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Age
60
Education
College, RN
Hometown
St Augustine
County
St Johns
Instagram
@voteMatthewsRN
Campaign Phone
904-257-6411
The two most important challenges we face are stopping the attacks on our freedoms and reversing the harmful policies that the current extremist state government has imposed.
Homeowners’ insurance should be available and affordable, with the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. adequately funded and managed by unbiased experts. Insurance companies should be regulated and forced to pay legitimate claims. We need to respect home rule so communities can make their own decisions. Get the extremists out of our exam rooms, medical charts, and bedrooms. The culture wars must stop. We must protect the rights of every Floridians to be who they are, love who they love, vote, and get a good education.
Stop venture capitalists from buying up housing stock and jacking up rental rates. I will write legislation to allow local governments to initiate rent controls so people can stay in their homes and in their communities. Increase the minimum wage so that someone working a full-time job can afford to rent a house or apartment big enough for a family of four. If we need to tax Florida’s billionaires to do this, so be it. They can afford it.
It’s great we have on-line voter registration. We need lots of paper voter registration cards in public spaces and outreach by election supervisors to get all eligible high school students and college students registered. We must make it easy for seniors and others with access challenges to get and stay registered to vote. Every US citizen who lives in Florida should be able to vote, including those incarcerated. We passed a constitutional amendment here to allow some felons to vote - the legislature should implement now and stop dragging their feet.
First, the encroachment of development on state park lands must stop. Florida is beautiful now, but we have to protect it from those who want to get rich by destroying nature. We need strong legislative action and regulation to stop pollution, save the Everglades, fight climate change, and build a clean energy economy. I’ll file legislation limiting fertilizer and other contaminants in run-offs into our rivers, lakes, and ocean and make low-cost renewable energy a reality for all homes and businesses in Florida.
As a nurse, I am strongly in favor of people making their own health care decisions and for medical care to be safe and accessible. Abortion should be safe and legal up to the stage of viability, and beyond if medically necessary to protect the woman’s health. Medication abortion should be available in person and by telehealth, and insurance should cover the cost without co-pay or deductible.
I support the 2nd amendment and court decisions confirming that we can regulate firearms. We all agree with some regulation on arms - no one thinks it’s ok to carry a nuclear weapon or bazooka around. Nobody hunts with an AR-15. Require child safety locks, prohibit civilian access to weapons of war, implement universal background checks, and close the gun show loophole. Let’s outlaw high capacity magazines and require a license with testing for ability to use a firearm competently like a driver's license. I’m a nurse with years of ER work so I know the horrors of gun violence. We must stop it.
No public funds for private schools. Pay teachers a salary appropriate for professionals with college degrees and expertise, competitive to attract people to the profession in Florida. Let teachers teach and let school librarians and teachers choose the books in the library. Get the culture wars out of curriculum. Encourage students to pursue pathways most appropriate for them, whether it be pre-college or preparation for a trade. Ensure all students can read and handle the basic math needed to prepare taxes and handle the daily activities of living in our society.
