Climate Change

Climate change is the existential crisis of our lifetimes. For countless young folks like Katie, the urgent need to address this crisis has been on the backburner for far too long. As Coloradans know far too well having experienced far too many natural disasters, climate change negatively impacts our health, safety, and economic security. Boulder & Weld County are disproportionately affected by oil and gas operations and our low air quality reflects that.

Now is the time to take bold action. As your State Senator, Katie will advocate for legislation that advances a green economy with good paying jobs, transitions to renewable, clean energy that doesn't leave workers behind, takes on corporate polluters, and defends Colorado’s public lands and cherished way of life.

Young families in our community are struggling to find placements in childcare facilities and to afford that care once they have identified it. This struggle is make-or-break for workers whose ability to access childcare ensures the rest of our economy can function.

With funding for federal programs like Head Start perpetually under attack, Colorado’s state government must step in to support our working and middle class families. Katie will work to strengthen our childcare ecosystem, ensuring the workers providing this care are paid fairly, and expanding access for all those who need it.

Having been raised by a nurse who worked at Planned Parenthood, Katie knows that reproductive choice - including abortion - is healthcare. Access to that healthcare saves lives, empowers individuals, and strengthens our families. In the wake of Roe V Wades’ appeal, Colorado must continue to do everything in its power to preserve and expand access to reproductive care, not just for Coloradans, but for countless others who are coming to our state to seek abortion services.

Katie will help build on the legacy of Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act and Amendment 79 to ensure that abortion access remains available and our reproductive healthcare providers have robust resources and protections.

Access to quality and affordable care should not be determined by one’s income or zip code, but for countless folks across Colorado, it is. Middle and working class families deserve equal access to quality care.

None of us should have to choose between going bankrupt or receiving the healthcare we need. Katie will advocate for expanding access to Medicaid, protecting our Community Health Clinics, and state-based healthcare for all - with the goal of creating universal healthcare coverage and access.

As with far too many Coloradans, Katie grew up with the threat of gun violence in school and other sensitive spaces. As your State Senator, Katie will be supportive of gun safety measures, including SB25-003. Colorado also faces some of the highest rates of youth suicide and of suicide in rural communities, and access to guns contributes to those realities. While we can and should strengthen our mental health services, gun access should be a key part of the conversation around how we prevent this reality from continuing. Guns also disproportionately affect victims of domestic violence, which is why Coloradans voted to sales of ammo taxed to help create services for survivors. Our community should do that and so much more for survivors and their families.

Katie will champion measures we can take to stop mass shootings, but also to address the large number of gun deaths that happen every day.

As with our immigrant communities, our LGBTQ community - and in particular our trans community - is under attack from MAGA extremists at the federal level. We must do everything we can to protect our friends and neighbors.

Katie will champion access to life-saving, gender-affirming care for folks throughout our community, including young people. She will also work to ensure government documents reflect folks’ identity. Overall, she will join as an ally who listens and stands behind our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors.

This issue is personal to Katie whose family lost their home during the Great Recession due to predatory lending practices and the greed of corporate banks. Katie has heard stories just like this from folks across this district and Colorado.

As a renter here in Longmont, Katie will fight for stronger protections for her fellow renters and home-buyers - helping working class folks afford to stay in Boulder & Weld County - and ensuring families can build generational wealth. Katie will champion new affordable housing, zoning reform, tax credits for first-time homebuyers, and policies that stabilize & lower our rent.

Every Coloradan deserves a quality public education. There is no reason Colorado should rank 39th in per student spending. We must invest in public education and support our teachers. Katie will support legislation that will increase funding for K-12 schools and raise teacher pay to support the folks that are inspiring the next generation.

To help accomplish this, Katie will champion TABOR reform and a tax system that prioritizes our schools and our working class families over corporations. Katie attended Front Range Community College in Longmont which gave her the opportunity to continue working in politics and government while also pursuing her education. Given all of the opportunities it provided her, Katie would be a tireless champion for our community college system, as well as the public institutions of higher education that move our community forward.

As the granddaughter of immigrants, Katie knows that immigration is what gives our communities strength and depth. Under persistent threat from Donald Trump and MAGA extremists, folks immigrating to our country - whether they arrived yesterday or 20 years ago - are living in fear. These hardworking families who power our economies and fulfill the most pressing jobs - from agriculture to construction to the service industry - deserve representatives who will stand up for them.

Katie has taken on these battles before, having worked as a community organizer focused on immigration reform and the DREAM ACT and having directed constituent services and immigration casework for the 8th Congressional District. As your State Senator, Katie will support legislation that will expand access to state provided benefits to undocumented communities, protect the areas in our community serving as sanctuary cities, and stand as an ally for all those affected by harsh federal actions. 

Katie knows what it is to be working class in our community, having been raised by a single-mother who struggled to afford the basic necessities. This is the reality for far too many of our friends and neighbors throughout the community.

Katie will make affordability and standing up for our middle and working class families her first priority. This includes tackling the rising costs of housing, healthcare, and groceries while addressing wages that just aren’t keeping up.