The Issues
My First Bill: Tennessee State Campaign Finance Reform Bill
Upon election I would seek support to introduce a bill to bar Corporate PACS (Political action committees) from donating to Tennessee State Political Campaigns. Not a reduction, but a complete removal from the funding apparatus. No more corporate money influencing our lawmakers.
Corporate money creates a conflict of interest for our state lawmakers. For example: legislators vote to enact impact fees on developers and corporations. They cannot fairly exercise judgement if an entity has funded their campaign and aided them in obtaining elected position.
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State House Reps can receive up to $15,400 from a single Corporate PAC.
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Private individuals can only contribute up to $1,900.
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State Senators can receive up to $30,800 from a single Corporate PAC.
Education
School Vouchers
Upon election we would aid in beginning the process of ending the voucher program. It’s as simple as it sounds. Public money goes back entirely into public schools.
Additional Fuding
We would move to create a bill to allow for state lottery purchases to made by debit card, instead of the current cash only policy. Our post-secondary and Promise program funding is in danger of falling short. Much of our funding comes from lottery sales. In Tennessee you can only use cash to purchase lottery tickets. Lottery sales are declining as cash usage becomes less common. We need to introduce a bill to allow debit cards for lottery purchases as other states do.
Early Childhood Education
We’d move to fully fund early childhood education Pre-K programs. This would help our working parents, aid educational outcomes, and create positive results for the state economy. This would be covered by a mixture of ending the voucher program and federal grants.
Affordability
"Homes Not Hedge Funds Act"
Support the reintroduction and implementation of the “Homes Not Hedge Funds Act” (Senate Bill 242 / House Bill 0298). This will reduce the amount of homes that a corporation can own and will begin to help bring down housing prices, especially of starter homes.
Rent Rigging
We will protect our renters by aiding in the reintroduction of the “Stop Rent Rigging Act” (Senate Bill 1990/House Bill 2234) to protect our renters from unfair business practices and price fixing.
Grocery Tax
End the Grocery tax. It's regressive and doesn't work. Closing tax loopholes instead will ensure that the state doesn't lose funds.
Infrastructure
Change How We Plan
Introduce VMT (Vehicle Miles Travelled) requirements to state, county, and municipal infrastructure projects. If the project doesn’t meet the metric, it isn’t approved.
This will reduce both the state’s and private citizen’s burden by requiring cities and counties to meet a Vehicle Miles Travelled metric in their road and infrastructure planning process. In short: roads and development have to be planned in such a way that won’t increase total miles driven for our citizens. This will decrease long term gridlock while creating cost-conscious solutions for the state to manage the coming population crisis.
Context Sensitive Roadway Design Standards
We’ll partner with state and local experts. We have made the mistake in the past of doing the cheapest thing possible at implementation and this has left us footing the bill down the line. It’s not working.
Corporate Investment
Require corporations that receive state grants, incentives, and abatements to invest in the infrastructure of surrounding counties that supply their workers. We need to make better deals and not just fund headquarters in Nashville. Surrounding communities that supply the workforce need support.
Transportation System
Begin real work on developing a multi-modal transportation system that includes light rail, rapid bus transit, and even autonomous vehicles. It’s a big dream, but it’s needed if Tennessee is going to thrive.
Healthcare
Federal Medicaid Expansion
We push the state to Adopt Federal Medicaid Expansion in Tennessee to support Tenncare. We are 1 of only 10 states in the nation not to do so. Expanding would help address our rural health crisis, decrease negative health outcomes overall, help at-risk children, and even provide jobs.
Advocate for further partnerships to increase facilities in Wilson County to decrease need for long commutes for specialists and other complex care.
Rural Care Accessibility
Increase support for statewide Nurse Outreach programs that would enable increased healthcare and health education into at-risk areas of Tennessee.
Nurse Outreach Program
Community
Data Centers
Put a moratorium on hyperscale data center builds
End Corporate Welfare
End corporate welfare by closing the corporate loopholes in Tennessee that are limiting our economy and putting an unfair tax burden on private citizens