Jim Himes

Liberal

Democrat

House Representative

Connecticut - District 4

Current Position: US House Representative CT-4

Running For: House Representative - District 4

Policy Positions

For federal investment in economic growth and manufacturing, including supporting passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (clean energy jobs, manufacturing) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (bringing over $2.9 billion to Connecticut for manufacturing, transportation, clean water, and broadband).
Against privatizing Social Security; for putting Social Security on a path to long-term stability.
For local transportation and infrastructure investment, including supporting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ($5.38 billion to Connecticut through 2026); for securing over $348 million to replace the Walk Bridge and repair aging railroad bridges in Norwalk; and for advancing the proposed Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel to reduce highway congestion and shift freight to rail.

For raising the federal minimum wage to $15 nationwide.
For financial industry regulation, including playing a major role in writing the Dodd-Frank Act, and for reforming the mortgage finance industry to lower housing costs and increase affordable housing supply in Fairfield County.
For closing the gender wage gap, including voting for the Lilly Ledbetter Act and cosponsoring the Equal Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act.
For increased public-private partnership in national security technology (including AI); for intelligence community oversight reform; and for the USA FREEDOM Act, which ended bulk collection programs.

For strengthening Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, including fighting to make Medicare sustainable and improve the ACA; for the Inflation Reduction Act's caps on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs ($2,000) and insulin ($35), and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices; for the PACT Act's expansion of veterans' toxic exposure benefits; and for increased mental and behavioral health funding, including helping pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act's mental health and school counseling funding.
For improving veterans' healthcare access and reducing the VA disability claims backlog; for expanding veteran mental health and PTSD treatment resources; for supporting the Veterans Economic Opportunity Act and the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act (tax breaks for businesses hiring veterans); and for combating veteran homelessness through VA Supportive Housing vouchers and expanded eligibility for Section 8 and public housing programs.

For closing educational achievement and opportunity gaps through legislation giving states and districts more flexibility while maintaining accountability and equal resource allocation; for expanding early childhood education, including fighting for the Total Learning Act, the Supporting Early Learning Act, and Head Start/Early Head Start programs; for college affordability, including introducing the College Affordability and Innovation Act and passing the Student Loan Certainty Act to stop student loan rates from doubling.

For building a green energy economy, including introducing the National Green Bank Act and supporting the Inflation Reduction Act's $27 billion investment in green banks and clean energy financing.
For climate change mitigation and storm/infrastructure resiliency, including supporting the Inflation Reduction Act's climate and emissions investments and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's resiliency investments against extreme heat, drought, floods, and wildfires; Against repeal or rollback of environmental protections.
For environmental preservation, including cosponsoring the Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2019 and voting for the Public Land Management Act, which protected over two million new acres of wilderness.

For protecting abortion access; Against Republican efforts to defund family planning and community health centers; Against federal abortion bans.
For LGBTQ+ equal rights, including cosponsoring and helping pass the Equality Act in the House.

For protecting women from domestic violence and abuse, including cosponsoring the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019.
For gun safety legislation, including background checks, a "no fly, no buy" policy, an assault weapons ban, full funding for the ATF, mental health screening before gun purchases, and limits on magazine sizes; for cosponsoring the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.