Khary Penebaker

Khary Penebaker is an American businessman and entrepreneur in the roofing industry who is currently running for the U.S. Congress, focusing on public safety, college affordability, and job creation. His industry awards include 2004 Supplier of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Supplier Development Council and the 2010 Minority Business Contractor of the Year Award from Wisconsin’s Daily Reporter. He has volunteered as a spokesperson for several crime and safety-oriented organizations, including Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety, and he is a strong advocate for suicide prevention.

He graduated from Marquette University High School in 1996 and received a degree in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2001, where he was a successful athlete in track and field.

2016 U.S. Congressional Campaign

As a member of the Democratic Party, he is currently running for the United States House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 5th congressional district.^[1] The district includes the entirety of Washington and Jefferson counties, and portions of Waukesha, Dodge, Milwaukee, and Walworth counties. Penebaker is facing the strongly conservative district's Republican incumbent Jim Sensenbrenner.^[2]

Platform

Common Sense Public Safety Measures

Penebaker holds a deep respect for Wisconsin's hunters and responsible gun owners, but he understands that we need to implement certain common sense reforms to help keep our communities safe. He advocates for universal background checks for gun sales, including private and online sales. He wants to coordinate the federal, state, and local governments with healthcare professionals and insurance providers to establish better long-term mental health care for those who need it. He wants to model federal legislation off Wisconsin's recently passed bipartisan domestic violence law, the SAFE Act, to keep guns away from domestic abusers. Penebaker also calls for firearm restrictions for suspected persons on the federal no-fly list and other terror watch lists, while understanding the need for an appeal process if a name has been added to such lists in error.^[3]

Education

Penebaker believes that no one should be unable to pursue higher education because of financial concerns. The financial burden on our college students is much too great. He thinks students should be able to borrow for educational loans at the same interest rate that banks receive from the federal government on loans, and that students should be able to refinance their existing student loan debt at lower rates.^[4] He also calls for new government job-search web resources to connect new college and technical college graduates with prospective employers and job opportunities so they can immediately build a path towards their future.

Jobs and the Economy

Khary Penebaker has created actual jobs by growing a commercial roofing company from three to fifty employees in a few short years. He understands that innovative businesses should be resources for local employment and drivers of economic opportunities, and the government should help small businesses to achieve this. He has proposed four new tax incentives: the First Job Tax Credit, for small businesses who hire new graduates; the Fresh Opportunity Tax Credit, for small businesses who hire released former felons and help reduce the recidivism rate; the Childcare-to-Business Tax Credit, to help parents who are reentering the work force as entrepreneurs; and the Hire-a-Hero Tax Credit, to empower small- and medium-sized businesses to increase their hiring of newly discharged servicemen and servicewomen.^[5]

References