Building a Stronger American Economy
Since Congressional Democrats and President Biden took office, we have created over 10 million jobs nationwide and the unemployment rate has dropped from 6.4% to 3.5%, near the lowest rate in 50 years, all thanks to the American Rescue Plan. We’re seeing the best economy for American workers in decades, with people getting higher wages, better benefits, and better jobs across the board.
We have enacted several laws and policies—including the American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act—to lower costs for residents in CA-16, support businesses and promote economic growth. While we have more work to do. I am continuing to work in Congress to tackle inflation, lower costs, and strengthen our American economy.
Table of Contents
Jobs Report
Through laws like the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats have unleashed record job creation.
Boosting Job Growth in our District: As of August 2022, 25,300 jobs have been created in CA-16 since President Biden came into office and 1,628,300 jobs have been created statewide. Investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act will support continued job growth in clean and secure energy, construction, and manufacturing, among other sectors.
Bringing Back Manufacturing Jobs: As of August 2022, 800 manufacturing jobs have been created in CA-16 since President Biden came into office and 55,600 have been created statewide. With the CHIPS and Science Act, we will boost domestic manufacturing, especially of essential goods such as semiconductors, which reduces California businesses’ reliance on fragile global supply chains and lowers costs for Americans on items like microwaves, TVs, appliances, cellphones, and other items.
Creating Good-Paying Clean Energy Jobs: In 2021, 29,000 workers in CA-16 were employed in clean energy and emerging sectors of the economy, and an additional 31,000 worked in occupations that will be increasingly in demand as the United States transitions to cleaner, more secure energy. The Inflation Reduction Act will support more clean energy jobs and expand workforce training for these industries in CA-16 and around the country.
Closing the Wage Gap: Passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which strengthens and closes loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act, to close the gap between women’s and men’s wages. Currently, full-time working women still earn just 82 cents, on average, for every dollar a man earns.
Bolstering the Workforce
Advocated and secured a $65.1 million American Rescue Plan “Build Back Better Regional Challenge” grant for the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (F3) Coalition led by the Central Valley Community Foundation, to drive agriculture innovation and boost our regional economy.
Costa also secured a $23 million American Rescue Plan "Good Jobs Challenge" grant for the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to develop and spur the Central Valley's economy and create new, good-paying jobs in industries of high demand. Combined, Costa secured a total of $88 million in federal funding to boost its regional workforce and economy.
Secured a $1.2 million federal grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to bolster Fresno City College's ability to train and prepare students for good-paying jobs in welding and automotive repair.
Helped secure a nearly $20 million grant through the American Rescue Plan for Fresno State for the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiative, which supports dairy businesses in California, Oregon, and Washington in the production, marketing, and distribution of dairy products. Fresno State students will benefit from a new internship program and research positions that will prepare them for future employment opportunities in the dairy industry. Learn more about the initiative here.
Introduced legislation to provide federal funding for medical school construction, expansion, and training in underserved communities that lack quality access to quality healthcare, which would benefit universities like UC Merced and UCSF Fresno. In addition, I have secured funding to create a nurse pipeline extension program at Fresno City College and support the residency program at UCSF Fresno.
Passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022, which invests in our nation’s workforce development programs and helps prepare qualified workers for good-paying jobs.
Passed the CHIPS and Science Act, which makes a historic investment in American manufacturing innovation and supply chains. In particular, the Semiconductor Industry Association projects that investments in domestic semiconductor manufacturing will create around 1.1 million jobs nationwide as new semiconductor plants are built, including about 247,200 manufacturing jobs. These investments are projected to create 280,000 permanent jobs.
Passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which invests $1 trillion to fix our nation's infrastructure while creating over 2 million jobs over the next decade.
Combatting Inflation and Lowering Costs
Inflation is a global challenge, with countries seeing elevated levels of inflation over the past year. The pandemic changed how our economy works. As your representative in Congress, I am working on short –and –long-term solutions to address the global challenges of rising costs because of inflation and focusing on repairing our supply chain to reduce impacts at home.
Lower Prices at the Gas Pump: Passed legislation to stop price gouging and lower costs for consumers at the gas pump. We need to cut costs and protect consumers by becoming energy-independent. As your Representative in Congress, I will continue working to advance our energy sector and lower costs for Valley residents. (Passed the House)
Lower Costs at the Grocery Store: As a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, I helped pass the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act to bolster the food and agriculture supply chain, ensure fair competition in the meat and poultry sectors, and lower food and gasoline costs for American consumers. (Passed the House)
Lower Costs on the Shelves: I took a lead role in passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act to crack down on unfair shipping fees charged by foreign shipping companies that have increased costs for American consumers on the shelves, small businesses waiting for supplies, and American farmers selling food across the globe. (Signed into Law)
Keeping Infant Formula on the Shelves: Co-sponsored and passed theAccess to Baby Formula Act granted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the authority to waive certain requirements so that vulnerable families can continue purchasing safe infant formula with their WIC benefits during public health emergencies and supply chain disruptions. (Signed into Law)
In addition, I helped push President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase the production of baby formula and ensure distribution to all regions of the country through federally qualified health centers.
Capping Insulin-Prescription Drug Costs: I voted for the Inflation Reduction Act to put an annual $2,000 cap on seniors’ out-of-pocket drug costs and ensure that Medicare beneficiaries do not pay more than $35 per month for insulin. This will cap out-of-pocket drug costs for as many as 77,000 seniors in our district with Medicare prescription coverage. (Signed into Law)
Slashing Health Premiums: Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will extend health subsidies for three more years, saving 13 million Americans nationwide and 22,000 people in CA-16 an average of $800 per year in health premiums. (Signed into Law)
Supporting Valley Seniors: The Social Security Administration announced an 8.7% increase in the cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA), which means that 70 million Americans will get an extra $140 in their pocketbook starting in 2023. This is the largest increase in four decades. In December 2022, Social Security COLA notices will be available online to most beneficiaries in the Message Center of their my Social Security account.
Reducing Home Energy Costs: I've fought for and won $407,666,109 in federal energy assistance for California households through the Home Energy Assistance Program. This program has saved hundreds of dollars for families on utility bills.
Expanding Access to Broadband: I helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which created the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to eligible households $30 per month off their internet bills. ACP-eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers. (Signed into Law)
Tax Relief for Families: Delivered over $299 million in child tax credits through the American Rescue Plan. These payments put more money in the pockets of more than 92,000 hardworking parents in my district, providing them with the support they need to build better lives for themselves and their families. (Signed into Law)
Relief for Student Borrowers:The Biden administration’s relief for student borrowers will save a typical young borrower in CA-16 about $15,000 throughout the loan thanks to lower monthly payments.
Supporting Small Business Growth
Policies included in the American Rescue Plan and other legislation have helped the California economy—and the U.S. economy as a whole—recover from the depths of the pandemic recession and laid the groundwork for an expansion that continues to support workers and businesses alike.
Supporting Business Growth: In total, 6,200 applications to start a new business were filed in CA-16 in 2021, up from an average of 3,500 per year pre-pandemic. There were 518,000 business applications filed in California up from an average of 334,500 per year before the pandemic.
Disaster Assistance for Small Businesses: Allocated $15 billion in additional funding for Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance payments for those hit hardest by the pandemic nationwide.
Relief for Local Small Businesses: Secured $35,489,874 in restaurant grants for CA-16 small businesses.
Relief for Music & Entertainment Businesses: Secured $23,982,849 in Shuttered Venue Grants (SVOGs) for small businesses in my district, and $2,030,989,118 for small businesses across California.
Uplifting Small Businesses: Expanded the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses to maintain payroll, retain workers' and cover overhead costs.
Cutting Down on Government Spending
Cutting the Deficit in the Future: Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will make a historic down payment on deficit reduction of $300 billion to fight inflation. It honors our promise to the American people – and is fully paid for by making the biggest corporations and ultra-wealthy pay their fair share:
Establishes a 15 percent corporate minimum tax rate - which applies only to the 150 corporations earning over $1 billion in profits that pay less than 15% in taxes.
Creates a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks to encourage companies to invest in production and workers instead of shareholder profits.
Lowers the deficit and reduces inflation: Makes a historic down payment on deficit reduction of approximately $300 billion to fight inflation.
NO new taxes on families making $400,000 or less and NO new taxes on small businesses: Not one middle-class person filling out their taxes will find that they are facing higher taxes or higher tax rates.
Fixing our Supply Chains
The pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of our global supply chain, which is delaying shipments of everything from food to retail to healthcare supplies. Costa has been working on short-and-long-term solutions to strengthen our supply chains and make more products in America.
Lowering the Costs at the Shelves: Took a lead role in passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which cracks down on exorbitant and unfair shipping fees charged by foreign shipping companies, which have increased costs for consumers on the shelves.
Tackling Rail Shipping Delays of Critical Goods: Introduced the Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act, to create a fair marketplace for Class I freight railroads and their captured customer. This will ensure that farmers and producers receive the livestock feed, fertilizer, and other goods needed to put food on America’s dinner table.
Improving our Nation’s Ports: Helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to tackle supply chain issues in the long term by repairing maintenance backlogs, reducing congestion near ports, and driving low-carbon technologies, which will ensure our supply chains are keeping up strong with our economic recovery.
Holding Foreign Shipping Carriers Accountable: Introduced the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act to remove exemptions for foreign shipping carriers from federal antitrust laws and address unfair practices that harm American businesses like unjustified container rate increases, exorbitant detention, and demurrage fees, which have delayed critical goods to both American producers and consumers.
Bringing back American Manufacturing: Everything from our cars, phones, microwaves, and TVs needs semiconductors to function. Democrats passed the CHIPS and Science Act, so we don’t have to depend on foreign countries for key components and support American supply chains, all while creating good-paying manufacturing jobs!
Addressing Global Food Shortages: Putin's war on Ukraine has fueled the global hunger crisis and disrupted our food supply chains. That is why I introduced legislation to address potential global food shortages by cutting through red tape to expedite the delivery of food aid to Ukraine and other affected countries until February 2025.