Candidate for Washington State Senate - District 27 in 2020 Washington General Election.
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Get StartedI was introduced to lobbying in Olympia through my passion for better protecting the children, parents, and families who suffer through child custody cases in family and juvenile dependency courts. It is undeniable that the adversarial processes, policies, and practices are harmful to our children and families and the long term impact of these systems contribute to crime, substance abuse, poor education, mental health issues, suicide, and cycles of broken families. Since 2015 I have been an active and outspoken advocate for equal shared parenting, including championing HB1554 (2017-2018) for Parental Equality, sponsored by State Representative Larry Haler, and SB6023 (2019-2020) sponsored by Senator Hans Zeiger. By creating transparency, better accountability, and stronger oversight I believe we can vastly improve our broken family courts and make Washington a model for other states across the nation. The problems we see in the family court system are just the tip of the iceberg, as these same issues of accountability and respect for civil rights are inherent in our criminal and civil courts as well. Justice in America is not possible when these issues are left unaddressed. Learn more
Half of our prison population is incarcerated for non-violent crimes, and our country houses 25% of the world’s inmates. Crime in Tacoma is through the roof and only getting worse! Addressing these issues from a punitive criminal justice perspective doesn’t work, but neither does ignoring them and hoping they’ll go away. We need to look to non-profit and other community-based groups to take a rehabilitative approach to help those who want to help themselves, enforce the law fairly, and rebuild a justice system that is reasonable and focused on prevention and outcomes that reduce recidivism. Learn more
During the 2020 legislative session, lawmakers in Olympia passed record breaking tax increases during a year that Washington State was collecting record breaking revenue from tax payers. A continuous policy of “tax and spend” is unsustainable and leads to economic failure and recession. Voters know this because they voted down several hotly debated taxes (such as the carbon tax), and for tax decreases ($30 car tabs). I fight for small government and low taxes because I want to see more money in YOUR pocket, not to fund ever increasing, costly, and inefficient government programs. I believe in a social safety net and programs that help struggling Washingtonians get on their feet and thrive in independence, finding meaningful work, or starting small businesses. Learn more
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