Shahid Buttar
- Office: Congress, District 11
- Election Date: June 7, 2022
- Candidate: Shahid Buttar
- Due Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
- Printable Version
Thank you for seeking GrowSF's endorsement for the June 7, 2022 primary election! GrowSF believes in a growing, vibrant, healthy, safe, and prosperous San Francisco via common sense solutions and effective government.
The GrowSF endorsement committee will review all completed questionnaires and seek consensus on which candidates best align with our vision for San Francisco and have the expertise to enact meaningful policy changes.
We ask that you please complete this questionnaire by Monday, April 11, 2022 so we have enough time to adequately review and discuss your answers.
Table of Contents
Vision
GrowSF believes in a growing, beautiful, vibrant, healthy, safe, and prosperous San Francisco. We work to propose and pass laws that align incentives of private businesses and individuals to promote shared prosperity for every San Franciscan.
As a candidate for federal office, your day-to-day responsibilities in office will affect not just San Francisco, but California and the United States as a whole. As a representative of the people of California and of San Francisco, the policies you bring to Washington should reflect the best of what we have to offer.
This section of our questionnaire seeks to help us gain an understanding of your alignment with our vision for San Francisco. Note that some of the questions may be outside the scope of the office you're running for.
Short-form questions
Please mark the box that best aligns with your position. You may explain any position if you so desire, but this section is designed to be a quick overview of your governing philosophy and view of the problems of the city, state, and/or country.
If you are not familiar with San Francisco in particular, feel free to skip the questions about it. But please do answer the questions about state and federal policy.
Small Business
| In San Francisco, in general, is it too hard, just right, or too easy to… | Too hard | Just right | Too easy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open a new businesses | x | ||
| Run a business | x | ||
| Hire staff at a living wage | x | ||
| Obtain various licenses (liquor, entertainment, etc) | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
At the federal level in Congress, the most important thing we can do to support small business will be to enact Medicare for All in order to allow entrepreneurs to start businesses without the threat of catastrophic medical debt looming over their shoulders. I'd also like to strengthen antitrust enforcement in a number of ways, to protect small businesses from predation from larger competitors.
| Should the state or federal government have more say, the same say, less say, or the same amount but of a different variety on… | More say | Same amount | Less say | Same, but different |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small business creation | x | |||
| Rules & permitting fees enacted by cities and states | x | |||
| Corporate tax policy | x | |||
| Tax incentives for high tech, green tech, or other desirable industries | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
Ultimately, the federal government is primarily responsible for corporate taxation—and failing miserably at enforcing it. We'd like to see corporate America pay its fair share, and for cities and states to have adequate leeway to provide more for their communities beyond the federal baseline.
Housing
| In San Francisco, in general, is it too hard, just right, or too easy to… | Too hard | Just right | Too easy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expand your home (adding new stories, rooms, decks, etc) | x | ||
| Demolish your home and redevelop it into multifamily housing | x | ||
| Redevelop things like parking lots and single-story commercial into multifamily housing | x | ||
| Build subsidized Affordable housing | x | ||
| Build market-rate housing | x | ||
| Build homeless shelters (including navigation centers and "tiny homes") | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
The red tape surrounding new housing construction is choking the housing market. At the same time, the market incentives before property developers ensure that the housing that will be built—if left to the market's devices—will emphasize luxury studios and 1 bedrooms poorly suited to families. We'd like to make sure that San Francisco can be a city for all people to thrive, by making federal resources available to take properties off the market for local communities to manage as affordable housing under federal ownership.
| Should the state or federal government have more say, the same say, less say, or the same amount but of a different variety on… | More say | Same amount | Less say | Same, but different |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoning | x | |||
| Taxes and fees on homebuilders | x | |||
| Oversight of cities' housing policies | x | |||
| Building subsidized Affordable housing | x | |||
| Building market-rate housing | x | |||
| Building homeless shelters | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
I propose to repeal the Faircloth Amendment in order to enable the federal government to once again invest in public housing, and to direct federal dollars towards a new model of social housing accountable to local communities. This model will go further than neoliberal interventions based on conceding commoditized housing markets.
One particular position that unites YIMBYs and NIMBYs is the need for federal reinvestment in the existing model for affordable housing. Because the budget for the Community Development Block Grant program has collapsed over the past generation, there are substantial opportunities to curtail the urban housing crisis around the country by simply restoring the previous budget levels from the 1980s.
Public Safety
| In San Francisco, in general, is it too hard, just right, or too easy to… | Too hard | Just right | Too easy |
|---|---|---|---|
| File a police report | x | ||
| Recover a stolen item like a bike or laptop computer | x | ||
| Arrest & prosecute criminals | x | ||
| File a domestic violence or rape report | x | ||
| Charge & prosecute domestic violence or rape | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
I'm aware of how traditional policing aims to protect property before communities, and how SFPD has a track record of lethal state violence, as well as documented racism. In that context, my primary goal in the public safety discussion is to ensure that our neighbors with darker skin also feel safe. To that end, we developed a 20-point platform to transform criminal justice in 2018, parts of which were ultimately included in the Justice in Policing Act that passed the House in 2020.
| Should the state or federal government have more say, the same say, less say, or the same amount but of a different variety on… | More say | Same amount | Less say | Same, but different |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal justice administration at the state or city level | x | |||
| Police funding | x | |||
| Rehabilitation of prisoners | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
On the one hand, I'd like to see the federal government take a step back from policing, particularly in the form of restricting and ending the practice of distributing used military gear and surveillance equipment to local departments. On the other hand, I support the federal government stepping forward in terms of providing services—and resources—to reduce recidivism.
Education
| In San Francisco, in general, is it too hard, just right, or too easy to… | Too hard | Just right | Too easy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attend a school of your choosing | x | ||
| Transport children to school | x | ||
| Hire teachers | x | ||
| Fire teachers | x | ||
| Set public education curriculum | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
Teachers have been vilified in our city for seeking workplace safety. They're public servants, heroes, and deserve to be protected.
In addition, given the number of private schools in our city in which teachers are not unionized, they remain at substantial risk of arbitrary retaliation should they speak out about issues in their schools that impact their students.
| Should the state or federal government have more say, the same say, less say, or the same amount but of a different variety on… | More say | Same amount | Less say | Same, but different |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standardized education curricula | x | |||
| Public School funding | x | |||
| Private Schools | x | |||
| Religious Schools | x | |||
| Staffing levels | x | |||
| Advanced, remedial, or special needs education | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
I've argued against states rights when we were establishing LGBTQ marriage equality, while recognizing the importance of local autonomy in education if only to respect values like inclusion & diversity.
Education falls to the states with generally good reason, though resources for students with special needs and under-resourced public school districts across the country should be a higher budget priority than it has been under our bipartisan neoliberal Congress.
Budget
| Do you think San Francisco spends too little, too much, or just enough on… | Too little | Just enough | Enough, but badly | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police and public safety | x | |||
| Street cleanliness | x | |||
| Homeless services | x | |||
| Affordable housing | x | |||
| Parks | x | |||
| Roads | x | |||
| Bus, bike, train, and other public transit infrastructure | x | |||
| Schools | x | |||
| Medical facilities | x | |||
| Drug prevention and treatment | x | |||
| Arts | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
| Do you think the state or federal governments spend too little, too much, or just enough on… | Too little | Just enough | Enough, but badly | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police and public safety | x | |||
| Street cleanliness | x | |||
| Homeless services | x | |||
| Affordable housing | x | |||
| Parks | x | |||
| Roads | x | |||
| Bus, bike, train, and other public transit infrastructure | x | |||
| Schools | x | |||
| Medical facilities | x | |||
| Drug prevention and treatment | x | |||
| Arts | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
What are the top three issues facing San Francisco, California, or the Nation and what would you like to see change?
Especially during the pandemic, few issues loom larger than healthcare. I'd like to enact Medicare for All in order to end the era of copays, premiums, and deductibles, as well as medical debt categorically. Doing so will reduce overall costs and improve public health outcomes.
Climate justice is another issue that requires collective action, in the form of the Green New Deal. Its vision for 100% renewable energy is crucial, as is the federal jobs guarantee and just transition envisioned to bring workers along. In addition, we must nationalize the fossil fuel industry in order to subject extraction to democratic decision-making, and to make shared decisions to ramp down petroleum production in order to guard the future.
Finally, I aim to end the corporate corruption of Congress, and am proud to have helped force the current controversy that forced a hearing on various reform proposals in early April 2022. We analyzed the bills that had been proposed before the hearing in an explainer video viewed over 50,000 times.
Tell us one thing you think needs to change in San Francisco, California, or the Nation that the average voter wouldn't know about.
Americans are increasingly alarmed at the judicial activism of the right-wing Supreme Court. Even though the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson offers a long overdue counterpoint to the appointees who preceded her, the Court remains poised to lay waste to fundamental rights from reproductive liberty to access to justice.
In this context, calls have proliferated to expand the Court, especially from voices who have not contemplated the predictable outcome: reducing the Court to a political football reflecting whatever majority holds the House. That vision would only undermine judicial independence.
In order to guard fundamental rights while promoting judicial independence, I proposed to end judicial life tenure back in 2010, and stand by the idea today. Figures including Ro Khanna and Andrew Yang have signed on, recognizing the need to force long overdue turnover on the bench.
Policy
Now that we know where you align and differ from our vision for San Francisco, we'd like to get some details about how you intend to use your elected office to achieve your goals.
Why are you running for Congress?
I'm running to represent San Francisco in Washington to continue the work I've done as a non-profit leader, policy advocate, direct action organizer, and movement artist for 20 years. Time and again, I've watched our city's voice in Congress side with Wall Street and the Pentagon over San Francisco and our visionary culture. Having gnashed my teeth at Pelosi's conservative gatekeeping for over a decade, I had enough in 2018 and was compelled to offer San Francisco an alternative.
What is your #1 policy goal?
Expanding human rights to include healthcare, housing, and food.
How will you build the coalition and political capital to enact your #1 goal?
We already have bipartisan majorities across the country favoring universal healthcare. The most crucial step to enabling that policy is removing the corporate Speaker of the House from Congress.
Will the power of the office of Congressmember be enough to achieve this goal?
Alone, legislators are largely powerless. In coalition, however, they assert tremendous influence. There's no question that Congress has the constitutional authority to mandate policies like Medicare for All, social housing, and universal breakfast programs at schools. With the political winds already favoring universal healthcare, I'm eager to continue expanding that consensus to include other basic human needs.
What are your #2 and #3 policy goals?
Securing climate justice by helping develop and enact the Green New Deal, dismantle the military-industrial complex helping to drive climate change, and nationalize the fossil fuel industry.
End the corporate corruption of Congress invited and entrenched by congressional insider trading.
Will the power of the office of Congressmember be enough to achieve these goals?
Alone, legislators are largely powerless. In coalition, however, they assert tremendous influence, and there's no question that Congress has the authority to mandate policies like Medicare for All, social housing, and universal breakfast programs at schools.
What is an existing policy you would like to reform?
I would like to amend the Freedom of Information Act to require government agencies to more specifically describe the potential harm to legitimate interests weighing against disclosure when choosing to deny requests. At the moment, the law includes too many exemptions that effectively invite agencies to hide facts that threaten not national security, but rather the job security of a particular official or contractor.
What is an "out there" change that you would make to state/local government policy, if you could? (For example: changing how elections work, creating a Bay Area regional government, etc.)
I would like to substantially restrict inheritance by eliminating the estate tax entirely and introducing sharply progressive taxes on the receipt of gifts. I explained in my first law review article 20 years ago how this reform would advance both the market and radical redistribution at the same time by eliminating indefensible intergenerational entitlements that have long entrenched social classes and preserved dynastic privilege.
Personal
Tell us a bit about yourself!
How long have you lived in California? What brought you here and what keeps you here?
I moved to California in 2000 to go to law school at Stanford, and left shortly after I graduated to fight the right wing in Washington under Bush. I returned to SF frequently, and lived here in between jobs in Washington over the next 20 years.
What do you love most about California and/or your hometown?
Counterculture. As a musician and activist committed to timeless values, I see San Francisco's role in our nation's culture as entirely unique and without equal. It is also painfully absent in Washington.
What do you dislike the most about California and/or your hometown?
My hometown (Rosebud, an hour outside St. Louis, MO) felt provincial growing up, and while San Francisco is on the one hand quintessentially cosmopolitan, it is also remarkably parochial and insular in ways that sadly remind me of Rosebud.
Tell us about your current involvement in the community (e.g., volunteer groups, neighborhood associations, civic and professional organizations, etc.)
In 2003, I started an outdoor open mic that has happened every week at the corner of 16th & Mission for the past 19 years. I've also advised the Coalition for a Safe SF, and advocated for the passage of the 2019 surveillance ordinance as the Grassroots Advocacy Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I have also served on the Boards of organizations including Defending Rights and Dissent, the Fund for Constitutional Government, and the Center for Media Justice.
Thank you
Thank you for giving us your time and answering our questionnaire. We look forward to reading your answers and considering your candidacy!
Thank YOU for the opportunity to share my views, and for bringing people together to engage the political process! I look forward to representing you in Washington.
If you see any errors on this page, please let us know at contact@growsf.org.