Education
Indiana University BA 1984, Indiana University Bloomington School of Law JD 1987
Occupation
Senior Lecturer, Indiana University
The ultimate answer is a single payer, universal health care system in which every person has the right to care. While working toward that goal, more needs to be done to ensure access to affordable health care.
I opposed SB 1, which creates new bureaucratic hurdles to block those who qualify for Medicaid from staying on the program. Properly funding Medicaid and the Healthy Indiana Plan to prevent people from losing their health insurance would reduce uncompensated care for rural hospitals. I supported HB 1271, which prohibits health insurance companies from retroactively reducing the reimbursement rate for health services provided. This has been a particular problem for rural health care providers.
The Republican supermajority uses the claim of election fraud to justify voter suppression legislation. I oppose any legislation that makes it more difficult to vote. One recent example of a bill I opposed no longer allows state university students to use their student IDs to prove their identities when voting. The bill was justified by making allegations that students were voting in multiple places. Those allegations were made without presenting any evidence to support them.
I support allowing all voters to vote by mail, extending voting hours on election day, and repealing laws that make it more difficult to vote without any proof they have increased election security or integrity.
The Governor and legislature are converting the Commission into a regulatory body that will soon be acting like a board of regents, micromanaging all state universities. This is a threat to academic freedom that I oppose.
Those who attack our universities claim they want neutral campuses where all ideas can be expressed when in fact, they hypocritically want colleges to promote their own conservative views. Requiring degrees to meet patriotic-sounding goals like promoting “core values of American society” risks politicizing our classrooms.
I will continue opposing legislation that undermines academic freedom and shared faculty governance. I will also continue speaking out against an IU administration that is complicit in attacks on faculty.
I opposed SEA 1 in 2025 that managed to provide minimal property tax relief while depriving schools and local governments of the revenue they need to provide essential services. Many taxpayers will end up paying more in new local income taxes than they save on their property taxes. SEA 1 must be fixed.
SEA 1 is on top of Republican policies that undermine our public schools. First, they fail to properly fund them, then they continue to siphon tax dollars away to vouchers for private and religious schools. More tax dollars are diverted from traditional public schools to charter schools. I have consistently opposed these diversions of tax dollars and will continue fighting for proper funding of traditional public schools.
A society cannot remain strong when a large part of it is unable to financially prosper while another part enjoys fantastic wealth and the middle-class continues to shrink.
Republican supermajorities have handed out billions in tax breaks and bestowed hundreds of millions of dollars on corporations in the name of economic development but refuse to invest in its own citizens.
I support an economic agenda that helps Hoosiers with their everyday challenges. The minimum wage should be increased. Childcare should be available to all families. Budget decisions limiting access to health care need to be reversed. Residential treatment must be available to the unhoused who struggle with substance use disorder and mental health challenges.
Education
GED
Occupation
Restaurant hostess
The government has a responsibility to ensure that all people have immediate and unrestricted access to any and all forms of medical care. This includes establishing the infrastructure needed, such as building clinics and hospitals in regions where few may exist. Beyond this, the government should never, in any capacity, have any say over what kind of medical care people can receive.
The government should ensure that more polling places, not fewer, are open. Mail-in ballots should be standardized for those who travel or are disabled, and a free voter ID program should be implemented so that everyone in the state has easy access to credentials needed to vote.
I believe it should be legislated that the Governor's office, or state agencies and commissions cannot dictate what kinds of classes, curriculum and degrees can be offered and maintained at any college.
I would seek to repeal the private school voucher program and return that funding directly to public schools. I'm also exploring the possible need for legislation that requires counties to maintain a base level of services within their school systems.
I support a $20/hour state minimum wage, publicly funded housing for our homeless residents, repeal of at-will employment and right-work policies, and a legal requirement that the state cannot deny unemployment benefits.
