Saikat Chakrabarti
DemocraticQ1 California is rich in natural resources (i.e. oil, with California being the 7th largest oil producing state in the nation) and, as of June 2025, conserves 26.1% of its lands and 21.9% of its coastal waters. Given California’s resources, what policies would you pursue or continue, if any, in regard to land management and use?
“California’s land use choices matter for the entire country and San Francisco deserves a fighter in Congress who will protect these lands. I support ending new oil and gas leases on federal public lands and waters, and managing down existing production as we build out the clean energy economy. I have been proudly endorsed by Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Clean Water Action, and Oil Change Action because of my longtime leadership in the climate movement, from helping author the Green New Deal as Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff to leading the Mission for America project at New Consensus.
Beyond phasing out fossil fuel extraction, the federal government has to be a serious steward of the public lands we already have. I support the national 30x30 conservation goal, defending national monuments and protected areas from Trump’s rollback efforts, and meaningful Tribal co-management of federal lands and waters.”
KEYWORDS: California Land Conservation, Clean Energy Transition, Federal Climate Policy
Q2 California is one of the leading states with the most data centers which are important facilities for processing and storing data. However they also have several environmental and health impacts, such as significant water usage and noise pollution, which can lead to decrease in net economic gains. What policies, if any, do you support in managing existing data centers or establishing additional data centers?
“I support a moratorium on data centers until we pass legislation requiring AI companies to do the following: fully pay for any grid upgrades their facilities require, utilize 100% clean electricity for data center operations, and adopt closed-loop liquid cooling (which has been proven to save water). Ratepayers should not be subsidizing the infrastructure costs of some of the most profitable companies in the world. Once these conditions have been met, I support lifting the moratorium and resuming data center construction under this new framework. I also believe that the federal government should operate its own data centers and computing power for challenges like curing rare diseases and modeling climate systems, and use publicly owned AI to deliver public services at the actual cost of running them.”
KEYWORDS: Clean energy, public AI, grid upgrades
Q3 Access to public transportation is associated with less air and noise pollution, fewer harmful chemicals, and overall healthier communities. However, many transit agencies, such as BART in the Bay Area, are facing financial deficits due to a decline in ridership. What policies, if any, do you support that would address California’s public transit infrastructure?
“In Congress, I will fight to repurpose funding from new highway projects to instead subsidize the day-to-day operations of transit agencies — something that has not been done since the 1990s. But more funding is not enough. I want to set Muni and BART on a path to thrive for decades to come. For example, I call for using federal incentives to build hundreds of units of affordable housing on Muni-owned land. This would allow Muni to generate more revenue and help solve our housing crisis. Furthermore, I also support providing increased public transit subsidies for cities that adopt transit-oriented development reforms, creating a cycle where better housing and better transportation reinforce one another.”
KEYWORDS: Operating subsidies, housing, transit-oriented development
Q4 In 2025, approximately 33% of students in K-12 schools across California met or exceeded science standards, and teacher shortages have resulted in districts hiring teachers with substandard credentials in math and science. What evidence-based policies, if any, would you follow to increase science proficiency and access to quality education across the state and why?
“Closing this gap requires investing on two fronts: directly expanding science learning opportunities for students, and recruiting and keeping the best teachers in our public schools.
On student access, STEM and science-based after-school and tutoring programs are not equitably distributed across our district. Neighborhoods like Bayview-Hunters Point have almost no STEM-based after-school programs available to students, while schools in wealthier neighborhoods do. In Congress, I will fight for new federal grants for tutoring, after-school programs, and summer learning, with funding targeted to the schools and neighborhoods that have the least access today. Furthermore, I will fight to double funding for Title 1 schools to improve outcomes at schools in low-income areas.
We also need to make teaching in San Francisco a viable and attractive career for the highest-qualified people in our society. I support establishing a national minimum teacher salary with annual cost-of-living increases, canceling student debt for school staff after five years of service, and providing rental and mortgage assistance to school employees in high-cost areas like San Francisco. Every teacher who teaches in San Francisco deserves to be able to live in San Francisco.”
KEYWORDS: STEM Access, Teacher Retention, Educational Equity
Q5 Healthcare is an important resource to Californians, with publicly supported programs such as Medi-Cal providing coverage covering roughly half of all Californians including 14.5 million low-income residents. According to the Center on Healthcare from West Health-Gallup, California has an overall healthcare grade of “C” over the categories of cost, quality, and access, with gaps in rural health coverage, environmental health threats, workforce shortages, and affordability challenges. What policies, if any, do you support to address the healthcare of Californians and why?
“I support Medicare for All as the long-term answer, because the only way to guarantee high-quality healthcare for everyone is to take the profit motive out of coverage. But insurance reform is only half the problem, and I want to focus here on the other half: actually delivering care.
We have a serious doctor shortage in this country, especially in primary care, mental health, and rural and underserved communities. In Congress, I will fight to massively expand federal investment in training new doctors, nurses, and mental health providers, and significantly grow the National Health Service Corps to place them in the communities that need them most through loan repayment and scholarship programs.
I also support creating government-owned clinics in places with the deepest provider shortages — particularly rural communities and underserved urban neighborhoods — to provide care directly. This is not a radical idea. The federal government built out direct care delivery extensively during the New Deal and Great Society eras, and we still see it work today in the VA system. We should expand that approach.
Finally, on affordability, we need national reforms to bring down the cost of care and prescription drugs. I support letting Medicare negotiate prices on all drugs, not just the limited list under current law. I also support creating a public corporation to manufacture common generic drugs and sell them at cost, ending the price-gouging that puts lifesaving medications out of reach.”
KEYWORDS: Medicare for All, National Health Service Corps
Q6 Do you support initiatives that alter funding for science research, i.e. Senate Bill 895 (California Foundation)?
“Yes, I support SB 895. The Trump administration has launched an unprecedented assault on federal science funding, withholding billions from California universities and revoking grants for research into cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV, and more. California cannot wait for Washington to come to its senses. A state bond is an effective stopgap for this crisis — but it will ultimately be insufficient to solve the broader problem. There is no substitute for the federal investment in science that built modern American research in the first place. Federal funding through the NIH, NSF, DOE, and other agencies dwarfs anything any state can do on its own, and gutting it does long-term damage that takes decades to repair. In Congress, I will fight to reverse Trump’s cuts to federal science funding, restore and significantly expand NIH and NSF budgets, and protect scientific integrity at federal agencies from political interference.”
KEYWORDS: Science Funding, Research Investment, Scientific Integrity