Candidate for Massachusetts House of Representatives - 27th Middlesex District in 2020 Massachusetts Primary Election.
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Get StartedCriminalization of our most vulnerable residents reveals the gaps in our social and economic system. Our mental health system doesn't provide adequate access to care, and people end up killed by police or in jail. We don't treat substance abuse as a health problem, and people end up locked up with mandatory minimum sentences for small amounts of drug possession. We fail to provide adequate educational and vocational opportunity to children growing up in low-income neighborhoods incarcerate them for providing for their families in illicit ways instead. We fail to provide appropriate public safety to communities of color and people end up killed in police encounters. We allow people to sleep on the streets in the richest country on Earth, and then arrest them for addressing basic human needs like going to the bathroom and finding cover in the rain. Catia has seen how all of the other policy areas addressed in her policy platform relate to each other, and how our societal failures in each case lead to the criminal justice system. That is why she cares so deeply about housing affordability, health care for all, education, workforce, poverty, and racism. Learn more
Catia has worked on criminal justice reform in Massachusetts and New Mexico, in both places seeking to expand services to prevent arrest in the first place and help people transition out of jail and prison back into their communities successfully. Catia has been working on systemic ways to reduce mass incarceration and improve the lives of some of our most vulnerable neighbors. Learn more
Catia has personal experience being unable to get a loved one the mental health treatment they need, even while she is currently designing mental health services that would address the exact challenge her loved one faces. Catia will invest in mental health and substance use treatment, including mental health urgent care, mental wellness and resiliency education in schools, and promoting scientifically supported harm reduction models like safe consumption sites. Learn more
While working with the Government Performance Lab at Harvard, Catia learned that many students without learning supports at home, many of whom are low-income and students of color, can fall behind in learning before even setting foot in a Kindergarten classroom. Therefore, as a matter of equity of opportunity, Catia advocates universal pre-K as an evidence-based model for ensuring that all students, no matter their parents' resources, enter Kindergarten on an equal footing. Learn more
Communities of color disproportionately experience pollution and its effects. This has implications across a range of issue areas; for example, people of color and low-income communities have higher rates of asthma linked to higher rates of air pollution, with dramatic health effects. We must systematically resist the siting of new polluting infrastructure in already burdened communities; rectify past injustices; and proactively promote environmental justice, for example by helping low-income and vulnerable communities access renewable energy sources. Learn more
We must remediate pollution that has already occurred, and prepare for the effects of climate change that are irreversible. In Somerville, that means investing in infrastructure to stop wastewater overflow into the Mystic River. Learn more
Our economy must transition to one that is no longer dependent on the burning of fossil fuels to prevent further irreparable damage to our climate. That means investing in clean, renewable energy generation on a large scale and in our own homes. We can create green jobs in the process. Learn more
Catia believes everyone should have the care they need, regardless of the color of their skin or their immigration status or their income or family or life circumstances. This is not just a matter of individual benefit. Our communities function better when people are healthy - people can work and maintain their housing, and healthcare is ultimately cheaper that way because we need less emergency healthcare. Learn more
Growing up, Catia watched her parents slowly recover from the financial burden of bankruptcy after her father nearly died and couldn't pay his medical bills. Life-saving health care should not be a financial prison for life. Learn more
More diversity in the healthcare workforce is needed to support a range of needs among residents from language barriers for non-English speakers to cultural competency to care that supports people who have traditionally felt left out (LGBTQ communities, for example, face significant barriers to care due to poor understanding among providers). Catia will promote strategies that diversify our healthcare workforce. Learn more
Life saving drugs shouldn't only be available to those who can afford them. Catia will take on drug prices by tackling the intermediaries who sell to pharmacies and reap hidden profits ("pharmacy benefit managers"), and by addressing the profit motive in how drugs are produced and distributed. Learn more
You shouldn't need a PhD to figure out how to see a doctor. Catia will fight to make it easier to actually use health insurance when you have it by eliminating ghost networks, creating true mental health and substance use parity, and eliminating bureaucratic insurance practices like prior authorization for mental health services that get in the way of people's health. Learn more
The simple truth is that more people want to live here than we have homes for. This is a regional issue that Somerville cannot solve alone. That's why the State House is so important: because it can tackle exclusionary zoning in the suburbs and invest in transit-oriented development. Learn more
Following Somerville's lead, implementing a local option for "real estate transfer fees" (surcharges applied to investors, developers, and absentee landlords) that can be used to make housing more affordable. Learn more
Including measures that would set rent increase caps in line with inflation that are targeted at low-income renters and allowing for local control over rent control decisions. Learn more
Studies show that the transportation sector is the biggest contributor to climate change through greenhouse gas emission in Massachusetts. If we are to dramatically change our economy from one reliant on fossil fuels rapidly, we must make a community-level transition to methods of transit that aren't personal vehicles. If we want people to change their behavior on this scale, we must invest in a reliable and pleasant commuting experience. Learn more
A thriving and equitable economy requires the infrastructure to support workers. Our current system fails to do this. More reliable, safe, and equitable transportation options will not only improve commutes and expand economic investment in our area, but can also help us to reach our climate goals. Learn more
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