VOTE411 Voter Guide

I am putting forward a bold policy vision that can unite working class people across the state of Kansas around our common interests. I will work with progressive and democratic forces in GOP held districts to rally the voters there around that vision and put pressure on their representatives to help pass policies that benefit the working class. I have more than 20 years of organizing experience that will help with that effort.

KanCare for all: We need a state-funded single payer health care system to replace the predatory private insurance companies. Patients should worry about healing, not bankruptcy.

A Democratic Bill of Rights: Our voting rights are under constant attack from the extreme right. We need to enshrine our democratic rights in the state constitution, to defend and expand them.

A Labor Bill of Rights: Union density has been on the decline for decades and so have conditions for the working class. To reverse that, we need strong protections in the state constitution, including the repealing of "right to work", establishing prevailing wages for public contracts, and protecting the right to organize and strike.

I will make regular communications with constituents about important bills through social media and an email newsletter.

"Gut and Go" is a dirty trick that has become all too common in the Kansas Legislature. Incredibly controversial bills, like SB 244 (the "bathroom bill"), can be forced through with little to no public comment. One chamber passes an innocuous bill, sends it to the other chamber, who guts it, removing all the language and replacing it with wholly new legislation, and sends it back for a simple reconciliation. It's an insult to transparency and accountability.

There needs to be a threshold for amendments, and bills that are changed too much must be handled as if they were brand new bills.

I have proposed a Democratic Bill of Rights, which will enact rank choice voting, establish a nonpartisan redistricting commission that only draws new districts once a decade, automatic voter registration for eligible voters, remove corporations' power to spend money in elections, join the National Interstate Popular Vote Compact to make the electoral college obsolete, repeal voter ID laws, establish public campaign financing, establish citizen-led ballot initiatives

I bring twenty years of policy and advocacy experience to this work. I've worked extensively at the state and national level to advance policies on economic justice, affordable health care, and child/family policy. I am an expert on health and human services policy, including Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. In my first term in office I passed legislation, I passed bipartisan legislation making narcan more accessible in communities, offered floor amendments on Medicaid expansion to force a vote and get every member of the House of Representative on record, helped work behind the scenes to pass pharmacy benefit manager reform, and consistently voted against attacks on voter rights and other extreme measures from the majority party.

Public Education - this is the largest expense in our state budget and one of the most important issues the legislature weighs in on. I'm a strong supporter of public education and will work to ensure our schools are fully funded (including special education), public dollars stay in public schools, and that we are also investing in early education and post-secondary education.

Health Care - I believe health care is a basic human right. In my first term I offered Medicaid expansion on the House floor and forced a vote so that every sitting member of the House is on record as supporting or opposing. There's much more we can do to lower prescription drug prices.

Taxes - I advocate for a progressive tax system that works for everyday Kansans.

The KS Legislature has a new website and I'm hopeful that will help Kansans follow bills. If the new website is not an improvement, I will continue to advocates for this function to be available on the website. I regularly help constituents track bills and will continue to do so.

The Gut and Go process is a double-edged sword. I recognize it is a tool often used in bad situations, but that is not always the case. This year I had a bill that makes narcan more available in communities and saves costs for social service organizations and law enforcement. The Speaker killed the bill for partisan issues, but the chairman of the health committee used a gut and go to keep the bill alive, and it ultimately passed.

Yes, absolutely! For starters I would bring back the three-day grace period for mail ballots and undo other recent harms. I also support same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration.

Our elections are safe and secure and I believe we need to focus on how to engage more people in the democratic process, rather that continue down the recent Republican path of restricting voting rights and making it harder to register to vote and vote.