Standing Up for Democracy

American democracy is under assault as never before.  Mike Feuer is the only candidate in this race who has taken on Trump, stood up for democracy and against authoritarianism, and expanded voting rights in the face of Republican voter suppression. He will be in the forefront of the fight for democracy in Congress.

• When Trump imposed the Muslim Travel Ban, Mike raced to LAX, working long into the night to try to get the detainees released. Mike then immediately convened a team of lawyers to fight against numerous Trump Administration policies that threatened basic American values.
• Mike championed L.A.’s successful lawsuit to prevent the Trump Administration from requiring law enforcement to assist in civil immigration enforcement as a condition of receiving federal public safety grants—a policy which would have made all Angelenos less safe.
• Mike led Los Angeles, in coalition with leading public law offices across the United States, to bring challenges to Trump policies on DACA, Temporary Protected Status, the U.S. Census and much more.
• Mike wrote California’s same-day voter registration law, expanding voting rights in the teeth of national Republican voter suppression efforts.

Preventing Gun Violence

Mike is widely recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative and effective leaders in grappling with the public health and safety emergency of gun violence.  The Obama Administration invited Mike to the White House to speak to lawmakers from across the nation about how to make an effective impact on this crisis. Mike will take this leadership to a new level as a member of Congress.

• As a State and City lawmaker, Mike has written many of our most significant gun violence prevention laws.
  • Mike wrote L.A.’s ban on high-capacity magazines. He wrote the law combating illegal weapons trafficking by limiting the number of guns that could be purchased to one per month. He wrote laws requiring trigger locks to be sold with every weapon and prohibiting the purchase of easily concealable weapons.  Mike is the author of California’s landmark requirement that new semi-automatic guns be microstamped, to enable law enforcement to identify who purchased crime guns.
• Mike co-founded and co-chaired America’s first national coalition of prosecutors to combat gun violence. He led efforts to create a state-by-state blueprint for disarming domestic abusers, prevent people who are mentally unstable from having access to guns and oppose national legislation to dramatically expand the number of people allowed to carry concealed weapons in public.
• Mike created the City Attorney’s Gun Violence Prevention Unit, leading L.A.’s efforts to disarm domestic abusers. He led his team to prevent guns from getting into the hands of criminals and kids, promoting safe gun storage and prosecuting adults when children brought guns found at home to school. Mike expanded efforts to target properties that were the source of guns and drugs in neighborhoods.

• With Everytown for Gun Safety, Mike led litigation against a major manufacturer and distributor of untraceable ghost gun parts and kits. The result dramatically curtailed its dangerous practices.
• In the wake of the Parkland school shooting tragedy, Mike convened L.A.’s first Blue-Ribbon Panel on School Safety, issuing thirty-three recommendations on how to make L.A. schools safer.

Mike was named Gun Violence Prevention Legislator of the Year by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.  He received the Courageous Leadership Award from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Courageous Leadership Award from Women Against Gun Violence.  The Legal Community Against Gun Violence honored him with its Outstanding Leadership Award.  Mike received the Angel of Peace Award from the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles.

Fighting for Women’s Reproductive Rights

Mike has the strongest record of any candidate in this race in fighting for women’s reproductive rights and will continue this leadership as a staunch advocate for reproductive choice in Congress, including supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act.

• Mike has personally defended women’s clinics against anti-choice activists trying to block women from getting access to reproductive health care, including abortions.
• He is the only California official who enforced the Reproductive FACT Act, requiring crisis pregnancy centers to inform their patients about their full reproductive health care rights, including abortion. The National Abortion Rights League applauded Mike’s leadership.
• Mike then proposed and wrote L.A.’s law cracking down on misrepresentations by crisis pregnancy centers.
• He led Los Angeles to join the fight in the U.S. Supreme Court against abortion restrictions.

Tackling Our Climate Crisis and Preserving and Protecting our Environment

Mike has been one of California’s most consequential leaders on key environmental issues.  None is more important than tackling our climate crisis.  Mike is a strong supporter of the Green New Deal and will champion a bold array of actions to meet our climate emergency when he is elected.

• With methane among the most potent greenhouse gases, Mike brought successful, cutting-edge litigation against SoCal Gas over the Aliso Canyon methane leak, the largest methane disaster in American history.
• With the climate crisis threatening California’s water supply, Mike wrote landmark water conservation legislation.
• To get polluting cars off the road and commuters into public transit, Mike wrote the law authorizing Measure R, approved by the voters to fund billions of dollars to build the subway and light rail and fund major bus projects in the L.A. region.
• Mike wrote what was the nation’s most comprehensive state legislation to protect the public from toxics in consumer products.
• Mike played a key role in resolving a decades-long dispute between Los Angeles and the Owens Valley, resulting in saving vast quantities of water and protecting Valley air quality.
• Mike has led numerous environmental justice efforts, including successful litigation against an oil production facility in an underserved community, litigation against a scrap metal company when shards of metal threatened a neighboring high school, efforts to combat illegal dumping and numerous other actions.
• Mike has secured funds to preserve open space in the Santa Monica Mountains and the green a portion of the LA River.

Sierra Club California honored Mike with its Byron Sher Award for Outstanding Public Service.  The California League of Conservation Voters presented Mike with its Environmental Champion Award and its Legislative Leadership Award.  Mike was named Legislator of the Year by the Planning and Conservation League and received the Legislative Leadership award from the Metropolitan Water District.  Mike was named Legislator of the Year by the Western Basin Water District, was honored as State Traffic Fighter of the Year by Building L.A.’s Future and received the Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership from the Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative.

Protecting Consumers and Vulnerable Residents

Mike has taken on Wall Street and has an award-winning record of advocacy for consumers and vulnerable residents.  He will be a leader in this fight in Congress.

• Mike took on Wall Street with his groundbreaking lawsuit against Wells Fargo over the fake accounts scandal, holding the Bank accountable with the largest financial resolution in the history of the L.A. City Attorney’s office, changing banking practices and expanding consumer rights.
• In the midst of the Great Recession, Mike was a joint author of California’s Homeowners Bill of Rights. He has written laws to protect seniors from losing their life insurance and low-income consumers from being ripped off by buy-here, pay-here car dealers.
• Mike served as Executive Director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, providing free legal services to more than 50,000 elderly, disabled and indigent clients confronting unlawful eviction, the loss of their health care, consumer scams, nursing home abuse and neglect and other crucial issues.
• Mike has led countless successful consumer protection actions, going after fake tests, preventions and cures during the COVID pandemic, and targeting price gouging of essential items. He led lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, vaping companies over marketing to children, and legal action targeting fraud victimizing immigrants.
• To protect low-income workers, Mike led successful cases over back wages and changed industry practices in numerous actions over alleged wage theft and worker misclassification.

Mike was named Legislator of the Year by the Consumer Federation, the Consumer Attorneys of California and the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego.  He received the George Moscone Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service from the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles.  He was name Assemblyman of the Year by the Center for Public Interest Law and has been named one of California’s 100 Most Influential Attorneys by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Advancing Health in Our Community

Mike believes health care should be a right, not a privilege, and has been an innovative leader on key public health initiatives.

• Before the Affordable Care Act, children with pre-existing medical conditions were denied health insurance coverage.  So, Mike wrote California’s law requiring insurers to cover those kids.
• Mike has led numerous efforts to improve women’s access to reproductive health.
• In the California State Assembly, Mike was a co-author of legislation to establish a single-payer health care system.
• Mike wrote what was the comprehensive state law in the nation to protect the public from cancer-causing chemicals in consumer products.
• Mike initiated a program to provide therapy to kids exposed to gun violence, to prevent them from suffering potentially permanent damage to their brain development.
• During the COVID pandemic, Mike led actions targeting fake tests, preventions and cures, and to make essential items more widely available by targeting price gouging.
• Mike wrote California’s law to assist victims of traumatic brain injury to obtain improved services.
• To reduce injuries and fatalities from drunk driving, Mike wrote California’s law requiring ignition interlocks be installed in the cars of first-time DUI offenders, preventing cars from starting unless their drivers are sober.
• Mike established the Healthy Alternative to Smoking Trust Fund in Los Angeles, to expand access to healthy recreational options in underserved communities.
• He wrote legislation requiring nursing homes to post their quality-of-care ratings, and led the successful effort to preserve the California program that investigates nursing home abuse and neglect.
• Mike has led numerous consumer protection efforts tied to public health, leading to the reformulation of prenatal vitamins, dramatic changes to vaping company marketing towards kids, and new resources to grapple with the opioid crisis.

The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform awarded Mike a Certificate of Appreciation for Promoting Access to Legal Services and Quality of Care in Nursing Homes.  The Los Angeles County Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Policy Coalition honored Mike with its Award for Legislation Protecting Children and Families of Los Angeles. Mike was named Legislator of the Year by the California Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Protection and Advocacy honored Mike with it Award for Outstanding Advocacy on Behalf of the Disabled Community.

Creating and Preserving Safe and Affordable Housing

It’s crucial that the L.A. region expands its supply of housing that is affordable and safe.  Most kids who grow up here won’t be able to afford a home, or even an apartment, in the L.A. area.  Mike has led efforts to help make housing more affordable and safer and will build on those efforts in Congress.

• Mike is the co-author of L.A.’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and chaired the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Trust Fund.
• As L.A. City Attorney, Mike successfully combatted substandard housing conditions and sued owners attempting to replace affordable housing with short-term rentals.
• At Bet Tzedek, Mike created the Housing Conditions Action Team to target slumlords and uninhabitable housing conditions. There he also led representation of tens of thousands of individuals facing eviction and helped owners rebuild after the Northridge Earthquake.
• As a legislator, Mike was a joint author of the California Homeowners’ Bill of Rights, working closely with then-Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Mike received the Justice Award [for leadership on affordable housing] from the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice.  He received the Legal Excellence Award from Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles and the Katherine Krause Award from the Inner City Law Center.

Tackling the Homelessness Crisis

Mike went far beyond the traditional role of the L.A. City Attorney to tackle the region’s homelessness crisis and will bring this passion, innovation and experience to Capitol Hill.  Indeed, when Mayor Karen Bass endorsed Mike for Congress, she highlighted the role Mike will play on this emergency in the House of Representatives.  Even without any direct policymaking or budgetary authority over homelessness, Mike:

• Led an aggressive campaign against homeless patient dumping, with multiple successful lawsuits against healthcare providers for allegedly unlawfully discharging homeless patients to the streets.
• Established the LA DOOR program, sending mobile teams including a nurse, mental health expert, substance abuse expert and formerly incarcerated caseworker to some of L.A.’s grittiest encampments to connect homeless substance abusers to vital services and housing.
• Established the HEART program, a series of clinics removing fines, warrants and citations that were impeding access to jobs, services and housing from the records of homeless people in exchange for establishing connections to key homeless services.
• Led the creation of a misdemeanor mental health program, connecting low-level offenders with serious mental issues to services that address underlying conditions.
• Led the establishment of Operation Clean Slate, connecting non-violent, low-level offenders to services in lieu of punishment.
• Led an effort to convert motels into homeless housing and oversaw efforts to place occupants of homeless encampments into housing instead of living on the streets.

Mike also led in calling for the homelessness crisis to be treated as an official emergency, with a single accountable authority overseeing L.A.’s response.  In a January, 2018, Los Angeles Times opinion piece entitled, “L.A. Needs A Homeless Czar,” Mike wrote, “When the next major earthquake strikes, we’ll have the leadership we need. A top official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will aggressively oversee the federal response to the crisis, coordinating closely with local leaders. Why aren’t we addressing our homelessness crisis with the same degree of urgency?”  Today L.A. is operating under a homelessness state of emergency.

Frustrated with the pace of progress by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Mike called for a performance audit of that agency to establish a practical plan for reducing homelessness, with measurable goals and outcomes.

For this leadership, Mike has received the Community Service Award from the Weingart Center for the Homeless.  Mike previously received a Courage Award from the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness.

Improving Public Education, School Safety, Education Equity and the Lives of Children and Families

The son of a lifelong public educator and the parent of two children who graduated from L.A. public schools, Mike is a strong advocate for public school equity, education quality, school safety and the interests of children and families.

• Mike played an instrumental role in successfully resolving Williams v. California, the most significant education equity case in a generation. The case resulted in significant new resources for low-income kids of color who had less access to books, decent facilities and experienced teachers than other students.

• In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shootings, Mike convened the Blue-Ribbon Panel on School Safety, an expert panel which conducted public hearings throughout Los Angeles, elicited hundreds of comments from students, teachers and parents, and reported 33 specific recommendations to improve school safety to LAUSD board.

• On the City Council, Mike created READ LA, a partnership with the school district, community colleges, state colleges and others to improve literacy among elementary school students from households where English is not the first language.

• Mike led efforts to expand library hours and fund library cards for every elementary student and played a key role in developing the first accord between the City and the school district to allow for joint use of school playgrounds during after-school hours, enhancing the role of schools as centers of community life.

• Mike wrote California’s law requiring health insurance companies to cover kids with pre-existing conditions.

• He created the REACH Program to intervene with children traumatized by gun violence and prevent them from suffering lifelong impairment to their brain development.

• Mike spurred the City to eliminate lead paint in park and recreation sites.

• Mike led the City effort to create boundless playgrounds, fully accessible to disabled children.

• Mike led the creation of L.A.’s first childcare program for non-traditional evening hours.

• Mike also led the City’s efforts to develop a youth sports gender equity program.

Mike received the Education Advocacy Award from the ACLU for his work in helping resolve the landmark case of Williams v. California. He was honored with the Anne Finn Public Service Award from New Directions for Youth. Mike received the Leaf Award from the Children’s Nature Institute, and the Award for Legislation Protecting Children and Families of Los Angeles County from the Los Angeles County Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Policy Coalition. Shane’s Inspiration gave Mike its Community Leadership Award for his work to establish boundless playgrounds in Los Angeles where kids of all abilities can play.

Ensuring Access to Justice, Advancing Criminal Justice Reform and Increasing Public Safety

Mike is deeply committed to equity and fairness in the justice system.  He has been one of California’s prominent and impactful leaders in advancing access to justice, promoting criminal justice reform, and increasing public safety.

• Mike chaired the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee and wrote the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act to expand access to free legal services. He also wrote the state law reducing court fees for indigent individuals.

• Inspired after he intervened during an emergency to help rescue a family whose truck had overturned on a busy L.A. freeway, Mike wrote California’s law encouraging Good Samaritans to intercede in emergencies.

• Mike reduced drunk driving in California by authoring a law requiring ignition interlocks for first-time DUI offenders.

• Mike was a leader in establishing the L.A. Justice Fund to help indigent immigrants secure legal representation. He co-led LA Represents to expand access to legal services during COVID.

• As L.A. City Attorney, Mike created the Community Justice Initiative, multiple programs that reduced recidivism and turned offenders’ lives around, including the widely recognized Neighborhood Justice Program. He also established initiatives to combat human trafficking and expanded enforcement of target properties that house guns, gangs, and drugs.

• Mike served as Executive Director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, providing free legal assistance to more than 50,000 indigent clients.

Mike has been extensively honored for this leadership.  He was named Prosecutor of the Year by the Los Angeles County Bar Association Criminal Justice Section.  Loyola Law School’s Fidler Institute also named Mike, Prosecutor of the Year.  The Judicial Council of California presented Mike with the Stanley Mosk Defender of Justice Award.  The Conference of California Bar Associations gave Mike its Outstanding Service Award.  The Civil Justice Association of California honored Mike with its Civil Justice Leadership Award.  Mike was named Legislator of the Year by the Bench-Bar Coalition of the California State Bar Association.  Mike received the President’s Award from the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.  The Southern California Mediation Association gave Mike its Cloke-Miller Peacemaker of the Year Award.  Mike received the Legal Excellence Award from Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles, and the Katharine Krause Award from Inner City Law Center.  Bet Tzedek Legal Services gave Mike its Rose L. Schiff Commitment to Justice Award. The Los Angeles Daily Journal named Mike one of California’s 100 Most Influential Attorneys.  Mike has also received awards from the Iranian-American Bar Association, the Arab-American Lawyers of Southern California and the Korean Community Lawyers Association, among many other honors.

Protecting Senior Citizens’ Rights

Mike has been one of California’s leading advocates for senior citizens and will fight in Congress to protect Social Security and Medicare.

• Mike served as Executive Director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, providing free legal services to more than 50,000 elderly, disabled and indigent clients at risk of losing their homes or the health care, suffering abuse or neglect in nursing homes, being ripped off in consumer scams and more.
• Mike wrote the law requiring nursing homes to post their quality-of-care ratings.
• He led the successful effort to preserve the California program that investigates nursing home abuse and neglect.
• Mike wrote laws preventing seniors from inadvertently losing their life insurance and expanding protections for seniors considering reverse mortgages.
• He led the effort to fund 75,000 additional home delivered meals to vulnerable seniors in Los Angeles.
• Mike created and funded L.A.’s elder abuse coordinator and led efforts to fund emergency transit vouchers for frail seniors.

The Congress of California Seniors gave Mike its True Friend of Seniors award.  Mike received the Henry Mello Award from the California Senior Legislature.  Mike was honored with the Sheldon W. Andelson Award from Alternative Living for the Aging.  He received the Fammy Award from Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.  Mike received the Rose L. Schiff Commitment to Justice Award from Bet Tzedek.  California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform awarded Mike its Certificate of Appreciation for Promoting Access to Legal Services and Quality of Care in Nursing Homes.

Standing Up for LGBTQ+ Rights, Fighting for Equality and Combating Discrimination

Mike has one of California’s most distinctive records as a leading advocate for and an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, fighting for equality for all individuals. In Congress, he will strongly support the Equality Act and other measures to promote equality and oppose discrimination.

• Mike led L.A.to support marriage equality in the U.S. Supreme Court. His L.A. City Attorney’s Office wrote the Supreme Court brief on behalf of 226 cities and counties and the Conference of Mayors.
• In the California Supreme Court, Mike led 65 state legislators to oppose Prop 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage.
• Mike co-authored California resolutions calling for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
• Mike wrote California’s law providing important financial protections to same-sex spouses and registered domestic partners.
• As L.A. City Attorney, Mike led L.A. to opposed discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Mike led the prosecution of anti-Trans hate and spearheaded efforts to combat alleged anti-transgender practices by a leading ridesharing company.
• In the 1990s, Mike spearheaded L.A. City Council action to block the Boy Scouts from using City facilities because of their anti-LGBTQ+ policies.

For his achievements on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, Equality California honored Mike with its Legislative Leadership Award.  Equality California consistently gave Mike 100% scores as a state legislator.