Janet's Kick-Off Remarks:

"Thank you Assemblyman for that kind introduction ­– and thanks to each and every one of you for being here today.

I want to say to Leland, and to Leo, how much your support means to me.  There’s a tradition of bold leadership in this district – a tradition that the two of you helped establish and maintain.

So that leaves me with two pairs of very big shoes to fill – and to have both of you here today, showing your support, means the world to me.

My two daughters, and my husband, Clint, are here. The three of you are my pride and joy. You are taking on this challenge with me – and I know the victory ahead would not be possible without your love and support. I love you all very much.

And girls – I hope someday you’ll think about the importance of serving our community. Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of women role models – because there simply were few women in public life. So one of the reasons I’m here today is because I want my girls, and every young woman, to see that anything is possible.

I hope to leave you girls some very high heels to fill one day.

This is an incredible turnout for a Saturday morning in January – so many months before the election. I see so many old friends. And I see so many new friends. But, most of all, I see people ready to work, ready to campaign, and ready to win.

Are you ready to win?

I can tell you I am. I’m ready to fight and win for every single one of us.

When I introduced my family – I talked about the California Dream. My parents came from a generation that wasn’t afraid to dream big. And we inherited from their generation, the richest and most progressive state, in this nation.

Leaders, like Pat Brown and Leo McCarthy, gave us so much. The world’s best college and university system. The nation’s finest public schools. New laws to fight bigotry. The nation’s most progressive environmental protections. And yes, they even gave us a state government that was recognized as being the very best in this nation.

For nearly 30 years, we’ve coasted on that progress.

But now, we all know the truth. We’re running on empty.

Our public schools are ranked 43rd in per student spending. Poverty is still in our midst.  Our roads and public transportation system are reaching their maximum capacity. And our state government is now ranked as one of the worst in the nation.

We’ve stopped making progress because we stopped standing up and fighting for the issues that matter most. We stopped fighting the big fights and instead, we elected too many politicians who run away from them.

With a few bright and notable exceptions – we have elected a generation of career politicians that stopped fighting for us – and instead fought for the next job, the next headline, the next political donation.

They were so busy running for office – they ran away from our problems.

I’m here because it’s time to start fighting again.

Let’s talk about an issue that is near and dear to me, the health of our families.

In this district alone, we have some of the nation’s highest asthma rates, highest breast cancer rates, highest autism rates. We have a growing epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes and shrinking resources to fight this very  preventable disease.

In my life, I have seen my own friends and family experience the dramatic gulf between sickness and health.  My oldest sister died of breast cancer and many of my friends are fighting right now to recover from it. I see the pain on the faces of parents of autistic and asthmatic kids as they struggle to give their children the very best quality of life. And I sit on the Golden Gate Bridge Board, where I am fighting to build a suicide barrier – so we can keep our fellow human beings alive until they get the help they need to stay healthy.

We have seven million people without insurance – in one of the richest places on earth. One half of all the bankruptcies in America are caused by medical bills. We have children who could be covered by existing health programs who aren’t because we haven’t educated their parents. Almost every single one of us could lose our insurance if we lose our jobs. And this isn’t just a crisis that effects the uninsured. We all pay for this problem every day.

There is an answer – a very good answer. It just isn’t politically easy, so most of the politicians run away from it.

I’m not going to run. I am going to stand up and fight for a plan that covers every single Californian with health care. It’s called universal coverage – and we’re going to finally make it a reality.

The truth is we have the money to cover everyone. Right now 30 cents out of every health care dollar goes to cover bureaucracy and paper work. And we can let everyone keep their own doctor and make their own medical decisions.

So how do we get this?

We get it by fighting for what’s right for all of us – not by protecting the privileges of a few special interests.

Let’s take a look at our schools.

If press releases and political posturing could make things better every one of our kids would have a PhD by now.

We know the answer to improving our schools. Pay our teachers well, hold everyone to the highest standards, and send kids to school ready to learn.

We’re going to need to invest in our kids and invest in our teachers. We’re going to need to create a system of accountability based upon real data. We need to make sure every kid has the chance to attend preschool so they can start Kindergarten ready to learn.  And we are going to need to pay for it.

It’s as simple as that.

That’s why I support the universal preschool initiative that is going to be on the ballot in June. This isn’t pie in the sky. It’s more like motherhood and apple pie. It asks the richest Californians to pay just a little more in income tax so every kid has an equal chance to learn.

You know I ran a department for one of America’s largest retailers. I know a good deal when I see it. When we invest a little in our kids – we are going to enrich this whole state.

The politicians are running away from these fights – because they don’t want to be held accountable for taking the tough stands. I’m here because if the politicians don’t want to be held accountable, then it is time for us to send citizen leaders to do the job we know needs to get done.

Let’s take a look at transit. Every time you hit a pothole – or can’t get on that crowded bus or streetcar, or can’t get across town – remember somebody we elected is responsible for that.

They’re good at hiding. But we know who they are. And they’re not taking care of the basics that matter most.

Now we’re very fortunate to have Leland Yee as our Assemblyman. Unlike so many other politicians, he’s fought hard to secure funds for roads and transit and to make our streets safer for pedestrians.

I want to continue that fight – and make sure we have the world’s best system of mass transit. We need to improve the 38 Geary line– there needs to be more buses and they need to move faster. Every streetcar line needs better service. We need to extend mass transit links throughout the region.

We need to make public transportation so much faster, safer, and comfortable than riding in a car, that people will leave their cars at home, creating a safer and cleaner environment. That’s going to take relentless commitment – and I am ready for that responsibility.

But this will also require an investment on our part. I think the Governor’s action reducing the fees for Hummers and luxury cars was terribly shortsighted. I know that this fee was a hardship for some – and reducing it for most people at the time did make some sense. But don’t you think people in Hummers can afford to pay a few cents more so we can all have a better quality of life? I do.

And I’ll fight to make it happen.

Let’s take a look at our economy and the kind of jobs we are creating.

This world is getting faster, and harder, and the competition from around the world is fierce. We are going to need the world’s best-trained workers to compete – which is why we’re going to need the world’s best community colleges and state universities. We are lucky to have two of California’s best public institutions of higher learning right here in the district – City College and San Francisco State. And of course I can’t forget the University of San Francisco as well.

We’ve neglected these institutions for too long. For the first time in a generation, we turned qualified kids away from our state colleges and universities. At a time when we need more highly trained Californians to compete, we are denying kids a college education. It just doesn’t make sense.

Let’s do this. Let’s elect somebody who can do the math. When you need trained workers to keep our state strong, you don’t drive Californians away from colleges and universities. It doesn’t add up.

I will fight every day to maintain current tuition levels and open the doors to opportunity for every Californian. That’s a fight we’re going to win. 

You know, I don’t want to run for this office because I need a job. I don’t want to run for this office because I want to spend my life in politics. I don’t want to run for this office because I want to see my name in the newspaper.

I’m running because one of us has to. Because we can’t wait any longer for change. We’ve got to start making change right here and right now.

I’m ready. I’ll fight for you every day. I won’t duck. I won’t hide. And I won’t run.

I will tell it like it is and fight alongside you every day to get this state moving again.

I’m ready.

Are you ready?

Then let’s make it happen. Thank you for being here – and thank you for helping us today and in the weeks ahead.