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: Overall I support laws to ensure that tipped workers are meeting the minimum wage. The supposed horror stories of economic collapse in cities like Seattle never materialized. That said, we need to be sensitive to small business owners and restaurants to ensure that we’re not regulating them out of business/competitiveness.
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: Gig economy workers make less and have fewer benefits and protections. In the aftermath of COVID we pushed to make it so that gig workers could participate in unemployment benefits and that should continue after the pandemic is behind us.
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: As a lawyer who has taken on corporate America, I can assure you that whistleblower protections are absolutely essential for the health and functionality of the system. Otherwise there are few mechanisms to curb corporate wrongdoing.
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: I opposed the Trump tax cut and support decoupling. We just had to cut $3 billion from the State budget and next year, without any federal funds to offset, could very well be worse. We need to ensure that we’re paying our bills and that the wealthiest pay their fair share. Right now we’re doing neither.
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: TABOR is highly regressive by design. That means that people who make less money pay a higher percentage of their income in fees and sales taxes and other taxes designed to get around TABOR’s prohibitions. As James Madison said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” Well, lo and behold we’re not angels and waiting on the benevolence of our neighbors to start paying for our schools and roads and fire departments is a recipe for disaster. We need to get rid of TABOR and replace it with progressive taxation.
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: I supported the effort to create a public option and will continue to do so. Everyone has a right to affordable healthcare. Though the plan is far from perfect, it would at least provide a baseline for most Coloradans to access.
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: This is a matter of life and death. Pharmaceutical company greed cannot take precedence over the health of our citizens. The US has the highest drug prices in the world and it is high time we stop subsidizing the rest of the world’s prices.
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? Oppose
Comment: Immunity from civil litigation would strip away the incentive these businesses have to take precautions. We saw with meat plants and other processors that certain companies care more about their bottom lines than actual lives. This is especially the case where the President has intentionally downplayed the severity of the threat in public.
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: These groups of people face historic discrimination. If there are additional actions that may be taken we should explore that or those options.
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: I think the current system--designed as it was to help free states and slave states form a more perfect union--is outdated and anti-democratic. The GOP has won the popular vote only once since 1992. Millions of more voters vote for Democratic Senators then GOP senators. Yet given the make up of the system and its outweighed emphasis on land, the GOP frequently controls the Senate and the White House. It has gotten to the point where the 6 Senators from Texas, Florida, and California represent more people than the 62 Senators from the 31 smallest States. The result is that the Senate reflects the will of a minority. We also need to reform the Second amendment and overturn the Citizens United decision, which foolishly equated corporations with people and money with speech.
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: Hundreds of thousands of dollars are flooding our school board races. We need limits. No one person or entity should have the power to buy school board seats.
