ISSUES
"I come from a proud family of educators, working hard to improve quality of life with education. Personally I have a long history of helping people. I want to go to work for you. We need to make addressing the healthcare crisis, infrastructure repairs, and improving our schools the top priorities."
Hardworking people deserve health security!
I support the NY Health Act that would provide universal healthcare to all New Yorkers. A universal healthcare system in our state will save lives, reduce our overall healthcare spending by millions, and eliminate a major hurdle for entrepreneurs.
I want our hardworking business owners to profit,
not the insurance companies.
The Assembly has passed the NY Health Act, but it keeps stalling in the Senate. I would actively lobby the State Senate to pass the bill, as well as look for candidates to challenge those Senators who vote against it.
We must not keep insurance companies in charge of our health care, allowing them to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, drop your coverage if you become sick, and charge women more than men. We cannot let them discriminate against women by charging women higher rates than men, and by refusing to cover mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer, birth control, and other services.
Job creation is paramount
Improving our economy is on everyone's mind. Here in the 120th we are hard workers. We don't want handouts. So let us go to work! Job creation often starts at infrastructure. Let's invest in infrastructure for the future. We can upgrade our electrical grid to handle the loads of renewable resources. This will set us up for science, technology, engineering, mathematics, transportation, manufacturing, education, and medical expansion — longterm employment with advancement opportunities providing the economic growth and security that we deserve.
The lack of employment in our area is not only pulling families apart, but also decimating our neighborhoods.
As I drive through the district talking to families, I see abandoned houses everywhere. I talk to parents whose children have gone off to college for an education and can't come back home to get a job because there are none. We need a plan for the future. Our current leadership hasn't offered a plan in 16 years. Let's get out of the rut and move forward!
Defending Public Education
The State of New York is holding the education budget hostage, to the tune of over $1 billion. Combined with the Federal assault on public schools, we end up with a struggling education system in our district.
Our democracy depends on quality public education.
Without quality public education many of our challenged children will be left behind as private schools vie for the "best and brightest" and ignore the rest.
For our families and our communities, we need public schools that provide each and every child the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential in life. But to accomplish that, we should recognize that every child has different strengths and weaknesses. That’s why our schools must offer a complete curriculum provided by professional teachers who have the training to give the individualized attention every child needs.
Education requires equipment, supplies, books, buildings, etc. It's time to invest in our children by giving our schools and teachers the resources they need. Our families deserve education security.
Protect Our Children
Our schools should be a sanctuary for our children, but they have become a primary target of those who seek to use gun violence to terrorize our communities. Safe solutions can be found to curb the proliferation of mass shootings.
This is a societal problem that we all must
take action to address.
Get active by forming or joining community groups to advocate for safer laws at the state and local level, promote gun storage safety, and establish buyback programs to get guns off our streets. Real reform is achievable if we work together to reduce gun violence, suicides, and mass shootings in our communities.
See Gail's op-ed in the Baldwinsville Messenger.
The New York Medical Marijuana Program
The New York State Medical Marijuana Program has been growing since its inception in 2014. It has recently expanded its scope to include the diagnoses of chronic pain and PTSD. While the list of treatable ailments and the type of products available grows, the access to these products and services is limited. The price is also prohibitively high, especially when weighed against the cost of the opioid epidemic.
We should work to remove the stigma of
marijuana use in the medical context.
Marijuana has been proven to be effective in the medical arena. It should be accessible to patients through qualified doctors and a sufficient number of locations. Currently, many parts of the state, the 120th included, lack adequate access to dispensaries for medical marijuana patients. We need a balanced plan for growth, along with keeping a path open for small business enterprises in this field.
Championing LGBTQ Rights
We must stay vigilant to protect LGBT rights for citizens in our state, which are being threatened by the current Federal administration.
The LGBTQ community can trust me to be
a consistent and vocal leader.
As a teenager I marched in the first Gay Rights March on Washington. A year later I did it again. I taught friends and family that gay people are just regular people. I spent much of my adulthood advocating for equal human rights and the right to marry. I will never stop fighting for equality because the fight for LGBTQ rights is the fight for my own rights.
Protecting the Environment
Our climate is changing and we have no choice but to respond. We can either address the root causes now, or force our children to deal with the catastrophic consequences of our continued inaction.
We must take action to address
this threat to our planet.
As demand for fresh water increases, so too should our efforts to protect our waterways, one of New York's greatest treasures. Our economy relies on our natural resources, so we cannot continue to watch them be destroyed in pursuit of short-term corporate profits.