Politics

Where They Stand: Marco Rubio on Key Issues of 2016 Campaign

Published

9 years ago

April 14, 2015

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio smiles during his announcement he is running for the Republican nomination, at a rally at the Freedom Tower, Monday, April 13, 2015, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

GARY FINEOUT, Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A snapshot of where Florida Sen. Marco Rubio stands on issues likely to be debated during the Republican presidential primaries, as he enters the race.

IMMIGRATION

Rubio, whose parents emigrated from Cuba, was a co-author of a bipartisan immigration overhaul that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Rubio backed off the issue, after the measure came under fire from conservatives, saying it could not win enough support in Congress.

Rubio now says that border security must be improved first, followed by revamping the process now used to allow people to immigrate. Rubio has been sharply critical of the Obama administration’s executive actions on immigration, saying that the president has exceeded his constitutional power.

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FOREIGN POLICY

Rubio has been a consistent critic of Obama’s foreign policy efforts, including the president’s dealings with Latin American countries and he has called those policies naive, timid and neglectful. Rubio has been a leading critic of Obama’s decision to restore diplomatic ties to Cuba and called it a “victory for oppressive governments.”

His championing of American exceptionalism makes him more of hawk than some of his rivals. He was among 47 senators who signed a letter warning that Congress could upend the deal being worked out by the U.S., Iran and others to control Tehran’s nuclear program. The letter infuriated the White House, which considered the diplomatic deal the best way to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program.

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BUDGETS AND ENTITLEMENTS

Rubio, like many Republicans, has called for the repeal of Obama’s health care law. Although he’s criticized the growth of entitlement programs, he has called for increasing military spending. Rubio and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton wrote an opinion piece in March saying the armed forced will be “dangerously unready to deploy” if Congress does not reverse recent cuts to military spending.

This spring, he and Utah Sen. Mike Lee introduced a proposed overhaul of the tax code that would reduce the number of income tax brackets and reduce the corporate tax rate while also creating a new $2,500 child credit.

Last year, he proposed a dramatic overhaul of the nation’s anti-poverty programs. The main thrust of the proposal called for placing most of the programs into one central agency that would then hand out grants to states that would design their own programs.

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COMMON CORE AND EDUCATION

Rubio opposes Common Core school standards and has been critical of federal support for the standards, saying it appears to be part of an effort to have a “national school board” impose a national curriculum.

That sets him apart from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of Common Core’s architects. Rubio backs school choice programs, including offering taxpayer-paid scholarships that let children attend private schools.

SOCIAL ISSUES

Rubio has consistently supported abortion restrictions during his political career. He’s said the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned. In 2013 he was co-sponsor of a bill that would have banned abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, but included exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the woman.

Rubio said decisions whether to allow same-sex marriage should be left to states. He’s criticized judges for overturning bans of gay marriage and has said that some who support gay marriage have been hypocritical because they have been intolerant of those who do not agree with them.

He opposed a medical marijuana initiative that was on the 2014 ballot in his home state, but he did support legislation in Florida that authorized the limited use of a non-euphoric strain of the drug.

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CLIMATE CHANGE

Rubio has acknowledged that the climate is changing, but he has expressed skepticism that it is being caused by human activity. He has also said that the threat of climate change does not justify pursuing policies that he contends would harm the economy.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

10 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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Bay Area

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

6 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.