Candidate Profiles

The first important issue facing the state is to ensure that we are investing in our future workforce. The number one way to do this is to properly support public schools with technology upgrades, textbooks, quality teachers and small class sizes. The state’s new support for public schools has been the lowest in Iowa history for thirteen of the last fourteen years. The investment in public schools has not kept up with the cost of providing a world-class 21st Century learning experience for every student. I will prioritize public education over private school vouchers. The second issue facing Iowa is that the women in our state are having healthcare decisions made for them by politicians in Des Moines. I firmly believe in reproductive freedom which includes prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management and infertility care. In order to support the women in our state we need to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months for all eligible pregnant individuals. We also need to make birth control medication more accessible through a pharmacist without a prescription. Lastly, we need to be sure that regardless of where a woman lives in the state, they have access to quality reproductive health services. Reproductive health care is an essential part of a person’s overall health, and it can no longer be minimized. The third issue facing Iowa is the childcare crisis facing every zip code in our state. Families in Iowa are either living in a childcare desert or if they find themselves in an area where they can access childcare, families are finding it unaffordable. To help with this problem, we need to increase the child and dependent care tax credit to match the federal credit. This would assist in eliminating the “childcare cliff” that middle-income earners face. Secondly, we should create a new Childcare Center and Child Development Home Grant to fund grants of up to $50,000 for costs related to the establishment of a new licensed childcare center, a new child development home, or for the expansion of an existing facility. Thirdly, Iowa could allow more families to receive Child Care Assistance benefits by increasing the eligible federal poverty level.

You can tell the legislative priorities by the money that is connected to them. The three areas mentioned above will require more funding or a shift in funding. It is time to put people over politics and show Iowans we support them wherever they live in the state and we want them to stay in and call Iowa home.

Absolutely. Hand-held mobile devices when used while driving cause crashes and people are injured and killed on Iowa roads every year.

Iowa’s population is continuing to get older and we as a state owe it to our senior population to do what it takes to ensure that they have access to quality and affordable housing and care during this stage of life. There is a shortage of nursing home inspectors, healthcare providers and senior living facilities across the state. Families often cannot wait months on a waiting list and when their loved one is accepted, they should feel confident they are loved and cared for in their facility.

We have some of the best medical facilities and research institutions in the country right here in our state. We need to invest in them and invest in the people who are calling Iowa home. Cancer is scary and we owe it to all Iowans that we fund research, screenings and education to be certain we do not continue to have the second highest cancer rate in the nation.

It is no secret that Iowa has very poor water quality and the state is contributing to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico at record levels. Iowa’s waterways should be available for Iowans to live, work and play on and in. Iowa is also an agricultural powerhouse for our country and to address the water quality issue, we must address it in consultation with the federal government, public/private partnerships, and directly working with our farmers. Iowa needs to continue to invest in research and development of cleaner chemicals, technological innovations in farming and creative ways to clean our waterways.

Mental health services in Iowa are stretched too thin. We have too many Iowans who are battling a mental health diagnosis or worse yet go undiagnosed. We need to have open and honest conversations with care providers, patients, and community members about the type of services they are providing and needing. We also need to normalize the conversation about mental health just as we have done for so many other medical conditions. The most beneficial partners we have are the communities themselves.

We need to pass a constitutional amendment to allow for reproductive healthcare for the women in Iowa.

No. Women and whomever they choose should make the healthcare decisions which impact their bodies and not a politician in Des Moines.

I would fully fund public education in our state to be certain we are providing a world class 21st Century education to every student regardless of zip code. Politicians need to leave curriculum standards and the pedagogy to the content experts.

In order to make Iowa more attractive we have to make sure Iowa is a state where people want to live, work and play. We need to make sure Iowans across the state have access to the services they expect as tax payers, quality education, access to quality and affordable healthcare, childcare and good paying jobs.