Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat, told local supporters that the $3 trillion HEROES Act was a “Democratic wish list” that could hurt her reelection chances in her Orange County district.
During a livestreamed online meeting hosted by the Tustin Democratic Club on Tuesday, Porter spoke about political tactics surrounding the proposed coronavirus aid package, which would provide $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers, and a new round of cash payments to individuals. The proposal passed the House narrowly, pushed through by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but received a cold shoulder in the Republican-majority Senate.
“The HEROES Act is dead on arrival. There was no bipartisan negotiation here and no effort at bipartisan negotiation, which I also think is problematic,” Porter said. “It’s not to say that we could’ve gotten there. It’s not to say that the Republicans would’ve agreed with our priorities. But I do not think it is a good look in a time of national crisis to act in a strictly partisan way. I don’t like it when Donald Trump does it, and I don’t like it when Nancy Pelosi does it.”
Porter won her Orange County-based district in 2018, when it was one of seven California seats House Democrats picked up in 2018 to claim their first majority in eight years. While the area has moved away from its Republican roots, the House GOP’s campaign arm is still making a concerted effort to defeat Porter, a former University of California, Irvine Law School professor.
As for the HEROES Act, she told Tustin Democrats, “I did find myself on the House floor thinking that my Republican colleagues who said, ‘This bill is a Democratic wish list written by a handful of Democrats and shoved down the throats of the rest of the Congress,’ I often don’t think that they have any point — I think they had a real point about this bill. So, the bill is going nowhere.”
Porter, 46, also indicated she knew support for the bill could have political consequences for her.
“The way that we did this virtually guaranteed the bill was going to 1) die immediately and 2) that I would be hit with endless attacks about having supported a Democratic wish list with the most expensive government bill ever put out. It’s not a good look for someone like me in Orange County. It will make my reelection harder,” Porter said. “And it’s not even the best policy approach that we could’ve brought to the table. So, I voted for it.”
Porter voted against the rule that allowed the House to move to consideration of the HEROES Act, but she voted for the final passage of the measure. However, the California Democrat voted against the motion to recommit on the measure that banned direct payments to illegal immigrants.
In an email statement to the Washington Examiner’s inquiry regarding her remarks on Tuesday, Porter responded, “Local Republican and Democratic officials in my district agree: Federal help for our teachers, firefighters, and police officers is urgently needed. That’s why I led a bipartisan letter supporting this funding and voted for the Heroes Act, because it provides critical support to our state and local governments.”
While the measure would provide $1 trillion to state, local, municipal, and tribal governments, as well as $200 billion in “hazard pay” for front-line workers in places such as grocery stores and medical facilities, the bill also would repeal the state and local tax cap and includes $250 million in grants to help release formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as $10 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and $10 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
House Democrats passed the HEROES Act in a 208-199 vote, mainly along party lines with nearly no Republican support. Fourteen Democrats voted against the bill, while one Republican, Rep. Pete King of New York, voted for it.
Update: This article has been updated with Porter’s response to the Washington Examiner’s initial inquiry.
