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Public Safety

The most important and basic function of government is to keep citizens safe. As someone who has been actively working on collaborative safety solutions I will continue this work at the House, insisting on both keeping communities safe and fairness in our justice systems. Last session we made historic progress in protecting our communities from gun violence but we must find more solutions to keeping military grade weapons off our streets, even as the Supreme Court undermines our state's rights.

  • ​Attract and keep quality law enforcement personnel

  • Improve police-community relationships

  • Support and expand mental health crisis response and intervention

  • Create statewide cohesive residential placement for violent juvenile offenders that keep the community safe and provide therapeutic treatment with continuing care that involves families and the community

  • Create statewide court-appointed victims advocate system in order to make our Victims Bill of Rights actionable

  • Require gun lockboxes for households with children, liability insurance, and duty to report lost or stolen guns

Caring for People

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Minnesota is a national leader in its commitment to caring for people, making it one of the best places to raise a family, but we have more work to do.  As a child who had to be removed from the home of a troubled parent, I am dismayed by failures in our current system and will advocate for action in protecting children. This care for our vulnerable populations must also extend to better support for our elders. Last session we provided emergency funding for nursing home centers and addressed the need for more long term care centers, we also made access to affordable health care a priority and passed a public buy-in option for MinnesotaCare, but long wait times -- particularly for mental and behavioral health -- is still a crisis.

  • Identify the key health care positions at critically low staffing levels and work with stakeholders across the state to make systems more efficient, and crucially -- attract and maintain health care workers

  • End the county by county patchwork system of child protection with statewide policies, training, and benchmarks to keep vulnerable children safe while also end the removal of children from their families because of poverty status or the color of their skin​

  • Increase affordable options for senior living and care facilities to keep seniors housed and cared for

  • Continue to invest in public housing, particularly for households with children and those with disabilities

Climate & Environment

Climate change threatens the natural resources that make this place home and is already impacting our health and quality of life. Last session MN passed landmark legislation to make the clean energy transition by 2040. With a background in environmental law and policy I look forward to ensuring we make this goal, and that we also work to protect and enhance our natural resources more broadly.

  • Reach 2040 clean energy grid goal

  • Support innovation in green technology

  • Invest in the powergrid to increase renewable energy capacity and expand e-car charging infrastructure

  • Provide incentives for homeowners and businesses to reduce emissions

  • Increase state testing rather than relying on data produced by those accused of polluting

  • Reach the 30x30 land conversation goal for biodiversity protection and climate action

Good Governance

Our democracy is in crisis with extremism on the rise. It is time for those who believe in finding win-win solutions to lead. We do this with strong ethical oversight, improving transparency on campaign spending, and by electing leaders who work with their constituents and other local leaders as partners.

  • Modernize the Political Contribution Reimbursement system for easier use

  • Get dark money out of elections

  • Keep an open door policy with any legislator interested in advancing our district's priorities

  • Responsible oversight of taxpayer money

  • Maintain a balanced budget and a healthy rainy day fund

  • Regular district office hours and town halls to hear from 50A voters and stakeholders

  • Work closely with local officials to advance SD50A priorities

Reproductive Freedom & Equality

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I have been a lifelong champion of women's reproductive freedom and currently serve as Vice Chair of the DFL Feminist Caucus, providing me the background and credibility to be a leading advocate for women at the state capitol. With critical legislative success in 2023 for reproductive rights, now is the time to affirm our commitment to equality under the law and join the effort to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to of the US Constitution.

  • Urge Congress to ratify the federal ERA

  • Add an ERA Amendment to the MN Constitution

  • Insurance coverage for reproductive and gender affirming health care

  • Address health disparities in reproductive care

Economic Opportunity

Minnesota continues to rank among the most solid economies in our country with low unemployment rates and the highest number of Fortune 500 companies per capita. We do however, have a shrinking labor market and an aging population with shortages in several sectors that drags on our overall growth. As someone who has opened a small business and started a small business association, I understand the stressors involved in making a business work and the collaboration needed among private and public stakeholders. Our path forward depends on continuing to provide an excellent quality of life, which attracts talented workers and innovation, as well as investing in critical infrastructure for economic growth.

  • ​Attract and keep high paying jobs in Minnesota with world-class educational opportunities, good government, and access to beautiful year-round outdoor recreation  

  • ​Focus on job creation in innovation sectors, including green-energy jobs

  • Build resilient supply chains in Minnesota

  • Work to reduce disparities that slow homeownership, buying power, and economic growth

  • Protect the right to unionize

  • Streamline regulatory process for small businesses

  • Create loan repayment programs in critically understaffed job sectors 

Education

I am the child and grandchild of people who believe in the power of education to bring value and meaning to life. As a lifelong learner and an educator there are few things more important to me than educational opportunities; and as a mom I know how important schools are in fostering a sense of community. I believe education is the foundational bedrock to many other goals, including a strong economy, low crime rates, eliminating disparities, achieving equality, civic engagement, and an overall high quality of life. I look forward to providing leadership that connects the value of education to the network of social benefits it fosters. 

  • ​Expand subsidized pre-K

  • Support competitive wages for teachers

  • Expand after school learning and after school activities, particularly with intergenerational mentorship

  • Build out statewide high-speed broadband network

  • Support safe learning environments for all students

  • Ensure affordable tuition at land grant colleges and universities

  • Diversify post-secondary educational opportunities, with incentives to enter high-need job sectors

  • Implement a higher education vision that utilizes the entire state system to retain young people, recruit from other places, fill high-need job sectors, coordinate community services, and revitalize neglected areas of the state

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