Our public schools are our backbone— they must be strong. For many of our kids, school is the only place they see a nurse, receive mental health services, or have a hot meal. But the massive budget shortfalls plaguing Minneapolis and St. Paul schools show we still have not “fully funded” public education. I will do everything in my power to fight for our Minneapolis Public Schools to make sure the state increases per-pupil funding and reimburses districts for the services they are mandated to provide.
It’s time we actually fully fund our schools and treat them as what they are: child-focused community centers where we make sure kids are ready to learn. No Minnesota teacher should make less than $60,000 per year, and every school employee deserves at least $25/hour. I will fight against privatization of public services like education, and for collective bargaining because our neighbors don’t just need jobs— they need good jobs that let them pay their bills and watch their kids grow up.
And we must fund wrap-around services and full-service community schools. To fully meet our kids’ needs, we need to lift state levy limits for cities of the first class and fully staffing mental and physical health teams by hiring more licensed school counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses and other support professionals. Let’s make sure we can meet our kids where they are.
I support a statewide moratorium on Charter schools. Only a small number of charter schools have proven to be effective while the vast majority have failed. We can not let the exception be the rule.

Making College Affordable and Supporting U of M Students

SD60 is home to the University of Minnesota and Augsburg College, and we are proud of our student population. But college is too expensive. I’m committed to increasing funding for the Minnesota State College Grant Program and building on Sen. Dziedzic’s work to make post-secondary education affordable. State-school tuition freezes are also important to make public universities more affordable and help all students afford college - no matter where they attend college.
But affordable education isn’t just about tuition. We’re burying our students in access fees and costs, too. And affordable education doesn’t just help students and teachers. Investing in affordable higher education ensures that we have the student population that supports the jobs of service workers and others throughout the University of Minnesota and MNSCU systems, fostering a home-grown workforce that can carry our people and economic engines forward as technologies change.
For graduates who are drowning in debt, public-service loan forgiveness is an important part of educational reforms. Additionally, I support ensuring that loans held by the state of Minnesota can be forgiven.
The North Star Promise act passed the DFL trifecta has been a resounding success. I will fight to make sure this program continues and has sustainable funding.
Collaborate and coordinate with students on legislation, which includes tackling food insecurity and fighting food hunger on campus.

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Healthcare for All

Health decisions are best left to patients and their doctors.

Minnesota Health Plan

Every Minnesotan needs and deserves quality healthcare. It’s what allows us all to grow and thrive and then to age in our own homes with dignity and care.
Our healthcare system is broken. As your senator, I will support John Marty’s plan for universal healthcare. It covers prescription drugs, vision care, dental care, hearing care, mental-health services, home care and nursing care services, chemical dependency treatment, and medical equipment and supplies. The Minnesota Health Plan will cover the medical needs of all our neighbors and families.

Reproductive Healthcare and Gender-Affirming Care

Abortion is healthcare. Minnesota can and should ensure abortion access in its constitution. No matter what happens as a federal level, Minnesota must remain a safe haven for anyone seeking an abortion.
We must ensure that everyone has access to affordable gender affirming care.

Prescription Drug Affordability

Until we get to universal coverage, I support the work of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board established in 2023 by the DFL trifecta. It is important for the state to know why care is so expensive so that we can meaningfully decide what costs are reasonable. But that is not enough. Today, corporations ration our healthcare with artificial barriers like prior authorizations and fail-first protocols. I want patients to be able to decide what care they need when they need it with their doctors and their families.

Addressing addiction and the opioid epidemic

I support investing in preventative and restorative mental health and substance abuse services.
I support the continuation of the work of the legislature’s safe recovery sites pilot. In Minneapolis, we have seen the devastating effects of the opioid crisis and we know the current approach isn’t working. Safe recovery sites are part of the solution. They help get people the help they need.
In 2022, 30.5 million Americans received services through community care clinics. We should expand funding for trusted, culturally informed providers to help neighbors in communities where big-box care does not meet the local need.
I fully support harm reduction. You can’t help people heal from their addiction if they’re dead. I support making products like NALOXONE and fentanyl test strips readily available at transit hubs and throughout our community.

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Housing for All

Housing is a human right!

Addressing Homelessness

We need innovative housing solutions. Encampments are a failure of government. The current whack-a-mole approach that evicts encampments and sends neighbors into the cold with nowhere else to go is inhumane and ineffective. As your Senator, I will support projects like Avivo Village, housing-first solutions, housing-focused case management, and 24/7 shelter services.
We need sustainable and ongoing funding for shelters. There is an estimated $13 million fiscal cliff facing Hennepin County Shelters, specifically low-barrier and emergency shelter space. As your Senator, I will work tirelessly next session to address this need.
I support investing in the Stable Homes Stable Schools program as a commitment to our neighbors. It improves families’ housing stability, students’ school attendance, and students’ educational outcomes through rental assistance and wrap-around supportive services.
I will work with City, County, State, and Federal officials to address unsheltered homelessness. Together, we can support funding housing first initiatives, culturally specific housing services, low-barrier housing, and deeply affordable housing.

Building more affordable housing

Minnesota can make bold, sustained investments in income-based public housing, deeply affordable housing, and workforce housing all across the state.
I support the “missing middle” legislation for single-family and high-density housing. By requiring cities to allow duplexes, triplexes, and other “missing middle” housing types, we can both increase supply and create density that makes transit, cycling, and walking more possible. At the same time, we must curb private equity housing portfolios to ensure local investment in the “missing middle” and affordable housing.
There’s an over $200 million capital backlog for public housing in our city. I support increasing funding for public housing in Minneapolis. But that housing must be built at fair wages in safe conditions. Our neighbors don’t just need jobs-- they need good jobs that let them pay their bills and watch their kids grow up.

Protecting Renters’ Rights and Expanding Homeownership

I support legislation that would require landlords to provide 30-day written notice to renters before filing a rental eviction for nonpayment of rent, and I support legislation that would protect tenants from unsafe living conditions, harassment, and displacement. On average it takes 28 days to receive rental assistance from Hennepin County. Following the City of Minneapolis’ lead to better match these timelines is common sense and will prevent housing instability.
I support funding rent assistance initiatives that would help keep people in their homes—protecting the stability of tenants and neighborhood landlords.
I support legislation that would protect tenants by prohibiting landlords from rejecting tenants solely because they intend to pay rent with government rent vouchers like the Section 8 voucher program.
I support expanding homeownership opportunities with down-payment assistance support for first-time homebuyers and BIPOC communities. Home ownership is one of the steadiest ways for families to build wealth and is essential to righting the wrongs of redlining.

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Climate and Infrastructure

Climate Action for All

We need bold leadership to meet Minnesota’s ambitious climate goals. Achieving these goals will take bold leadership at the state level, especially as the federal government backs away from its commitment to climate action. We can make Minnesota more resilient and equitable as we move toward a carbon neutral future.
Our energy transition must be built with prevailing wages and union tradespeople. Paying people what they’re worth is good for workers and for business. Workers with disposable income fuel economies and workers who are secure are most productive.
We must ensure climate action is implemented through an equity lens. Real-life impacts of climate change have landed hardest on marginalized communities. We need to make transition and mitigation resources accessible to the communities experiencing the greatest impacts, and Minnesota must make polluters pay for the damage that they have already caused our communities.

Protecting our Environment and Precious Natural Resources

We need to protect Minnesota’s waters. The Prove it First legislation is a common sense protection for the Boundary Waters and Lake Superior, and I support it. This would require any new mining proposal to undergo a rigorous and independent environmental review process which was conducted over the course of several years.
We need to ensure the Public Utilities Commission serves the needs of the public, not the wants of utilities. We must refocus the PUC on the public’s need for environmental protection, protection of health, respect for tribal sovereignty, and racial and economic equity as integral parts of our comprehensive regulatory approach to energy generation and transmission.
We must move away from extractive economies. For too long, across our country, politicians have come into an area, mined the minerals, stolen the ore, and left holes in the earth. We can’t put back what we’ve already taken and must Prove it First before we take more.

Transit for all

We need choices in how we get around our city. I will fight for a robust transit system because we cannot effectively transition away from car culture without it. Everyone deserves access to quick, safe, and reliable transit. The DFL trifecta recently began such a transit investment in Senate District 60. I’ll work to continue it and to protect established communities from the gentrification that too often follows transit improvements.
I support making the 32 (Lowry Ave) and the 4 (Johnson St & Hennepin Ave) Bus Rapid Transit routes.
I support making transit fare free. A fare free pilot of the 32 showed that taking away the barrier of payment increased ridership and gave my children freedom to roam the city.
I support local economies fueled by locally owned and operated businesses. People who work near their home don’t have to drive to work.

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Community Safety

All of us want to feel safe in our communities.

Real safety begins with strong, supportive communities. By investing in schools, housing, and healthcare for all, we can build neighborhoods where everyone thrives.
Everyone deserves safe and accessible roadways, walkways, and transit systems, free from harm, discrimination, and violence, ensuring they can reach their destinations with confidence.
Safer mobility means prioritizing infrastructure for walking, biking, and public transit, while reducing unnecessary police interactions. This includes improving public transit, implementing speed-reduction strategies, reducing pretextual stops, and exploring unarmed civilian traffic enforcement.
I support public safety aid to municipalities to establish and fund community-based safety initiatives. We can meet mental health crisis calls, the opioid epidemic, and other instances where police are not required, with unarmed person-to-person intervention.

Police Accountability

Some politicians want to use our valid concerns about public safety to divide us and avoid accountability for abuses of their authority.
I support ending qualified immunity. We need to end efforts that prevent bad officers from being fired for misconduct.
I support requiring police officers to carry their own liability insurance.
We need to reform coaching practices and ensure coaching is considered as discipline in all reporting requirements.
We must mandate annual mental health screenings, including when an officer is hired from another law enforcement agency, to address officer stress without stigmatization.

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Human Rights & Economic Justice

In Minnesota we stand up for all people. No matter who you are, where you come from, what you look like, how you worship, or who you love, you have a home here.

Prevent hate crimes.
I support policies and programs meant to prevent and address hate crimes motivated by hate and bias.
Protect our immigrant neighbors.
I support the North Star Act that will protect our immigrant neighbors and keep our communities together.
End the cash bail system.
I support ending the criminalization of poverty by ending the cash bail system.
Safeguarding 2SLGBTQIA+ Rights.
No matter what is happening at the federal level we need to protect 2SLGBTQIA+ rights here in Minnesota. Unfortunately, in Minneapolis, we’ve seen a surge in hate crimes, discrimination, and violence experienced by trans community members. I’m committed to advancing policies that protect trans residents and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Support efforts to improve disability justice.
Phase out the discriminatory practice of paying people with disabilities a subminimum wage.
Protect Gender and Reproductive Freedom.
I support the Equal Rights Amendment that would guarantee that every Minnesotan has the same rights under the law

We also know that our neighbors know best what their families need. But to meet those needs, our neighbors don’t just need jobs-- they need good jobs that let them pay their bills and watch their kids grow up. We must:

Support collective bargaining.
End wage theft.
Fight privatization of public services.
Defend and expand construction at the prevailing wage.

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