Medicare For All

All New Yorkers deserve Medicare for all. It is great that NYC is rolling out a new plan for everyone to get health insurance, but we need to expand this across the state. Healthcare is a right in so many other developed countries. It is a shame that we’re so behind in this. Everyone should be able to buy into a universal healthcare system, regardless of pre-existing conditions or immigration status. We need single payer healthcare for the American public. Our physical and mental health must be protected.

You can count on me. I don’t accept money from lobbyists, pharmaceutical or otherwise. Private insurance companies are not putting up money to get me elected. Too many politicians accept campaign donations from these people and then end up voting on their behalf. I’m not built that way.

Housing As a Human Right

The price of living in our neighborhood is getting higher and higher. Gentrification is crippling the people who have lived here for generations. Our politicians are bought by big time real estate developers and realtors. We need politicians who cannot be bought, because they are the only ones you know are working for you and your best interests. I support extending tax benefits to working and middle-class homeowners. I want legislation to reign in the price of renting.

Gun Control / Assault Weapons

We keep having mass shootings at schools, churches, concerts, etc. Every time, our politicians and media talk about thoughts and prayers for the victims, but they don’t want to have a serious conversation about gun control. They say guns aren’t the problem, mental illness is. Oddly enough, the same people who want us to have guns tend to not want us to have comprehensive healthcare that covers mental health. Seems like they’re not as concerned with helping mental illness as they are with protecting guns. In New York, 16 year olds can buy guns. We will hand a child a gun before we say they can vote or drink alcohol. That’s silly. The root of the problem is corruption. Our politicians receive money from the NRA and other groups that want to protect guns at all costs. If gun manufacturers are putting money in your politician’s pocket, they’re not going to support laws that prevent the sale of assault rifles. It’s just not happening. We need stricter gun control in this state. Don’t listen to the old narrative: “Gun control only stops good guys from buying guns. The bad guys are going to get them regardless.” When the shooter at the high school in Parkland, Florida killed seventeen people, he legally bought the gun. He was 19 years old.

Immigration Justice / Abolish ICE

We need to have a serious conversation about immigration. New Yorkers are constantly told that New York City is a “Sanctuary city” but what does that actually mean? For an undocumented person, living in a sanctuary city does not mean living without fear; it just means the police are not supposed to turn you over to ICE if you come in to report a crime. Too often, we hear stories about ICE waiting to detain people at courthouses or witnesses being threatened with deportation unless they come forward. The reality is that police in New York do cooperate with ICE. We need more protections. This isn’t unheard of. The state of Rhode Island will not honor any ICE detainer without a warrant. We need more protections like these. As long as brown children are being kept in cages along the southern border, none of us are safe.

Higher Education / Trade School for All

We have the Excelsior scholarship in New York that’s supposed to provide students with an option for free tuition. We need to loosen the requirements for it. Currently, a student needs to be taking 30 credits a year. That’s 15 credits a semester if the student does the standard Fall-Spring academic year. It’s very difficult to do 15 credits a semester if financial circumstances require you to hold down a full time job. We should not be punishing students who need to work to support their families by saying the students that don’t have to work as many hours can get free tuition but they cannot. On top of that, we need to fine tune the part where students must return the money if they leave the state after graduation. It's difficult for students to get a job in their field in today’s world. If someone has to relocate, because their major does not have enough opportunity in New York, we need to make adjustments.

Women's Rights

All women deserve equal access to paid parental leave, workplace safety, equal pay, and more. Reproductive freedom is a subject that New York has always been strong on. Around the country, women are in fear of their rights to choose what to do with their own bodies being stripped away. We cannot put New Yorkers in that position. Women deserve quality reproductive healthcare services and birth control options.