Issues

  • Our economy is one of the most important things to the people of El Paso County and the country. We must make sure we invest in supporting our local workforce, creating more small business opportunities and lowering costs for working families everywhere.

    • Improve our Workforce: Strengthen and fund more Federal programs like the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) which provides retraining programs, wage subsidies, Health care tax credits and more for workers. Programs like the TAAF can provide cost sharing assistance to the manufacturing and service industry and investments to agricultural producers.

    • Support Small Business: Expand federal support to small businesses by assisting with contract opportunities, especially in underutilized businesses and creating more friendly term loan programs for independent and family businesses to thrive in the community.

    • Making Life Affordable: Drafting and passing bills like Colorado’s Right to Repair Agricultural Equipment (1st in the country) on a national scale, which can greatly help farmers keep costs down and supply our national produce at a lower price. Lower costs essential to  healthcare needs by increasing efforts to negotiate prescription drug prices and removing the power & price hiking of Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs).  Focus on lowering housing costs like creating more down payment assistance programs for home buyers and crack down and remove anti-trust price fixing schemes in rental properties.

  • We need to ensure that Coloradans, especially in the 5th district, have the right to clean air and water, that we mitigate the dangers of Climate Change, and that we develop the greatest protections against fire dangers possible. Colorado Springs and vicinity has been home to 2 of the most destructive fires in the state and we must do better in mitigating and preventing future disasters.  Our future and ability to live the American dream will depend on the sustainability of our natural resources that we depend on.

    • Fire Prevention & Safety: Strengthen investments into the FEMA’s Fire Prevention and Safety program that supports fire prevention and invest heavily in fire science research to mitigate climate change that has increased the risk of wildfire dangers to tens of thousands of people in El Paso County.  Wildfires have also posed enormous risks to water resources, elevated ozone matter and air quality risks on top of the physical dangers already present.

    • Clean Air & Clean Water: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), also known as forever chemicals, contaminate our groundwater/drinking water and contributes to air pollution through industrial processes, wastewater treatments and everyday products – all are constant threat to our residents. These threats are linked to liver damage, certain cancers, childhood developmental issues, immune system impacts and more and elevated levels are prevalent in private wells near Peterson Air Force Base. Strengthen EPA regulation on this matter and federally support research into how to prevent and mitigate this constant threat. Ensure high standards of water testing are strictly enforced and do more to prevent these toxins from entering our air and water in the first place.

    • Protect our Natural Resources: Increase water conservation efforts through waste reduction programs and practices and also create infrastructural improvements of water storage and delivery to maximize efficiency.  Continue to fight for water rights from the Colorado River basin and to expand into the Montgomery Reservoir project.

  • Public education is paramount to our success in creating a sustainable for the future of Coloradans for generations. We need accessible, high-quality education that is equitable, transparent and all encompassing for all communities. As a son of two lifelong public-school educators, I know everyone has a right to a good education no matter what zip code you are in.

    • Address Underfunding: Increase the funding and resources allocated that are impacting teacher/educator low salaries and not enough curriculum materials and building conditions that have gone into disrepair

    • Equal learning Opportunities: Create more accessible opportunities for more enrollment from the community to make sure every student is able to attend. Engage in the community to identify and allow more special needs and students with disabilities access to education. Have strong infrastructure by having effective bussing programs and accessible building facilities.

    • Stable Learning Environment: Reduce any administrative burdens so that the funding is spent efficiently on students and educators. Strong retention programs to keep long tenured educators and to continue fostering strong community relationships. Maintain professional development for all staff and develop stronger ties with parents and educational communities.

  • America is one of the most developed countries in the world yet we do not provide universal healthcare for our people. There are more than 30 nations, some not even as developed as the US who have a higher coverage of their population. In addition, medical debt has become the top reason for bankruptcies in this country. This cannot continue - we must be a nation that invests in the care and wellbeing of our people.

    • Support Universal Healthcare: Advocate and push for guaranteed universal healthcare like Medicare for all that provides healthcare regardless of age, income or pre-existing conditions with comprehensive benefits that include mental health, dental, vision and other services such as long-term care. Create a system that cuts out red tape completely from our healthcare system.

    • Control Costs: Work and negotiate down medical procedures and devices especially for those that are life saving and medically necessary. Reducing mark up will cut the costs to both patients and providers which will maximize every dollar spent. Remove middle men and 3rd party brokers that only hike up prices while providing no actual benefit.

    • Remove Denial Practices: End the bad practices of commercial insurance companies that drive costs through the roof while denying people essential coverage. They demand prior authorizations from doctor recommended or prescribed treatment and the use of step therapy or “fail-first policies” which delays patients from getting the timely appropriate care. These practices force healthcare providers to dedicate precious staff and resources to appeal and overturn inappropriate denials — which alone can cost billions every year. Recent data shows that administrative costs now account for more than 40% of total expenses hospitals incur in delivering care to patients. This must end and we need federal law that enforces the prevention of this insane practice.

  • Our country’s workforce is powered on the backs of the labor and work that our immigrants provide. This nation’s advancement into the space and technology age has always been dependent on innovations from around the globe and the immigrants who came here to find that opportunity in the United States. Our immigrant community is essential to our economy and the advancement of this country and we need to  increase our resources to better facilitate the process and give an equitable opportunity for those who wish to reach the American Dream.

    • Pathway to Citizenship: Promote more avenues for hard working immigrants to acquire green cards and proper documentation to achieve naturalization. Streamline equal requirements that show no preferential treatment or discrimination for asylum seekers and keep the criteria for permanent residents consistent across the board.

    • Enforce Due Process: Reinforce due process protections that everyone, including undocumented immigrants, are entitled to under the 5th and 14th amendment under the Constitution. Everyone has the right to a fair trial, informed of the charges against them, the right to legal representation and the right to present evidence in their defense. The burden of proof rests entirely on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in all cases including deportation.

    • Strengthen Resources: Secure more funding for immigration judges and case workers so that we can expedite more asylum cases and streamline the process fairly and efficiently. Increase more opportunities for non violent immigrants for work, student, spousal and other possible visas as our nation has always welcomed global innovations for generations.

  • Protecting Civil Liberties is the key to our freedoms in this country. Freedom cannot exist if there is suppression against any one group or community. Too often the government and law has not served justice equitably and fairly to those who look and sound different. This intersects with all parts of our society including law enforcement, workplace and economic discrimination, housing and access to healthcare and even basic services all people have a right to. We should defend everybody’s ability to live life with liberty and pursue happiness in our own way.

    • Civil Rights Protection: Guarantee every right regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religious choice, mental or physical ability, sexual preference or self identity. This must also be applied to the prohibition against intentional discrimination in economic activities like employment, contracts and other commercial transactions as defined in the Economic Inclusion Rights Act of 2021.

    • Eliminate Racial Bias: Define wider parameters for the Justice Department and other federal agencies for more thorough investigation, aggregate data and have a more comprehensive cross accessible repository for hate and racially motivated crimes. Hold to account any violation of “pattern or practice” of bias and misconduct and grant the Justice Department and State Attorney Generals to create an independent process to investigate misconduct within the government and law enforcement structure. 

    • LGBTQ+ Freedom: Protect the LGBTQ+ community in accessing healthcare, and push into law that reinforces the Supreme Court decision that legalizes same sex marriage nationwide. Ban conversion therapy practices and discrimination of LGBTQ+ individuals disguised as religious rights. Transgender who qualify and meet all the prerequisite standards should be able to fully serve in all government, military or law enforcement positions.

  • No part of the government, whether federal, state or local, has the right to tell anyone, specifically a woman, what to do with their own bodies. Abortion rights and reproductive freedom has been the law of the land for almost 50 years. Never before, in our country’s history, have we ever removed a lawful right from existence. We must create every protection to ensure that this right is permanent and that it becomes the law again.

    • Enshrine Abortion Rights: Establish federally, the fundamental right for a person to make reproductive healthcare, especially the right to an abortion and receive or refuse contraception, free from government interference. In Colorado, the Reproductive Health Equity Act and Amendment 79 ensures that right. We must mirror this nationally.

    • Recognizing Abortion as Healthcare: Create federal definitions for all reproductive healthcare abortion as fundamental healthcare services. There are life threatening dangers and health consequences, in many cases when reproductive healthcare is not being carried out. All reproductive healthcare services should also be recognized as essential healthcare needs under health insurance plans for federal and government employees. 

    • Decriminalize Reproductive Services: Protect doctors, health organizations, hospitals and clinics under federal law from the threat of arrest or criminal prosecution for performing Women’s reproductive healthcare procedures. Reproductive health is as essential as all other healthcare and thus should never be criminalized. Medical decisions and procedures should also be free from interference from law enforcement.

  • Our Democracy has been under attack for nearly the last decade. Voter suppression, removal of ballot boxes and polling locations in underserved communities, gerrymandering districts where the politicians are choosing their voters and billionaires buying our elections have eroded the very base of our nation. Our democracy is holding by a wire right now and we need to create guardrails to protect our republic so that it will stand strong in the next few years as well as into the distant future.

    • Restore Voting Rights: Protect our fundamental right of every American’s ability to vote. We need reinstate federal pre-clearance requirements, especially in cases of voter roll removal and cases to reduce, relocate or consolidate voting locations or reduce days or hours of early voting which is some of the main focus in the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. 

    • Dismantle Gerrymandering: Create a new transparent structure for redistricting convened by a true independent commission.  None of the following can serve on commission; elected officials, candidates for office, political party officer/employee/consultant,any registered lobbyist or immediate family member of elected office is removed from the process. It must not dilute or divide any underserved or ethnic community and need to have voter accountability and open hearings which are fully disclosed.

    • No Lobby/No Trading: Enforce Congress and their immediate family to divest or place any stock holding in a qualified trust while they serve. Prohibit any former member of Congress from becoming lobbyists and include stronger transparency laws and increased penalties for violations. Congress members are elected to serve the people and country, not their own self interests and set up their career to line up their pockets after service. We need to exemplify and restore trust in our government and that it was built for the people.

  • Our nation's fast developing and growing population needs a strong, dependable labor force to match its exponential growth. The US has one of the highest wage disparity between executives and base employees and that gap is only getting bigger. A stronger Labor and Union presence and influence will help bridge that gap and increase the pay and better benefits for everyone while valuing skill trade at the higher degree it deserves. We need to develop a better public and private sector relationship, pass the Pro Act and set high labor standards where workers are safe and have a dignified wage. 

    • Collective Bargaining for Federal Workers: Supporting unionizing and collective bargaining for our Federal workers will improve training and development, strengthen dispute resolution, and ensure we have a high quality efficient workforce that so many people depend on. Our national federal workforce are key to so many of the services that we depend on that it’s essential that this workforce is protected. 

    • Pass the Pro Act: Pushing the Pro Act, or Protecting the Right to Organize Act, will strengthen workers’ rights and will address issues such as higher penalties for labor law violations, protecting workers from retaliation for organizing, create stronger union elections, ban union busting mandatory meetings and can override state laws that weaken union’s ability to negotiate effectively.

    • Enact Higher Standards: Setting higher labor standards will ensure that American workers are safe, protected and empowered to build infrastructures that last. Creating and upholding stronger worker rights and protections will create a consistency of increased productivity with greater retention and less employee turnover. This will help our economy increase in efficiency and values our greatest resource - the workers who build America.