Change
for the
many.

Title I of The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 funds public schools in disadvantaged and working class areas. This funding hs not kept up with inflation and does not account for what students and teachers need. In Volusia County alone, well over half of our schools receive Title I funding. As a teacher educator, I know that education is vital to our children’s success and our community’s prosperity. In Congress, I will fight for increased Title I appropriations as every child deserves a great education.

Our federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009, and Florida’s minimum wage is only $8.56 per hour. This does not keep pace with inflation, let alone cost of living. I will vote for the Raise the Wage Act (H.R. 582) when re-introduced in 2021 in the 117th Congress. This bill has already passed the House, but Mitch McConnell will not even hear it in the Senate. It increases the federal minimum wage to $10.60 in 2021 and the increases continue to $15.00 in 2025 and are than indexed to median wages. Our economy is not working for everyone. Raising a minimum wage will have a ripple effect, benefiting workers, small businesses, and our local economy’s consumer spending and tourism.

Robocalls have gotten completely out of hand. Caller ID spoofing is already illegal—but where’s the enforcement? Even car dealerships do it, bypassing blacklists using phony phone numbers that belong to real people. The TRACED Act, signed into law at the end of 2019, is a big step, but we need to do more to fund and empower the FCC and to hold scammers and telecommunications providers accountable. In Congress, I will support educational funding and further legislation to stop scammers in their tracks. We need to hold big corporations accountable for data breaches, many of which provide fodder for identity theft and targeted crimes like imposter scams, wire fraud, romance scams, ransomware, and extortion. In particular, criminals prey on our senior citizens. We must fight back.

You worked hard all your life to pay into Social Security. My opponent says he has the “guts” to “go after” your Social Security and Medicare. This is pure robbery. We need to be strengthening Social Security, not slashing it. Our local economy depends on Social Security, and you earned those benefits throughout your life. Many of our seniors rely on Social Security and cannot afford any cuts or loss of buying power. I will support the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 860), which imposes payroll taxes on top earners, increases cost of living adjustments, and finally indexes the thresholds for income tax on Social Security to inflation—this should have been done in 1984! With a few sensible changes, we can fully fund Social Security through 2100 and beyond.

I support universal healthcare for all Americans. It is a sorely needed investment in the American people—in our health, wellness, and prosperity. Tying health insurance to your employer and having a patchwork of competing systems is a giant waste of resources. If this were the business world, you would see mergers, acquisitions, and consolidation to streamline this system. Per capita, we spend far more on healthcare than any other nation on earth—yet we have lackluster health outcomes and far too many bankruptcies, illnesses, and deaths.

A big step in the right direction is to expand Medicaid in Florida and other southeastern states. The people are no longer buying Republican rhetoric that Medicaid rewards laziness. Many hard-working Central Floridians cannot get affordable health insurance and are one illness away from destitution. In the 117th Congress, I will immediately co-sponsor the Incentivizing Medicaid Expansion Act (H.R. 584) when it is re-introduced.

We need to negotiate for lower drug prices. Medicare should not be a taxpayer giveaway to pharmaceutical companies. We should not be paying a huge premium over Canada, Mexico, and the rest of the world for pharmaceuticals, many of which are funded and developed right here in the United States of America. When a drug’s patent expires, we should switch from the expensive name-brand to a generic version. New drug formulations should offer an improvement over the prior drug—and not just be an excuse to obtain a new patent. In 2021, we will pass The Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) into law, which will be a historic step that addresses out-of-control pricing on insulin, EpiPens, and other prescriptions.

Greenhouse gas emissions are out of control, leading to stronger hurricanes and other disasters. Wetlands are being paved over in Florida’s 6th district and our aquifer is being drained. This is not conservative. This is reckless. We must federally support green technologies and stop propping up dangerous, failing fossil fuels. This is why in Congress I will immediately co-sponsor a Green New Deal (H.Res. 109) for the American people and Floridians in particular.

American workers are being left behind. We are the richest and most powerful nation in the world. Why do we keep enabling big corporations to treat the American people as disposable? I support unions and workers’ rights. Women and minorities should not be the last hired and first fired. Congress must stand up for American workers. Corporations are too focused on the next quarter’s profits. We must make them take care of their employees, which will in fact benefit everyone. A revolving door of disaffected, maligned employees is no way to build capital. I will support the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (H.R. 2474) when it is re-introduced in the 117th Congress. This will pass if we flip the Senate and presidency blue on November 3, 2020.