Issues

As the mother of a special needs child and a two-income household, I know our community cannot continue on with the current cost of living. Seniors are being pushed out of retirement, and people are struggling to pay rent and mortgages. Utility costs are sky-high, gas is unaffordable, and families are having difficulty putting food on the table.

In the legislature, I will prioritize tax reforms that remove the heavy burden from struggling families and seniors, work to lower utility costs, and advocate for affordable housing solutions that actually make a difference for urban and rural communities. I will fund transit projects that help rural residents access public resources and economic opportunities, and ensure SPED funding so parents can rely on their public schools to provide their children the support they need.

After nearly 20 years working as a social and frontline healthcare worker in rural Mason and Thurston counties, I have seen firsthand what it means when people cannot access the health care they need. For many of my clients, the resources they need are either too far away or not affordable. 

As your Representative, I will fight to make care affordable with reforms to insurance policy, protecting rural communities from clinic loss as a result of healthcare mergers, and passing legislation that protects Washington Apple Health insurance and access to Medicaid.

I will protect the right to all aspects of family planning in our state. I will hold clinics accountable to providing transparent, unbiased information, and comprehensive care. In the House, I will protect the right to all forms of contraception, and will ensure medical abortion is an option for families that need it.

My district includes many rural communities that often have unreliable or hard-to-reach health care services. I will advocate for affordable telehealth and mobile options, and work to prevent closures of hospitals those communities rely on. I will also fight for wraparound services across the entire district, not just dense and wealthy areas.

My career has focused on helping those most in need, and I have been disappointed by how difficult current regulations make helping our homeless population. First responders have to wait until someone is on their last legs to provide care, and our regional programs are not prepared to provide the medical and behavioral health support that many people need. I will pursue legislation that ensures wraparound services and social housing are more accessible to make community members safer, and healthier.

Housing costs are extremely high, and it is impossible for many families to buy in the communities they call home, let alone pay rent. Our children deserve to have the option to stay near their families, and everyone should be able to afford a home that meets their needs. We must address the root causes of this crisis by supporting zoning reform to allow for more density near transit and jobs, increasing funding for affordable housing construction, enacting tenant protections, expanding property tax relief for seniors & veterans, and creating first-time homebuyer programs targeted at working families. Additionally, I will bolster the Working Family Tax Credit and first-time home owner programs to decrease financial burdens and increase ownership opportunities.

We need to meet people where they are, and not wait until it’s too late to help. For our unhoused neighbors, this means creating social housing with wraparound behavioral health services.

I don’t believe that encampment sweeps are helpful to solving the root cause, and I know there are better options available to keep our communities safe and healthy.

My son, Pride, has taught me a lot about the gaps in our public schools. Pride is diagnosed autistic, and is non-verbal, and he is an insulin-dependent diabetic. My husband and I are fierce advocates for resourcing public school SPED programs, and requiring health insurance companies to provide all early intervention resources in a streamlined and affordable way.

Our public schools are supposed to prepare our kids for the real world, and if we are not providing them with enough resources to help students with additional needs, families struggle to fill the gap, and students fall behind.

As State Representative, I will make sure schools get what they need to operate well. I will champion fully funding Special Education, work to restore funding for Dual Language Learning programs, and make sure public schools provide the necessary resources for students of all abilities.