Jenny Rae Le Roux, Redding business owner running in Gavin Newsom recall election

Name: Jenny Rae Le Roux

Political party: Republican

Residence: Redding

Occupation: Business owner, farmer, mother

Education: B.A. in Economics, University of Virginia; MBA, Columbia Business School

Experience: Jenny Rae Le Roux is an accomplished business owner and strategic advisor. After launching her career advising billion-dollar companies and government organizations at Bain Consulting, she co-built companies in the energy and financial services industries before purchasing a private tech-enabled services company. She is a frequent presenter at Harvard Business School and 60 other top institutions, and she has been quoted in Forbes, Business Insider, and other business publications.

Website: jennyraeca.com

What precautions, if any, should California continue to take to cope with COVID-19 and its variants?

I will simplify COVID decision-making and return freedom to Californians to live, work, and breathe again. The right metric to manage the COVID crisis is ICU capacity. If ICU capacity in a county approaches dangerously low levels from COVID occupancy, I will provide additional medical support and staffing resources to the affected area.

In addition, I support government-funded vaccine distribution and mask education. However, Californians need freedom to choose whether to wear masks and whether to get the vaccine; I oppose vaccine passports and mask mandates.

California provided significant cash support to individuals and small businesses who suffered during the pandemic, with billions of dollars allocated for rent relief and small-business grants. To what extent should that assistance continue?

I will free Californians to work again by fully reopening businesses and schools. As a working mother, my priority is a return to normal - for the whole family.

Small business assistance was helpful during early government-induced lockdowns. But now that the state is open, excessive unemployment benefits have created a small business labor crisis, forcing operating hour reductions despite high demand. I will end extended unemployment benefits to support small businesses.

Although short-term rent relief softens market shocks, long-term rent relief without stipulations duplicates unemployment payments, incentivizes fraud, and is expensive for taxpayers.

What more would you do to address California’s housing crisis?

I will free Californians to live by increasing our housing supply through reducing onerous building regulations, and by streamlining permitting so that California is a reasonable place to build.

Specifically, I will take action to lower development impact fees. My administration will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act); we must protect the environment without delaying the building of affordable homes that California so desperately needs. The act was amended to enable a billionaire to more quickly construct a new basketball arena in Sacramento; it should not hold up the construction of homes for the middle class.

What should California do to build up its middle class?

As governor, I will free the middle class to live, work, and breathe by improving affordability.

I will suspend gas tax increases, cut middle class taxes, reduce regulations that are stifling small businesses, introduce engineering and coding curriculum in public schools to train the workforce of the future, increase school choice, and solve our wildfire, water, and energy crises with infrastructure investments that benefit all Californians.

Would you propose any new policies to address climate change?

I will free California to breathe by investing in shared infrastructure to support the state for the next 50 years. Good emissions policy requires balance - balancing present and future needs, fish and farmers, and forest growth with forest management.

I will reduce emissions by importing less foreign fuel to California. I will stop the decommissioning of clean hydroelectric and nuclear power, and will increase natural gas production, which is safe, cheap, and clean.

In addition, I will invest in water storage, infrastructure, and desalination to provide more than enough water for families and agriculture despite worsening droughts.

Finally, I will improve forest management to a targeted 1 million acres per year, including prescribed burns, density clearing, and biomass permitting to limit the magnitude of wildfires, which are ruining our air quality. In addition, unified command will assist with forest fire suppression efforts, reducing the acres burned (and related emissions).

What should California do in the long term to address wildfire and drought conditions?

I will free California to breathe by acting quickly to manage wildfire and drought risks. As a farmer in an active wildfire area, solutions that work are personal for me.

California experiences the same average number of wildfires today as it did 40 years ago. Wildfires today are more destructive because we haven’t managed forests properly and tree and brush density are too high.

I will negotiate shared stewardship agreements so California can conduct prescribed burns on federal land, which makes up much of our 33 million acres of forests. I’ll also reduce logging regulations so companies can sustainably harvest forest wood - reducing fire risk and lowering housing costs by increasing lumber supply.

To address the drought, I will turn on the Delta pumps and stop flushing 50% of our water to the Pacific Ocean. Finally, I will improve water storage, update aging conveyance (we lose 8B gallons of water per year to leaky pipes), and invest in desalination and water recycling technology.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Jenny Rae Le Roux, Redding business owner running in Gavin Newsom recall election."