PRIORITIES

 People in this district depend upon the Affordable Care Act (as implemented through Covered California), Medicare, and Medicaid more than ever, but these programs are not perfect. Congress should be working on ways to improve outcomes from these programs, not on ways to dismantle and abolish these programs to fund tax cuts for the rich. 

There are over 137,000 people in the district on Medicaid right now. They need to be protected, as should rural hospitals that depend upon this funding.

Contrary to what Darrell Issa and Elon Musk might think, Social Security is not an entitlement. 

70 million Americans across the country who rely on Social Security to make ends meet. There are many thousand Social Security recipients in the 48th Congressional district, including retirees, disabled workers, and children. They deserve respect.

For our economy to work, we must provide jobs and affordable living for all. I believe this only happens when the rich pay their fair share.

Immigrant families, including undocumented families, are an essential part of the CA-48 economy. Trump's mass deportation plans threaten key CA-48 industries, including construction, agriculture, and hospitality.

Also, trade wars, especially with our closest allies and neighbors, are not helpful. 

I get why people want to hold the government accountable, especially regarding government spending. Me, too! 

But here’s the thing…there are laws on how that is done effectively. Since the 1970’s, federal agencies have each had Office of Inspector General (OIG). Elon Musk’s merry band of IT bros is no substitute for OIG offices. They are not trained auditors or investigators.   

Further, DOGE wants to sabotage congressionally allocated spending, that’s just unlawful, and we cannot stand for it.   

I believe immigrants and migrants should be treated fairly, and with dignity and respect. For me, this doesn’t mean everyone gets to come to the US. Rather, it means our immigration policies should be orderly, rational and transparent. 

What we see now is immigration policies designed to create chaos, and the only ones who benefit from that chaos are the politicians and media who use it as fuel for their political aspirations.

Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to hurriedly disappear people to El Salvador without due process of law is unlawful.

First, we are not at war with Venezuela. Second, anyone on US soil deserves due process. Anything less is not who we are. Finally, there are innocent victims in policies like this, and their injuries will be difficult if not impossible to redress.

We have a duty to future generations to ensure they have a climate capable of sustaining human life.

In 2011, I was arrested outside the White House protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. Further, I worked for a non-profit public interest law firm that provides strategic, campaign-based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate.

The US government is in large part responsible for causing climate change and has the largest role in fixing it.

No one should face discrimination or harassment based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. While I try not to think about it, I know what that feels like first-hand.  I experienced bullying through school age years before I ever came out of the closet, and surviving that was not easy.

Further, I stand in solidarity with our trans brothers and sisters whose struggles and very identities are being unfairly weaponized by the right. They deserve better.

I will always defend a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices. Only a woman and her doctor should be able to decide what is best for her health.

As the first child of a young mother, and big brother to four sisters, no one is going to change my mind on this issue.

Every eligible voter should have the opportunity to cast their ballot, and have their vote counted. Period. Darrell Issa’s lawsuit (Issa v Weber) filed in early-March 2025 is an attempt to prevent absentee votes from being counted.

Issa’s lawsuit is particularly egregious when you consider many absentee votes come from active-duty military service members abroad. Further, to show the hypocrisy, Issa himself voted absentee 16 times in the previous 20 years, according to county voting records. 

Veterans and active-duty service members make up an especially important part of this district. They deserve not only our respect and thanks for their service, but our diligence in providing them the care and benefits that they deserve and were promised.

Trump’s plan to cut over 80,000 jobs from the VA will gut access to services and it is unacceptable. 

The Fallbrook home that I share with my husband was in the path of two wildfires recently. We watched them grow through our windows. It was terrifying. In both instances, if not for the amazing full-throttled and coordinated response by firefighters (and the recently installed Fallbrook heli-hydrant), our lives could have been very different than they are now.

We must give firefighters our full support, and that means funding mitigation, and I believe, adding more heli-hydrants. 

Many in this district have already had their homeowner’s insurance companies decline to renew coverage over the last few years due to wildfire risks. While this a challenging problem that the state is trying to address, I believe the federal government will ultimately need to play a role.