Issues

Providing Universal Health Care:

Our healthcare system is broken at every level. Nearly 1.1 million Coloradans spend more than 10% of their income on health care.  Nearly 800,000 people in our state have no health insurance at all.  We need a universal, single-payer healthcare system.  Frankly, we already have it - it’s called the emergency room.  It’s the least efficient and most expensive way to provide healthcare. President Bush’s vigorous opposition to universal health care has forced states to tackle the problem themselves.

• Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform - Final Report
• Colorado Physicians' Congress on Health Care Reform

As your State Representative I will aggressively pursue a universal, single payer program for Colorado.
 

Promoting High School Career and Technology Training:

Colorado public high schools are focused on preparing students who are headed to four-year colleges.  It is appropriate to be sure that everyone is college ready.  Unfortunately, only about 30% of our high school students go on to pursue four-year degrees.  Are we relegating the other 70% to fast food preparation?

Students not pursing four-year college degrees need substantive career and technology education choices.  I’m not talking about your father’s shop class.  I am talking about offering sophisticated workforce training options.

Students who are dropping out don’t have enough relevant choices.  As your State Representative, working with the State Board of Education and local school boards, I will vigorously seek funding to expand career and technology education, apprenticeship programs, and public/private partnerships to prepare students to enter the workforce with the sophisticated skills they’ll need upon graduation.
 

Protecting our Democracy:

I teach American Government and Political Science at community college.  The cynicism of my students breaks my heart.  They believe that public policy is for sale.  They tell me they don't vote because they think the system is all about money, not about people.

A system that creates the image of money being more important than people is unacceptable to me.  I am determined to provide my students a different image of how our democracy works.  Therefore, I do not accept Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, and I have accepted the voter approved spending limit in this campaign.
 
I am the ONLY candidate in this race to reject Special Interest Political Action Committee money and accept the spending limit.
 

Resolving Colorado's Constitutional Mess:

Because of conflicting provisions, our state constitution creates a fiscal mess.  I have been working on this issue for over 16 years. In order for your elected representatives at every level of government in Colorado to do the job you elect them to do, our state constitution needs substantial reform.  This is a multi-faceted, multi-year project.  As your State Representative, I am determined to provide leadership to reconcile the conflicting requirements that the Gallagher amendment, the Arveschoug-Bird statute, TABOR, and Amendment 23 create in our constitution.  Furthermore, as your State Representative I will pursue strategies to protect the citizen's right to petition, while simultaneously encouraging statutory rather than constitutional ballot proposals.
 

Protecting our Environment and Promoting Renewable Energy:

We are Coloradans - our beautiful state is the reason many of us live here. We all want to protect Colorado while encouraging sensible use of our abundant renewable energy resources.

The International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) has been studying the changes in world climates for eighteen years, issuing its 4th global assessment in 2007. This report is the work of thousands of scientists worldwide who came to agree on some very strong statements regarding the earth's situation.

We are fortunate to have a great leader in Governor Ritter when it comes to this issue. His Renewable Energy Economy and Colorado Climate Action Plan are crucial steps to addressing economic development while protecting our natural environments.

There are both incremental and bold steps that need to be taken. This will be an ongoing issue for decades, but that is no reason to shy away from starting. As your State Representative, I will always champion Governor Ritter's agenda regarding Renewable Energy and the Colorado Climate Action Plan.
 

Instant Run-off Voting

Instant Run-off Voting is a relatively new system which I believe will combat the perception that "my vote doesn't count." IRV encourages voters to rank their candidate preferences for each office.  This eliminates the need for costly, time-consuming run-off elections and guarantees election by majority, not simply a plurality. With IRV if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a run-off between the top two vote-getters is automatic and instantaneous.

IRV would reinvigorate our faith in voting, would empower us to vote our true preference, and would ultimately strengthen our democracy.  As our State Representative, I will promote legislation to put IRV into place in Colorado.