ISSUES

Healthcare costs are skyrocketing and our republican-led legislature is doing nothing to stop it!

Having an affordable health care system is possible in Missouri. As a representative, I have a responsibility to our community to ensure our neighbors can afford their medications and doctors visits. We can work to lower prescription drug prices. We can fund the clinics in the state that offer free and low cost care to those most in need and help start new ones in areas where healthcare access is lacking.

Access to abortion is necessary healthcare. We must overturn Missouri’s “Heartbeat Bill“ and work to bring more OBGYN’s to Missouri so no area is without access to reproductive healthcare. We must also ensure that access to contraception is protected and education on how to avoid pregnancy and STIs is easily available to all Missourians.

Access to behavioral healthcare is vital for our state. We must work with already existing systems to make mental healthcare more accessible and inform more folks in our community of the ways those in need can get the help they require.

When I was growing up, Missouri’s education system was a point of pride. Our teachers were paid well and our students received a great education. After more than two decades with a Republican super-majority our children are falling behind, our teachers are leaving the state for better pay and more opportunity, and our schools are cutting back to four days a week.

Our public schools are having to rely on less state funding and more on local tax hikes to make up the difference. Unfortunately, most places in Missouri can’t afford to foot that bill. It is the responsibility of the state legislature to show us where their priorities lie, and right now, we can be sure it is not with our children.

When I get to Jefferson City, I will be a strong advocate for changing the funding formula to ensure that the state pays its fair share and our children have the best access to public education any state can offer.

Our community deserves a strong middle class with all the benefits one envisions from a good job. Earned paid time off and a livable wage are the most basic benefits we should expect when working full time. Workers are the backbone of our economy. We deserve to make a decent living and be able to take time off when our families need us most.

When unions are strong, we all thrive. Standing together as a collective means more power for the working class to get what they deserve from the work they dedicate their life to day in and day out. I will fight against any legislation that hampers the ability to join a union or a union's ability to fight for its workers.

We need a representative who will protect the hard earned rights won by the labor movement. We need a representative that knows what it's like to work a 9-5 job. We need a representative that understands what it's like to step back from college to spend more time working to provide for their family. I am that representative. I will work hard to leave a better future for our children and grandchildren.

My background is in fixing and updating the roads, bridges, and interchanges we drive everyday. We have neglected the systems that get us from point A to point B. Thanks to the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act, we have the best opportunity we have had in decades to fix the growing problems with our infrastructure systems and improve public transit. Not only should we use this investment to fix many of our transit systems, but we should also work to revamp our electrical supply methods with more green technology and create a program to help test and replace failing clean water framework.

I believe that we live in the greatest country in the world. We must do everything we can to protect and improve our systems of government. I will work to pass automatic voter registration and same day registration in Missouri.

Automatic Voter Registration is a system that allows citizens to be registered to vote when interacting with government agencies like the DMV. This policy takes the hassle out of registering to vote and guarantees that every citizen 18+ can do their civic duty.

It is fundamentally un-American for any citizen to be turned away at a polling location because they forgot to update their voter registration. Everyone’s voice should be heard. Same Day Voter Registration has resulted in higher turnout in states that have implemented this program and Missouri should join those states.

The bottom line is no one should be turned away from the ballot. There is nothing more important to preserving democracy than our ability to vote and it should be protected at all cost.

Every person should have the autonomy to make decisions about their body and their life. Republicans have passed extreme abortion bans in recent years, limiting access to abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or medical need.

Mothers die from childbirth in Missouri in numbers far greater than the rest of the industrialized world, and instead of promoting healthcare, Missouri legislators have placed burdensome restrictions on it.

Republicans have gone so far as to pass legislation that costs hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to defend against Constitutional challenges, while at the same time blaming budget shortfalls for lack of funding for essential items like school transportation.

As your state rep, I will stand with women for the right to make the best decisions about their healthcare for their own lives.

Every year for the past two decades, the Missouri Non-Discrimination Act (MONA) has been filed, only to be blocked by Republicans. MONA would allow basic protections to our LGBTQ community by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Missouri’s Human Rights Act.

Missourians should not have to fear losing their jobs or being denied housing for who they love—discrimination that is currently completely legal in our state.

Meanwhile, Republicans in recent years have also passed legislation that makes it easier for employers, landlords or businesses to discriminate based on race, age, religion or gender—more so than in any other state.

As your state rep, I will work for a Missouri that welcomes people regardless of race, religion, gender, age or sexual orientation, and protects all people from discrimination.