Education
Indiana State University, Indiana University Kokomo, IPFW
Occupation
I recently resigned from my 12 year career at FSSA to provide childcare for my grandchildren.
Indiana families saw utility rates jump 17.5% while the Republican supermajority voted down every meaningful protection Democrats proposed such as hard rate caps, banning utility companies from including the money they spend lobbying the government as a cost for justification for rate increases, exempting ratepayers from the same 7% sales tax that data centers are exempted from, and even medical disconnection protections. The IURC has been a rubber stamp, not a watchdog. I'll fight for hard rate caps, real IURC accountability, and making sure corporations pay their fair share of grid costs, not Hoosiers.
Democrats proposed a $10,000 childcare tax credit for working families. Republicans voted it down. I'd fight to pass it.
For k-12 education, I would fight to pass legislation that provides equitable funding regardless of zip code. So a kid in Huntington County gets the same investment as a kid in Carmel or Fishers.
For technical and vocational training: I'd fight to fund equipment upgrades at rural schools, create tax incentives for local employers who host apprentices, and expand Career Scholarship Accounts so public dollars follow students into credentialing programs, not just college. I'd also push for middle school career exploration that presents trades as a first choice rather than a fallback.
Republicans passed SEA 1 in 2025 promising property tax relief but businesses got 40 times more relief than homeowners, and schools and local governments absorbed the loss. I'd fight to reform the per-pupil funding formula to better reflect rural realities, restore local government revenue sharing that Statehouse Republicans have quietly eroded, and stop unfunded mandates that push costs onto counties and school boards without sending the dollars to cover them.
Poverty is often a system failure, rather than a character flaw. My career at FSSA brought me into direct contact with families navigating those systems at their most vulnerable, and I've seen what works and what doesn't. I'd fight to eliminate benefits cliffs that punish people for earning more while they get their heads above water, streamline fragmented eligibility systems, and expand eviction diversion programs. Indiana's housing crisis is real. AI displacement is becoming a real issue and job retraining programs must target workers losing jobs now, not just young people entering the workforce. I would fight to expand job training programs and again, push for childcare cost relief so that families can afford to go to work.
