People

Policies to improve the lives of people in Hawai'i and across the United States.

Establish Medicare for All

The United States healthcare system is one of the most expensive yet poorly performing systems in the industrialized world. We are the only country in the developed world with a privatized, profit-driven healthcare system. Each year, 68,000 preventable deaths take place as a result of our private health insurance system, and 500,000 Americans are bankrupted due to medical bills. The solution to our health dystopia is to adopt a public healthcare system similar to every other country in the developed world, particularly to expand the Medicare system to cover every person in the United States. As your representative, I will work with other progressives in Congress to revolutionize the US healthcare system through the following:

- Passing the Medicare for All Act.

- Authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.

- Eliminating all outstanding medical debt.

Sustain Social Security

Social Security is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the history of humanity. Millions of Kupuna rely on the system to cover basic expenses, and every working American has a stake in the future solvency of the system. Despite its immense importance, the solvency of the Social Security system has been neglected by our representatives in Washington, DC. Depending on the particular study one reads, the Social Security system will become bankrupt in the 2030s. Our Kupuna and working families depend on social security to maintain their position in the middle class, and that is why I will never vote for a reduction in social security benefits and serve as a staunch advocate for sustaining the social security system. As your representative, I will ensure the preservation of the social security system through the following:

- Establishing a wealth tax on the top 0.1% of households to replenish the social security trust fund.

- Removing the Social Security (FICA) tax cap, which currently exempts the wealthy from paying Social Security taxes on income over $147,000.

- Diversifying the assets of the social security trust fund to include stocks, bonds, and real estate.

- Never voting for a reduction in social security benefits.

Protect and Expand Unions

Unions are the greatest asset working people have in advancing their economic position, protecting their rights, and preventing exploitation. I am inspired by the recent wave of unionization across the United States. We must continue to expand unionization by making unionizing a workplace easier and ensuring that employers are sufficiently punished for violating workers’ right to organize. I will use my power as your representative to protect and expand unions by supporting the following legislation:

- Passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which establishes card check to reduce the time needed for a workplace to organize and increases the enforcement powers of the National Labor Relations Board to ensure that the government agency has the resources to protect workers’ rights to organize.