A State Representative votes on far more than any one issue. Here's what I care about most — and what I'll actually do.
Make the moratorium permanent, change the law so that going forward special interests cannot abuse confidentiality systems to prevent genuine public input for major sitings at Quonset. I will hold state agencies accountable to the communities they ask to bear the burden. And I will do it without tearing down the benefits of Quonset — the jobs and revenue it brings are part of what keeps this town affordable.
Rhode Islanders are being squeezed from every direction: groceries, gas, insurance, home prices. When my opponent served in the legislature, he voted for unfunded mandates that drove up your property taxes. We need to make our state more affordable, not less. Here's where I'd start: fight the energy rate hikes, create state programs to help families convert older oil-heated homes to cheaper, cleaner systems, and bring prices down through efficiency and smart improvements to our infrastructure.
Our hospitals are being bought up by out-of-state corporations and stripped for parts. Reimbursement rates are so low that primary-care doctors are leaving Rhode Island. I'll fight to raise Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates so we can keep doctors here, support the new medical school at URI, and hold the corporations buying our hospitals accountable. And I support RICare, the universal health care legislation our own state senators are sponsoring, a position that makes me different from both of my opponents. I'm proud to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood, and I will be a strong champion for reproductive health care in the Assembly.
As a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate endorsed by the RI Coalition Against Gun Violence, I helped fight for the laws that ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, created the red-flag law, and keep guns out of our schools. In the House, I will defend those laws against rollback and close the gaps that remain.