For far too long, our economy has been tilted in favor of the wealthiest Americans while working families have been asked to do more with less. Today, income and wealth inequality have reached levels not seen since the Great Depression. The wealthiest households continue to accumulate a growing share of our nation’s wealth, while too many working people struggle to afford housing, healthcare, education, and retirement despite working harder than ever.

This issue is personal to me. I grew up in a working-class family and watched my mom balance student loans, put herself through graduate school, and raise a family at the same time. Those experiences shaped my belief that everyone who works hard deserves the opportunity to build a stable, secure future. I believe we need an economy that works for everyone—not just those at the very top.

That means protecting workers’ rights and standing with organized labor. I will always support the right of workers to organize, bargain collectively, and join a union without intimidation or retaliation. Strong unions have helped build the middle class by securing better wages, safer workplaces, quality benefits, and greater economic security. When workers have a stronger voice, our entire economy is stronger.

Building an economy that works for everyone also means expanding affordable housing options at every income level so both longtime residents and newcomers can thrive and age in place with dignity. It means increasing access to higher education, career training, and dual-credit opportunities so every student has the tools to succeed. It means closing tax loopholes that allow the wealthiest individuals and corporations to avoid paying their fair share, and ensuring our tax system is fair for working families. Finally, it means raising the minimum wage to a true living wage so that anyone working full time can earn enough to support themselves and their family with dignity.

I chair the Human Rights Committee. Human Rights need to be at the core of every policy issue, foreign or domestic. Human Rights are the most basic fundamental rights that should be guaranteed to every living and breathing human being across the globe. Whether we are discussing injustices here at home or abroad, human rights must be at the epicenter of American values. We must all work together to create and implement policies that align with our values of equality and justice.

I support these Human Rights:

1. We are all free and equal. Freedom of thought and speech.

2. The right to life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.

3. We are all protected by the law. It must treat us all fairly. The right to trial. Fair treatment by fair courts. Innocent until proven guilty. No unfair detainment. Nobody has any right to harm us or to torture us.

4. Marriage and family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. A woman must have autonomy over her own body to choose if or when she will have a family.

5. The right to education. We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, and child care, and enough money to live on. The right to social security.

6. Freedom to move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish. The right to asylum. If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we all have the right to run away to another country to be safe. The right to a nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country.

7. Workers’ rights. Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to a fair wage for their work, to safe working conditions, and to join a trade union.

8. The right to democracy. Every adult should be allowed to choose their own leaders. The right to privacy.

9. We all have the right to a good life. Parents and children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for.

10. Food, Shelter, clean water, fresh air, and healthcare.

I believe economic development should strengthen our communities — not come at the expense of our health, safety, farmland, or quality of life. I support projects that create good-paying jobs, respect our environment, invest back into the communities they serve, and are developed with meaningful input from local residents. Growth should benefit the people who live here, not simply maximize profits for outside corporations.

I have consistently opposed poorly planned industrial developments that threaten our communities, including proposals that would replace thousands of acres of productive farmland with sprawling warehouse complexes. Will County has already experienced an overwhelming expansion of warehouses and truck traffic that has strained our roads, worsened air pollution, increased noise, and placed an enormous burden on nearby neighborhoods. We cannot continue approving massive developments without considering their cumulative impacts on infrastructure, public health, emergency services, and the environment.

I also believe Illinois must take a much more responsible approach to the rapid growth of data centers. While data centers can play an important role in our economy, they consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, require significant infrastructure investments, and often provide relatively few permanent jobs compared to the land and resources they consume. We must either significantly strengthen regulations governing where and how data centers are built or pause their unchecked expansion until we have policies that protect our electric grid, preserve our water resources, minimize environmental impacts, and ensure local communities receive meaningful economic benefits.

I will continue fighting for environmental justice by protecting our farmland, preserving open space, and ensuring that communities have a real voice in the decisions that shape their future. Economic growth and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive. We can create good jobs while safeguarding clean air, clean water, productive farmland, and neighborhoods where families can live, work, and thrive for generations to come.

High-speed internet is at the forefront of all parts of life – from work to school and everywhere in between. In the digital age, high-speed broadband access is not a luxury, but a necessity for every Illinois resident. I am working to bridge the digital divide and move Illinois forward toward greater connectivity and accessibility.

I have spearheaded efforts to expand access to broadband across the state by requiring the Broadband Advisory Council to conduct a feasibility study to determine best practices for expanding connection to all public schools, public libraries, and state-owned correctional facilities, as well as how to connect to remaining anchor institutions to the Illinois Century Network. 

In addition we continue to find ways to increase speeds while keeping prices low. I recently filed legislation to set max price for low income individuals.

have been a lifelong champion for protecting our environment, and I believe Illinois can be a national leader in environmental resilience, clean energy, and the fight against climate change. Protecting our air, water, and natural resources is not only essential for future generations—it is also an opportunity to create good-paying jobs, strengthen our economy, and build healthier communities.

Throughout my time in the Illinois State Senate, environmental preservation and sustainable energy have remained at the core of my work. I have consistently fought for innovative policies that strengthen our energy grid, expand clean energy production, create new economic opportunities, and protect families from harmful pollution.

I have introduced legislation to make Illinois more resilient and energy independent by expanding access to and production of geothermal energy and hydropower. I have also worked to protect frontline and fenceline communities by blocking the construction of gasification facilities that emit dangerous, cancer-causing pollutants and by advocating for stronger cleanup and remediation of coal ash and other hazardous contaminants.

I am also committed to preserving Illinois’ natural beauty by expanding access to parks, trails, and green spaces while protecting them for future generations. I believe we can grow our economy and safeguard our environment at the same time, ensuring that every community has clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and access to the natural spaces that improve our quality of life.

Housing is a fundamental human right, not a privilege reserved for those with the highest incomes. Every person deserves access to a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home. When families have secure housing, children perform better in school, communities become stronger, and individuals are better able to pursue education, employment, and healthier lives. Ensuring affordable housing is not just an economic issue—it is a matter of dignity, opportunity, and justice.

Addressing the housing crisis requires significantly increasing the supply of affordable homes. We must invest in building new housing at every income level, modernize zoning and land-use policies where appropriate, streamline responsible permitting, and expand incentives for the construction of workforce and affordable housing. Federal, state, and local governments should work together with nonprofit organizations and responsible private developers to ensure communities have enough homes to meet growing demand while preserving existing affordable housing.

At the same time, we must prevent large private equity firms and institutional investors from treating homes as financial assets instead of places for people to live. Across the country, these investors have purchased large numbers of single-family homes and apartment buildings, reducing opportunities for first-time homebuyers and contributing to rising rents in many communities. We should strengthen oversight of anti-competitive practices, discourage speculative acquisitions that reduce housing affordability, and support policies that keep more homes in the hands of families, local owners, and community-based organizations.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a stable future without being priced out of their own community. By expanding the housing supply, protecting renters from abusive practices, encouraging responsible homeownership, and ensuring that housing serves people before profits, we can create communities where everyone has the chance to thrive. Affordable housing is an investment in our economy, our neighborhoods, and the well-being of future generations.

Women deserve reproductive freedom, reproductive justice, and full autonomy over their own bodies. I will always vote to protect these fundamental rights. I fully support a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions, including the right to choose, free from political interference or government intrusion.

It is long past time to guarantee equal rights under the law by ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment and ensuring that women receive equal pay for equal work. We must also pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, strengthen workplace protections, and continue to support policies that promote economic opportunity and fairness for women across every industry.

I will also work to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act, ensuring that survivors have access to the resources, protections, and justice they deserve. I strongly oppose any effort to undermine or overturn the protections established by Roe v. Wade and believe reproductive healthcare decisions should remain between a patient and their healthcare provider.

Body autonomy extends beyond reproductive healthcare. Decisions about end-of-life care, including the right to die with dignity where legally available, as well as personal medical decisions such as vaccination choices, should be made by individuals in consultation with their healthcare providers. I believe that respecting bodily autonomy is a fundamental principle of a free society, and I will continue to advocate for policies that protect individual rights, personal dignity, and the freedom for every person to make informed decisions about their own body.

I believe we can have a criminal justice system that is both fair and effective—one that prioritizes public safety while recognizing the importance of rehabilitation, accountability, and second chances. Meaningful criminal justice reform requires us to examine every stage of the system, from what we choose to criminalize, to how law enforcement and prosecutors engage with our communities, to how individuals are treated while incarcerated and supported as they reenter society.

During my time in the Illinois State Senate, I have worked to advance thoughtful reforms that protect constitutional rights and improve outcomes. I have introduced legislation to strengthen protections against unlawful searches and to prioritize rehabilitation and positive outcomes for young people in juvenile detention facilities. I also passed legislation to modernize the Illinois Department of Corrections by digitizing prison records, replacing an outdated paper-based system to improve efficiency and help streamline the release process.

I believe that when someone has served their sentence and demonstrated rehabilitation, they should have the opportunity to petition for parole. That is why I have introduced legislation to restore parole in Illinois, creating a fair process to evaluate individuals on a case-by-case basis rather than requiring incarceration beyond what is necessary to protect public safety. This approach recognizes that rehabilitation is possible, reduces unnecessary incarceration, and ensures taxpayer dollars are used more effectively while maintaining accountability.

A stronger justice system is one that protects victims, supports law enforcement in serving our communities, upholds constitutional rights, and creates pathways for people to successfully rebuild their lives after paying their debt to society. I will continue working toward reforms that make our communities safer, our justice system fairer, and our government more effective.

I Support Marriage Equality for All Americans. I have always, and always will support full equality and legal rights for LGBTQ and trans Americans. I support teaching acceptance and inclusion in our schools.

To help end the epidemic of school-age suicides especially seen in the gay, lesbian and trans communities, we must provide mental health services via Medicare for All. I also support banning conversion therapy and passing the Equality Act, which would include sexual orientation and gender identity under federal non-discrimination statutes.