On The Issues
Colorado Workers and Economy
1
This year, Colorado raised the state minimum wage to $12/per hour. However, no more than $3.02/per hour in tip income may be used to offset the minimum wage of tipped employees. Do you support or oppose action changing how tip income is treated for minimum wage purposes and why?
Support
Comment:
2
A 2018 NPR/Marist poll revealed 20 percent of all American workers are contract workers hired to work on a specific project or for a fixed period of time. Do you support or oppose action that would provide gig economy workers access in Colorado to unemployment benefits, workers compensation, etc., and why? Support
Comment: Far too often workers are misclassified as contract and/or gig to save companies money and the responsibility that comes with employing someone full time. We need to protect the dignity of ALL work and support our working families here in Colorado as much as we can.
3
This summer, Governor Polis signed into law a bill that prevents an employer from discriminating, retaliating, or taking adverse action against any worker who raises a concern about workplace health and safety practices or hazards related to a public health emergency. Do you support or oppose enacting similar legislation to protect whistleblowers who sound the alarm about waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, or dangers to public health and safety from employer retaliation? Support
Comment: Foundational for any nation is trust in the efficiency and safety of our industries and our government institutions. We have seen the damage that can be wrought on our nation when an industry is corrupt as we saw in the 2008 housing crisis. We also have seen the deadly impact that comes when arrogance and bad command climate is allowed to flourish as we saw with devastating results that led to the loss of the Challenger and Columbia. We need to do everything we can to protect whistleblowers to come forward so we can always prioritize saving lives and taxpayer dollars in the long run.
Revenue/Taxes
4
The coronavirus pandemic has upended state budgets across the country, including Colorado’s. Do you support or oppose efforts to decouple state taxes from federal taxes and change how Colorado taxes corporations to responsibly raise revenue and why?Support
Comment: Colorado is already in a tough position because of the intended and unintended consequences from TABOR and Gallagher. It creates an environment where we are constantly underfunding our K-12 and having to cannibalize from other important programs like higher education to make up for that budgetary shortfall in K-12. Check out Building a Better Colorado for more details on how that is true. We need to decouple our state taxes from federal so we do not make a bad situation worse in funding critical programs like healthcare, education, and our infrastructure.
5
The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) prohibits Colorado from raising taxes without voters’ consent. TABOR also prohibits Colorado from establishing a rainy day fund to weather tough economic times. Colorado’s spending on essential services like education and transportation has lagged behind the state’s economic and population growth. Colorado ranks 47th in the nation in per pupil spending. The state also currently lacks funds to enforce labor and other laws in any meaningful way. Do you support or oppose efforts to revise or get rid of TABOR and why? Support
Comment: There is not one single state (red or blue) that has a law like TABOR. In fact, in 2012 when a Republican legislature from AZ was thinking about passing a law like TABOR for AZ, the then Republican Governor, Jan Brewer, came to Colorado to see how that experiment was working out for us and immediately went back and vetoed that bill. They have not attempted to pass a law like it since. TABOR is fiscally irresponsible. It forces us to underfund critical programs like public education and forces us into a situation where we are having to cannibalize other critical programs like transportation and higher education. I think the fiscal responsibility of TABOR is highlighted during a time of COVID19 when we are faced with some major budgetary shortfalls that will force us to cut critical programs that were already underfunded like public education. We are NOT allowed to have a rainy day fund and our federal government is failing to shore up state and municipal budgetary shortfalls during this crisis. We need to revise or abolish TABOR so we can fund critical programs and see to our own fiscal responsibilities.
Quality and Affordable Healthcare
6
This year, lawmakers introduced legislation to create a public health insurance option for our state. Do you support or oppose creating a public option in Colorado and why? Support
Comment: While deployed to Afghanistan in 2012, I survived a catastrophic crash which left me paralyzed from the waist down. If I didn’t have access to quality and affordable healthcare during my recovery; I would not have survived, I would not have regained my independence, and I would not have been able to continue serving my community in the nonprofit work I do, as an advocate for veterans at our State Capitol, and now as I fight for the privilege to represent the people in HD38. Healthcare is a right.
7
One 2018 survey of Colorado adults found that more than half (53%) reported being either “worried” or “very worried” about affording the cost of prescription drugs. Do you support or oppose policies that would make prescription drugs more affordable and why? Support
Comment: Healthcare is a right and I will work tirelessly to increase affordability, accessibility while also improving quality of care for all.
Keep Communities Safe during the COVID-19 Pandemic
8
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some states and localities rushed to grant businesses immunity from civil lawsuits related to the coronavirus. Do you think businesses should be shielded from lawsuits related to COVID-19? Comment: It depends. If workplaces were negligent in protecting their employees and customers, then no they should not be shielded. If they are not following state and CDC guidelines, then they should be liable. If they are doing everything they can, then they should not be subject to making a bad situation worse. That being said I would like the federal government to investigate implementing hazard pay for essential workers in the case of a future pandemic. (If we could pass it now, even better).
Voting Access and Constitutional Reform
9
Do you think Colorado should take additional action to protect low-income and voters of color access to vote? Support
Comment: The right to vote is one of the most basic and important rights in this country and part of why I served in the military. We need to be doing everything we can to franchise working families and the community of color.
10
In past years, legislators have introduced legislation calling for an Article V constitutional convention to address a number of reforms. Do you support or oppose legislation calling for an Article V constitutional convention? Support
Comment: We need to be strategic about this, but on the surface I support a move to call for a constitutional convention. We need to address the antiquated and disenfranchising institution of the electoral college as well as to truly address gender equity and LGBTQ+ rights (among many others).
11
This year, lawmakers introduced legislation that would place for the first time campaign contribution limits on school board candidates. Do you support or oppose this legislation and why? Support
Comment: Really the more important aspect of this is to also limit how much personal money can be used on campaign in general. At the very least we should look to tax after a certain amount of personal wealth is used on a campaign. If people are going to be allowed to try and buy races, then we should at least get better roads, school funding, and more affordable healthcare out of the whole thing.
