Standing Up For The 13th District.
Healthcare
My son was born with a rare genetic disorder and spent nearly two months in the NICU. It was one of the most difficult experiences of our lives. While we were there, we had to fight our insurance company because he was denied coverage for a critical medical device that would allow him to hear. I’ll never forget the sleepless nights wondering how we would pay our medical bills. No one should have to go through that, which is why we worked with other families to get a law passed requiring insurance companies to cover devices like the one my son needed for all kids under 18.
As your State Representative, I will never stop fighting to make sure you and your family have access to the health care you need. In the legislature, I will work to lower the cost of medical services, crack down on price-gouging and private equity in healthcare, and stand up to attempts by the insurance industry to roll back coverage.
Cost of living
Donald Trump’s tariffs are increasing our costs of living. As a parent, I see firsthand how everyday costs like groceries, gas, electricity, and child care keep getting more expensive. In the House, I will fight against junk fees and nickel and dime charges so each of us can keep more of what we earn. As Executive Deputy Attorney General, I fought back against price gougers and unscrupulous scam artists. We stopped bad actors who tried to trick people into paying higher utility bills, stopped storm chasers who ripped off vulnerable people, and stopped robocallers from spamming your phone. As your State Representative, I will lead the fight to reduce the cost of living.
Holding Big Business Accountable
As Executive Deputy Attorney General under Attorney General Kwame Raoul, I worked to hold the big pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid epidemic, getting millions back to the state for opioid treatment. I also fought against corporate price gouging that has driven up the cost of living for working families. As your State Representative, I will always side with you and oppose efforts by big business or special interests to game the system for themselves at the expense of hardworking everyday Illinoisans.
Housing
Housing is a human right.
We are in the midst of a national housing crisis. Whether you rent or own, the cost of housing is too expensive. In Springfield, I will lead the fight for affordable housing for both renters and owners. Our state is simply not building enough affordable housing, which is why we are facing a shortage of nearly 300,000 affordable rental homes. We need to find ways to drastically increase our affordable housing stock and do it quickly.
We also need to reform our property tax system. The tax system is a remnant of the 1950s. We need meaningful property tax reform that expands the base and lowers taxes for homeowners. Property taxes in the 13th District are too high and in Springfield I will support legislation that lowers property taxes.
Education
I am a Chicago Public Schools parent. We need to ensure that there are substantial, sufficient, and recurrent revenue sources dedicated to our public schools so that kids are getting the education that they deserve. Kids should be able to attend their neighborhood schools and receive a top notch education in math, reading, science, art, and music that prepares them for the world beyond. Right now, the State is shortchanging Chicago, and OUR kids deserve their fair share. We need to fix the structural imbalances that disadvantage CPS compared to other districts in the State. In the legislature, I’ll be a leader who will make sure that CPS receives its fair share of funding, isn’t forced into costly short term borrowing, and is no longer held back by historical inequities so that all of our children – regardless of their zip code or parents income – receive a quality education.
Abortion
In the House, I’ll lead the fight to keep Illinois a safe haven for abortion and reproductive healthcare. When I served as Executive Deputy Attorney, we worked with the legislature to pass the Reproductive Health Act which makes decisions about reproductive health a fundamental right in Illinois and the Patient and Provider Protection Act which legally protects providers who provide this type of health care in Illinois, including to patients who come from other states. When the city of Danville tried to pass local ordinances restricting abortion, we stopped them. And on a national level, when red states and the Trump Administration tried to restrict access to abortion we fought them all the way to the Supreme Court.
A woman’s healthcare decisions are hers to make. Abortion is a medical procedure. There should not be any difference between that and any other medical procedure that a doctor would prescribe.
Additionally, we need to continue providing funding to Planned Parenthood to make up for federal cuts. In the Illinois House of Representatives, I will also ensure that social media services and big tech companies protect personal information so that people can search without fear for reproductive healthcare services in Illinois.
That’s the level of commitment I will bring to the Illinois House of Representatives. We’ve done so much already in Illinois, but there’s more to do.
Immigration
The way that Donald Trump has broken our immigration system is cruel, immoral, and, ultimately, not what this country or our State is about. In the Illinois House of Representatives, I will work to stand up to his attacks on our communities by passing an affirmative agenda that protects our civil rights and requires federal agents to follow the law. We cannot allow masked, unidentifiable federal agents to continue wreaking havoc on our streets.
My grandparents came to the United States after the Holocaust. My grandparents endured harrowing travels through other foreign countries with no money in order to make it to America. When my grandfather arrived, he received job training and communal support. That allowed him to get a good, union job as a steelworker at Continental Can outside of Pittsburgh. He worked there for nearly 40 years.
When I worked in the Attorney General’s office, I traveled with Attorney General Raoul to the San Ysidro border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana. When we crossed to the Mexican side of the border, we saw thousands of people amassed on a plaza outside of the border crossing, literally holding all their earthly possessions in both arms. 70 years ago, those people were my grandparents.
As State Representative, I'll lead the fight to make sure that law enforcement focuses on actual crime and make sure that new arrivals in our country can access the same supports that allowed my grandparents to enter the middle class.
Revenue
It’s easy to think of the state budget in the abstract. But it has real and immediate consequences to each of us every day. When my child was born, he received extensive services through the Early Intervention program, a program available to every child in the state to provide what is often life-sustaining therapy. When Bruce Rauner decided that the State wasn’t going to have a state budget, it was programs like EI that were jeopardized. We need to ensure that this will never happen again. We can do that by passing responsible and sustainable budgets. As State Representative, I will support responsible budgets that better access underutilized revenue sources, crack down on tax cheats, and make the wealthy pay their fair share.
Public Safety
People in our district should feel safe in the neighborhood. As Executive Deputy Attorney General, I personally saw the damage that guns were having on our community. We helped take illegally trafficked firearms off our streets to reduce violent crime across the State. But we need to do a lot more. In Springfield, I will promote constitutional policing with real community engagement, continue expanding support for crime victims and strengthening the State’s Community Violence Intervention infrastructure, and provide law enforcement resources to protect communities without militarizing the police.