A Record of Working for YOU
Inflation and Cost of Living
Financial Relief for Families: Supported legislative measures to keep more money in the pockets of low-to-moderate income families and seniors, including increased flexibility in tax credit calculations.
Support for Affordable Living: Called for transparency and fairness in new environmental regulations to protect consumers from higher fuel costs.
Insurance Market Reforms: Championed efforts to modernize insurance markets and alleviate rising insurance costs for homeowners.
Lowering Taxes and Creating a More Affordable California:
Taxpayer Protection: Backed the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act, ensuring voters retain their say on tax issues, and helping to safeguard against unexpected tax hikes that could burden families and businesses.
Suspending the Gas Tax: Pushed for the suspension of the state gas tax, which would reduce transportation costs for consumers and businesses, lower the prices of goods and services, and allow more Californians to keep their hard-earned money in their own pockets.
Advocacy Against Utility Charges: Opposed the implementation of a $24.15 fixed electrical charge to prevent undue financial burden on families, and called for early disbursement of utility bill credits to help reduce escalating energy costs.
Property Tax Relief: Introduced legislation that enabled seniors and SSI recipients to pay property taxes in monthly installments, easing financial burdens and promoting local control.
Lowering License Fees: Authored a bill to lower the number of fees for healing arts board’s license renewals that were previously certified.
Crime and Public Safety:
Fentanyl Crisis Response: Introduced bipartisan legislation such as Alexandra’s Law to enhance penalties for fentanyl-related offenses and increase awareness of drug trafficking dangers. Supported Fentanyl Crisis Response (SB 1442), which Authorized the California Health and Human Services Agency to procure FDA-approved fentanyl testing kits, aiding in crisis management and public safety initiatives.
Human Trafficking Protections: Pushed for expanded protections for victims of human trafficking, opposing legislation that weakened penalties for traffickers.
Reform and Support: Supported the CARE Court Program (SB 1338) to provide treatment for individuals who have severe mental illness and addiction.
Increased Penalties for Theft: Coauthored a bill to increase penalties for repeat petty theft offenders, aiming to address the challenges posed by Proposition 47.
Education:
Updated Educational Standards: Authored School Library Standards (SB 1435) to protect young students from inappropriate materials in school libraries. This legislation would update statewide standards to safeguard young students from inappropriate content, aligning education and penal codes. Authored a math excellence package that would mandate the inclusion of Algebra I or Mathematics I course offerings for all 8th-grade students, preparing students for STEM professions.
Early Childhood Education Support: Implemented preschool programs to help parents and caregivers support their children's learning and development, empowering families and enhancing preschool outcomes while promoting paternal involvement in their children’s education.
Educational Opportunity: Supported measures to prevent universities from reducing financial aid for students receiving private scholarships, ensuring equitable access to education. (AB 288)
Healthcare:
Mental Health Investment: Advocated for a significant $1 billion annual investment to expand mental health services and address the mental health crisis and gaps in care.
Healthcare Access Improvement: Supported legislation to streamline medical services for children with disabilities and enhance transparency in public health orders. (SB 722)
Asthma Management in Schools: Introduced legislation that mandated comprehensive asthma management plans in schools, ensuring student health and safety statewide. (SB 283)
Mental Health Crisis Hotline (998): Coauthored legislation to create a new hotline, similar to 911, which connects individuals experiencing a mental health crisis with suicide prevention and mental health services.
Long-term Care Reform: Authored legislation to ensure older adults and individuals with disabilities can afford to stay in their own homes to receive health services (SB 730 and SB 1245)
Veterans:
Enhanced Veterans' Benefits: Pushed for the creation of satellite VA health clinics to improve veterans' access to care and co-sponsored legislation to exempt retired Armed Forces members and surviving spouses from state taxes, recognizing their service and financial needs.
Supported Military Communities: Coauthored legislation to help local communities that host military institutions draw down federal funds to enhance and support the areas surrounding those military institutions.
Veteran Property Taxes: Supported legislation to increase the property tax exemption for veterans with disabilities.
Veteran Employment: Authored legislation to waive bachelor’s degree requirements for veterans seeking employment in the civil service, recognizing their valuable skills and experience.
Housing:
Affordable Housing Initiatives: Supported legislation to convert underutilized state buildings into affordable housing and incentivize affordable housing development on surplus state property.
Promoted Homeownership: Authored a bill to facilitate homeownership by increasing capital gains exclusions for first-time home buyers.
Eviction Protection: Introduced legislation to reduce mobile home evictions, ensuring more Californians can remain in their homes.
Financial Empowerment: Introduced legislation to assist struggling Californians in regaining control over their finances, promoting financial stability.
Auditing the State: Requested an audit of the State’s spending on the Homelessness crisis, and the report found the state “has not tracked and reported on the State’s funding for homelessness programs since its 2023 assessment covering fiscal years 2018–19 through 2020–21. Currently, it has no plans to perform a similar assessment in the future” amongst other findings.