I firmly believe that healthcare is a human right. However, quality healthcare in Virginia has often been a privilege for only those who can afford it. The COVID-19 Pandemic has illuminated this, as well as other crucial flaws in our healthcare system, and has shown us that, now more than ever, that we need to provide reliable, affordable, quality healthcare to all Virginians. Despite the fact that we live in a time of unprecedented prosperity, almost half of all Americans say that they or an immediate family member had to skip out on serious medical care in the past year because they could not afford it.

One of my top goals is to bring a quality, affordable, single-payer healthcare system to Virginia. Evidence from around the world shows that single-payer healthcare is the gold standard of delivering efficient, low-cost care without leaving anyone behind. I am constantly working to achieve this by clearing the political barriers and proposing the initial steps for funding, bringing us closer to a universal healthcare system for all Virginians.

One of the most important healthcare gaps in Virginia is for our children. In order to fix this, much of my focus in the General Assembly has been on child-related health issues. I have worked on legislation that puts an increased emphasis on mental health for students in Virginia’s public schools, passed age-restrictions on the use of cancer-causing tanning beds, and have passed legislation to increase awareness of government-sponsored healthcare coverage for children during child support hearings. I will continue to support and propose legislation that ensures health security for our children and for their futures.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Saved taxpayers over $32 million by reducing pharmaceutical costs for the Commonwealth
• Expanded Medicaid to over 52,000 uninsured children

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Placed a cap on Insulin prices at $50 and reduced pharmaceutical costs
• Guaranteed paid sick leave for home healthcare workers
  

My Vision for the Future

• Make way for top tier single-payer healthcare through a Medicare priced public option
• Address pandemic aftermath and ensure paid sick leave for ALL workers

Affordable housing is a critical issue that is often ignored by politicians of both parties. The economic consensus is clear that where you live, down to the exact neighborhood and block, often determines your social and economic outcomes. That’s because housing not only decides your health and stability but your physical access to good jobs, quality schools, healthy food options, public transit, and other crucial services. It is for this reason that racial and economic segregation presents generational disadvantages to communities across Virginia.

In Virginia and across the country, there is a growing shortage of affordable, available homes. Northern Virginia is hit particularly hard by this shortage. Continued economic and job growth is not being met with new affordable housing construction, especially in the desirable neighborhoods that need it the most. A key culprit of this lack of new, affordable housing is exclusionary zoning that acts as a ban on higher-density housing types. Exclusionary zoning practices, particularly single-family zoning, make it extremely hard to create new multi-family “Missing Middle” homes, which are proven to be less expensive, better for the environment, and more accessible to marginalized communities. Instead, new housing development is relegated to the far suburbs, pushing low-income people farther away from job centers, increasing car and highway dependency, and damaging Virginia’s natural environment. Plus, the scarcity of housing units in those job-centers translates to ever-rising rents for existing residents.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Promoted public transit-oriented, quality, affordable housing
• Established a working group on accessory dwellings, which will potentially open up tens of thousands of affordable housing units
  

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Responded immediately to COVID-19 by halting evictions and utility shutoffs
• Prevented discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in housing, employment, and other access to services

My Vision for the Future

• Allowing local governments to build and rent out social housing units that are ensured to be low-rent and high-quality.
• Increasing funding for Virginia’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which assists affordable housing projects across the Commonwealth.

One of the essential ingredients for a prosperous community is a healthy democracy. In the past few years, me and my colleagues have made incredible progress in expanding our democracy: we have repealed voter ID laws, constrained gerrymandering by creating a new redistricting commission, and put systems in place to prohibit discrimination by election administrators, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. We need to take further measures to increase voting accessibility and need to take measures to ensure that those we elect are representing the people; not corporate interests.

I have taken a leading role in moving Virginia’s government away from corporate money. I have completely sworn off donations from all corporate PACS, and have made efforts in the General Assembly to prohibit public service corporations, like Dominion Energy, from donating to political campaigns. In order for us to have a fair utility system in Virginia, we simply cannot allow utility monopolies to donate to the legislators who are responsible for regulating their profits. Unfortunately this bill has yet to pass, however, I will continue working to get corporate money out of Virginia Politics.

I believe that the candidate who gets the most votes should win an election. The electoral college is an outdated system that has increasingly resulted in candidates who do not garner a majority vote becoming President. This is simply undemocratic and is why I gladly support entering Virginia into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would pledge our electoral college votes to whoever wins the popular vote in presidential elections.

One of the best ways to open up our elections to marginalized people would be to adopt automatic voter registration. This would modernize the voting system to ensure that voter registration doesn’t continue to serve as a significant barrier to American citizens exercising their right to vote. Whenever a Virginian interacts with state agencies, they would be registered to vote while given the chance to opt out.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Refused to take money from publicly regulated utilities, fossil fuel interests, corporate PACs, and lobbyists
• Carried legislation to ban campaign donations from public service corporations

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Expended ballot access to more Virginians and authorized no-excuse absentee voting
• Restored voting rights to former felons immediately after serving their time

My Vision for the Future

• Banning campaign donations from Dominion Energy, Verizon, AT&T, and other publicly regulated utilities
• Automatic voter registration for all Virginians when they turn 18

The climate crisis is here. The United Nations’ top scientists have given humanity 11 years to drastically reverse course, or face irreparable harm from climate change. That means we’ve already missed our window for half-measures and small ideas.That means decarbonizing our economy, rethinking our transportation infrastructure, and preserving our clean air and water.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Co-patroned an authentically Virginian Green New Deal
• Encouraged localities to plan for dense, affordable housing near public transit and removing barriers to density; reducing the immense carbon footprint of our roads

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Removed coal tax credits that not only subsidize dirty energy, but are not economically beneficial
• Passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, establishing higher clean energy standards, and closing coal plants by 2024; starting Virginia on the path to a carbon-free future, though it was not nearly as comprehensive as we needed.

My Vision for the Future

• Pass an authentically Virginian Green New Deal
• Put a moratorium on all fossil fuel projects

Virginia has been ranked one of the worst states in the nation for worker prosperity. For years, Virginia politicians have focused on catering to big corporations with large coffers, while neglecting the communities they have been elected to serve. While weak workers’ rights and a relaxed corporate tax structure may make Virginia more attractive to big businesses, the price we pay in decreased safety conditions, pay, and benefits, for our workers far outweighs the benefits. When states take measures to bolster union’s rights, enforce living minimum wages, and implement more equitable tax systems, they see positive effects on the economy– positives that benefit not only higher-income individuals and business owners but the working class too.

One of the biggest roadblocks to workers’ prosperity in Virginia is our “Right-to-Work” law. The demonization of “big labor” is a farce, designed to keep Virginia’s corporate elite from paying their workers competitive wages by discouraging Virginians from organizing in the workplace. Unionizing is simply the best way for workers to ensure they have a voice, and are effective in achieving better conditions, better benefits, and better wages. I am prepared to take on the financial interests of politicians and big corporations alike to repeal archaic law.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Introduced legislation to codify into Virginia law overtime compensation entitlements
• Advocated for a refundable individual income tax credit for healthcare premium costs

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Secured collective bargaining rights for public employees
• Guaranteed paid sick leave for home healthcare workers

My Vision for the Future

• Promoting municipally owned broadband access
• Repeal Jim Crow era right-to-work laws

Every Virginian wants a quality education for their child – it’s the building block on which a lifetime of success can be built. But for many, getting access to even the opportunity to succeed can be near impossible. My long-term vision is to create a Virginia where a child can receive a world-class education from pre-K to college regardless of their family’s income, race, zip code, ability, or citizenship status. That will require large investments in our schools at the state level so that students in historically underinvested communities are not prohibited from receiving a quality education.

Empowering our public school teachers is a sure way to improve educational outcomes in Virginia. While the General Assembly recently secured pay raises for teachers, this still falls short of the pay increases our teachers need to focus on teaching rather than worrying about making ends meet. I believe that one of the best ways to protect and expand teacher’s rights is to enable them to use collective bargaining by repealing Virginia’s “Right to Work” policy. Statistics show that when teachers are allowed to unionize they are able to use collective bargaining to secure more equitable pay, conditions, and benefits.

Unfortunately, a family’s neighborhood or zip code can often determine the quality of school their children attend. This is because the majority of a school’s funding is derived from its district’s property taxes, and discriminatory zoning and housing practices have led to compartmentalization of our communities according to race and economic status. I have worked to push against this effect by proposed legislation to restrict real estate companies from making unchecked claims about the quality of local schools and to make housing more accessible in all neighborhoods.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Required all school personnel to receive mental health training
• Proposed legislation to restrict real estate companies from making unchecked, often discriminatory claims about the quality of local schools.

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Created new educational pathways to high demand jobs through tuition-free community college
• Put a tuition freeze in place for state college students and raised teacher pay

My Vision for the Future

• Eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline
• Completely fund a pre-K through college public education system

The “tough-on-crime” approach to criminal justice has been a massive failure. Instead of reducing crime, it has led to the mass incarceration of people of color and low-income people. I favor an approach to criminal justice that is both rehabilitative and restorative, where we address crime by attacking its socio-economic roots rather than the communities it harms.

In the 2021 Legislative Session, we were able to win the fight for cannabis justice and we abolished the death penalty. But we still have a long way to go in order to make our justice system equitable for all Virginians.

Reforming or ending cash bail should be a top priority for criminal justice reform. Too often, Virginians who have never been convicted of a crime are sent to jail simply because they are poor. That time spent in jail away from their job and their home often puts families through financial ruin. A justice system where your personal wealth decides the privileges you get is not one that can be called fair.

Repealing Qualified Immunity WITHOUT hiking police budgets will help us do this by removing the ‘blank check’ officers are written that protects them from being held accountable for wrongdoings. We should instead be investing in community resources, like quality healthcare, housing, and education, which will prevent people from needing to turn to crime in the first place.

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Abolished the death penalty
• Won the fight for marijuana justice, legalizing possession on July 1st, 2021

My Vision for the Future

• Ending the use of private prisons in the Virginia justice system
• Repealing qualified immunity in order to hold law enforcement officers accountable for wrongdoing

Virginia has officially become the 38th and final state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment! While the Language of the amendment is simple, the explicit acknowledgment of sex equality in the Consitution will help us bring many disparities of court for justice, clearing legal avenues for closing the pay gap and inequalities in the workforce. Now we need to turn our attention to paid family leave and prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity, not just sex.

Since the COVID-19 Pandemic and many people began working from home, women have taken on more childcare responsibilities. This has highlighted healthcare gaps around motherhood, both physical and mental, which I am dedicated to closing. I have introduced legislation that creates a special insurance enrollment period for pregnant Virginians, ensuring quality prenatal and postpartum care, as well as legislation that would put greater emphasis on screening for pre and post-natal depression. I will continue to propose legislation that supports mothers in Virginia, and helps start off motherhood right.

I’m a medical professional, which means I know that reproductive care is healthcare. As states across the nation crackdown on the constitutional right to choose, Virginia should lead the way in affordable and accessible abortion and other vital reproductive care. Me and my colleagues have moved toward this goal by helping expand access to contraceptive care, but next on our agenda is codifying women’s right to choose into Virginia law, ensuring that this fundamental right is never infringed in the future.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Passed legislation to ensure healthcare providers check mothers for pre-natal and post-partum depression
• Proposed legislation to create a special enrollment period for pregnant individuals to ensure quality healthcare when it is needed most

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Ratified the ERA, allowing us to close the pay gap and prohibit inequalities in the workforce
• Removed barriers to reproductive care and increased access to contraceptives

My Vision for the Future

• Comprehensively insuring reproductive healthcare
• Ensuring full paid family leave

For far too long, politicians who are bought-and-sold by the NRA and gun manufacturers have controlled the agenda on gun safety. We have had to endure years of inaction as our communities suffer every day from senseless, preventable violence. I pledge to support a suite of reforms that can preserve the right to gun ownership while making historic progress on curbing gun violence in Virginia.

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Put in place required universal background checks to purchase firearms
• Implemented red flag laws and prohibited possession of firearms within public buildings

My Vision for the Future

• A ban on assault-style weapons
• A ban on high capacity magazines, bumpstocks, and silencers

Transportation is often overlooked because it doesn’t seem as exciting as other issues. But I know that for my constituents in Northern Virginia, transportation is a top concern that they have to deal with on a daily basis. The traffic problem in Northern Virginia continues to be unbearable for many, turning what should be quick trips into frustrating experiences. Alongside traffic concerns, the transportation sector is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions and climate change. It’s also an issue of equity: underinvested neighborhoods, often communities of color, continually lack the mobility they need to get to work or to get to other amenities they rely on.

The knee-jerk reaction to these problems is what we’ve seen for the past 70 years in America: more highways, wider roads, and more reliance on cars, but this is what has lead to our clogged highway systems. I believe Virginia can do better; we need to reimagine our built environment with a focus on people, one where we can facilitate a multitude of options like trains, buses, bikes, scooters, and pedestrian walkways. I have worked in the General Assembly to increase the use of existing public transit, however, we still need new large-scale investments in public transit to better connect not only the metropolitan areas of Virginia, but the whole Commonwealth.

What I’ve Done with Bipartisan Support from my Colleagues

• Passed legislation requiring consideration of transit-oriented development by removing parking requirements; promoting transit use, ensuring affordable housing near Virginia’s job hubs, and reducing the immense carbon footprint of our roads

What We’ve Done as a Democratic Majority

• Implemented new traffic regulations to protect cyclists
• Extended validity of all drivers licenses and registrations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic

My Vision for the Future

• Big investments in public transit systems and promotion of bikes, scooters, and walking as viable transportation options
• Abolishing exclusionary zoning to allow for denser communities near job hubs; reducing transportation demands