Fourth district congressional hopefuls sound off on issues

Jesse Mermell

Jesse Mermell hailed a Supreme Court decision issued Monday that invalidated a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

Mermell, of Brookline, a former official at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, also took a shot at President Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump and his hand-picked, radical conservative judges failed once again in their relentless crusade to decimate Roe v. Wade and strip away abortion rights,” she said in an emailed statement.

She urged Congress to take further action to protect abortion rights.

Chris Zannetos

Chris Zannetos of Wellesley says that if elected he will push to create “new collar” jobs that he described as “entry-level, growth jobs that don’t require a person to be a science expert.”

To create jobs he would push to create a GI-Bill like program for training and retraining; invest heavily in one- to two-year college programs and apprenticeships for people from marginalized communities; challenge and provide incentives to businesses to partner with educational institutions to expand experiential learning; and expand laws such as the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act.

With regard to climate issues he said he would support a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050; aligning infrastructure investments to improve quality of life and access to jobs for lower-income communities while reducing emissions; investments in the clean energy, environmental remediation, and conservation industries.

More info: www.chriszforma.com.

Dave Cavell

Dave Cavell of Brookline announced a COVID-19 policy proposal that includes resources for frontline workers, funding for schools and teachers, help for small businesses, and safeguards to protect elections.

His climate policy aims to minimize the influence of the fossil fuel industry, invests in transportation, infrastructure, and renewable energy.

He also published an op-ed piece calling for the adoption of Black history into the national curriculum.

More info: davecavell.com/climate and davecavell.com/covid-plan.

Alan Khazei

Alan Khazei of Brookline has released an “LGBTQ+ equality” plan that calls for passage of the Equality Act, which he said “would build on the Supreme Court’s ruling to extend protection from discrimination to cases beyond the workplace, including in housing and healthcare.”

Khazei is also proposing expanded options “to tackle the growing crisis of youth LGBTQ+ homelessness” and said he strongly supports the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would end discrimination in adoption.

More info: www.alankhazei.com/lgbtq-equality.