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Age
30
Education
Middle Tennessee State University
Work experience
Accountant
Phone Number
6159349503
First, the rising cost of living. Grocery prices, health care, and child care are outpacing wages, and Tennessee is one of just a handful of states that still taxes groceries at checkout. Second, growth without infrastructure. Maury County's rapid growth is straining roads, water systems like the Duck River, and school capacity faster than the state is investing. Third, access to quality rural health care and education, where hospital strain and underfunded schools leave families driving further and doing more with less. These issues compound each other, and District 71 needs a legislature that treats rural Tennessee as a priority, not an afterthought.
As a CPA who manages complex budgets professionally, I'll bring real financial scrutiny to how the state spends taxpayer money and push to direct more of it toward District 71 rather than letting growth outpace investment. I'll fight to finally eliminate Tennessee's grocery tax, work across the aisle to expand rural health care access, and protect the Duck River as Maury County grows. I'll push to fully fund TISA and raise starting teacher pay so we keep good teachers in our classrooms. And I'll continue to show up in Maury, Wayne, Lawrence, and Hardin counties, not just Nashville, and vote based on what I hear from constituents.
Eliminate the grocery tax. Tennessee is one of only a handful of states that still taxes groceries, hitting working families hardest every week at the register. Lawmakers in both parties have filed bills to end it, but none passed, and it's time to get it done. Pair that with real relief on child care costs and health coverage, so rural hospitals stop absorbing uncompensated care costs passed on to everyone else through higher premiums. Lawmakers should also require growth to pay for itself. When a large development strains roads, water, or schools, the cost shouldn't fall on residents through higher utility bills and local fees. Affordability in District 71 means prosperity from growth actually reaching the families living here.
Fully fund public schools through TISA, including closing gaps in how economically disadvantaged students are counted so rural districts aren't shortchanged. Raise and protect teacher pay so Tennessee stops losing good teachers to other states or professions, and invest in facilities and mental health support in rural counties like Wayne and Hardin that can't raise the same local revenue as growing areas. I'll prioritize keeping public dollars in public schools rather than expanding programs that drain resources from the classrooms most of our kids attend, and push for stronger career and technical education so students who don't go to a four-year college still have a clear path to a good-paying job.
Tennessee should welcome responsible investment, but the legislature has moved too slowly to protect ratepayers, water resources, and local communities from the impact of large data centers. I support the new requirement that big data centers pay for their own power infrastructure instead of passing costs to everyday ratepayers, but the state needs to go further: real oversight of water withdrawals from resources like the Duck River, environmental review before self-generation facilities are approved, and a guaranteed public process so local communities aren't left to pass their own moratoriums just to get a seat at the table. Growth should benefit District 71, not come at the expense of the water and land we depend on.
