Healthcare for All and Bodily Autonomy

Healthcare is a basic human right. In the richest country on Earth, nobody should worry about getting the healthcare they need. I believe that your healthcare should not be dependent upon your employment, income or immigration status

Deductibles, premiums, prescription drug prices, and out-of-pocket costs are high and out of control and are leading to our residents not being able to afford their care. We must enact a universal, single-payer healthcare system that cares for our neighbors and family members.

  • Establish a healthcare for all system in the State of Minnesota by supporting a single-payer healthcare system like the Minnesota Health Plan. Ensure that dental care, prescription drugs, optometry, mental health services, chemical dependency treatment, medical equipment and supplies, home care services, and nursing home care is covered.

  • Protect the right to choose in our state, ensuring Minnesota is a safe haven for access to safe and legal abortion in a post-Roe America.

  • Support the efforts of organizations like UnRestrict MN and Gender Justice to ensure that Minnesotans of all genders, sexual identities and LGBTQIA+ community have access to culturally responsive care.

  • 62B has one of the worst drug overdose disparities in the state. We must expand resources and access to preventative and restorative services for mental health and substance use disorders. Take a harm reduction approach to substance use as opposed to one that criminalizes addiction, and remove barriers to housing with or without services for people who are struggling with addiction and/or mental health.

  • I will work with the Minnesota Department of Human Services on its Safe Recovery Sites efforts that will save lives through overdose and infection prevention. I will also support establishing overdose prevention centers in Minneapolis, expanding access to NALOXONE and fentanyl test strips in transit hubs and locations with high drug overdose calls, and increasing culturally specific services in Native American, African-American, and East-African communities.

  • In 2022, 30.5 million Americans received services through community care clinics. Expand funding for trusted, culturally informed service providers to offer care in communities where current availability does not meet the local need.

  • Work with our unhoused communities to provide safe and sanitary living conditions in addition to guidance and support for transitional and long term housing solutions.

  • Support legislation that will require Cities and counties to create humane and public health centered policies regarding homeless encampments. And efforts to take a public health approach to homelessness in our District and our State.

Housing for All, Renters Rights, and Homelessness

Housing is a human right. Everyone should have the right to safe, secure, and affordable housing. Camp Nenookaasi has highlighted the desperate need for solutions from all levels of government. I believe in a housing first approach that is a recovery oriented and evidence based solution to this crisis which will prioritize people's basic needs.

MN has a deficit of over 100,000 housing units. We need to continue to invest heavily in our state's income-based public housing and affordable housing system to increase supply, access and affordability. At the same time, we must improve the living conditions of renters and increase opportunities for homeownership.

We can achieve this through:

  • Being bold with sustained, deep investment in funding for income-based public housing, affordable and workforce housing across the state.

  • A compassionate, coordinated unsheltered response that is Housing First modeled.

  • Fund culturally specific providers, deeply affordable, low-barrier housing and intentional shelter space like a South Minneapolis Tiny Indoor Village (AVIVO Village). Work with the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County to bring this to fruition.

  • Support a strong Renters’ Bill of Rights that protects tenants from unsafe living conditions, unreasonable rent increases, harassment, manipulation, and displacement.

  • Increase funding for public housing in Minneapolis to address the $229 Million Capital Backlog, if left unaddressed this number will surpass $380 Million over the next 20 years.

  • Passing inclusionary zoning at the state level to increase diverse housing options to bring rental prices down

  • Expanding tools, education and down-payment support for first time homebuyers in our BIPOC communities to help build intergenerational wealth and right the wrong of redlining in our communities.

  • Secure funding for the Stable Homes Stable Schools program which is a pioneering partnership between MPHA, City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) that works to improve families’ housing stability, students’ school attendance, and students’ educational outcomes through rental assistance and wrap-around supportive services.

  • Work with municipal governments with the necessary tools and resources to take action to reduce homelessness at the local level. And support funding for more proactive housing inspections.

  • Work with our unhoused communities to provide safe and sanitary living conditions in addition to guidance and support for transitional and long term housing solutions.

  • Support legislation that will require Cities and counties to create humane and public health centered policies regarding homeless encampments. And efforts to take a public health approach to homelessness in our District and our State.

Supporting Public Education, Minneapolis Public Schools, Students and Educators

Anquam was a product of the public school system, and knows that we need a fully-funded and quality public education system in Minnesota. This year, there are proposed budget cuts to Spanish immersion, academic intervention programs, and to elementary schools in MPS who will no longer have dedicated funding to support fifth-grade instrumental music. It is unacceptable.

Childcare, Students, and Educators:

  • Minnesota has some of the highest nation’s costs for child care. We must adequately fund comprehensive childcare and school-based childcare for all children to ensure families can find and afford the care they need.

  • BIPOC student success is proven to improve dramatically with BIPOC teachers in the classroom. We must invest in the recruitment, support and retention of teachers of color in our public schools by expanding the Teacher of Color Act.

  • Fully fund our public schools so our students are prepared to thrive whether they continue to post-secondary education or the workforce.

  • Ensure our educators are earning a family-sustaining wage, and that classroom sizes do not exceed unsustainable levels in our public schools.

  • I support the Education Support Professionals Bill of Rights which will Increase the starting wages for all ESPs in Minnesota Public Schools to $25 an hour, provides them with health insurance, and ensures that all ESPs have access to twelve hours of professional development each year.

  • Expand the Full-Service Community School Model that will help increase enrollment, improve attendance and academic outcomes for students and more.

  • Defend the importance of teaching the history of race and racism in America in our public schools.

  • Support comprehensive sexual health education that teaches about healthy relationships, LGBTQ+ health, and consent.

Minneapolis Public Schools:

  • Prioritize and implement immediate funding for Minneapolis Public Schools to prevent mass layoffs and budget cuts.

  • Secure funding for the Stable Homes Stable Schools program which is a pioneering partnership between MPHA, City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) that works to improve families’ housing stability, students’ school attendance, and students’ educational outcomes through rental assistance and wrap-around supportive services.

  • Pass legislation to support Minneapolis Public Schools in order to prevent school closures. Prioritize returning enrollment to historic levels.

  • Fix decaying infrastructure at Minneapolis Public Schools by securing funding to replace lead pipes, upgrade facilities, and provide students the experience they deserve.

Higher Education:

  • Protect the Northstar Promise Act that removes financial barriers and improves equity in our education system by offering tuition free higher education.

  • Support student debt forgiveness for loans held by the state of Minnesota.

  • Leverage pathways and for post-secondary, technical and vocational programs while we expand access to no-debt tuition for eligible students through the Northstar Promise Act

Environmental Justice and Climate Change

Climate change is the greatest existential threat of our age. Bold action steps are required to not only preserve our natural heritage in the state, but to protect some of our most vulnerable communities from environmental injustice. District 62B has been devastated by environmental racism and pollution and is home to Smith Foundry, Bituminous Roadways, and the former proposed site of the Hiawatha Campus Expansion Project. We need bold leaders who will stand up for our Black, Brown, Indigenous, and immigrant neighbors who are disproportionately feeling the impacts of this.

  • Close Smith Foundry to improve health outcomes and promote environmental justice for our most diverse communities.

  • Support the East Phillips Urban Farm community vision with state funding for development.

  • Support efforts to close the HERC as soon as 2028, and work in deep partnership with counties and cities to to allocate funding from the state for zero waste initiatives, EPR legislation, SCORE grant funding and resources for residents to accelerate system wide efforts, and to ensure HERC is shuttered swiftly and responsibly in partnership with community.

  • Provide State Funding for the Minneapolis Climate Equity Plan which sets goals to significantly reduce pollution by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050. And prioritize the Southside and Northside Green Zones along with neighborhoods most impacted by pollution. This will help reduce utility bills and increase green jobs.

  • Fully leverage the federal Inflation Reduction Act to shrink our carbon footprint to aggressively reach our state and local climate action goals

  • Invest in clean energy alternatives and support net-zero development through available federal and state dollars.

  • Address the ecological and environmental concerns at Lake Hiawatha, taking both an environmental and racial justice approach to mitigating the harm considering the reality of climate change. Support state bonding for the Minneapolis Park Board's ecological master and decision making around this important issue while also recognizing the historical significance of the Hiawatha Golf Course for the African American community.

  • Expand tree canopy efforts statewide and provide relief for residents paying for tree removals from the emerald ash borer. No resident should be forced out of their home because they cannot pay unplanned costs.

  • Provide greater tools, education, and support for local partners (both public and private) to take advantage of state and federal subsidies for rooftop and community solar.

  • Protect our watersheds, particularly the Boundary Waters, which are our most precious resource.

  • Support the Prove it First legislation, which requires any new mining proposal to undergo an independent and rigorous environmental review process conducted over the course of several years.

Economic Revitalization, Transit, and Community Investment

House District 62B is home to a racially diverse community. It contains multiple cultural and commercial corridors in need of long term, sustained programs to support revitalization and the communities that reside along or near them. It’s home to three cultural districts; Franklin Ave East, East Lake Street, and 38th Street, which need deep investment. It’s also home to Little Earth, the only indigenous preference project-based Section 8 rental assistance community in the United States. Our community also needs a safe and reliable transportation system.

  • Support our small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs with economic investments along our cultural and commercial corridors (Franklin Ave East, East Lake Street, 38th Street, and George Floyd Square)

  • Increase state investments through DEED (Department of Employment and Economic Development) to partner with municipalities for new community oriented development projects and initiatives across the district.

  • Invest in a robust, multimodal transportation system so all residents, regardless of income, ability, or background can reliably and affordably access jobs, healthy foods, entertainment, and essential services across the metro. Support funding so cities can improve walking, biking, and rolling infrastructure.

  • Invest in statewide infrastructure for electric vehicles.

  • Support legislation for fare-free transit to increase ridership and affordability.

  • Work with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to reassess freeway expansion philosophy so that we can better position and fund mass beneficial transit projects for residents.

  • Partner with the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County to increase and improve traffic calming projects to keep residents safe.

  • Work with Metro Transit to Improve safety in our transportation system by investing in alternatives to policing efforts and increasing social service programs.

Community Safety and Police Accountability

Building a Safe and Thriving Community:

  • Fund restorative justice approaches to violence in our communities, and work towards breaking the cycle of youth entering the criminal/legal justice system through upstream, collaborative, restorative and rehabilitative approaches to the fore. This work is successful through engaging counties, local school districts, police agencies, and families, and is being championed by leaders like Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

  • Set aside more flexible public safety dollars at the state level for municipalities to stand up alternative and public health response methods to mental health crisis calls, substance use, and other situations where police are not trained or best suited.

    • Support the establishment of Cultural Ambassadors on Franklin Ave East, East Lake Street, and 38th Street which is an alternative to policing, keeps the community safe, and helps clean our cultural corridors.

    • Support the Let Everyone Advance with Dignity Program that provides harm reduction-based, intensive case management to individuals who commit law violations due to unmet behavioral health needs, homelessness, and/or extreme poverty.

    • Support efforts to increase mental health crisis responder programs and victim services.

    • Support efforts that allow communities to develop their own public safety proposals to keep them safe.

  • Support common-sense and needed gun reform laws like universal background checks, red flag laws (“extreme risk protection orders”) and straw purchase reforms as large, system level approaches are the best way to limit the easy availability of firearms.

  • Support youth afterschool programs to provide an alternative to riskier activities.

  • End the criminalization of poverty also known as the cash bail system.

Police Accountability and Reform: