“What I said was true. Women are held to a higher standard, otherwise we could play a game called name your favorite woman president.”
In 2006, Senator Amy Klobuchar became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Minnesota. From leading the fight to win a 48-hour hospital stay for new moms and their babies to passing landmark legislation to end human trafficking, combat the opioid epidemic, protect consumer rights and strengthen our election security, Amy has the track record needed to build a better future for our country. She previously served as the Hennepin County Attorney, the largest prosecutor’s office in Minnesota, for eight years.
Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. She was a partner at two Minneapolis law firms before being elected Hennepin county attorney in 1998, making her responsible for all criminal prosecution in Minnesota’s most populous county.
Klobuchar’s Policies, Plans & Commitments in Her Own Words:
Healthcare
Klobuchar has promised to take the following actions to address Americans’ concerns about affordable healthcare coverage, access to care, prescription drug costs and improvement of the current system.
I support bringing down the cost of healthcare for everyone by putting a non-profit public option in place that allows people to buy into affordable health insurance coverage through Medicare or Medicaid. I believe that the Affordable Care Act is a beginning, not an end, and I have fought the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle it and oppose the Administration’s efforts to kick people with pre-existing conditions off of their health insurance.
- As president, my administration will build on the Affordable Care Act and help bring down costs for consumers by expanding premium subsidies, creating additional incentives for states to adopt Medicaid expansion, and providing cost-sharing reductions to lower out-of-pocket healthcare costs like copays and deductibles.
- I will stand up to risky schemes to privatize Medicaid and protect and strengthen Medicare beginning with an end to the ban on Medicare negotiating drug prices on behalf of 43 million seniors in Medicare Part D.
- I also believe that when people are sick, their focus should be on getting better, rather than on how they can afford their prescriptions. That’s why I have been a champion when it comes to tackling the high costs of prescription drugs. I have led proposals in the Senate to allow personal importation of safe drugs from countries like Canada and stop pharmaceutical companies from blocking less-expensive generics. As president, I will get them done.
Economy
Klobuchar said she would take the following steps to close the racial wealth gap and the pay gap for women and promote economic security for middle- and low-income Americans.
I believe we must beat back decades of systemic racism, discrimination and inequality. This begins by focusing on economic justice and opportunity, which means investing in underserved areas, providing early childcare, fixing our education system, addressing disparities in maternal and infant mortality rates, overhauling our country’s housing policies by totally eliminating the Section 8 backlog, ending housing discrimination, and tackling racial disparities in wages and in retirement savings. As president, I will:
- Work to get more women and people of color in STEM jobs.
- Empower agencies to aggressively fight modern-day redlining that prevents businesses owned by people of color from getting loans and take on predatory lending that results in higher interest rates in low-income communities of color.
- Work to close the pay gap for women and women of color by passing Sen. Patty Murray’s Paycheck Fairness bill–of which I am a cosponsor–during my first 100 days in office. It will ensure employees are paid equally for equal work and prohibit employers from asking about the salary history of prospective employees.
- Immediately implement rules to prevent pay discrimination–which the Trump administration has tried to block–and restore and strengthen the Obama administration’s rules to expand overtime pay to millions of workers.
- Protect student borrowers and hold for-profit colleges accountable.
- Implement my plan to lift millions of children in our country out of poverty. Based on a National Academies of Sciences report, it will expand the earned income tax credit, the child care tax credit and nutrition benefits, and increase affordable housing opportunities.
Criminal Justice Reform/Gun Violence/Judiciary
Klobuchar would address criminal justice reforms, including over-policing, sentencing reforms and help with full and productive reentry into society by pursuing the following policies.
I believe it is time for the Second Step Act. The First Step Act — which made key federal-sentencing and prison reforms — only applied to those held in federal prisons and didn’t help the nearly 90% of incarcerated populations in state and local facilities.
- I will create federal incentives so that states can restore some discretion from mandatory sentencing for nonviolent offenders.
- I will also reform the cash bail system, expand funding for public defenders, eliminate obstacles to re-entering and participating fully in society, and fight for expanded drug courts.
- During the first month of my presidency, I will create a clemency advisory board as well as a position in the White House — outside of the Department of Justice — that advises the president from a criminal-justice-reform perspective.
Education
Klobuchar proposes to improve pre-K through 12 education and post-secondary education opportunities (including apprenticeships and trade training) through the following actions.
As the daughter of a teacher and union member, I understand that a good education is a basic right of every child, and that all Americans should have the educational opportunities they need to succeed in today’s economy. I will fully fund education and our schools, make a historic investment in increasing teacher pay, close the opportunity gap, fully fund IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), boost STEM education and apprenticeship opportunities, and rebuild our crumbling school infrastructure. As president, my administration will.
- Champion tuition-free one- and two-year community college degrees and technical certifications, and make it easier for Americans who need help to afford four-year degrees.
- Work to reduce the burden of student loans, support our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and expand Pell Grants and grant eligibility for students who are pursuing post-secondary opportunities later in life and who are incarcerated.
- Strengthen financial support for non-tuition expenses, expand support for student parents, simplify and streamline the financial aid process, and expand student support and financial aid programs such as TRIO and GEAR UP.
- Encourage states to work with employers, unions, trade associations and community colleges to develop stackable credentials for in-demand fields that provide meaningful employment skills while building towards a degree.
- Improve GED programs by linking them to career skills and community college curricula while increasing students’ chances of success through wraparound support services.
- Double the number of apprenticeships to over a million by the end of my first term.
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