Growing St. Louis City and the greater metro area has to be a top priority for every single representative in the state house, regardless of where they chose to call home. Unfortunately, much of the St. Louis area, specifically, the city, has been on a population decline for my entire life. We must reverse population loss. We should stop the petty politics of the ‘blame game’ and refusing to let old grudges die. We need to first and foremost make sure folks feel safe from crime (both violent and property), which absolutely includes gun violence and school shootings. We need to fully fund public education—your family’s financial status should not determine whether you can afford to send your child to preschool or determine the limits of their future. Every child deserves a safe, happy, and enriching learning environment no matter what their folks make. Finally, we need to incentivize folks to move here from less affordable cities or cities with less opportunity by actually working on a program and investing in people that are passionate and can make that pitch, as well as, retaining our own talent and ensuring the area offers resources and amenities that make people want to stay, raise their families, and invest in the area. The City & County should start working together on more and more issues. This is not a way to run a large metro area in the 21st century.
I’m a bridge builder and am practical enough to know that no one, nor any party, have a monopoly on good ideas. However, the current Super Majority running the Missouri legislature and state-wide offices is extreme and needs accountability. Checks and balances are important. Protecting our freedoms to read the books we want, allowing women to have control over their own health care decisions, love who you love, and run our local governments without interference from big brothers is crucial to my first point of making sure people feel safe to call Missouri home and WANT to call Missouri home. We cannot thrive as a state if only one party, one set of ideas, or one way of thinking is the only acceptable way to live your life.
Working on common sense ways to make sure Missourians, no matter where they started, have their chance to work towards upward mobility for themselves and their families. Both of my parents were in a union and the union allowed my parents to put a roof over our heads, put food on the table, and give us what we needed and most of what we wanted. No child and no Missouri Family deserve any different. We need to ensure ‘Right-to-Work’ stays dead, unions have the ability to thrive, housing in the state, especially the metros, remains affordable, good public education is affordable, and the grocery bill along with other basic needs doesn’t break the bank. We shouldn’t continue on missing out on jobs of the future and they shouldn’t all flood to the metros. No matter where you live, you and your family should feel that the next year will be the best one yet and your chance at a comfortable middle-class lifestyle is in reach.
The Unions build the middle class and the middle class built America. A strong economy is one that works for everyone. As your state rep, I’ll fight for those who truly build up our economy—our workers—for the wages, benefits, and protections they deserve. I’ll support investments in educational opportunities to support a 21st century workforce, especially strong, good paying Union jobs.
I’ll work for policies that support local businesses who provide good jobs in our state and keep our economy growing. And I’ll work to bring new businesses here that want to capitalize on our skilled Missouri workforce and quality of life. But I’ll always put workers’ interests before the special interests of large corporations because as the son of two union workers, we were able to afford a middle class lifestyle due to the benefits their unions provided.
Every Missouri child should have access to free, quality public education regardless of their zip code. As your representative, I will work to strengthen our public schools and fully fund our commitment to our kids.
I will support universal early childhood education, because investing in our kids from an early age is the best way for us to invest in our future. I will also support investment in higher education and workforce training, to ensure all Missourians have the opportunity to gain the skills to compete in our economy.
Preserving and protecting Missouri's natural resources and environment are incredibly important to me. From Farmland to the Ozarks, to our big cities and everywhere in between Missouri families deserve places to play, learn, and enjoy nature.
We can protect our environment and Earth by utilizing federal funding, grants, and being cognizant of ensuring development does not come at a cost to our state.
As your State Rep, I intend to ensure our climate, our water, and our air are clean for everyone--not just the economically advantaged.
Central to the role of government is to fairly enforce the law, and to provide protection for its people. I will support our law enforcement officers in their difficult jobs, while also demanding accountability when they overreach. Growing up with a mom who has been an SLMPD officer for over 30 years, ensuring that her and her fellow officers come home to their families every night is extremely important to me.
I will support tough sentences for violent criminals, while also seeking ways to reduce our prison population and reintegrate folks into society after they have served their time. I’ll also support drug treatment courts and diversion programs that find alternative ways to punish and rehabilitate non-violent criminals without simply throwing them in prison.
No matter where you live in Missouri, the root causes of crime are the same: a lack of educational and work opportunities, along with drug addiction and poverty. Addressing these basic issues must always be central in any conversation about crime.
More to come soon.
Quality, accessible, and affordable health care is every Missourian’s right. But every year Missouri families must make increasingly difficult decisions for how they prioritize spending on prescription drugs and medical bills over the basic costs of living.
At the same time, the Republican-led House has left millions of federal dollars on the table meant for expanding health care access to Missourians. Their inaction means less healthy communities, higher premiums for those with coverage, and the loss of hospitals, especially in rural areas.
As your state representative, I’ll support common sense measures like expanding Medicaid, so no Missourian is forced to choose between a decent job and keeping their health care.
Every person should have the autonomy to make decisions about their body and their life. Republicans have passed extreme abortion bans in recent years, limiting access to abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or medical need.
Mothers die from childbirth in Missouri in numbers far greater than the rest of the industrialized world, and instead of promoting health care, Missouri legislators have placed burdensome restrictions on it.
Republicans have gone so far as to pass legislation that costs hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to defend against Constitutional challenges, while at the same time blaming budget shortfalls for lack of funding for essential items like school transportation.
As your state rep, I will stand with women for the right to make the best decisions about their health care for their own lives.
I believe in the saying “show me your budget, and I’ll show you your values.” Our state’s budget serves as a moral contract with our citizens. Every year, it is up to the state government to allocate the tax dollars you pay to maintain and improve our quality of living.
But while our schools are underfunded, our health care costs are on the rise while our taxes increase, and we’re borrowing money to pay for our crumbling roads and bridges, corporations in Missouri are receiving tax cuts and incentive packages.
We simply should not be handing out money to corporations hoping that prosperity will trickle down. As your state rep, I will be a careful steward of your tax dollars in Jefferson City.
I believe you and your family are the economic drivers of our state. Our budget should reflect that by investing in the things that will improve you and your family’s life, rather than lining the pockets of big businesses.
Faith in government and the political process is the cornerstone of a functioning democracy. As your state rep, I’ll fight to shine a light on those who conceal their donors and influence our politics with dark money.
Over the years, Republicans have eroded the barrier between special interests and politics. In 2018, Missourians overwhelmingly voted in favor of Amendment 1, known as CLEAN MO. It capped contributions and limited the way money could move in and out of campaign coffers.
Special interests have continued to find loopholes around these laws, pushing ‘dark money’ further into the political process. At the same time, Republicans are advocating for the repeal of Amendment 2.
Ultimately, this campaign isn’t about me. This is your campaign and I want you to be proud of it and the coalition we build along the way. That’s why I’ll provide you easy access to the sources of our campaign money.
Every year for the past two decades, the Missouri Non-Discrimination Act (MONA) has been filed, only to be blocked by Republicans. MONA would allow basic protections to our LGBTQ community by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Missouri’s Human Rights Act.
Missourians should not have to fear losing their jobs or being denied housing for who they love—discrimination that is currently completely legal in our state.
Meanwhile, Republicans in recent years have also passed legislation that makes it easier for employers, landlords or businesses to discriminate based on race, age, religion or gender—more so than in any other state.
As your state rep, I will work for a Missouri that welcomes people regardless of race, religion, gender, age or sexual orientation, and protects all people from discrimination.