The Platform

Healthcare is a human right.

As someone who lives with a chronic illness I know just how important it is to have access to good healthcare. With the Republican Party in Congress cutting billions of dollars from Illinois’ healthcare system it's more important than ever that we invest in public healthcare at the state-level. Illinois will be one of the states most impacted by cuts to Medicaid from the Republican “big beautiful budget bill” passed this summer. Estimates predict as much as $57 billion will be taken out of Illinois’ healthcare system due to these Medicaid cuts.

In District 24, hospitals bring in over $200 million annually from Medicaid. When those funds go away hospitals will have to makeup that lost revenue by raising prices or cutting vital services. To keep hospitals open, and to prevent costs from further skyrocketing for our residents, we need to make substantial investments in our local healthcare systems. That includes access to mental health and reproductive healthcare.

I have been a supporter of universal healthcare for many years, and would love to see Illinois build towards a universal healthcare system by creating more public healthcare options so that people aren’t reliant on private insurers who deny coverage at higher rates.

• HB 3780 - The Illinois Universal Healthcare Act introduced by Rep. Barbara Hernandez

• Allocating CBO’s Estimates of Federal Medicaid Spending Reductions and Enrollment Loss Across the States: House Reconciliation Bill: A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation outlining the impact of the Republican budget bill on states

• Illinois Faces Looming Health Crisis as Medicaid Cuts Threaten Coverage, Hospitals and Rural Access: WTTW article about how healthcare cuts will impact Illinois Residents

• CBS News article on the impact on Illinois residents healthcare costs if Republicans block the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies

For too long the State of Illinois has relied on regressive taxes to fund our state’s services.

Regressive taxes which take a higher percentage of income from lower earners (such as property tax) place too high a burden on the middle-class and working-class families that make up the vast majority of Illinois households.

It's time that we ease the tax burden on average people by asking large corporations and the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share. I would proudly support House Joint Resolution 18, introduced in 2025, which calls for raising new revenue from the ultra wealthy to help fund our communities. I am supportive of many of the progressive proposals set forth by the Illinois revenue alliance, including a digital advertising tax on big tech companies which can bring in $725 million in new revenue for our state.

• SB 3353: digital ads tax on big tech companies

• SB 3376: wealth tax on billionaires

• SB 3796: closing corporate tax loopholes

• Illinois Revenue Alliance

Climate change is here, and Illinois needs to prepare by building a green energy system and economy for the future.

When elected I will support public investments in green energy projects so that Illinois can switch to a 100% green energy economy. Not only will this help combat the impact of climate change, but it will also revitalize the local economies in communities across the state of Illinois.

Communities across Illinois have suffered for years at the hands of fossil fuels companies and other polluters. Everyone should be entitled to a safe and clean environment to live in. Those who have contributed most to the climate crisis and tried to hide its effects should bear responsibility for the damage they have done to our communities, we need to make polluters pay for the costs associated with fixing our environment.

• Senate Bill 2181: Illinois Data Center Energy and Water Reporting Act

• Senate Bill 2193: Clean Air in Schools Act

Due process is the bedrock of our legal system.

With Donald Trump back in the White House we have seen an unprecedented attack on the right to due process in America. Everyone in America, whether you were born here or not, is entitled to their due process rights. What we have seen from ICE in our state this year flies in the face of our nations foundational value of due process. Masked men in tactical gear kidnaping people off our streets while refusing to identify themselves is no basis for a just legal system.

Almost 20% of DuPage county residents are immigrants, this is higher than the national average of 15%. Our friends and neighbors should not be afraid to go outside because of where they were born, the color of their skin, or whether they speak with an accent. We need to strengthen protections for our immigrant community by following in the footsteps of states like California which banned lCE agents from wearing masks while on duty. In addition to the fear create by ICE in our community, we are also seeing local economies taking a hit due to ICE raids. People are afraid to go out and shop because they don’t know if they’ll make it home. We need to create more “ICE-free zones” throughout our communities so that people can live their lives without fear of being harrassed due to their background.

The return of Donald Trump has ushered in an era of fear for marginalized communities across the nation. We have seen an unprecedented attack on laws like the Voting Rights Act which helps ensure everyone gets to vote and that their vote matters regardless of the color of their skin. We’ve seen attacks on the LGBTQ+ community by the Republican party, villainizing people for their identities and for simply loving who they love. In the face of these attacks on individual rights Illinois needs to step up and affirm our commitment to protection the rights of all our residents regardless of who they are or where their families come from.

• House Bill 2723: Allows the Illinois pension fund to once again invest in companies (like Ben and Jerry’s) that oppose Israel’s genocide of Palestinians through the BDS movement.

• House Bill 1312: Which creates new protections for Illinois residents against overreach by ICE and other immigrant authorities.

America’s economy today is broken.

Instead of creating economic opportunities for everyday people, our economy is designed to solely create more wealth for those who already have it. As a millennial, I and others my age are struggling to get by; between never-before-seen student debt and housing costs that make homeownership a pipedream, it often feels impossible to just get a foothold to start our lives.

Many across our state are seeing their children and grandchildren come of age in a society that lacks the economic opportunities they had. Since 1981 the average age of homebuyers has increased from 31 years of age to over 56. This system is unsustainable, and if we want to change course we need to make substantial changes. In the era of inflation and AI replacing people’s jobs, we need to invest in good paying jobs that workers can support themselves and their families on.

We need to incentivize people to go into jobs that give back to our communities. Jobs like being a teacher, a nurse, many other private and public sector jobs, and good paying union jobs that allow people to save money and invest back in their local communities and support small businesses. When those jobs are underpaid it pushes people to go into other fields despite many of those sectors experiencing staffing shortages.