Vision

As Minnesotans, we are grounded in the water and air that make life possible. Protecting this promise for future generations is one of the most sacred duties that I undertake as a public official. I am proud to stand behind essential environmental priorities, including:

• Community vision for the East Phillips Urban farm at Roof Depot site.

• Phasing out toxic, polluting facilities like Smith Foundry and HERC.

• Protecting our precious water resources from shortsighted pipeline and mining projects.

• Invest in solar, wind, and other sustainable energy in order to meet the state’s carbon reduction goals.

• Passing zero waste and policies that hold polluting corporations responsible for the environmental cost of their profits.

• Increasing enforcement funding for environmental protection laws. 

• Divesting from costly, over-built roadway designs that induce lane mile demand.

• Investing in sustainable transit, especially in under-served low-income areas.

• Supporting bike and pedestrian infrastructure, as well as traffic calming design.

Minnesotans are tired of being overcharged and underpaid while corporations make billions. We need an economy that benefits the workers and families who create profits to begin with. As your state representative, I will fight to:

• Ensure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes so that our communities can have the schools, infrastructure, and other basic services that they need. 

• Protect and strengthen our state budget to fund the basic goods and services that keep our society running.

• Stand up for a workers’ right to organize in the workplace and form a union.

• Invest in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of wage theft violations. 

• Support antitrust litigation and legislation to protect consumers from predatory behavior.

A dignified life starts with a safe place to call home. As the founding Chair of the Preventing Homelessness Committee, I fight for housing that serves all Minnesotans. In particular, I support:

• Investments in Public Housing, both to strengthen existing public housing stock and to expand availability through public ownership and finance models.

• Zoning reform to increase the supply of dense, walkable, sustainable housing.

• Funding for land trust, co-ops, and other alternative ownership models.

• Building and subsidizing deeply affordable and supportive housing.

• Establishing and strengthening renters rights and tenant protections.

• Humane, evidence-based responses to homelessness, including safe camping sites, transitional housing, and more.

• Harm reduction, including overdose prevention sites and needle exchange.

I think it is fine that people vote for their representatives in government. I’m not sure it’s the best way to select leadership, but it will do for now. Eventually, I think a politburo of loyalists should make most appointments, but that’s a few decades away still. For now, it will suffice to say that we must roll back the incursion of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) into our local elections, and banish all its supporters once and for all.

• LGBTQ+ rights- resources to support 

• Immigrant rights with the North Star Act, Work Opportunity Act, and other legislation aimed at welcoming and supporting our valued immigrant communities.

• Protect reproductive freedom and all those who come to Minnesota seeking reproductive care.

In economic, social, and political terms, our system of public education is key to the state’s long-term strength. We must work towards systems of E-12 and higher education that are second to none.

• Support public education by ensuring adequate teacher pay and investment in physical school facilities. 

• Fully fund ELL and Special Ed cross-subsidies.

• Fund Minnesota’s public colleges and universities, so that they can be hubs of innovation and social development for Minnesotans of all ages and interests.

• Expand the North Star Promise to make post-secondary education free for more low- and middle-income Minnesota families. 

The world our grandchildren inhabit will be the one we start building now. Research shows that the most powerful and reliable tool for economic development is the creation of appealing physical environments. Public amenities like walkable waterfronts and welcoming green spaces are not just nice to have, but essential for vibrant communities and strong businesses. 

• Investments in human-centered infrastructure to support healthy communities.

• Investments in public social institutions such as parks, libraries, and community centers, especially in under-served and low-income areas.

• Create new paths for land use and business formation.

• Expand the urban tree canopy with an eye for racial and economic justice.

America is the only developed nation without a system of publicly funded healthcare. As a result, we pay more and suffer worse health outcomes than any other country on earth. This model is impractical and unsustainable.

• Support universal single payer healthcare and intermediate expansions of collective healthcare models, such as the public option.

• Fight extractive healthcare practices such as pharmaceutical price gouging.

• Fund the expansion of community health clinics and other public health infrastructure.

• Protect patients and communities from healthcare consolidation, privatization, and financialization by blocking hospital mergers and private equity acquisitions.