Lawrence Journal World Primary Voter Guide

These answers were submitted to the Lawrence Journal World in response to their candidate questionnaire:

Please tell us about your education and career. If you are currently working, please tell us with what company or organization, and what position you hold.

My career has been dedicated to advancing progressive policies that aim to ensure everyone has affordable health care, a strong education, and that our economy works for everyday people over corporations and the wealthy. I currently serve as the State Representative for House District 10. Since joining the legislature in January 2025, I have worked to advance policies that make life more affordable for Kansans families while pushing back on GOP extremism. My work in the legislature is guided by my conversations with constituents, my deep policy knowledge, and my most important job - mom to my 9 year-old and 6 year-old. 

In my short time in Topeka I’ve led the effort to expand Medicaid by offering a floor amendment on the state budget that forced Republicans to take a vote on Medicaid expansion. I sponsored and passed legislation that increases narcan availability in communities, sponsored the No Kids Hungry in School Act for free school meals, consistently voted in favor of fully funding schools (including special education), and pushed back on GOP extremism and stood up for health care and human rights for all. I’ve also pushed back against corporate home ownership, spoken in support of bringing back a renter’s tax credit, supported an increase in the state’s minimum wage, and consistently highlighted the burdensome cost of child care and other expenses for families.

In addition to serving as state representative, I work part-time for a national anti-poverty organization, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). In my position as Associate Director for State Health Policy and Advocacy, I focus on Medicaid policy - how to strengthen the existing program that provides health insurance to more than 70 million Americans, including more than 400,000 Kansans, and also federal and state policies working toward making health care for all a reality. 

Earlier in my career I led health policy and advocacy efforts for Kansas’ leading children’s advocacy organization. During that time, I helped pass laws that made 10,000 more kids eligible for KanCare health insurance, reduced infant mortality rates in Kansas, and strengthened child care safety regulations. 

I am the product of Kansas public schools, graduating from Shawnee Mission North before earning a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master in Social Work degree at KU.

How would you work to reduce the property tax burden that Kansas property owners face if you were elected?

Property taxes in Lawrence and Douglas County are high. That is a fact. Like most issues, there is a lot of nuance in this topic. One of the main reasons our property taxes are so high is because over the past 15-20 years Republicans in the state legislature have eliminated several state fund transfers to local governments and placed limits on how local governments can raise revenue. The result is that local governments are essentially left with property taxes as the sole avenue for raising revenue. However, Lawrence and Douglas County rely on residential property taxes more than other comparable localities. 

Beginning July 1, 2026 the only property tax levied by the state is 20 mills, which is all for K-12 education. I will not support a reduction in those 20 mills because it would be a direct cut to public schools. For my property, a total of 128.22 mills are levied for property tax. This means that 108.22 out of the total 128.22 are from local taxing entities and not directly within the state’s control. What the state can do is incentivize local governments to keep property taxes in check.

Here are actions I support at the state level to help or incentivize local entities to reduce property taxes: 

• Restore state general fund transfers to local governments. These were largely eliminated during the Brownback budget crises, creating a cost-shift to local governments.

• Fully fund special education. When the state doesn’t fulfill our obligation, local school districts are left with no option but to use local dollars to backfill the missing state dollars. Those local dollars come from property taxes.

The “three legged stool” of property, income, and sales tax has historically worked well for Kansas (except during the Brownback tax experiment). However, as income inequality continues to widen, I think it’s time for a significant update to our tax system to ensure the highest earners in our state are paying their fair share of income tax. 

Very importantly, while property taxes get a lot of attention in the legislature, I am very aware that more than half of my constituents rent their homes. That is why I also support a renter’s tax credit. Again, something we once had in Kansas but was taken away during the Brownback tax experiment and budget disaster.

Inflation has created rising costs for basic needs like gasoline and grocery prices. What specific ways would you try to tackle the increasing costs faced by Kansans?

I have been talking about affordability issues since before it was the buzzword of the day. The rising cost of living for basic needs is forcing people to make impossible decisions between which bills to pay and how to put food on the table. Inflation is a problem, but so is the fact that wages have not increased meaningfully for a long time. 

First, we must raise the state’s minimum wage to a livable wage. For state employees, the legislature must prioritize cost-of-living raises that actually cover the increase of the cost of living. In the 2026 session the state budget only included a one percent raise for state employees, and this was one very important reason I voted against the budget. I also voted to sustain a Governor’s veto that would have forced a renegotiation of state employee raises in the budget. 

Health care is one of the hardest affordability issues for Kansans. We need universal health care at the federal level. There is a reason that even the bluest of states have not implemented health care for all - it’s simply too expensive for a state to do without federal funding. However, in the absence of federal action, there are steps Kansas should take: Expand Medicaid, cap the cost of certain prescription drugs, such as insulin, and continue to regulate insurance and big pharma. I was deeply involved in the work this year to pass legislation putting important price transparency regulations on pharmacy benefit managers. 

Another large affordability issue that other states have made significant progress on is child care affordability. A year of child care payments typically costs more than a year of college tuition at universities in Kansas or more than a family’s housing costs, especially if they have more than one child under age five. We must follow the lead of other states that have prioritized investing in child care and early education - such as New Mexico and other states - to bring down the costs for families and pay our early childhood educators on par with K-12 teachers.

In our community we have a lot of retired state employees and retired teachers that rely on KPERS but have not had a cost-of-living adjustment for KPERS in nearly 30 years. I recently spoke with a former state employee that has had to return to work after years of retirement because of the eroding value of his KPERS benefit. It is long past due for the legislature to have a serious conversation about a KPERS cost-of-living adjustment.

The development of data centers has become a key issue — and at times controversial — across the country, including in the areas around Lawrence. Do you support the development of data centers. If so, do you support providing incentives for companies to develop data centers? 

I support the local effort by community members to have the city commission put a pause on any action related to data centers until - at a minimum - the city code is updated to ensure any action around data centers will be transparent and subject to public input. Decisions around data center development is and should be a local issue. Lawrence community members have rightfully voiced concerns about energy use, environmental impact (including in the Kaw River Valley), and water usage. These concerns should all be thoroughly examined and resolved in order for any data center project to move forward.

If a community decides to move forward with a data center, I believe it should ensure that local union labor is used for the construction and that maximum community benefit agreements are negotiated. A development approval should also ensure that the data center pays for all its own energy and water use and that local residents do not end up subsidizing these needs of the data center. Even with those assurances in place, I would have significant reservations about a hyper-scale data center in or near Lawrence. I don’t want to limit KU’s ability to do research with small data centers (I understand there are two on the KU innovation campus), so I think there is a significant difference between a hyper-scale data center and other possible data centers.

When the issue of incentives came before the legislature very late in the 2025 session I did vote for the bill. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have supported that legislation and I would not support future incentives for data centers. I also think if the issue came back in front of the legislature, I would hear from a lot of constituents on the issue; I have no record of hearing from constituents on this issue in 2025. I think that is because the conversation about data centers has changed substantially in the past year and people are now much more engaged on the issue.

I often hear the argument that data centers provide good jobs for construction trades, but I would personally much rather find a way to create those jobs by building more housing for our community.

Off-year redistricting was another national debate topic that was also considered by the state legislature this past year. What is your stance on off-cycle redistricting efforts? 

(A note - technically it was not actually considered by the legislature. There was an effort by Republican leadership to call a special session in 2025 to redistrict the four Congressional House seats in Kansas, but the Speaker of the House and the Senate President could not get the needed support from their members to convene a special session.)

I heard from hundreds of constituents about off-cycle redistricting last summer. As I told those constituents, I do not support off-cycle redistricting. This is yet another example of the attack on democracy by Republicans. Since the redistricting effort started in Texas last year, we’ve also seen the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by SCOTUS, which is making the implications of redistricting even worse. 

When it comes to anything elections related in the legislature, we’ve seen attack after attack on voting rights, such as the elimination of the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots, the shortened advanced voting window, and the limits on which website domains can help people register to vote. Our focus on elections in the legislature should be on facilitating voter registration and making it easier for people to cast ballots. 

What do you see as the key issue facing the state of Kansas and what would you do to solve it?

There are many key issues facing Kansas, but I think they all boil down to wrong priorities of those with power. The Republican super majority has used their power to favor businesses over families and divide us with social issues instead of focusing on real solutions to the affordability crisis. As I’ve stated on the House floor, I didn’t run for office to spend my time and power stripping people of their dignity and helping corporations. I ran for office to put people and families at the forefront and do what’s best for House District 10 - strong schools, affordable health care, and a progressive tax system that ensures those who benefit the most pay their fair share. And, that’s exactly what I have done. 

I had a successful first term - forcing a vote on Medicaid expansion to get Republicans on record, sponsoring a bipartisan bill to increase narcan availability and save costs for organizations, consistently pushing back against extremism and standing up for human rights for all. If voters re-elect me in 2027 I will continue the work I’ve done, and as the state faces a looming budget crisis, I will be a fierce advocate and voice to ensure we are not short-changing our kids and families.