Occupation/Current Position
Professor
Education
PhD MPH
Campaign Phone
574-220-7932
Candidate video
I will champion a universal pre-K bill. The benefits of universal pre-K are impressive and will lift families, children and the economy. Universal pre-K will (a) improve school readiness and academic achievement, (b) increase high school graduation, (c) increase 2 & 4 year college enrollment, (d) reduce unemployment, (e) reduce people who need welfare, and (f) reduce criminality. The benefits are staggering. When we invest in children early in their lives, we all benefit.
As outlined in the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce’s Indiana Prosperity 2035 Plan, we must invest in education and we do this with a balanced approach. We need to support families while bringing good paying jobs to Indiana. This is a no-brainer.
If I could change something about how our education system is funded I would make it fair. Private schools that receive public voucher money should be held accountable to the same standards as traditional public schools for reporting, transparency, and absence of discrimination. This lack of regulation resulted in a company called Indiana Virtual Schools cheating taxpayers out of over $40 million by creating fake students to receive public education funds. The company’s operators spent the money they stole from Indiana students and teachers on cars and jewelry from Tiffanys!
I also disagree with the funding of the voucher system. The original premise was to help families of low-income to avoid failing schools. But now, it helps wealthy families send their children to private school that they were already paying for. This needs reform.
The controversies about school curriculum and library books are largely manufactured by a small group of people whose TRUE goal is damaging the reputation of public schools and dismantling public education.
Teachers are the experts. They have received years of education and mentoring to develop their expertise. We need to let them do their jobs. Legislators are not the experts. Legislators need to provide the policy and funding so that teachers can create a safe learning environment.
The concepts of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, and political affiliation are some of the issues we face in everyday life. All curriculum should be age appropriate, but as students age into middle school and high school they are capable of learning about different viewpoints. Let’s not underestimate what our students are capable of!
Indiana has the 3rd highest number of unintentional shootings of children, just behind Florida and Texas. It’s shameful and a common sense law to require safe storage with consequences for gun owners who fail to secure their firearm is shown to decrease both accidental shootings and suicides among children. And yet, despite this type of law being introduced at the State House, it never makes it out of committee. Police cite the permitless carry law with a rise in the number of these kinds of deaths because more people are purchasing guns without getting training.
I strongly disagreed with the permitless carry law. The Republican Supermajority passed this law in 2023, against the strong recommendations of law enforcement, including the State’s Superintendent of Police. Permitless carry should be repealed.
No, we don’t adequately protect our natural environment & regulations are needed. This last session demonstrated that we are very out of balance in how we care for our natural resources compared to relaxing regulations for business. There’s no reason we can’t support business and protect our land, air, and water. In the recently ended session, the Republican Supermajority voted, again, to decrease protections for wetlands and attempted to redefine the dangerous, “forever chemicals,” called PFAS so they couldn’t be regulated in the future despite several reports in the South Bend Tribune about the danger PFAS pose to the environment, including the current clean up at our airport. We need protections for our environment. As State Rep I will follow the science to balance the needs of business and the health & safety of Hoosier families.
Yes, we need measures to improve housing conditions. For the 2nd year, the Republican supermajority rejected a law, proposed by Democrats, that would give renters more leverage when their landlord fails to make essential repairs by allowing their rent to go in a separate account until the repairs are complete. It’s disgraceful. The tragic fire and devastating loss of life is one example of a landlord who faced no consequences as were the conditions at the Cedar Glen complex in South Bend. There are many renters in Granger, Mishawaka, and Osceola and they all deserve safe, affordable housing.
Indiana has a housing crisis and is failing to provide safe and affordable housing. Without it, families & children cannot thrive & prosper. And now as we have witnessed in Indiana, some children will not survive the poor housing they are living in.
At the end of 2023, CDC reported that Indiana ranks 7th worst in the country for infant mortality. The same report says we are the worst in the Midwest, despite Gov. Holcomb’s 2018 goal to make Indiana the best in the Midwest by 2024. The 2022 rate is higher than it was every year since he announced that goal. Our poor maternal & infant health outcomes are a symptom of the overall lack of investment in Hoosiers. Increasing the minimum wage, increasing the rate of health insurance coverage, enacting paid leave, even increasing the cigarette tax are all things proven to improve infant mortality & maternal health. Compare us to any state who has a higher minimum wage, cigarette tax, & paid leave and you’ll see that they lose fewer babies. Women's rights were decimated by extreme Republicans. Women's rights must be fully restored. Full stop.
Voter access and voter education are THE problems. The states that have created safe and legal means of voting have the highest voter turnout. The IndyStar reported: “All three experts said voter fraud is rare … it has been studied for 80 years, with little evidence of widespread problems.”
We should look at what other states have done to improve voter registration and engagement.
New Mexico adopted a voting-rights bill that will automatically register citizens to vote when they interact with the state’s MVD and allow voters to request absentee ballots for all future elections without the need to reapply each time.
Michigan enacted eight laws expanding voting rights. The laws guarantee at least nine days of in-person early voting. The bills also allow voters to fix mistakes on their absentee-ballot envelopes.
The balance of home rule for local government vs state government vs federal government is a challenge. Home rule exceptions will occur but should not interfere with the individual rights of their citizens. For instance, a municipality cannot restrict expression (like displaying pride flags or religious symbols) but they can restrict parking.
In the 2024 legislative session, the Republican Supermajority tried to kill the plan for Indianapolis’ light rail system. Indianapolis, like all other cities in Indiana, has a mayor and City Council. Why should state lawmakers make decisions about public transportation for the City of Indianapolis? We should leave it to the mayors and city councils to make decisions that serve the best interests of their citizens.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
