Training and Experience
Growing up in northeast Ohio, I saw firsthand from my parents that through hard work, sacrifice, and dedication, it is possible to live the American Dream. My experiences working in the public, for profit, and nonprofit sectors provide me with an unique perspective on how to bring people to get things done for hardworking Ohioans. I am in my third term as state representative.
Volunteer/Community Service
Ohio Democratic Party Central Committee Member - District 18; Ohio Democratic Party Executive Committee Member; Cuyahoga County Democratic Party - Central/Precinct Committee Member, Executive Committee Member, and Solon/Glenwillow City Leader
We are at a crossroads, in both Ohio and our country. The three greatest issues facing our communities today are fighting for educational opportunity for all students; addressing the real threats to economic stability for working families; and advocating for social equality for everyone. Democrats must fight for better jobs and brighter futures for all Ohioans.
We must rollback anti-voter policies put in place by HB458 such as expanding eligible voter identification, and maximizing early voting opportunities. We must maintain accurate voter registration lists, implement language assistance programs, and allow for automatic and same day voter registration. It is imperative that all Ohioans who want to cast a ballot are able to do so.
In my first term my bill, signed into law by Gov. DeWine, helps streamline the process of developing industry-recognized credential and certificate programs. HB 4 helps expand workforce training and certification development options. HB 4 sets up the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation (OWT) as the potential first point of contact and resource for employers and companies to connect to existing certificate or credential programs, proposals and get guidance on how to work with schools and state education agencies to develop programs, and helps make the process quick and efficient. More training options lead to better paying jobs and careers for Ohioans.
As a state representative, I co-sponsored HB 305, overhauling Ohio’s public school funding formula. I will continue fighting to ensure funding is equitable for all Ohio students and keep public education funds in our public schools.
I passed a bill eliminating state mandated student retention provisions of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. Ohio needs to invest in proven ways to improve K-3 reading proficiency, such as universal pre-school and all-day kindergarten.
Ohio’s higher education institutions prepare the next generation for the workforce by advancing critical thinking, freedom of speech, and intellectual diversity. Political interference has no place in Ohio’s public colleges and universities.
Ohio’s state constitution grants the right to municipal home rule, guaranteeing local governments the right to manage themselves without interference from the legislature. The GOP supermajority legislature is chipping away at home rule. Recent trends show conservative policies are approved while progressive policies, such as gun safety measures, plastic bag bans, and regulating flavored tobacco products, are blocked.
In my first term, I co-sponsored HB 390, which would incorporate into Ohio law patient protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This bill would protect coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, limit insurance premiums, ban annual and lifetime limits, and ensure coverage of essential health benefits, such as preventative and maternal healthcare.
I will continue to support Medicaid expansion and other healthcare expansions. Lack of healthcare coverage leads to preventable health ailments going unaddressed, leading to serious health conditions. Eventually these issues lead to a bigger tax burden down the line. No family should ever have to choose between paying bills or seeking medicine and affordable healthcare.
I support the expansion of alternative energy to eventually replace nuclear and fossil fuels in the future, in order to end the dangers of pollution and global warming. As state representative, I voted twice against HB 6, which effectively ended Ohio’s renewable and energy efficiency programs. I voted against legislation that deregulates ephemeral streams, prevents local governments from limiting use of natural gas, classifies natural gas as green energy and allows leasing public lands for fracking, and revises the law governing wind farms and solar facilities.
I co-sponsored HB 738, which repealed HB 6 and would have revived prior law. I co-sponsored legislation to create the H2O fund, providing $85 million to Lake Erie restoration.
With the further alarming rise of racism, sexism and antisemitism, now more than ever our state government must do whatever it takes to protect all Ohians and fight back vigorously against all forms of hate. That is why I have been a vocal opponent of HB 322 and HB 327, and more recently HB 151, deeply problematic and unconstitutional anti-diversity bills that seek to whitewash history and move the state in a dangerous and backward direction. I am a co-sponsor for the Fairness Act, that would add protections for sexual orientation and gender identity into Ohio's anti-discrimination laws. I will continue to speak out on behalf of these rights for Ohioans (e.g. town hall meetings, op eds, press conferences, at the statehouse, forums, etc.).
