Issue Positions

How is the economy working for our young adults? Higher education costs are out of control. The average private school costs $80K all-in (tuition, housing, books, etc.) for a single year. The University of Colorado-Boulder estimates expenses all-in for in-state, lowest-tier tuition at $32K per year. Pikes Peak State College is a bit more budget friendly with an annual estimated cost of $24K. At the same time, minimum wage in Colorado is $14.42. No kid is going to work their way through higher education. The math just doesn't work. Either a relative or guardian is covering the cost or the student is going into major debt. This is no way to start out life economically. The job market is treacherous. I've watched my smart, well-educated, hard-working children and their peers struggle for 6 months or more to find a job upon college graduation. Others have it much worse. Housing prices in Colorado Springs have sky-rocketed in recent years, putting home ownership out of reach for many, increasing the cost of renting and pushing some into homelessness. We need more affordable housing options. American healthcare is among the most expensive in the world because we pay for it in an extremely inefficient way. Further, it's not accessible to all. Reasonable minds can disagree as to what the American Dream is or should be but I think we can all agree it's no longer available to our children like it was to previous generations. We owe it to our children to fix this.

A sufficient supply of affordable housing for working class folks such as teachers, police, firefighters, and healthcare professionals is crucial for a healthy, robust economy. El Paso county currently has a severe shortage of such housing. Increasing the supply of affordable housing will require state, county and municipal governments to work together. I support a multi-pronged approach including financial incentives for developers, administrative process simplification, construction defects tort reform which properly balances consumer rights against the skyrocketing costs of construction insurance, and rental reform around short-term rentals and corporations that hold large inventories of single-family homes. Right now, the federal government has an unprecedented amount of funding available for housing and infrastructure. We must ensure Colorado and district 18 get their share of this funding and put it to good use.

Everyone deserves to have a home that is safe and consistent. Colorado Springs has seen an increase in homeless folks, especially in our district on the west side and downtown.. From speaking with voters in the district, I know that homelessness and the associated crime is top of mind for many. From listening to police officers and the firefighters on the homeless outreach teams, they are frustrated because the process frequently becomes a revolving door of citing homeless people, perhaps picking them up, perhaps putting them in jail and then they’re out the next day and the same scenario happens over and over. Progress is not being made to address the issue. We are lacking sufficient support services to help homeless folks address the issues that have made them homeless in the first place, be it simply needing a safe place to stay while they find work and get back on their feet or the more difficult issues of substance abuse or mental health. People can’t get off the street unless they get the help they need to be self-sufficient.

Roads and Public Transportation The Front Range and especially Colorado Springs is growing massively. Colorado Springs is predicted to become the largest city in Colorado by 2035. I applaud the good work of the federal, state and local governments for the passage and deployment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. However, given our level of growth and the slow infrastructure progress in previous decades, there is still much work to be done in Colorado. Frankly, the roads in Colorado Springs are a mess and public transportation is grossly insufficient. Travel along the front range, between Colorado Springs, Denver and Pueblo, and within the city of Colorado Springs is inconvenient and inefficient. We can do better. Right now, the federal government has an unprecedented amount of funding available for housing and infrastructure. We must ensure Colorado and district 18 get their share of this funding and put it to good use. Internet We live in an increasingly connected, technical world. Access to reliable, high-speed internet is a basic infrastructure need for everyday life regardless of zip code.

As an avid skier, hiker and lover of nature, some might call me a tree-hugger. I am fully aware that climate change is a human-created problem and that we are feeling its impacts in extreme weather including fires and floods more and more every year. But first and foremost, I'm practical. Fossil fuels and coal are expensive, inefficient and polluting. Fossil fuels are especially expensive if you consider subsidies to oil companies and the need to protect oil sources abroad militarily. Although coal seems to be going the way of the dodo bird (goodbye Martin Drake!), we, as a nation, are still extremely dependent on fossil fuel consumption. We must seek out and embrace alternative forms of energy that cost us less in terms of dollars, natural resources and human health. It just makes economic sense. I’m proud Colorado is reaching toward ambitious clean air and energy goals with the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap and the Road to 100% Renewable Energy by 2040. I will absolutely defend the progress made to date and champion bringing these goals to fruition. However, these goals must be balanced by ensuring affordable energy rates for consumers, reliable and consistent energy delivery and just transitions for oil-product-dependent communities and oil & gas workers. I understand that balancing these concerns may mean we can’t reach our goals by 2040 but I believe we must make our best effort to do so due to the increasing impacts of climate change. Last, but not least, clean, safe water is among our most precious resources in Colorado. We must protect and conserve it for future generations. All growth and infrastructure expansion discussed in the previous section must include good stewardship of our environment and natural resources, ensuring Colorado and Colorado Springs retain their high quality of life.

Our district is located largely along the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), and as such, wildfires, like Waldo Canyon and the Black Forest fires, are the single biggest risk to our life, property and local economy. ​We must prevent fire as much as possible through mitigation and awareness education. However, should fire occur, we must detect and react quickly. Further, safe and timely evacuation routes must be planned and well communicated to at-risk neighborhoods.

Democracy requires an educated populace to function well. This is why we have public education in the United States. I believe that any education funded by tax payers must serve this need first and foremost. As such, any curriculum funded by tax payers MUST be built on the consensus of subject matter experts. As a public good, public education must serve all children regardless of economic, cultural, ethnic or intellectual differences. As the parent of two highly intelligent children, both with ADHD and one with dyslexia, I understand one size does not fit all. We must pay our teachers and treat them as the valuable professionals they are. Colorado teachers are currently paid below the national average. This will not allow us to retain qualified teachers in the profession and in Colorado. Further we make education a priority in the state budget every year. Now that we have the budget stabilization factor paid off (i.e. the borrowing that was done against the education budget for other programs in the past), we must ensure we don’t borrow against education again.

Medical decisions including those surrounding pregnancy must be made by the patient, in consultation with her doctor and any additional counseling or stakeholders she chooses. The government and insurance companies should not be making medical decisions for any patient. Attempts in other states at limiting abortion timeframe or circumstances have resulted in tragedy including the loss of fertility and death of the mother. This issue is far too complex for simple, across-the-board limitation. Let the woman choose. Only she knows all the factors in her specific cases. I fully support the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA), the Safe Access to Protected Health Care Package of legislation and Amendment 79.