ISSUES
Food Security & Child Hunger
Safer Streets & Better Transit
Policies for Working Parents
Make CUNY Free Again
Health Care for All
Green New Northern
Environmental Justice
Fair Share Taxation & Anti-Austerity
Immigrant Justice
People-Powered Reforms
Police Accountability
Save Our Buses
Education Equity
LGBTQ+ Platform
Housing Justice
MOM SQUAD
The Mom Squad, a group of legislators who are parents, has gained some recognition as a bloc this budget cycle, which is the largest group of mothers in the State Legislature’s history. As legislators and mothers, we are intently focused on the safety, and mental and emotional well-being of our children and future generations.
Tax the Rich
Our communities are suffering. Our public schools are owed millions in funding from the state, public housing infrastructure is crumbling, people are unable to pay rent, and many completely lack access to affordable healthcare.
It is finally time the wealthy pay their fair share. We need to tax millionaires and billionaires, and we need to reject austerity budgets while there is more than enough money to go around. The solution to poverty is not less spending, it is more investments in healthcare, education, and job creation.
Housing
Decades of federal, New York State, and New York City housing policies have resulted in black and brown communities being excluded, displaced, or segregated. I recognize that housing justice is a racial justice issue. I am running for State Assembly to demand we invest in housing as a human right. I have developed, with the input and leadership of housing justice advocates, a housing platform to combat racial injustice and to provide for greater affordability and community decision-making in policy making.
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
We must hold the police accountable for their actions. We need leadership that is willing to confront police misconduct and fight for our community. There is so much work that needs to be done to repair the harm done to our communities. I am running for State Assembly to increase police accountability, advance bold criminal justice reform, and demand the funding our communities deserve
LGBTQIA+ Platform
Jackson Heights, Corona, Woodside, and East Elmhurst have a long history of fighting for LGBTQIA+ liberation. The Queens Pride Parade, based in Jackson Heights, is the second largest pride celebration in New York City, however we cannot forget that it was formed as a response to the tragic murder of Julio Rivera in Jackson Heights and LGBTQ+ discrimination. The LGBTQIA+ community continues to face discrimination - in the workplace, in schools, by health practitioners, and by police.
Immigrant Justice
Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst, and Woodside represent the most diverse neighborhoods in the world. The 34th Assembly District is 62 percent immigrants, and the vibrancy of our community reflects that. Yet our immigrant communities are in crisis.
CLIMATE Justice
Corona, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Woodside are among the hardest hit by the impacts of the outbreak of the Coronavirus. This is not a coincidence. Low-income neighborhoods, especially communities of color and immigrant communities, struggle because of policy decisions and systemic structures that negatively impact our health and well-being.
Health Care for All New Yorkers
The outbreak of the Coronavirus has tragically exposed how vulnerable New Yorkers are because we lack universal, high quality health care for everyone. I am running for State Assembly to be a leading voice in making the New York Health Act a reality, to provide health care as a human right.
EDUCATION PLAN
Jessica González-Rojas, Democrat for Assembly has unveiled a bold platform for education reforms. González-Rojas, a parent of a public school student and former adjunct professor at CUNY and NYU, has called for expanding dual language programs, a universal childcare program, comprehensive sex education, and significant increase in special education funding.
Green New Northern
I am running for State Assembly to be leader in confronting the challenges facing our community. I am willing to fight for a better future with cleaner air, safer streets, and faster commutes. This is an ambitious bold plan that we are calling Green New Northern. It will alleviate all the dangerous intersections that make children fearful of walking to school by reducing the amount of vehicles on the roadway. It will improve air quality by removing exhaust spewing vehicles sitting in traffic waiting to traverse our community and leaving pollution in their wake. It will also dramatically improve the speed of buses for commuters during rush hour.
Save our Buses
The MTA is proposing to eliminate several bus routes that are critically important to our community. The draft plan would overhaul the entire Queens bus network but will negatively impact most bus commuters in Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Corona, and Woodside. As someone who does not own a car and relies on MTA’s buses and subways everyday, I understand how problematic this will be to everyone in our community. We must fight back to save our buses and demand an expansion of service and reliability.
FREE CUNY
For too many New Yorkers, the cost of a college education is just too high. When I taught as an adjunct professor at CUNY’s City College, I witnessed the struggles that most of my students faced: poverty, juggling multiple jobs, raising families, and navigating housing insecurity. I believe that the City University of New York should be free again.
people-powered reforms
Our campaign is driven by grassroots support. We reject corporate donations and money from luxury real estate developers. We do this because we are accountable to our constituents and not beholden to the monied few. We believe deeply in the importance of a robust public finance system that allows more working class folks to run for office and represent their communities.