Chico Chamber 2026 Congressional Candidate Forum | James Gallagher

As part of the Chico Chamber of Commerce's 2026 Congressional Candidate Forum series, hear directly from congressional candidate James Gallagher as he shares his background, priorities, and vision for the future of California's North State.

To learn more about the Chico Chamber of Commerce and its work supporting local businesses and the community, visit the Chico Chamber of Commerce website.

👉 Watch the live video recorded episode here

https://youtu.be/wG15HXcsngk?si=tloCe0O3WrScad4C

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Mr. Gallagher. Welcome. Thank you for being here for the Chamber of Commerce 2026 Congressional Candidate Forum. We're looking forward to talking to you today. Awesome. Thanks for having me. This is Dorian. I'm a business owner here in downtown Chico. I was raised in this community. I'm here with some wonderful people today. I'll pass it around for some introductions.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Uh yeah. Good uh morning, James. Uh Mark Breckinridge, uh local business owner, farmer, and uh Chico Chamber Comber uh member and board of director.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

And uh Brandon Slater, um, past chair of the Chamber of Commerce, uh, also owner of Slater and Sun Construction.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

And I know you guys, so like you know, no need for a big intro. For our guests.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Awesome. But for the big intro, I think we'll kick it to you. Uh, would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself, why you're running, and uh who you are, your family and whatnot.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

Yeah, uh, well, so James Gallagher um likewise grew up in this area, um, you know, in the Sacramento Valley. I love this area. My I'm a sixth-generation Californian. Uh, you know, my you know, ancestors came here because this was the the California dream. This was the place to be, and uh, and and uh we liked it, I guess. So so we stayed. Um and uh I've served in uh public office for twelve you know twelve years now in the state assembly, uh representing this area. Uh I've you know loved every minute of that. You know, not that there wasn't certain frustrating parks, especially in Sacramento, but uh but I I I've loved that uh you know ability to be a voice uh for our people and and all the communities that I represent uh and try and you know find positive ways forward, you know, for those uh for those people. And so I've enjoyed doing that. Uh I'm now running for Congress uh and you know, wasn't expecting that. We you know lost our congressman Doug Lamalfa uh earlier this year, and you know that was that's been really tough. Yeah, he was a mentor of mine and somebody that I did a lot of work with uh you know on all these issues, served together. Um so but I ultimately decided that I, you know, that I needed to step up and and uh and fill that void, fill that gap. And so I've been on the campaign trail now for uh you know four months now. And uh and it's been good. You know, uh I've been really just listening to people. Uh I think also the other thing that people should know about me is you know, family man myself. I'm you know married to my wife Jana, uh coming up on 23 years. Uh we have five children, um you know, ranging from 18 to 9. So uh you know, it's always crazy, but it's good. And we and again, I just think like a lot of families in this uh in this region were you know want want something better for the next generation. So uh you know that's a that's a big focus as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Six generations.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Wow, what kind of perspective does that give you being here for so long?

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Um, you know, I I look, I I think that um whether you've been here you know multiple generations or you just came here, I think you really you fall in love with this place. You know, Tom Van Overbeck, you know, city councilman uh in Chico tells that story about how he you know when he first came here, it just reminded him so much of growing up in Modesto, you know. And and I think we've always really had that, like especially in a lot of our communities, uh, you know, Chico and and so many others, uh is it still feels like a small town. Um you know, there's a lot of connectedness, there's a lot of uh, you know, businesses that have been around, and and and so look, I think it gives me that perspective of like how how everything really is connected and how there's been a lot of you know legacy built into these communities too. Um and I think that's something worth preserving and and worth really building upon, right? I mean, I think it gives us a really good foundation, and and so that's something I've always been really proud to be part of.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

So what what what did you do or what do you do or what did you used to do before you had a whole bunch of kids and uh became a politician and all of that w for fun? Um what do you mean I still have fun?

SPEAKER_03 4:34

It's not like I don't have fun. Um I I love to fish, that's one thing. Like so, I mean, uh, you know, I grew up fly fishing, learned to fly fish actually, you know, up out of Megalia on the west branch of the Feather River. Love it. Uh my uh my dad and and and like his best friend, um, you know, always went up there in the summers. And and so, you know, one of my so one of my fondest memories is as a kid is going up there and fly fishing and catching, hopefully catching that brown in the in the big dark hole up there. And uh yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Oh no, my in-laws have uh, you know, there's like about six cabins uh just past the turnoff for Philbrook on the West Branch there, and my in-laws are the second cabin there, so I've fished uh I learned how to fit fly fish on that same same creek.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

So my six-year-old just caught her first bluegill at Horseshoe Lake. Ah, that's weekend. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's great.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

See the connectedness, yeah. Yeah, that's and so people share those experiences. Um I so I do love to fish. That's something I like to do for fun. Um you know, before I got into politics, you know, I'm an attorney and uh and also a farmer. And so, you know, we you know work the land. A lot of my clients are farmers and small business people. Um, so you know, that's something I've always had a passion for as well. And and the outdoors, you know, just like uh, you know, also a hunter as well. And um, you know, if I can be out outside, you know, hiking around, getting out into sort of the the backcountry, that's that's definitely a good day for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

It's a man after my own heart right there. Uh James, so you know, being from a farm family and a lawyer, also, what you know got you on to wanna especially like on the l from the local level to where you're at now, what who inspired you to get into the political realm?

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Uh my grandfather, you know, is probably the first person that comes to mind. Um, you know, growing up, he was uh he was actually a Democrat. He grew up as a Democrat. Um and the story he would tell is that actually, I guess during the the second uh Pat Brown administration, he decided that he was a Republican. Um and and he was a Reagan Republican, essentially, like you know, he he really liked Ronald Reagan, um, you know, uh was really inspired by him. And so I growing up, my my grandfather was really involved in politics and he ran for county supervisor um you know and served in that role uh at one point. And I just I remember that as a kid, like you know, going to some of his campaign events, like going to the campaign headquarters. Um, I can remember as a kid like watching like presidential debates on TV and just like being you know, be really interested in that. I mean, I think probably a lot of my friends at the time thought I was kind of a dork for like you know, being interested in that kind of thing. But um I liked history, I liked reading about different leaders, Abraham Lincoln, um, and others that just so for me, even at a young age, like I just I felt a call in towards you know this kind of kind of stuff that you know my grandfather used to always say like hey, we have a real duty to like give back to the community and to in that the good things of this community are not they're not automatic, you know, that everybody needs to give in some way. And uh he also used to always say, you know, God gave you, you know, one mouth and two ears for a reason, uh, to listen twice as much as you talk. And I feel like sometimes I've listened to that advice. Uh I feel like I mostly have listened to that advice, but there are times I probably need to hear it again, and and I hear those those words, you know, come up in in my mind. So yeah, my grandfather was a really big influence on me in in terms of inspiring me into public service.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Yeah, you mentioned uh Doug Lamafa earlier, your uh predecessor. What's one thing that that he really championed that you'll continue to lean into that's something that was you know kind of close to his heart that you'll continue to like really you know be like, oh, that was a uh you know, a Doug thing, and I'm gonna make sure I continue that on.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

Um you know, to Doug, like I think it was really important to like to get to every community and be at like you know, so many different community events. Um and not necessarily, you know, to to be there to be like the center of attention in any way. Like I think he just he loved being there, being a part of it, and then kind of hearing what people were concerned about and and then taking that back. And I I don't think there's anyone I mean, there'll never be another Doug Lamalfa. Uh I don't think there's anyone that did that as well uh as he did in terms of just really making sure that he got to every place and really um kind of entering in and like becoming a part of every community and then being able to take that back. But that's certainly something I really aspire to, is that kind of represent I don't know how he did it time-wise. And I I've joked on the camp, like he drove really fast, that's true. You know, and you know, and he had a Mustang. So uh, you know, he definitely had the means to do that. Um, but just you know, man, he would he would do things like be in three parades in one day. And uh you know, he would, you know, I don't know how he did how he managed his time so well to do that. Um but that's one, I mean, and he was a huge champion of water and water infrastructure and water management and really trying to get that right. And he knew a whole lot. I mean, he you know, he advised a lot of different people about the water system and the changes that he made. Even Gavin Newsom, like famously, like had Gavin Newsom in his office, sat him down like right underneath the state of Jefferson flag uh that was in his office, and then like pulled out all these maps and was just like, hey man, here's here's the plumbing, right? And here's what we need to do to make this work better. And uh yeah, I think that was something he was also just really good at. And I certainly want to continue that.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Yeah, water is one of those crazy things because it's uh you know, this balance of like, well, it's mine because it's here on my property and all the water rights, but it's like, oh, if you you know, if you suck too much water, then now you're bothering your neighbor, and it's like, oh, well, it's really a community resource. And yeah, how do you how do you how do you balance that to get it where it's like, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

No, it's good. I mean, it's the lifeblood, man. It's the lifeblood of you know, all of our communities. It's you know, really what um, you know, I think makes us prosperous, right, is is water, right? In the North State. But really throughout California, I mean, without water and the projects that we built, California wouldn't be what it is today, right? Um and so, you know, we need to think about both the the micro and the macro, you know, of our of our water resource. Um part of that is like protecting water rights, because you know, if those get undermined, you know, our water that you know is is for the you know the north, right, and for our communities could could get undermined, you know. And so you do need to protect that water rights system, uh, you know, that helps ensure that our water stays in our communities. Um but you also need to uh ensure and steward that water resource in a way that is going to be sustainable for the long term, right? And I and I think like we actually have done that really well in the north and actually could show others how to do the same thing. And part of it is investing in in surface water, water storage. Because when you do that, you have that water, you use it on the landscape and your farms and your you know in agriculture, that water then percolates down into the into the groundwater, replenishes the groundwater aquifers, and then we have strong aquifers, you know, for the future, right? And you and you almost need to continue that, right? If if all water is just flowing straight out and there's no capture of that, and there's no uh you know reuse of that in many different ways, you don't get that same thing, right? This is one of the reasons why like the state water board has this kind of intense policy of what they call unimpaired flow, this letting water flow down, no diversions, just let more water flow down the river and the stream. And they and they say, oh, that's going to be better for fish and other things. Well, actually, like what we're finding is that's not actually true. Because if the fish don't have habitat, if they don't have rearing uh places, right, if they don't have gravel beds and and things like and and what we found in the rice, like as water water spreads out over rice fields, you know, creates fish food that goes back into the system that helps juvenile salmon grow. Like so keeping water on the landscape is really important for multiple you know benefits. So that's something I I think we need to have more of a conversation about and and educate people about, right? Because I think it does get into the zero-sum game a lot of the time. Um to your point, Brandon, and we gotta you know figure out a better way forward on that, I think.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Yeah, and and uh, you know, Sites was uh you didn't specifically mention it, but man, being a in a minority uh in California, um, like yeah, how did you that was like I feel like you worked on that? Like you're I remember first uh talking about that was one of the first times I met you, Valley Contractors Exchange meeting, and you were asking me about like skilled and trained workforce and how's that gonna uh apply. And and um anyways, I just how how did you get that? Uh you know, I it's not built yet, but yeah, it seems like at least uh I wish we were moving.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

I wish we were moving a lot faster on that. But um yeah, I remember the first time I ever went out to the Sides Valley, and it was I was actually working for Doug at the time. I you know, it's like you know, I'd been his in his district office and they did a tour out there. Um and I went out there and and there was a gal, Mary Wells, who's a landowner out there, and she was talking about the Sides Valley and how this is like you know a perfect place to you know store water. And she goes, hey, you know, my land's actually gonna end up underwater, you know, if we do this project, right? And I've had this, you know, I've had this, you know, this has been in my family for multiple generations, right? But she says water, you know, is the lifeblood of of our communities and we need to and we need more storage. And she just had this really eloquent way of explaining like how how important this really was, and that she was willing, you know, to basically give up her property, right, to you know, provide for this place to store more water and replenish aquifers and have more water for all the things that we need, uh, you know, in the North State. And so that was, you know, I think that was like 2002, right? So that was a long time ago. You know, over 20 years ago. Um, and now we're, I mean, we're closer than ever. We have the money, you know, through the efforts of Doug at the federal level, and then we've done some really good work at the state level. We have the money. The money's there to build this project. We've been moving through the bureaucracy. Um, but it would be so important because that, again, you have that water, it'd be 1.5 million acre feet of water that we could store in that in that valley. Um, we could use it to uh for operation and management on flood flows, um, you know, on you know, better managing for actually fish, you know, downstream and and ensure that people have water that they need in towns, cities, farms, right, throughout the state. Um, because it'd be part of this overall state water project that we operate with Oroville Dam, uh, you know, and and Bullard's Bar in Uba County, um, all these things would come together to increase, bring abundance. That's a big word people are using now, abundance, right? Uh, but I think it's always storage as part of that. Let's have more water, right, uh, that we can use for all of those different needs in California. And so that's why it's so important. I mean, and we need to get it done. Um, right now we kind of we're in that bureaucracy trying to break through to get the project off the ground. But I think we're pretty close. Feels like it's really close.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

So it's amazing how we've gone like full circle on the water, especially in agriculture. As you mentioned, with you know, with you know, rice is bad, and now it's like we're, you know, the California Rice Commission, Fish and Wildlife are doing the salmon studies and out of the Conway ranch and other places, and then also, you know, it started to save water. We went from flood irrigation in in the fields to micros to drip, and now UC Davis is doing studies back on flood irrigation to to put water re uh recharge back in the ground. So it's it's interesting on that. Um, James, you talk a lot about you know Doug and everything he's done, he's done for the community um and the way he's done it. What are like something that if you were elected that you would do uh different possibly?

SPEAKER_03 17:45

Yeah, well look, I mean, everybody is different, right? So, you know, Doug and I are not the same guy, and there's you know, uh maybe approaches that I take that are you know uh you know that are going to be different, ways that I handle situations that are going to be different. Um and and that's all good. I think what it is is that we have the same spirit, right? Which is, hey, let's make sure that we're fighting for our communities and making sure that they're represented, that they have a voice. Um, you know, I think the way that I've tried to approach things in Sacramento, for example, and I it's the same way I would approach it in Washington, D.C. is you know, there's some things you just don't compromise on, and that you go in there and you and you fight for, and you gotta say, look, this is what my community needs, and I'm gonna be, you know, that uh, you know, kind of brick wall on that issue. Like I'm not, I'm not gonna, you know, move. Like, I need you guys to understand what's going on here. And yet still having the ability to work with people, you know, across the aisle and be able to get things done. And I and I and I have been able to do that, you know, and I saw I it's an approach I've taken. Um and I and look, I think the other thing that I do that I really do is I I speak truth. You know, I mean I I I I come into those halls and I'm I'm not going to allow things that aren't that are false, right, to be, you know, just allowed to, you know, uh stand. I want to stand against that. I want to call that out. Um and then, but at the same time, like you have the ability to just and I've found this a lot. You sometimes when you speak that truth, afterwards you have people coming up to you and saying, you know what, you're right. Um and you know, let's get past some of the party and some of the, you know, and some of the um, I guess, entrenched interest and like work on that issue and let's try and make things better. And I found that we've we've been able to make breakthroughs like on water, you know, on sites, maybe being one of those things, but um, you know, in other areas as well, you know, and so like forestry and wildfire, like that's a that's a huge one that I think we've made a lot of progress on. That there was a mentality like we should do nothing in the forests, right? And now like there's much more of a a focus on no, we need to better manage our forests, you know, through things like thinning, like mechanical thinning, like uh removing, you know, brush and and um and woody, woody waste, and then prescribe fire, right? Using using prescribed fire to like clear out a lot of these areas. Whereas in the past, there's been like almost there was almost like a a religion of don't touch the forest at all. Well, now people have seen like that kind of policy, you know, had devastating effects from a wildfire standpoint. And and so we had to speak the truth about hey, this isn't working and this is wrong, and here's what we should do to help. Uh, and then you find, you know, common ground on issues where you can move that move that ball forward. So I want to continue to work on things like that, and I think we have, you know, uh we've shown that we can do that, and you know, I think I can do that in Washington, D.C. as well.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

So on that subject, what would a successful term as a congressman look like for you?

SPEAKER_03 20:51

Um yeah, let's get site started. Let's uh really move the ball on the pace and scale of forestry management funding, but also like removing some of the barriers, um you know changing some of the laws, reforming some of the policies at the at the Forest Service to make sure that we can do a lot more of that. Um acres of uh of treatment, you know, to really make our communities safe, right? We start by you know around vulnerable communities doing the work, but that needs to kind of spread out, make sure we're really properly managing this public resource. Um so that that needs to be you know done in earnest. And then I think rural health care, uh, you know, getting Glenn Medical Center reopened. Um, you know, I a lot of people don't know, but Doug and I actually helped keep Glenn Medical Center open back in 2016. It was on the verge of closure. Uh a private group came in, you know, uh American Advanced Healthcare. They took over the hospital. We worked with the agencies to make sure that, you know, all of the permitting and everything. Was good to move forward. And we kept that hospital open. It closed largely because of bad policy, you know, one being this critical access designation where they interpreted it as, hey, it was too close to Calusa to qualify. And, you know, it's been reported on, but there was all kinds of crazy reasons why that was uh decided by the agency that weren't really accurate about the distances between those hospitals. Long story short, Doug worked with Adam Schiff and got that critical access designation back. Um now we need to, you know, make sure we have the funding to get it reopened. Um and there and again, I mean, Doug helped ensure in HR1 that $50 billion was set aside for rural health care. About $234 million has been allocated now to California. Let's make sure we get that money. Uh, there's a distressed hospital loan program uh that's been implemented by the state. That's another source of money that we could get funding for. Um, but bigger picture on rural health care, like we need to remove a lot of the mandates and the and the requirements on rural hospitals. Um there's you know, seismic retrofits that are required. I mean, our hospitals have more danger from fire and flood than they do from seismic. And yet we're requiring them to meet these really hefty mandates that are very costly. Um, we put all they go through all kinds of agencies they have to work work through just to make any changes, you know, at a rural hospital to update it, to modernize it. Those are really costly. Like those are things that we need to actually change to make it easier for you to operate, you know, a rural hospital. Um, and then the last thing is reimbursements. It's crazy that like you could go to one clinic and and you'll get a better reimbursement, but then you go to the hospital and they just get Medi-Cal reimbursement and it's really low. Why? I mean, like the patient is the same, right? And so I think we need to figure out how to how to equalize sort of that reimbursement. You know, there's like there's different programs that reimburse differently, FQHs, um, you know, federally qualified health centers versus Indian health versus um Medicaid, right? Well, how do we make sure that like no matter where you go, like that, that provider is gonna get a reasonable uh reimbursement uh to provide that care. Because if you're not providing it, like I mean, a lot of people are just gonna go, hey man, this doesn't work. And the reason why rural hospitals fail is because many of many people are on Medicaid, right? And so so many people are going into that ER. And you talk to any hospital administrator, like what they get reimbursed on Medicaid is like it does not cover the costs. I mean, it's and that's why ERs are just like they're they're crushing, you know, for hospitals. Um But if we can get more and more people going to clinics and doing preventative care, and and that reimbursement is a fair reimbursement, right? We can get prevent people from ending up in the ER. We can prevent people, we can actually make people healthier. Uh and man, I'm going all way too long, but there's food food food systems, another issue. Yeah, I mean, like I appreciate the emphasis on healthcare.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Right. I think that's uh so that's something you would put front and center in your term.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Yeah, I mean that's gonna be a big focus of mine. And you you also mentioned earlier with with sites and and this as well, just bureaucracy and red tape, and I, you know, just being in the construction world, I really, you know, I I go to more towards like projects. You know exactly what that's like.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

And when I just think about like I it'll be really interesting once it's all said and done, or maybe you've already kind of studied the numbers, but like how much out of you know, if it's a billion-dollar project or whatever it is, I'm sure it's more billions than that, but it's like what percent of it is actual like work, like moving dirt and like building versus like admin and like all of the junk that has happened had to happen over the last 12 years. If you know, it's like what percent? Like, I mean, I my guess is it's pretty high, gets spent on things other than moving dirt.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

It's crazy. I mean, well, look high-speed real exhibit A, right? I mean, we've now spent over 15 billion on that project, right? And they haven't even laid a single track, right? I mean, it's and if you look at the budget and you look at where money's gone, and audit after audit has kind of shown so many problems with this project, but it's going to pay consultants, you know, it's and it's going to administrative costs, but not actual like let's build the thing. Yeah, right. Like, just get it done. Yeah. And then you wonder why people say, and and here's the other thing. We're this is outrageous, but it's a fact, and people need to know it. We are making high-speed rail project the number one priority for funding right now. Uh, and we put wildfire funding last. And that was done by one of my opponents in this race, Mike McGuire. He was a co-author of this legislation that did that. The greenhouse gas reduction fund. This is the fund that part of your gas price goes into, right? You're paying the highest gas prices in the nation. Part of that is a cap and trade fee that and it goes into this fund called the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Now, for years, my folks like myself have been saying, hey, if you want to reduce emissions, you know, from a climate standpoint, get out in the forest and reduce all the dead and dying trees and make it a healthy forest again, where it's a carbon sink. And it's not just me saying that, that's actually the legislative analyst office. You know, our you know, our research organization in the legislature has said dollar for dollar, that's probably the best way you can spend your money. It's better than like solar mandates and all these other things that we do. Um, but that's been like always lowest on the totem pole. And then with this legislation, it became last tier three funding is wildfire prevention. And number one is this high-speed rail project that they can't even figure out how to get to step one on. You know, I mean, and so this is the problem is like we could do so many more, you know, I think we could do so much better, first of all, if we got our fiscal house in order and we started managing projects in a smarter way, right? And making sure they're actually getting meeting performance metrics that, hey, where are we at on this thing? Is this feasible? Is this budget still workable? I mean, you do that all the time in your own business, right? Like you sharpen the pencil. Like government needs to do the same thing. And this is what the one of our big problems. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

Yeah, it's crazy when you go to the Central Valley and you you think you start a project from point A and then you just move until you finish to point B, but you've got once you've got part of it here, part of it there, it's just look like a you know, just spots here and there. It it's it's it's crazy on how they've gone this state has gone about with that project. Um you mentioned gas prices. Um crazy right now. Right. Um can you break down kind of like on the taxes we pay and what are ways that you know that that you can help lower this, not in California, but uh across the nation? Because it's uh you know, I think gone up two, three bucks a gallon over the last, you know, three months, two to three months.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

So right. Um well it starts with you pay it, you pay in California at least a dollar twenty-eight more for your gas just in fees, taxes, and regulations. So that's just regulatory costs that you're paying. So that is why we're almost always close to two dollars higher than like the national average, you know, uh out here in California. The other part is we've made ourselves into an energy island. Uh we haven't built new pipelines uh to transmit either oil or gas. Um and and so we rely a lot now uh on imported oil or refined gas. And now that's even more so because we've lost two refineries now on the West Coast that have been shut down. And and those refineries closed down because of the new regulations that Gabin Newsom put in place uh when he he when he so-called jammed the legislature with his gas gouging uh uh scheme, if you will. Uh shortly after that, two refineries closed down. So, hey, we can't do business in California anymore. 18% of our refined gas went away, including jet fuel that our military bases rely upon. Um, and so like all that is what really goes into it. It started with the gas tax. We increased the gas tax. I voted no, you know, uh, and you know, the Democratic supermajority passed it through. Now that's 71 cents a gallon. And they tell you it's because, hey, we need that to help make sure your roads are really good. But we look around and our local roads are not really that good, you know. Like, where's the money going? And again, again, like six, you were paying over 70 cents a gallon in a gas tax. By the way, the federal gas tax is only 18 cents, you know, a gallon, right? But here in the state, you're paying 71 cents and they tell you, hey, it's because we want to make sure you're driving over good roads. And we can all look around and see like that isn't the case, man. Like, so we're not even getting the benefit, you know, of those higher taxes, right? And so that's very frustrating. The least we could do right now is suspend uh cap and trade when it comes to gas, and we could actually at least reduce the excise, state excise tax on gas to give everybody relief right now. I mean, you know, even with the war on, and a lot of people are making, you know, hay out of the Iran war, and it's it certainly has had an impact on our oil and gas prices. But on the East Coast, they're paying four bucks a gallon and we're paying six. That's because of policy. That's because of California policy, period, end of story. And we there's things we could do that could give people real relief right now. Let's do it. Yeah. And it's not even just me saying now some of the Democratic candidates for governor are saying we should suspend the gas tax. Like, so it's a reasonable thing to do, but Gavin Newsom continues to say, no, I won't do it. And we're all paying the price.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

I really appreciate that you uh that compromise and that working across the aisle is another thing that's front and center to your ability to get things done, and that there are some issues that you will stand for and won't compromise as much on that are important to the North State here. Right. I'm curious to hear a little about your method for bringing people to the table. Maybe on an issue that you're going to need to change some minds on, right? That we want to stand on here in Northern California. How do we get folks to see your side?

SPEAKER_03 32:39

Yeah, um, I mean, so water rights is one of them, man. Like I'm I'm never going to compromise our water rights, you know, to help protect our communities up here. Um and one of the ways I help show people why that's important is like bringing them out into the district and seeing farms and seeing what we do up here. And it you could and you know what, when you do that, like the light bulbs sort of come on. I've I've I've been on a tour bus where we drive through rice country and they're seeing like all these birds, migratory waterfowl that come through. You know, like wow, okay. I mean, and a lot of these people, and here's the other thing. I mean, this is one of the problems with California is like most of the legislators, they're from very urban places, right? They've and they've never actually even seen most of their lives have been spent in a place that's just completely urbanized, you know, concrete jungle, right? Um, you know, their their rivers, you know, the LA River, right, is concrete. Like it's not like it's not like rivers that appear. And so you show them this, right? And they're like, wow, you know, man, that's this is what's going on out here. And yeah, not a whole lot of houses, right? But like a lot of habitat and farming. And then you go and show them like, here, here's what these people do. And they need tractors, right? And they need trucks to bring that food to you. And they and and here's the processing facility, here's the walnut holer, here's the rice dryer. And it starts to like, I think the the light bulb starts to go off a bit, you know. I mean, and it it's not a it's not obviously an overnight process, like, you know, folks like myself and Doug and and and Brian and Megan Daly and and now Heather Hadwick have like, we've it's been many years of doing this, right? Um Doug actually famously put Karen Bass on a rice harvester, you know. Karen Bass, mayor of LA, who's got a lot of uh uh she's having a bad media uh moment, I think, at the moment. Uh but you know, brought her up. Someone from urban Los Angeles put her on a rice harvester. And, you know, she still remembers that, right? Um, these are the kinds of things I think we can do to kind of, you know, get people to see more of our things. But at the same time, um it has been really frustrating to see like us our area just get completely ignored. And and like so they can see that, and then they still just pass policies that like mandate that we have to get rid of our trucks, right? Or pass policies that like you know make it really hard to farm, right? And you're like, hey man, didn't you just see like this is where we're at? And we're not. I also try to point out, like, hey, our profit margins aren't like through the roof here, man. Like, in fact, right now we're losing money like big time in walnuts and almonds and rice. Um, and so I try to explain to them like it doesn't work, like we can't charge more for the Big Mac, right? Like our price is whatever it is, it's determined by a world market, and and so every single thing you add to us makes it harder. And so, um, you know, one point of commonality I'll point out, and this, you know, maybe this is seems a little off, but it's I think it they really come together is like our school lunch program, right? Like, yeah, why is it that we're bringing stuff in from all over the place and not like here our local food grown by our farmers, right? I'm really trying to work on this issue. Like, how do we build up the infrastructure? And because a lot of people will say, Man, I want local food. I want to make sure I know where it comes from. And and meanwhile, we got like ultra-processed food in the in the school lunch program. Like, why? Like, I could bring you in, you know, fresh peaches and rice and prunes and you know, everything that we grow in the North State, right? Walnuts and almonds. Like we need to build that up better. And I think there's ways to to do that. That would be prof, it would be good for obviously our community, our health, right? Uh, our kids, and it'd be good for farmers, right? So I think there's things that we can do on that front that maybe we'll bring people together in a in a positive way.

SPEAKER_00 36:38

And you're you're kind of touching along the side of it, but you have an example or uh you hear you hear a good idea from the other side of the aisle, and you go, Man, there's something that you know most uh folks on my side of the aisle aren't aren't into. And you're like, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna jump on board with that. And um, you know, it's not one of those things that I'm like, hey, this is the brick wall. This is something that's hey, I'm willing to to listen to the other side and understand like why that's important to you. And I I I see you got some good points. And I don't know, to me, I think that's the nature of politics that we've kind of lost of like, hey, uh, let's let's reach across the aisle, let me help you get something through. Um, and we can you know help each other out when it's you know, you you kind of got to put a coalition sometimes together. So I don't know if you have any examples of stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 37:26

Yeah, I mean, I think there's been many different things. One one I will highlight, I think, is on housing, you know, um, where when I first came in, uh I had a colleague that ran a bill that was like, hey, let's just have a straight up CEQA exemption, California Environmental Quality Act exemption for housing, because we need to build a lot of housing. Like, let's let's let's you know, spark that and like remove some of the barriers, you know, like frivolous lawsuits and other things that come in and process barriers, uh, bureaucracy that get in the way. That it died in its first committee. But over the years, I saw that like more urban members, you know, were starting to see how much of a problem it was, even like in say San Francisco, where they had a project they wanted to do, and then someone brought a lawsuit, and it was like say high-rise apartments that they wanted, right? You know, um, and the project got killed. And and so I started hearing them complaining about the issue. Um, and then you know, some of their members started putting forth different bills, and I said, Okay, you know, like we want this too. And a lot of my conversations in there were like, okay, cool, you need to do this for your urban area. I I have our is different, you know. I don't necessarily need San Francisco type infrastructure and building, but I do, but we have housing that we need to build, you know, out in the rural parts of the area. And like, so I want this to work for us too, right? And so a lot of my conversations would be about like, okay, do this, this helps you, but also here's the things that would help us, you know, where our our our housing is going to probably be less like apartments, you know, some apartments, right? But we need to build a lot of single-family homes as well. Um, and so, you know, hasn't been a perfect science, right? But it's been we've we've actually passed several bills now on housing that have removed some of those barriers and I think have made it easier to build more housing, you know, both in urban areas and rural areas. And yeah, I'm I'm I'm proud of that work. And I think we can do even more, you know, uh as we as we continue to move, you know, in sort of this new coalition of the willing, if you will, you know, that is Republican and Democrat.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Yeah, I remember when Newsom first came into office and he was uh just talking about, you know, he came up with a number of uh housing units that he thought needed to be built, and it's just um you know three million. Yeah, I think it was five, and I think it's starting, it keeps lowering. And uh anyways, he didn't get anywhere close.

SPEAKER_03 39:55

I know that. I know we're but you know, I think we're definitely in a better place now with some of the legislation that's been passed. But yeah, good.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

But I think that's one of those things you can look at and go, hey, let's, you know, I there's something we can agree on. We need more housing. Yeah, like and I I also find it interesting that you people don't want to connect, like uh like obviously people who are homeless uh have a lot of them have uh other issues, but they also don't have a home and we don't have very much vacancy, like almost none. So it's like, well, don't you think if we had more vacancy and more houses, more people would be in them? So I don't know. That's one of my uh one of my pet views.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

So um James, um you've been in office now sitting 12 years and for a long time. How how should the public measure your success in this role?

SPEAKER_03 40:49

Um I think that uh I would ask people to just look at, hey, what have we been able to do together? Um and and and look at that more locally, right? Than say statewide, right? Because there's I think we all share like there's a lot of frustrations that I have and other people have, like, man, I wish things were different out of state policy, right? Gas prices and and such, right? Um but I'd say, hey, what did what did we do together? And and here's the things I would point to. We we we came out of some really terrible disasters. Um the Oroville Dam spillway crisis, the campfire, um, you know, the Dixie fire, and and we we came together as a community and and we helped people recover. We provided much needed oversight at Oroville Dam that had never been there before. Um we built more housing. We actually built more affordable housing. And and one of the ways we did that was Doug and I working together, helping to ensure we got you know uh C D B D GR uh DR uh disaster relief funds to build more housing. We got a greater share of tax credits, uh, and it made for these sort of public-private partnerships essentially, um, where people could come in and build more of that housing stock, right? Um we you know helped ensure that infrastructure got rebuilt, the the water system in paradise, right? We've been working on, hey, how do we develop a a sewer, a sewer system, you know, for the town, at least for the downtown portion of of the town. Um I'd asked them to look at hey, what are we what were we able to do um you know from a regulatory standpoint in terms of getting people to recognize we need to have more water on the on the landscape, um uh of for wildfire survivors, like making sure that no no there should be no taxes on their settlement payments that they receive, you know, from PG ⁇ E. Um I'd I'd say, hey, look at what we've been able to do together, um, you know, just as stakeholders, right? Bringing together stakeholders to do good things in our in our communities. Um you know, career technical education, getting, you know, getting our kids into um, you know, programs that help provide for a productive life for them, welding programs and uh logging programs, actually, uh forestry management, these are all nursing, you know, here here in in the North State. Chico State has a great nursing program, for example. Um, but all these things I think have been, you know, ways that we've helped make lives better for people. And to me, that's what it's ultimately about is like, hey, are you working to you know make people's quality of life better? You know, um, or is it making it worse? And I, you know, I think that we've been able to do that. And it's probably been more on a on a localized level of trying to find ways. Um but even being in the minority. in in Sacramento we've been able to get things through that I think we wouldn't otherwise have been able to to accomplish.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

I think you nailed it with the whole community thing. That's what we all look at. And and you know when we see you know our congressmen or senators, they they or they always think about this these national things. And I want to see more I you know I don't really care about you know what's going on in the East Coast or what's on I want to care about what's here in my community where it can a difference can be made and you know I want you know I you know speaking for myself and I know a lot of people that you know we want a representative to to look at you know what's going here. Not have just a natural disaster to bring the community together but to have that all the time. It's it's it's a good feeling.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

Absolutely. Yeah and as we sit here on Main Street uh in downtown Chico we've watched a lot of our friends and neighbors lose their businesses uh very recently I'm curious to hear a little bit about your vision for economic development in this community yeah um I mean it's a big issue and I mean one is like we have technological changes you know where people are obviously ordering online a lot more and there's you know those kinds of things going on that I think have hurt Main Street.

SPEAKER_03 45:11

And then you have just regulatory policies you know that have made life more expensive for a small business right you know I I we talked about fuel costs but I mean permitting costs and all the different things that you put you know I mean California's small businesses deserve a badge of honor man like I mean if you can make it in California's business and regulatory climate like you are a champ. So congratulations to all of you but that so you you have that component going on as well. And then I think it's like hey how do we you know how do we navigate some of these things by providing better resources right uh and and helping people get maybe access to uh technology and the use of it so they can you know strengthen their business and endure you know through some of these changes. So I think what I would do is is is sort of twofold. One is try to get greater investments probably through the Small Business Administration SBA in helping businesses navigate sort of this this new revolution that we're in with AI and all these things right um and so that businesses have those resources. But then also like let's reduce that regulatory burden and like and and give real relief to small business owners so they can survive right and I and we and and I do I think it's so important that we still maintain Main Street right some of that's also like coming together as communities and talking about how important that is that hey man like buy local right like go to your local business. You don't have to you know order that Amazon pack yeah that Amazon package right or if you're gonna do it order it from a local business right you know to to get that brought to you. And so I think some some level of education needs to the convenience of our technology right now is not always good for community.

SPEAKER_00 47:08

Yeah right and I think we've got to somehow like you know break through that I think that's through public education it's through you know community education um but then also like giving people the resources to sort of navigate this new this uh brave new world if you will yeah you're touching on technology and man with kids you know we're got kids that are young and just uh you know there's been a lot uh of talk lately just uh about censorship and like how you know some um you know some rules around that and and just keeping tabs on that do you have any you you know you have any thoughts on um I I have been seeing definitely we kind of swung really far one direction where it's it's new thing and it feels like I mean seeing ads about uh I was at uh at a at a movie the other day and I actually saw an ad that was like get off your phone get off you know it was like being like hey online's not uh a healthy place for you to be um and so anyways I just curious if you have any thoughts on like how do we like you know stay free but also have some rules around that kind of topic right I mean I think it's uh it's it's like thing it's like things we've seen before and yet not like right I mean it's uh it's it's new right um but when we have technological advances that happen really quickly um I think we have to find that right space of how do you reasonably regulate it without stifling it without stifling innovation and I think that's like the sweet spot we have to find here with AI and with you know obviously with social media and all all the new ways that people are communicating and getting information.

SPEAKER_03 48:55

So so for me like I favor things that are like reasonable regulations like yeah hey man you shouldn't be targeting kids you know uh you know with certain messages and and and we need to have some better parental controls and the ability for parents to consent as to whether or not you know their child is going on you know a platform that has access to everything. Right um I actually I ran a bill uh and I was one of the I was one of the first people to do this to have parental consent for kids under 13. Actually I started with 16 with kids under 16 to have parental consent before they can you know get on a social media site. And we actually passed that bill I got and that was a that was a struggle man I'll tell you I I got killed on the assembly floor at one point because the representative that represented Silicon Valley was obviously against it and he rallied people and stopped it. And the very next year I came back we got a bipartisan coalition passed it got it through the Senate got to this to the governor's desk and guess what Gavin Newsom vetoed it. It didn't get a lot of press like I feel like nobody's ever talked about this but I got that bill you know to him and now the governor is saying I support bans on no kids on social media at all. Right. And I'm like hey man like first of all and and I don't know that it needs to be outright banned. I just think we need to have better controls on it right and we need to have you know regulation because I mean you talk to a lot of kids like actually in some ways this is really beneficial to them. Like it gives them access to information it helps them better like you know research things like there's a lot of benefits right but there's also negative aspects right and and a lot of that I think is with the algorithm and and how that's like you know marketing to kids and and and the ideas that come into kids' heads that that can be damaging right. So you have to have I think it's like a a reasonable regulation of this new technology but not a stifling of it right I mean the Biden administration was going to take AI and say hey there's only going to be three companies that can do AI right that's that's crazy. I mean it'll be that would be monopoly first of all it's like picking winners and losers right um but it's like no let's let's ensure there's innovation that people can use but let's let's safeguard this too right we you know we don't want to have deep fakes that are mis you know misrepresenting what somebody really is saying or doing or misrepresenting real facts right like we can have regulation on that but at the same time we can allow like this AI revolution to take place in in ways that's gonna allow you to like do business more efficiently right that's gonna allow you to like you know uh researchers to gather more information in a quicker way so that we can come up with solutions. I mean the so there the the idea here and it and it's not an easy mix I know that but it's like that's what we need you know you need to have policymakers who are thinking about what's the right balance of regulation on this um it can't be a wow wild west right the thing I maybe likened to it most is like the railroads right railroads started going crazy and they gave them way too much leeway right and the railroad robber baron sort of took over and man they took you gave them an inch and they took a mile right and and eventually some people good government reformers had to come in right and say no man we need to have regulation of this and you know you can't just you know allow this to happen and and uh and have monopolies and things that are you know destructive um you know to business and commerce let's have a reasonable you know regulation so I think the same thing needs to happen here Mr.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

Gallagher thank you so much for joining us for this conversation uh as we wind down I want to give you a minute to give us your closing thoughts and uh and then we will let you on your way.

SPEAKER_03 52:43

Yeah well this has been a good conversation and I think I talked too much uh and I'm sorry. Uh you know you guys we you guys gave some some good and and you know thought inspiring questions really um and and really I mean it you know you and I have just gotten to know each other. You know I've known these you know two gentlemen for a while I've and I'm I'm just really like honored about the time that I've been able to have you know working with you guys on different things and and really the Chico you know business community I think it's always been really forward thinking you know and I think in the in the in the broad spectrum of things we've been able to actually do a lot of good things man. I you know I think of some of the things you've done on the on the housing front you know and and innovative ideas you know um trying true and uh you know restoring the historic black church um you know over here which I thought was AME which I thought was a that was driving by that I go man that's I'm so glad that you did that and that people came together to do that. It was it was a cool just an example of what community you know should be bring people together right and and and to do something positive. And um yeah I mean I I feel like there's been a lot of things like that. I remember like uh one of the first people I really got to know is uh Michael Daly and Giovanni Treseri. Oh yeah and and I remember when I first met with them they were talking about stewardship. And I think that's a concept that's always stuck with me is like really what we're trying to do here is steward our communities, right? Not trying to rule them we're not trying to like mandate the aduce this thing, right? Or or try to just it's hey let's come together let's steward this community in a better way right let's and maybe regardless of what's going on like because I've always you know I mean I fought hard against you know the the prevailing winds in Sacramento um and I think that's important you know because we do need a better way forward right but what can we do even regardless of what may be happening outside of us right like what can we do together and I think that's that's a thing that I've always really enjoyed being a part of and and I think I've been able to lead some of those efforts and in other times I've just been like Doug you know sometimes like I just want to be right here with you and and and walk alongside you and trying to figure that that out um that's the important thing and I and it's something I want to continue to do you know and and hopefully in this role as a as a congressman for this area.

SPEAKER_01 55:16

Thank you for being here thank you for uh following your own guiding light of showing up to the communities where we want to hear your thoughts uh thank you for showing up yeah no problem yeah appreciate you James and all you did yeah thank you