The realities of climate change are irrefutable. We must act now.
I support measurable climate goals, protecting our rivers, and science-based policy which ensures that our water, air, and land will be preserved and protected for generations to come. Unprecedented wildfires and regional growth have threatened both the Cache La Poudre River and Big Thompson River. Our air quality continues to present a risk for vulnerable populations, as Fort Collins is part of the “non-attainment” area designated by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 due to our high levels of ozone. Addressing these issues, including short- and long-range plans for disaster mitigation and preparedness, will require bold action in addition to regional and statewide collaboration.
Our state government must work to ensure the health and safety of Coloradans. I was proud to support SB-181, and continue to support local control which allows for communities to enact fracking moratoriums, increased setbacks, independent air quality monitoring, job training initiatives that would prepare workers for new careers in the renewable energy sector, and subsidies and tax credits which would increase the affordability of renewable forms of energy such as wind and solar. I also support additional charging stations for electric vehicles as we work to advance renewable energy sources and cleaner forms of transportation. We have a limited window of opportunity to begin reversing the effects of climate change — it is far past time to put the health of our communities first.
I am a proud product of public schools & a public university.
I am also a parent with three students enrolled in the Poudre School District. I believe in the value of a public school education. I affirm and support the dedication of teachers, principals, school counselors, support staff and administrators in making sure each and every student has access to an unparalleled public education in the state of Colorado.
As a former elementary music teacher in a Title I school, I have experienced firsthand the negative impacts of underfunding educators and students. In Colorado, our educators face an extraordinary set of fiscal challenges. I support educational equity, expanded vocational and technical training programs, competitive pay for teachers, and de-emphasizing our current reliance on standardized testing. I support buying down the Negative Factor and restoring educational funding to the previously mandated levels (pre-2010). Our students need and deserve access to mental health services and school counselors, and I was proud to support and work on both the 2019 Mill Levy Override and the 2018 Behavioral Health Initiative.
The Gallagher Amendment and TABOR have long presented a challenging obstacle to the commitment to restore full funding for K-12 education. I was proud to support the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment in November 2020. I support repealing TABOR in full, as well as a graduated income tax rate (with no increase for those earning less than $150,000/year). The fiscal well-being of our state depends on our ability to enact equitable public policy in order to untangle the fiscal thicket we find ourselves in at present. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting economic impacts, this is more critical than ever before.
I support increased funding for Higher Education. For too long we have understood funding for higher education in the state of Colorado to be discretionary and/or negotiable — doing so places an undue burden on students, erodes the ability of colleges and universities to hire and retain faculty and staff, and encourages future college graduates to seek education and employment elsewhere. It’s time we retain the best and brightest Colorado has to offer — this starts by restoring funding to our colleges and universities.
Comprehensive healthcare for all is a right and not a privilege.
Every Coloradan — regardless of age or income — should be covered by affordable comprehensive healthcare, including primary care, prescriptions, hospitalizations, reproductive health, mental and behavioral health (including inpatient treatment) services, dental, and specialty care. Colorado should lead the way in adopting Improved Medicare for All.
Each and every Coloradan deserves the freedom to be able to choose their own healthcare provider, knowing that their medical expenses will be covered. No Coloradan should risk losing their home or their life savings if they get sick.
Now more than ever, we have a fiscal and moral obligation to ensure that every resident of Colorado is covered by a plan that centers on quality care for patients, not profits.
For the sake of our communities, for the sake of our economy, and for the sake of our children, Colorado can and should lead the way to ensure that each and every resident has comprehensive health care coverage.
COVID-19 recovery and resiliency remains a priority for Colorado.
We must listen to the experts and continue to enact a science-driven approach in regard to public policy. The state legislature has been busy prioritizing and allocating one-time relief dollars in order to make transformational change in the areas of economic recovery, affordable housing, and mental and behavioral health. Since being elected I have prioritized COVID-19 relief for individuals, families, and small businesses that have been negatively and/or disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. This includes allocating any additional federal dollars to support housing assistance, affordable child care, behavioral health, paycheck protection programs for nonprofits and small businesses, food assistance, and utility bill payment assistance.
Small businesses will be critical in our recovery efforts – they are the economic backbone of our community. Small businesses bring innovation, growth, and employment opportunities to our community. Their success will be critical both to our recovery efforts, and as we build economic resiliency in the years to come. I will work to ensure small businesses and family-owned businesses in our community are supported by any state or federal relief dollars allocated to Colorado.
The lack of affordable housing is a crisis in Northern Colorado.
I will work to ensure that Coloradans have access to attainable and affordable housing and will work to protect the rights of renters and first time homebuyers. Now more than ever, and especially as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that we support renters and homeowners — doing everything we can to keep people housed while avoiding pandemic-related foreclosures or evictions. In response to these challenges, and in order to prioritize the one-time federal relief dollars here in Colorado, the General Assembly convened the Affordable Housing Task Force in 2021. I’m proud to be carrying one of the task force bills which will grant mobile home park residents access to low-interest revolving loan fund dollars to aid in the purchase of their mobile home park.
Fixing our housing crisis will require a variety of creative and collaborative solutions. I will work to empower local governments and municipalities so they have as many tools as possible to provide affordable housing in communities throughout Colorado. Since being elected, I have been hard at work on behalf of mobile home park residents in our community, working to protect residents and also Colorado’s largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing.
I also support bolstering the Housing Development Grants Fund (HDG), expanding down payment assistance programs, public housing options, housing developments which take into consideration access to public transit, and green housing initiatives which make environmental sustainability a priority. Our communities should be affordable, sustainable, and accessible to all who desire to live, work, and retire in Northern Colorado.
Transportation and infrastructure upgrades are a pressing issue for our state.
Colorado’s economy and Colorado’s workers, students, visitors and retirees all depend on a modern, sustainable, multimodal transportation system. We cannot simply build more lanes and expect things to get better.
Transportation is not just a quality of life issue, it is also a social justice issue. Safe, clean, and efficient transportation is a shared interest across the political spectrum. I will work with others in order to find a bipartisan solution to the transportation crisis facing our state to rebuild our roads and bridges, decrease commute times, implement multimodal and public transportation solutions, increasing accessibility to cities and rural areas throughout our state. I support expanding and improving non-emergency medical transportation options for aging adults as well as people with pre-existing/chronic medical concerns.
I support bike commuting initiatives and bike share programs. I will work to ensure that affordable housing is built in areas where access to public transportation is made a priority. I have worked to ensure that bike trails (powerline trails) are considered whenever a transmission corridor is being sited or expanded.
I support a commuter/passenger rail system for the Front Range, and the regional collaboration that such a project will necessarily entail. Light-rail and other mass transit options must be a part of the conversation as we explore how to relieve congestion, improve air quality, and provide safe and accessible public transportation for residents in Northern Colorado.
Older adults and retirees are an invaluable asset to our community, and deserve to age in place with grace and dignity.
I will work to lower prescription drug prices while protecting and expanding home-based medical services so that seniors can stay in their homes if they choose. I support affordable housing initiatives and will work to ensure that our older adults are both housing and food secure. I will also work to combat predatory lending practices and other financial schemes that specifically target older adults and retirees.
I support LGBTQQIA affirming retirement homes and medical services so that the diversity of the older adult population is reflected in the healthcare and housing services they rely upon. I will work to address isolation and loneliness amongst older adults and retirees, while championing intergenerational connections that strengthen both interpersonal relationships and our community alike.
I support a living wage for workers in Colorado, the right of workers to organize, and the strengthening of collective bargaining rights.
I support the enactment of HB20-1153, as I believe that state employees should be granted the freedom to collectively bargain. Each and every worker in Colorado deserves a good paying job, a safe workplace, and the dignity and respect that goes along with earning a living wage. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in mass unemployment and job insecurity — we must do everything we can to get people back to work as quickly as possible, and support them in the unfortunate instance that they find themselves laid off from work or temporarily furloughed. As someone who was temporarily furloughed as a result of the pandemic, I know firsthand the anxiety and stress that comes from being unemployed.
I support job training and retraining programs (with a focus on jobs in the renewable energy and infrastructure improvement sectors), the work of unions in advocating for economic and social justice, an increased focus on vocational education, and affirmative action — which in turn opens up the job market to people of color, women, and other underrepresented groups. I support strengthening Colorado’s minimum wage rules to include farm workers, domestic home helpers and others who lack basic wage protections at present. Colorado’s agricultural workers should also be entitled to receive overtime protections in-line with the same protections afforded other workers in our state and I was pleased to vote in support of the Agricultural Workers’ Rights bill in 2021. I will also work to strengthen and stabilize the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA). Our state and our country is on the brink of a retirement crisis and we must do more to ensure that workers are cared for both during their working years and throughout their retirement years.
Farming runs in my family. With family roots in the thumb of Michigan, my family farmed for generations.
As a parent, I want my children to know where their food comes from, and to understand the hard work that farmers dedicate to growing and providing our food. Furthermore, I believe that water and other public resources will continue to require innovative, bi-partisan legislation and regulation as we work to protect these and other natural resources for future generations.
I support family farmers and ranchers, urban agriculture farmers, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups, farms, and organizations, measurable climate change goals, and an increased focus on hemp farming, research, manufacturing and development. We must preserve our agricultural land in order to support the next generation of farmers.
I also support Alternative Transfer Methods (ATM’s), aquifer recharge initiatives, greywater systems, and increased education around the importance of water use and conservation here in Colorado.
Black Lives Matter and I stand in solidarity with BIPOC communities.
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu once wrote, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” The time for silence is long past — we must stand together and work together in order to eradicate the evils of systemic racism from our society. The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor point to the devastatingly painful realities of racism in our country. Distrust, inequity, microaggressions, prejudice, and trauma are all-too-present in our country, in our community, in our schools, and in the workplace. We must listen closely and carefully to the experiences of those who face these painful realities as a part of their everyday lives.
As Audra Lorde reminds us, “oppression and the intolerance of difference come in all shapes and sizes and colors and sexualities; and that among those of us who share the goals of liberation and a workable future for our children, there can be no hierarchies of oppression.” I pledge to stand in solidarity with BIPOC communities, to work toward a better future, to listen, to educate myself, to support, and to work alongside those who seek a better future for our state. The values of diversity and inclusion are strengths in our community and they are Colorado values that we must aspire to uphold.
I support police and criminal justice reform, in addition to Colorado’s ban on chokeholds and carotid holds. I also support community policing, adult diversion programs, increased mental and behavioral health supports, racial sensitivity training, and the reallocation of public safety resources to positions such as social workers, addiction counselors, and other behavioral health experts that can prove vital in de-escalating situations that might otherwise be prone to violence.
No matter how much you earn, no matter how much you can contribute to a campaign, you deserve a place at the table.
Every voice should be heard and every vote should be counted. People, not corporations or special interest groups, should decide who represents them in our government. I will work to identify and close loopholes that allow dark money to influence our political process. I support public campaign financing and increased transparency and accountability regarding both lobbying activities and the role that Independent Expenditure Committees play in elections across our state.
I was pleased to support Colorado’s National Popular Vote legislation and I support ranked choice voting.
Now is the time for comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation in the United States.
Mass shootings are not inevitable. Our children should not live in fear. Gun violence in the United States is a problem we can solve. Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough – we need to elect officials who are ready to fight while empowering teachers, students, parents and community members to speak out and show up. Doing nothing is not an option. It is our responsibility to solve this crisis. Together, we can make sure that mass shootings do not happen in our communities. I am proud to have a voting record that reflects these commitments. Common sense gun safety legislation does not impede or restrict responsible firearm ownership.
I support the ban on bump stocks, closing the private sales and gun show sales loopholes, red flag laws, mandatory waiting periods before being allowed to take possession of a firearm, mandatory gun safety training for all new firearm sales, banning semi-automatic rifles and handguns as defined by the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, increased regulation and background checks for ammunition sales, gun buy-back initiatives, and registration and licensing for all firearm purchases.
People have the right to do what they want with their bodies.
I was pleased to cosponsor and stand up in support of The Reproductive Health Equity Act (HB22-1279) and I will continue to listen and advocate to ensure that each and every person – no matter their socioeconomic status – has universal access to comprehensive health care, including abortion services, pregnancy and pre-natal care, health screenings, education, HIV testing and treatment, STD testing and treatment, emergency contraception, and birth control.
I will continue to advocate for equity in pay for women, equal employment opportunities and wage negotiation skills for workers, protections for workers who advocate for equal pay, and family-friendly workplaces.
I strongly support recent legislation that permits candidates in statewide races to use campaign funds to pay for child care – not only is it one of the many ways we can work toward gender parity, it also opens up pathways to elected office for working class families.
Immigrants & refugees strengthen communities.
I am an ally and supporter of immigrants and refugees. I will continue to advocate and work diligently to ensure that the civil rights of immigrants and refugees in Colorado are protected and upheld.
At the state level, I support fully funding Colorado’s driver license program for undocumented immigrants as well as the Ralph Carr Freedom Defense Act. I support state, county, and municipal initiatives that seek to create a legal defense fund and universal representation for undocumented immigrants. I also support data privacy – ensuring that personal information stays private and is not accessible to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On the national level, I support the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs, and a path to citizenship for immigrants in Colorado and throughout the United States.
I vehemently oppose the actions of the Trump administration in regard to family separation, the use of for-profit detention centers, and the continued inhumane treatment of immigrants and refugees both in Colorado and throughout the United States. I support increased transparency and accountability for ICE detention centers, including the ICE detention center in Aurora, and believe the state legislature must act to ensure that the health, safety, and welfare of those housed in such facilities remains paramount.
Equal rights are not extra rights, and Colorado still has a long way to go in order to ensure that our great state is a welcoming, safe, and affirming place for LGBTQ people.
I am an ally and an advocate for LGBTQQIA rights.
I support Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy, as well as streamlining the process for changing gender markers and legal name. I support inclusivity training for healthcare providers and insurance companies, and the right of transgender people to access public restrooms and gender segregated facilities that correspond with gender identity. I support suicide prevention initiatives and recognize the need for more LGBTQQIA affirming mental health resources. I also support LGBTQQIA seniors – making sure they have access to long-term care and nursing facilities wherein each and every orientation and identity is treated with welcome, dignity, and respect.
It is far past time to reform our criminal justice system in the United States.
Much can be done here in Colorado and we should lead the way when it comes to providing justice for all. I come from a family of law enforcement officers (LEO), and am grateful for the work first responders and LEO’s do on behalf of communities across Colorado. I am opposed to the private prison industry – Colorado should restore faith in our justice system and close our for-profit prisons. No one should profit from the incarceration of another person.
I am opposed to the militarization of police departments, stop and frisk, and the disproportionate and unethical use of excessive and often lethal force in minority communities. I support cash bail reform initiatives, including the banning of cash bail for low-level and/or non-violent crimes. I testified in support repealing the death penalty in Colorado, and was pleased to see it be repealed. I support overturning convictions for marijuana possession. I support efforts to protect the public from fentanyl and to hold those who traffic this deadly drug accountable.
I support expanding mental health and substance abuse treatment programs as well as ensuring that those who need mental health services and/or addiction treatment are not simply incarcerated instead. I support diversion programs for non-violent, low-level offenders. Prison is not catch-all solution, and the for-profit prison industry continues to wreak devastation on those struggling with mental health issues and/or addiction while disproportionately preying upon minority communities. It is far past time to address the realities of systemic racism in our criminal justice system – including the racial disparities that are well-documented both in terms of sentencing and incarceration rates. I support following the lead of Maine and Vermont in restoring voting rights for people who are incarcerated here in Colorado.
COVID-19 has presented a multitude of challenges to students in Colorado’s public education system, and it is more important than ever before that we support students with disabilities. All students have the right to a public education, even in the midst of a pandemic.
Children with disabilities have the right to learn alongside their peers, engage in school activities, sports, and receive an education that is committed to equity, safety, and inclusion in the classroom. Online learning platforms, especially in the time of COVID-19, must be accessible for all learners, including those who use assistive technology. School districts must redouble their efforts to ensure that students with disabilities have the necessary accommodations and modifications so that they may learn alongside their peers. I support allocating federal and state relief dollars to ensure that the disability community has the educational resources needed both during the pandemic and beyond.
I support equal pay for equal work and am opposed to paying people with disabilities a subminimum wage. People with disabilities are an asset to the workforce, and I support engaging the business community and other stakeholders around this important issue so that together we can create an equitable wage and workplace for workers with disabilities.
I support the right of Coloradans with disabilities to vote in each and every election, and believe that our democracy is strongest when all voices are heard and represented. Civic engagement by the disability community is a vital part of our democracy.
Healthcare is a human right and people with disabilities shouldn’t have to live in poverty simply to access the healthcare services they require. I support Improved Medicare for All (medical, dental, vision, and prescription drugs), which includes home- and community-based long term support services (LTSS), offered without income or asset limits. I support complex rehab technology reform, and a single-payer healthcare system that ensures all people have access, without waitlists, to the medically necessary technologies and services they require.
I am a father of three children and I was proud to vote for Paid Family & Medical Leave here in Colorado.
My spouse and I both work full-time. I know firsthand the importance of paid family and medical leave. Too many Coloradans are forced to make difficult decisions concerning their health and their family: losing pay because of a sick child, returning to work too soon after the birth of a child, losing a job so that they can provide care for a loved one, choosing between compassion and paying rent, buying groceries, or making a car payment.
I support partial wage replacement in the event of an adoption, foster care placement, the birth of a child, or in the event of a personal or family medical or mental health emergency. Paid family and medical leave is good for business, it’s good for workers, it’s good for women, it’s good for families, and it’s good for Colorado.
The Gallagher Amendment and its unfortunate and preventable collisions with TABOR has led to underfunded schools (especially in rural areas), underpaid teachers, decaying roads and forced austerity measures for Colorado, all in a time of economic growth, population growth and increased property values. TABOR and the Gallagher Amendment are based on flawed calculations, and the results have been devastating for our state. Thankfully, the Gallagher Amendment was officially repealed by a majority of Colorado voters in November 2020. I was proud to support the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment.
Colorado currently ranks 40th in the United States in K-12 per-pupil funding, coming in at $2,000 per-pupil below the national average. Colorado also ranks 49th in the United States in regard to funding higher education, leaving families and students responsible for 2/3 of the cost of a college education.
I support repealing TABOR in its entirety. Eliminating the revenue cap as most local governments have already done, as well as restoring the ability of the state legislature to levy new taxes (in certain circumstances), would restore the original responsibility entrusted to the state legislature prior to 1992, as well as allowing the state of Colorado to proactively respond to the fiscal challenges that times of growth and/or recession present to our state. For more information on the impacts of TABOR, click here. It’s time to repeal TABOR outright so that we can fully fund our schools, pay our teachers a competitive salary, encourage growth in rural communities, restore balance to our property tax system, repair our roads and make improvements to our transportation network.
People have the right to do what they want with their bodies.
Abortion must remain safe, legal and accessible. I am proud to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood and will fight to protect the right to choose. I believe that decisions concerning abortion and reproductive health care belong solely between a patient and their health care provider. The government has no role in those conversations or decisions.
I was pleased to cosponsor and stand up in support of The Reproductive Health Equity Act (HB22-1279) and I will continue to listen and advocate to ensure that each and every person – no matter their socioeconomic status – has universal access to comprehensive health care, including abortion services, pregnancy and pre-natal care, health screenings, education, HIV testing and treatment, STD testing and treatment, emergency contraception, and birth control.
I will continue to advocate for equity in pay for women, equal employment opportunities and wage negotiation skills for workers, protections for workers who advocate for equal pay, and family-friendly workplaces.
I strongly support recent legislation that permits candidates in statewide races to use campaign funds to pay for child care – not only is it one of the many ways we can work toward gender parity