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May 27, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – In an interview with East County Magazine on KNSJ radio, Congressional candidate Stephen Houlahan draws sharp contrasts with his opponent, Rep. Darrell Issa, on key issues including women’s rights, the economy, healthcare, homelessness, immigration, climate change and more. A registered nurse who also has both a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) and a degree in healthcare administration, he addressed the opioid crisis, the need to help small businesses, and a plan to put powerlines underground in East County to prevent more devastating wildfires.
Houlahan is running in the newly redrawn 48th Congressional district, which includes most of the former 50th Congressional district that encompasses most of San Diego’s Eat County. It runs from the international border in the south north to Menafee in Riverside County, east to Imperial County, and as far west as Mt. Helix, with a few exceptions (El Cajon and Escondido are now split between two districts).
Here are his views on the issues impacting people across our region.
Healthcare
“I’ve been a registered nurse for 25 years. Nurses are frontline workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Houlahan, who has expertise in critical care as well as Medicare, a major federal budget item.
“We pay more per capita for healthcare than any country but don’t get a return on our investment,” he says, noting that Medicare doesn’t cover glasses, hearing aids, or other necessary items for seniors. He wants to change that, as well as have the government negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to bring down prescription drug costs. He wants to expand Medicare to cover ages 55 and up (currently 65+), since premiums skyrocket for those in this age group. “We also need to have every child covered,” he says, adding that a child with cancer, for instance, should get the best possible healthcare.
Economy and small businesses
“Small businesses are the backbone of the economy,” Houlahan notes. “We need to nurture small businesses, but money meant for small businesses in the first COVID relief package went to large businesses. That’s unforgivable. People like Issa took huge sums….Issa voted against the COVID bailout – that $1,400 – but he took $400,000” for his Viper car alarm business. “That’s terrible.”
Houlahan wants to be sure that small businesses are exempted from any tax hikes and says it’s unfair for people like Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, to pay very little in taxes despite record profits after COVID. “”WE need to give Mom and Pop businesses a break…It’s time to know where our priorities are,” he says. “When you create monopolies like Issa does, he is the Viper [car alarms] monopoly guy, he knocks everyone else out of business. He doesn’t support small businesses – he supports big businesses.”
Asked how he would strengthen the national economy and address inflation as the nation emerges from the pandemic, Houlahan says, “We need to expand our GDP (gross domestic product) to work our way out of inflation. We need to have a supply of everything we need…Fuel is very expensive right now…We need to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry and start subsidizing electric vehicles,” he says as an example, noting that what’s needed is competition.
“We also need to make sure we have workers. We’re at a terrible milestone – one million deaths directly attributed to COVID’19.” He says our economy needs workers to help drive down costs of items such as food and to fill critical needs, such as nurses from the Philippines and physicians from all over the world. “The other thing we need is citizenship for critical workers,” Houlahan said.
Women’s rights
Houlahan slammed Issa for signing an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade, which the high court appears ready to do, according to a leaked draft opinion that would take away federal abortion rights and allow states to outlaw abortions in every case, even when a woman’s life is in danger.
As a nurse, Houlahan says, ”I understand this is a question of healthcare,” noting, “as a nurse I know sometimes a fetus may not be viable,” such as in an ectopic (tubal)pregnancy. “A woman may die and she may have other children to raise.” He says, “I stand by a woman’s right to choose. A woman should be able to make a decision on how and when she wants to have a child, when is the right time in her life…We’re going backwards, 50 years of progress rolled back.” He adds that the decision could affect far more than abortion, since it eliminates the finding of a Constitutional right to privacy which could potentially allow states to also restrict interracial marriage, gay marriage, privacy of data on cell phones, and much more, he warns. “It’s about privacy.”
He criticized Justice Samuel Alito, author of the draft decision, for quoting a 12th Centur English “expert” who believed in burning witches at a time when most believed the earth was flat.”
Homelessness
“I have taken care of many people who are homeless,” he says, adding some suffer from hypothermia, injuries from assaults, drug overdoses, and other medical emergencies. “They need services and it shouldn’t wait until they are in the hosoital,” he says. “We need to get started addressing the root causes of homelessness before it gets to a critical state.” He wants to see proactive infrastructure for drug treatment and mental healthcare to get people counseling and medication needed, as well as rehab.
Lack of affordable housing is part of the problem. “Building homes for millionaires in the wilderness doesn’t do it,” he says. He wants to see the federal government incentivize building affordable housing developments, noting, “The media price for a house in San Diego County just hit one million dollars…People with families are priced out.” With the stock market volatile, investors are buying up real estate. “We need to incentivize sellers to sell to families,” Houlahan says. He also supports inclusionary housing, meaning incentives for builders to make some units in a development affordable. “I tried to do that when I was on the Santee City Council,” he adds.
Climate change and wildfire prevention
“I was president of Save Mission Trails. A decade ago I led efforts to stop a fossil fuel burning power plan from being built by Mission Trails, and everyone agreed – Democrats and Republicans.” He later led efforts to block a gas pipeline in the area. He supports renewable energy resources.
He also wants to be sure ratepayers don’t foot the bill for fires caused by utility company’s equipment or power lines. “When there is a big fire, Sempra, SDG&E, always passes costs on to ratepayers,” he says. In addition, he notes, “Our grid is antiquated, outdated, and it’s vulnerable to cyber attacks,” he says, citing concern that Russia could target grids in the U.S. “We need to upgrade our grid and immediately undergound powerlines, especially in San Diego’s backcountry in the 48th district. Let’s get federal money and start doing it now,” he says, adding that the Laguna Nigel fire shows even costly homes can burn within minutes. “Often powerlines are sparking over dry brush. They need to be undergrounded, but we also need to incentivize creating renewable energy so we are not contributing to the climate crisis.”
He also, however, supports federal guidelines to prevent siting wind energy projects in high-fire danger areas, since wind turbines each contain a thousand gallons or more of flammable lubricating oil.
“We don’t need to be putting renewables out in the deserts in East County…in Santee, we’re putting solar on rooftops, and that was not partisan. All our schools transitioned to solar…We should NOT go out to Jacumba and surround the whole town with this,” he says, referring to a massive solar project opposed by most Jacumba residents. He wants to have renewables in areas where the power is used.
To prevent cyberattacks, he says, “We need microgrids,” such as microgrids already present to power Borrego Springs and the hospital where Houlahan works. He recalls the tri-state blackout, when the hospital’s generator and microgrid protected a situation that could have been “catastrophic for patients.”
Houlahan is endorsed by the state and county Democratic party, but says he wants to represent everyone. He believes in equality for everyone, including “people like myself in a biracial marriage with a biracial child” as well s the LGBTQ community and those of different political viewpoints. “We all bleed red,” he says.
The district is 5% more Republican than in the past, and was already heavily conservative. But Houlahan, an avid hiker and mountain biker says, “We all love our open spaces and I want to protect them. When there is a fire…it burns everyone.” He says he was raised in the district, adding, “I love this district…and I care for everyone.”
He believes many no-party voters and some Republicans, as well as Democrats and those in other parties “are reasonable” and want to protect a right to privacy, reproductive rights, and “if you have a child, we should be supporting with childcare tax breaks,” which Issa voted against. “Why did we allow children to go back to poverty?” he asks. He criticized Darrell Issa for voting against the COVID relief funds, then taking six figures of relief money for his own business. “He voted against children. He voted against capping insulin at $25 a vial. …He does not represent us.”
Houlahan says he’s cared for many people in the district in his 25 years as a nurse in Sharp Healthcare. “I’ve probably cared for your family members…It’s not about political ideology,” he says of the Congressional race. “It’s about doing the right thing, and that’s what I’m going to do when I get into office.”
You can learn more about Stephen Houlahan’s candidacy by visiting his website at https://electhoulahan.com/.
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