Priorities
Helping to reduce the impacts of Coronavirus
In an emergency bill, we made over $2 million in investments to go directly to helping public health agencies and hospitals with the tools they need to help patients recover from COVID-19. I am ready to go into emergency session to help with this epidemic, help our small businesses, help our vulnerable populations and work to get our economy back on track as we recover from this crisis.
Championing our public schools
Our state has made record investments in public education in the last few years. However, we need to make sure that money is spent wisely and with transparency and accountability. We have more work to do increase academic achievement throughout our state and increase equity across districts. Our next push needs to be increasing our Pre-K programs because learning does not start at five.
Reducing Traffic Congestion
People should not have to choose between spending time in their cars and spending time with their families. We need the State to prioritize north Puget Sound in their transportation budgets and projects. This needs to include fixing roads and bridges that have been neglected for far too long.
Reducing Gun Violence
Gun violence across the United States is destroying lives and killing too many innocent people. I'm proud that our state has taken a leading role on gun safety issues including a ban on bumpstocks, funding for gun violence research, closing the gun background check loophole and more.
However, we have much more to do. It was disappointing to say the least to see the measure to restrict high capacity magazines fail to get out of the House and Senate and onto the Governor's desk. We know whether a state allows high-capacity magazines is the single best predictor of mass shooting rates in that state. That’s because limiting magazines forces shooters to pause to reload, buying precious seconds for victims and law enforcement. In mass shootings where these magazines are used, an average of five times as many people are shot.
Protecting our environment
We need our state to continue to lead the way in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, retrofitting old buildings, new clean energy research and transportation alternatives. Climate change is real and we need urgency in following the science and data to do everything we can to limit the impact on our planet.
Increasing affordable housing.
Seattle home prices have skyrocketed and those prices put pressure on our area's housing prices to increase as well. We need to bring state, local, county governments together with non-profits and business to create thousands of affordable units throughout the Puget Sound to increase affordable housing and reduce homelessness.