Governor Lee's latest voucher scheme will take millions of dollars out of our public schools and give them to unaccountable private schools. Public education dollars need to stay in public schools; not used to subsidize expensive private school tuition.

The GOP argument for this voucher scheme is one of "school choice". I, too, support school choice; parents should be free to choose the best educational path for their child. However, taxpayers shouldn't be forced to pay for private school tuition. It is taking from the poor to give to the rich.

Let's fully fund our public schools. Tennessee students deserve safe, well-maintained buildings and smaller class sizes. Public schools deserve equal access to resources and funding no matter the neighborhood in which it's located. Teachers deserve to be paid a living wage without needing a second job just to survive.

Let’s invest money into public schools and not divert funds to unaccountable private schools.

Public Education

Access to Healthcare

Tennessee has had twenty rural hospitals closures due to Republicans’ decision to not expand Medicaid. We have literally lost billions of dollars of funding because of this and over 20 rural hospitals have closed. More evidence that Republicans believe in defunding hospitals which is not “pro-life.”

Tennessee is 10th in the nation for rates of uninsured people and 9% of Tennesseans are uninsured. This affects all Tennesseans; it increases medical costs for all, strains our healthcare systems, and increases waiting times at ERs.

The pro-life, fiscally conservative thing to do is to expand Medicaid, which I intend to work for as your Tennessee State Representative.

After The Covenant School shooting, our elected officials promised to take meaningful action on gun reform, but they did not. The refused to even hear bills that would make our schools and communities safer and instead passed bills making it easier for violent criminals to access firearms.

Our schools should not be a war zone and every child has the right to go to school without the threat of random gun violence. Instead of passing laws that have been proven to decrease gun violence, our elected officials are passing bills to arm our teachers.

If lawmakers want to say that mental illness is the reason for school shootings, the state of Tennessee should put their money where their mouth is and make mental healthcare accessible to all. Instead, school districts are forced to spend millions of dollars trying to lock our schools down with bulletproof windows and metal detectors in a never-ending arms race with potential school shooters.

There's nothing wrong with owning a gun, but they should remain locked up, in a safe place away from children. Safe Storage laws will not only prevent dozens of accidental child gun deaths every year but will help decrease the number of firearms stolen out of unlocked cars!

The problem is easy access to guns.

Common Sense Gun Laws

The Republicans have worked towards banning abortion for decades and have succeeded by having a bought and paid for Supreme Court overturn Roe.

The Dobbs decision has led to so much pain and suffering for women and their families in Tennessee and across the U.S. Reproductive healthcare rights are critical to mothers and families everywhere. And the Tennessee GOP has demonized women who are trying to make the best decisions for themselves and their families, even those women trying to survive a life-threatening pregnancy.

Every opportunity the TN GOP has had to make exceptions for instances of rape and incest, even for minors, they have refused. Next they are coming after IVF and birth control. I will fight to protect access to IVF, birth control, and fight for women's access to the healthcare they deserve.

Unfortunately, my opponent and his party claim to be pro-life, but their policies are nothing of the sort. I support putting more money into schools, healthcare facilities, and social services that actually help women and children, not harm them.

Women's Reproductive Rights

Widening Economic Divide

The cost of living has exploded over the last 40 years, but wages have remained stagnant. Cost of Tennessean's basic needs such as housing, healthcare, education, and transportation has exponentially increased and our elected officials are too busy giving corporate tax breaks to Fed-Ex, G.E., and Amazon.

The Tennessee GOP has kept corporate taxes low while restricting federal and state funding for much-needed social programs like SNAP; they have intentionally underfunded state agencies like TDEC, DCS, TDOC, and our public schools. They continually promise meaningful raises for public school teachers only to scrap those plans, claiming that there are no funds for raises, despite hoarding over $7 billion in their secretive “rainy day fund.”

The tourism industry is a boon to the State of Tennessee; let's use that to help working families. Tennessee is one of only 13 states with a grocery tax, instead of giving large corporations tax breaks, let's give folks feeding their families a tax break!

Public Transportation

Our over reliance on cars is killing us; Tennessee has grown so quickly in the last decade that our interstates can't keep up with the needs of the people or commerce.

Longer commute times have been shown to decrease life expectancy and lower work-life satisfaction. I support public transportation; not only would it have a meaningful impact on the well-being of Tennesseans, but it would also create economic growth.