whose sole focus would be to develop and coordinate efforts to protect the homeland. We need to approach the continued threat of cyber attacks in a similar way. In recent years, there have been many high profile cybersecurity data breaches including in 2015 when the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced a data breach that compromised almost 22 million people’s personal information and during the 2016 election cycle when Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and attacked states’ election infrastructure. The United States is the most frequent target of targeted cyber attacks, and many systems that are critical to national security and daily life are vulnerable. Our electric grid is at risk of a cyber attack that could leave large parts of the country blacked out for days or weeks and cause hundreds of billions of dollars in economic costs. These threats undermine our security, hurt the economy, and can threaten democracy itself. Currently, the responsibility of cybersecurity is strewn across multiple agencies including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within DHS, the FBI within the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Cyber Command within the Department of Defense. We need a central agency that’s sole focus is to coordinate and implement U.S. cybersecurity strategy which is why Delaney is proposing to elevate the cybersecurity mission by creating a Department of Cybersecurity, led by a cabinet level secretary. Economic Opportunity Changes to our economy through technological innovation and globalization have delivered enormous prosperity, but the benefits have not been equally shared. Almost all of the increase in average household income over the past four decades has gone to the top 40% of earners, while families in the bottom 60% have seen average income stay flat or even decline. The benefits of our modern economy are strongest in certain geographic areas. 5 metro areas combine to receive more than 80% of venture capital investment while 16 states have more than 20% of their population living in economically distressed zip codes. To ensure that everyone has an opportunity to live the American Dream, John Delaney proposes making significant investments in the areas that have been left behind by globalization and providing the necessary resources to prepare for the future of work. Direct investment in communities that have been left behind by globalization and technological change: Delaney will give priority in government contracting to companies with a majority of employees located in economically struggling communities. Ensuring that the government supports businesses that are not in already-prosperous areas will promote economic growth in areas that have suffered due to globalization and automation. Delaney supports opportunity zones, which encourage private investment in distressed communities by providing tax incentives on certain long-term investments. Investment from the private sector, supported by the right incentives, can turn around economically-struggling communities. Making an investment to rebuild our infrastructure will create jobs in hard-hit communities and encourage economic growth. This includes transportation, high speed internet, and clean water systems. Developing a national strategy to address Artificial Intelligence will allow every sector of our economy to benefit from technological change. By understanding the true effects of AI and other forms of innovation, our government can help manage the transition into the increasingly automated modern economy and minimize the disruption for American workers. Guaranteeing free Pre-K through 14 public education will give everyone the opportunity to succeed and ensure that students learn the skills they need. Doubling the Earned Income Tax Credit will help hardworking families make ends meet. The EITC has lifted millions of people out of poverty, including 2.8 million adults and nearly 3 million children in 2016 alone. Delaney would also expand EITC eligibility for childless adults to increase the incentive to work and stop our tax code from burdening low-wage earners. Delaney’s plan will increase economic opportunity for all, prepare workers for the future, and help hardworking Americans get ahead. With smart policy, we can solve the challenges that globalization and technological advances have created and position ourselves to benefit from these enormous changes to our lives and to our economy. Education Education is vital to ensuring everyone has an opportunity for a successful future and Delaney intends to reinvest in educational opportunities for all. To prepare for the high-tech, high-skill economy of the future, we must prioritize education. Delaney believes Pre-K through 14 education (two-year community college or technical training) is the new K-12 and that children should have it guaranteed. While in Congress, Delaney introduced H.R. 3466, the Early Learning Act, which would provide every four-year-old child guaranteed access to a free Pre-K program, fully paid for by a surtax on high income earners of 1.5% on income over $500,000. Benefits of Pre-K include improved literacy, math skills, social competence, graduation rates, and full time employment. Education beyond high school increases lifetime earnings. Community college or technical education after high school can provide a crucial lifeline to young adults trying to find meaningful employment. By expanding educational opportunities, we will work toward closing the skills gap. In December 2018, there were 6.9 million vacant jobs but 6.3 million people unemployed. Create a new Committee of 10 The U.S. still uses an education model that was largely set in the 1890s by 10 men. We are doing a disservice to our students by not updating a system that was created before the advent of modern technology and new careers. We must rethink our basic model of education, which was designed to prepare students for an essentially factory-oriented economy. We need to update our model to drive more innovation and focus on individualized learning. Introduce new classes including civics and financial literacy Increase federal investment in STEM education and encourage technical training and apprenticeships There are existing public-private partnerships we can use as models, such as apprenticeship programs run by building trades unions, and partnerships between businesses and local community colleges in which education is designed to train students for skilled-labor jobs that local businesses are trying to fill. Make higher education more affordable Reduce costs of student loans. Provide more grants to help students from lower-income families. Delaney introduced legislation to allow borrowers to discharge public and private student loan debt in bankruptcy proceedings. Bankruptcy allows people a legal way to restructure their debts and work their way out of difficult financial situations, but unlike credit card debt, personal loans, or secured debt like car loans and mortgages, in most cases student loans cannot be modified in bankruptcy proceedings. Americans owe more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, and a Brookings Institution analysis of data from the Department of Education shows that up to 40% of borrowers could default on their student loan debt within the next five years. Encouraging Entrepreneurship Prior to running for Congress, and before the age of 40, Delaney started two companies from scratch that each became publicly traded companies. His companies employed thousands of people and his companies financed over 5,000 small to mid-sized businesses across the United States. As President, John plans to create an Entrepreneurship Czar. Delaney’s Entrepreneurship Czar will serve as Special Advisor to the President and will be responsible for: Engaging entrepreneurs all over the country to become involved in mentoring young entrepreneurs and creating individual entrepreneurship ecosystems in their communities; Ensuring that government regulations don’t stifle entrepreneurship; Helping the Administration significantly increase the government’s investment in basic research, particularly related to clean energy research and negative emission technology (Delaney announced his plan to significantly increase investment in negative emissions technology last month); Driving pro-entrepreneur policies such as universal healthcare (to read Delaney’s health care plan click here) and immigration reform; Driving reforms to the banking industry to encourage more small business lending; and Creating policies to encourage entrepreneurship in rural and urban communities that have been left behind by venture capital investment. Fixing Our Broken Politics Our politics and system of government have been broken by hyper-partisanship. Politicians who have the wrong incentives, limitless corporate money influencing our elections, and a discourse that focuses on anything but the facts about our pressing issues combine to make real solutions to our problems almost impossible to achieve. End gerrymandering Gerrymandering is a major cause of our divisive political atmosphere. When politicians can draw their own safe districts, they lose all incentive to look for common ground and can win reelection by being partisan fighters instead of consensus builders who work across party lines to get things done. Our system works best when people pick their representatives instead of politicians choosing their voters. In Congress, John Delaney introduced the Open Our Democracy Act, which would: Prohibit gerrymandering and require states to establish independent commissions to draw Congressional district boundaries Make Election Day a federal holiday so workers have time to vote. Protect voting rights and ensure people have the ability to vote. John supports the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would require that states with a history of violating voting rights get approval from the Department of Justice before making any changes to election procedures or voting requirements. He also supports automatic voter registration and same day registration. Overturn Citizens United Unlimited corporate money has made our democracy pay-to-play. John supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Debate the Congress. John pledges to debate Congressional leaders four times a year. Engaging with opposing points of view and focusing on the facts in a real debate is the best way to have an honest discussion about the problems our nation faces. Support bipartisan legislation When people work across the aisle towards common goals, Americans lives are improved. During the first 100 days of his presidency, John would advance only bipartisan bills. Examples of landmark bipartisan legislation: Americans with Disabilities Act Food Stamp Act Creation of Medicaid Civil Rights Act Clean Air Act John is also proposing a national service program to provide opportunities for recent high school graduates to contribute to the betterment of the country and to meet and work with people from all backgrounds. Gun Safety The time has come for action on gun violence. According to the CDC, guns were responsible for nearly 40,000 deaths in 2017, more than the number of deaths caused by automobile accidents. Large, bipartisan majorities support a broad range of common sense gun safety measures, but political partisanship has prevented the government from taking the necessary steps. Delaney believes it is possible to respect the Second Amendment and still adopt meaningful reforms. Universal Background Checks 97 percent of the American people agree that we need universal background checks on gun sales, including closing the loophole for private sellers. Federal background checks stopped more than 112,000 gun sales out of approximately 8.6 million transactions in 2017, demonstrating that universal background checks are an effective tool to keep guns out of the wrong hands while still allowing law-abiding citizens their Second Amendment rights. Delaney supports requiring background checks for every gun sale. Assault Weapons High-powered, military-style assault weapons have no place on our streets. Since the expiration of the original assault weapons ban in 2004, mass shootings have become far more deadly. Different variations of one type of assault weapon, the AR-15, have been used in some of America’s deadliest mass shootings, including Parkland, Sutherland Springs, Orlando, and Newtown. Delaney cosponsored the Assault Weapons Ban Act, which would ban semiautomatic weapons that have military-style features, including the AR-15. This legislation also includes a ban on high-capacity magazines. Bump Stocks These accessories, which allow individuals to modify standard semi-automatic rifles to mimic the rate of fire of a machine gun, were used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Machine guns have been banned in the US for decades, and it is time that we prohibit accessories that can undermine this critical safety measure. Delaney will support legislation to codify a new regulation that bans all accessories designed to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic weapon, including bump stocks and trigger cranks. Extreme Risk Laws When a person knows that a family member poses an immediate threat to themselves or others, they should have a legal means to protect their safety by temporarily restricting access to guns. This has already been successfully implemented in Maryland with bipartisan support. Delaney is calling for a national extreme risk protection order law that would provide grants to support state, local, and tribal governments that adopt extreme risk laws, which allow family members and law enforcement officers to petition courts for temporary protective orders to restrict gun access for at-risk individuals. Boyfriend Loophole Current federal law prevents certain convicted domestic abusers from buying guns, but the ban only applies to individuals convicted of abusing their spouse and does not cover instances of domestic violence in non-married couples. Intimate partner violence does not limit itself to married couples, and the gun safety measures in federal law shouldn’t be limited either. Delaney supports updating the Violence Against Women Act to extend the ban on convicted domestic abusers buying firearms to cover non-spouse partners. Gun Violence Research Though the ban on CDC research into gun violence was finally lifted in 2018, Congress still has not provided funding. Providing full support for federal research would help prevent violence and save lives. Delaney will ensure that the government funds this vital field of research. Heartland Fair Deal as vice versa. Economic Growth Investment has been concentrated in a small number of cities and rural America has been left behind. Reversing this trend requires investment. Student loan forgiveness for people that live and work in these communities for 10 years Priority in government contracting to companies with a majority of employees in rural counties Fix opportunity zone legislation to focus more on operating businesses, rather than investing in real estate Double the EITC Incentivize companies to build negative emission technology in rural America and coal country Create new SBIC and SBA Loan programs to encourage entrepreneurship and focus venture capital investment in rural America, particularly agricultural and climate disruptive technologies Support entrepreneurship in rural communities and mid-sized cities adjacent to rural America Infrastructure Rural infrastructure should be world-class. Rural America deserves clean water, high-speed broadband, and safe bridges and roads. Create an Infrastructure Bank and increase funding to the Highway Trust Fund Focus on climate resiliency and flooding Rural Health There shouldn’t be health disparities and doctor shortages in rural America. Universal health care coverage Create incentives for doctors and other health care professionals to move to and serve rural communities Expand scope of practice up to the level of training for health care professionals Better integrate physical and mental health care and guarantee parity for mental health care Expand and invest in tele-health, including investments in broadband• Invest in Community Health Centers Ensure rural communities have access to high quality, affordable substance use disorder treatments Strengthen access to pre-natal and maternity care in rural communities Improve access to health care for our veterans living in rural communities Support Agriculture U.S. agriculture feeds our country and much of the world. We have to end the trade wars and expand markets for U.S. agriculture. Reenter the TPP so we can expand markets in Asia and counter China’s dominance in those markets Invest in research to help agriculture deal with climate change through better technology and soil management Expand access and funding for conservation programs• Invest in research to expand bio-based manufacturing opportunities Redesign anti-trust regulations to address concentration of power in the agriculture economy Immigration The United States is a nation of immigrants and almost all of us have a story of our families coming to the U.S. for a better life. We need to remember our history and be a welcoming country for those who want a better life for their families and who are seeking to be productive members of society. The country is in need of immigration reform to update the system to account for changing times. We should seek to have an immigration system that is moral and fair. Delaney believes accepting immigrants into the country greatly benefits Americans: helps reduce the deficit, boosts GDP, improves the solvency of social security, and enriches society; independent analysts have shown that immigration serves as a stimulus to the U.S. economy; immigrants are twice as likely to start a business as someone born here and immigrant-run businesses employ about one in ten American workers; and the more immigrants who are documented and pay taxes, the more money comes into our treasury to support programs like Social Security and Medicare. Delaney would negotiate a comprehensive immigration reform deal. Immigration reform needs to be accomplished with bipartisan support, such as the bipartisan deal that passed the Senate in 2013. Comprehensive immigration reform should: Create a clear path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and DREAMers. Invest in effective border security, including high tech solutions, fencing, increased security personnel, and improvements to ports of entry to improve national security. Reform the visa program for guest workers. Increase refugee cap for resettlement in the U.S. LGBTQ Policy We have made tremendous progress in recent years, but the fight for full civil rights for all LGBTQ Americans isn’t over. While in Congress, John Delaney was proud to be a member of the LGBTQ Equality Caucus and he received a 100% score from the Human Rights Campaign for each of his three terms. John will support the Equality Act to guarantee equal civil rights. Prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations. Updates the definition of “public accommodation” to strengthen protections. Allows the Department of Justice to challenge discriminatory actions. John will ensure that the Title IX ban on sex discrimination in education also protects LGBTQ students by passing the Student Non-Discrimination Act. John will implement a federal ban on conversion therapy. John will allow transgender individuals to serve in the military. John will support the Voting Rights Advancement Act and oppose voter ID laws, which can be significant barriers to voting for people whose gender identity does not match their sex as assigned at birth. Living Wage Every American worker deserves to earn a living wage. While there has been debate over whether an increase to the minimum wage or an increase of the Earned Income Tax Credit is the right path to increase wages, Delaney believes that the right approach is to increase both. Additionally, a true living wage should also account for paid family leave so that workers don’t have to choose between taking leave to care for their newborn or sick loved one and earning enough money to support their family. Delaney’s Living Wage proposal includes 3 new policies: Workers’ Tax Credit Delaney will create a new Workers’ Tax Credit by expanding and nearly doubling the existing Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program. Currently, the EITC’s benefits lift 2.8 million adults and nearly 3 million children out of poverty, but these families and others just outside the income thresholds are still struggling to get by.1 Delaney will provide more support for hardworking families by increasing their tax credits and expanding the program to include more low-income workers. Delaney’s new Workers’ Tax Credit will increase maximum benefits for low-income earners by $1,500 for each eligibility category. The new Workers’ Tax Credit would provide much-needed financial assistance to 14 million more households than the current EITC program, an increase of almost 50%. As an example, a single mother of one who earns $20,000 would receive a fully refundable tax credit of more than $5,000. The Workers’ Tax Credit proposal will be paid for by raising capital gains tax rates on high income earners, repealing the Trump tax cuts for high income earners, and creating a new Robot Tax on job-displacing capital investments. Minimum Wage Increase No American should still live in poverty if they work full time. Period. The minimum wage has long served as a protection to ensure that workers could make a living, but due to increases to the cost of living, the minimum wage’s inflation-adjusted value has declined by more than 37% since 1968. There have been no changes to the federal minimum wage since 2009, the longest period in American history without a minimum wage increase.2 We need to make up for that. Delaney will raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour over time, including for tipped employees, and then index it to inflation. Successful recent state-wide ballot initiatives in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, and Washington show widespread bipartisan support for increasing the minimum wage. Paid Family Leave The United States is the only industrialized country that doesn’t provide some form of paid caregiving leave, and it’s time to make a change. Providing guaranteed time off and income replacement will be a major benefit for workers and their families, while funding family leave through the federal government will avoid placing large financial burdens on small businesses. Delaney will establish a new federal paid family leave program, which can be fully paid for with a very small payroll tax increase. Delaney’s plan allows eligible individuals to take up to eight weeks of leave each year, receiving 60% of their monthly wage. Workers would be able to take paid leave for a serious health problem; birth and care of a child; placement and care of an adopted child or a child in foster care; or caring for a child, spouse, parent, or domestic partner with a serious health problem. It is impossible to be pro-worker if you’re not pro-business, and it’s impossible to be pro-business if you’re not pro-worker. We have to support both. Mental Health 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience a mental health illness in any given year yet nearly 60% don’t receive mental health services. Not receiving proper treatment for mental health can negatively affect many other aspects of one’s life, including economic stability. Approximately $193 billion in earnings is lost every year due to serious mental illnesses.1 The U.S. has not properly emphasized the need to treat our mental health needs as compared with our physical health needs. In Congress, Delaney was on the front lines in defending the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was an important first step in expanding access to mental health treatment for millions of Americans. Delaney voted dozens of times against partisan efforts to repeal the ACA. In 2018, Delaney introduced the Suicide Prevention Analytics Act which aims to address the gap in data reporting as it relates to self-harm and suicidal behavior. This bipartisan bill creates a pilot program to help improve the compilation and sharing of near real-time suicidal behavior information among care providers, prevention experts, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To address the inadequacy of our mental health record as a country, Delaney proposes to: Require and enforce mental health parity within the health care system to ensure that individuals who need mental and behavioral health services have the same coverage and access as those who need physical health services. Delaney has made mental health parity a critical component of his universal health care plan to ensure everyone’s health care plans provides the necessary coverage to receive care. Expand access to mental health resources for at-risk populations. Increase the number of mental health professionals in schools to provide services to students, emphasizing early detection and intervention. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, over one-third of students with a mental health condition drop out, the highest dropout rate of any disability group.2 Increase mental health professionals available to those incarcerated in correctional facilities. 64% of those in local jails have experienced symptoms of a mental health condition.3 Expand mental and behavioral telehealth options. This is particularly important in rural and underserved communities. Invest in rural broadband to boost telehealth effectiveness. Increase Medicaid reimbursements rates. Increasing reimbursement rates will help to build provider networks and expand access to mental health professionals for low income populations. National Service John Delaney is running for president to bring the country together and implement policies that work towards the common good. To help bring people from different backgrounds together, he is proposing a national service program to provide opportunities for young people to give back to their country and to meet and work with people from all backgrounds. Young people would have four options to participate in national service: Military service Community service Infrastructure apprenticeships Climate Corps The program would create three new ways for young people to serve their country, in addition to military service, which would continue as it exists for those choosing to serve their country in uniform. Community Service Community Service would operate similarly to AmeriCorps or The Peace Corps. An example of community service could include a Generations United plan which partners the volunteers with the elderly to teach technological proficiency. Infrastructure Apprenticeships The government would enter into public/private partnerships with private companies and trade unions to offer infrastructure apprenticeships. Private companies would be awarded contracts to undertake projects such as improving public parks or renovating federal buildings to make them environmentally green. Trade unions will be utilized as the programs can leverage the successful apprenticeship model used by the trade unions. Those who complete the apprenticeships would receive a professional certificate proving mastery of particular skill sets. To implement infrastructure apprenticeships, all federal contractors would be required to design and implement an apprentice program Encourage other companies to do their patriotic duty and follow suit, perhaps using a model that’s been tremendously successful in Switzerland, where companies pay students to work as part-time apprentices Climate Corps To fight climate change, volunteers would assist in clean energy projects, including solar installation, improving building efficiency, developing community gardens, and increasing awareness about sustainable practices Provide information and support to families about sustainability, energy efficiency, and renewable energy Volunteers would be stationed in rural and low-income areas to assist communities’ transition to a green economy and invest in environmentally friendly projects Benefits Learn skills to be used for future jobs Brings people together Boost for local infrastructure, conservation, and community projects Sense of service and patriotism Incentives for young people to sign up People who complete the program will receive a National Service Scholarship. The program would be marketed to high school graduates as an opportunity to serve their country, travel, and get paid while learning a skill. Negative Emissions Technology To solve the climate crisis, we have to massively invest in negative emissions technology (NET). Within the US, my carbon tax and dividend proposal will get us to 90% emissions reductions, but we need technology investment to get the other 10%. Fossil fuels produce 80% of the world’s energy and there are industries that will take time to switch to renewable energy such as air travel. We have to acknowledge the reality that we must transition off fossil fuels over time, not immediately eliminate fossil fuels. Making this transition harder is the tremendous population and economic growth occurring across Asia and Africa, which will only create more demand for energy. While we must continue investment in renewable energy sources, which most mitigation efforts are centered around, we need to also invest in technology that removes carbon from the atmosphere at the same time. As the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report states: “Removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it has exactly the same impact on the atmosphere and climate as simultaneously preventing an equal amount of CO2 from being emitted.” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine We need to expand current NET practices, such as afforestation/reforestation, changes in forest management, uptake and storage by agricultural soils, and biomass energy with carbon capture and storage. But these practices are not enough by themselves. The technology with the most upside potential to close the gap is direct air capture technology which captures CO2 directly from the atmosphere. Currently, direct air capture exists but it is prohibitively expensive to be widely deployed at $600/tCO2. Investing in direct air capture technology and other NET practices, such as carbon mineralization, will propel the U.S. to be the global leader in finding new ways to combat global warming and more importantly, we can use this technology around the globe for countries that will be slower to transition off fossil fuels than we are. In addition, it will be an economic benefit to the U.S. if our scientists and engineers produce this technology rather than another country leading the way. I propose a new climate subsidy that would jump start the market for NET and bring down the cost the same way it did for wind and solar: I will end the approximately $5 billion in fossil fuel subsidies annually and use that funding to promote NET through a reverse auction program in which companies that can capture and store atmospheric carbon for the lowest cost get first access to government subsidies. As the cost of the carbon tax rises, the subsidy will decrease down to zero as the cost of carbon capture becomes cheaper than the carbon tax. Once costs come down, we can sell this technology around the world to help other countries do their part to solve this global problem. Prescription Drugs The amount of money Americans spend on prescription drugs has nearly doubled since the 1990s with pharmaceutical companies raising the cost on life saving drugs. Americans currently pay significantly more for prescription drugs than individuals in comparable countries. The U.S. government has failed in implementing policies to ensure Americans have affordable access to needed drugs. The U.S. should approach pharmaceutical prices as companies in the private sector approach buying goods, by using their purchasing power as leverage to negotiate down on costs. It is astounding that the U.S. government, the largest single purchaser of prescription drugs, does not use its leverage to ensure American patients are not being taken advantage of when buying needed medicine. While pharmaceutical companies have limited interference for setting drug prices in the U.S. European governments have negotiated with the companies to set the costs. According to analysis from the University of Liverpool, the world’s 20 top-selling medicines are three times more expensive in the U.S. than in Britain, on average, and consistently higher than in other European markets. On a per capita basis, pharmaceutical spending accounts for over $1200 per person in the U.S., according to OECD data, compared to just $860 in Canada and $640 in Australia. Drug costs are also accounting for more of an American’s health care spending over time. In 2015 retail prescription drug expenditures in the U.S. accounted for 12% of total personal health care spending, up from just 7% through the 1990s. While revenue from pharmaceutical sales contributes to research and the development of new drugs, the U.S. has been subsidizing the rest of the developed world. The Delaney Solution In order to address the rising drug prices, Delaney would: Allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies To address the unfair cost differential between the U.S. and other OECD countries, the government would institute a 100% excise tax, levied on the pharmaceutical company on the difference between the average price of a drug sold in the U.S. and the price of that drug in similarly economically developed countries. Because of the nature of a 100% excise tax on the price differential, the pharmaceutical companies would not have the option of passing on the burden of the tax to the American people, and instead would have a strict incentive to balance global prices by lowering them in the U.S. and raise them in other developed countries. This will be a market-based solution which will maintain profit incentives to invest in new life saving drugs. Developing countries would be excluded from the policy as access to low-cost medication is critical. Student Loan Debt & College Affordability More jobs require applicants to have a college degree than ever before and the cost of attending college keeps increasing. Tuition at four-year institutions, both public and private, has doubled over the last 30 years while incomes for people with a bachelor’s degree has increased by just 18%.1 The college affordability crisis is particularly acute for women, who on average borrow more in student loans than men do and who earn less than similarly-educated men for doing the same work after they graduate.2 Delaney will work to make higher education affordable for every student and reduce debt burdens for individuals who are currently struggling to pay their student loans. Lower the cost of higher education As of December 2018, Americans owe more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. Nearly 70% of new graduates owe student loans, and average monthly student loan payments have topped $390.3 Delaney proposes the following policies to reduce the burden of student loan debt: Expand eligibility and improve terms for the Obama administration’s income-based repayment programs. Borrowers using the Pay As You Earn Plan and the Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan will have access to loan forgiveness 2 years earlier than the current requirement and will no longer pay taxes on the value of their forgiven loan amounts. The federal government shouldn’t be making a profit on student loans. Delaney will reduce interest rates on federal student loans and set them equal to the interest rate on 10-year Treasury bonds. Loans from private lenders are responsible for more than $100 billion in outstanding student debt, and interest on these loans is significantly higher than the rates for federal student loans. Delaney supports allowing borrowers with high interest private loans to refinance through the federal government with new, low interest federal loans up to the $27,000 cap. The new federal loan would be eligible for income-based repayment programs. Our system is stacked against student loan borrowers, and bankruptcy is just one example. Delaney authored legislation to allow people who need to declare bankruptcy to use that process to discharge student loan debt just as they can for auto loans or credit card debt. Delaney supports increased funding for the Pell Grant program and increasing the maximum award to provide more support for students from low-income households. Delaney is proposing a National Service Program that will award scholarships to people who complete their service. Provide two years of post-secondary education to all Delaney is proposing free tuition for two years of community college or technical career training for every high school graduate. To be eligible for this program, states will be required to at least maintain their funding for higher education and two-year institutions must have curriculums that allow students to transfer seamlessly to four-year public institutions in their region. Career colleges and certificate programs at nonprofit institutions can provide important skills to students who want a different education experience, but we need effective oversight to ensure these programs actually prepare students for the workforce without requiring students to take on unreasonable loads of debt. Delaney is committed to defending the Obama administration’s Gainful Employment Rule and reversing Trump’s efforts to undermine it. This rule improves student outcomes and protects students from outsized debt burdens. Women's Rights As the father of four daughters, Delaney has a strong personal commitment to women’s equality. As president, Delaney will protect women’s fundamental rights, fight for women’s equality in our society, and work to support women in the developing world. It is time to embrace the simple fact that women’s rights are human rights, and Delaney will use this approach to address the pressing issues facing women today. Workplace Delaney supports the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would ensure equal pay for equal work by protecting workers, allowing federal enforcement, and removing loopholes employers use to justify discrimination. It is unacceptable that women receive less pay for doing the same work, and pay disparities are even greater for African American, Hispanic, and Native American women. There is simply no excuse for allowing wage discrimination to continue. Everyone deserves a safe workplace, and that includes the right to a workplace free of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Delaney supports strong whistleblower protections and will ensure that the EEOC gets the funding it needs to enforce anti-discrimination laws. Delaney will create a new paid family leave program so working women will be able to have 8 weeks of paid time off each year to care for newborns or newly adopted children, sick family members, or tend to their own serious health problems. Health care Delaney is pro-choice and supports Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. He is a strong supporter of access to reproductive care and a woman’s right to choose. Delaney supports repealing the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion in most cases. Delaney pledges to protect federal funding for Planned Parenthood. In Congress, Delaney was proud to receive 100% on NARAL’s Congressional Scorecard. Delaney has proposed a universal health care system that provides high-quality care to all, regardless of employment. This new plan will guarantee coverage for pregnancy, maternal care, and pre-existing conditions. Civil rights Delaney supports ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, and in Congress was an original cosponsor of resolutions to remove the ratification deadline. Delaney was an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which would expand on the original law to include sexual harassment as an offense and close the Boyfriend Loophole by prohibiting dating partners convicted of domestic violence from owning or purchasing guns. Delaney supports robust protections for victims of campus sexual assault, and will reverse the Trump administration’s policies that are harming survivors and weakening Title IX. Global Women’s Rights Delaney understands the importance of US leadership in promoting women’s rights abroad, and will strengthen our commitments to international maternal and child health and the Global Partnership for Education, which has helped more than 40 million girls around the world enroll in school over the past 15 years. Delaney would repeal the Global Gag Rule so women around the world who utilize medical facilities that receive U.S. aid have access to all necessary reproductive services [1] |
” |
| —John Delaney for President 2020[22] | ||
Delaney participated in an interview series with The New York Times that asked 21 Democratic candidates the same series of 18 questions. To view Delaney's responses, click here.
Archive of Political Emails
The Archive of Political Emails was founded in July 2019 to compile political fundraising and advocacy emails sent by candidates, elected officials, PACs, nonprofits, NGOs, and other political actors.[23] The archive includes screenshots and searchable text from emails sent by 2020 presidential candidates. To review the Delaney campaign's emails, click here.
Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing
The following section provides a timeline of Delaney's campaign activity beginning in January 2019. The entries, which come from Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing, are sorted by month in reverse chronological order.
2020
2019
See also
- Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
- Presidential candidates, 2020
- Presidential election endorsements, 2020
- PredictIt markets in the 2020 presidential election
- Presidential candidate campaign travel, 2020
- Democratic presidential primary debates, 2020
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Transcript: The first night of the second Democratic debate," July 31, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Washington Post, "John Delaney: Why I’m running for president," July 28, 2017
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Delaney announces campaign for president, becomes first to challenge Trump," July 28, 2017
- ↑ Twitter, "This Week," January 13, 2019
- ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "DELANEY, John, (1963 - )," accessed July 17, 2019
- ↑ Delaney for President 2020, "About: Blue-Collar Roots and a Strong Union Family" accessed July 17, 2019
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 CNN, "John Delaney Fast Facts" July 3, 2019
- ↑ ABC News, "Meet Former US Rep John Delaney, the first Democrat to announce a 2020 bid," March 20, 2019
- ↑ Delaney for President 2020, "About: A Successful Entrepreneur" accessed July 17, 2019
- ↑ Delaney for President 2020, "About: Community and Faith" accessed July 17, 2019
- ↑ Democracy in Action, "Organization," accessed November 4, 2019
- ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "The 2020 Endorsement Primary," accessed May 7, 2019
- ↑ FEC, "U.S. President," accessed July 16, 2019
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," November 6, 2015
- ↑ The Des Moines Register, "Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
- ↑ NECN, "2020 New Hampshire Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
- ↑ Post & Courier, "2020 SC Presidential Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
- ↑ The Nevada Independent, "Presidential Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 John Delaney, "Issues," accessed July 18, 2019
- ↑ Archive of Political Emails, "About," accessed September 16, 2019
