My priorities
Something about supporting families through programs
Expanding Medicaid
Tennessee is one of only nine states that still refuses to expand Medicaid — and our neighbors are paying the price. An estimated 95,000 Tennesseans currently fall into a coverage gap — earning too little to qualify for marketplace subsidies but ineligible for TennCare. If we expanded Medicaid, roughly 151,000 Tennesseans would gain health insurance — reducing our state's uninsured population by 27%. Meanwhile, Tennessee has already missed out on $22.5 billion in federal funding from 2013 to 2022 — money our taxpayers sent to Washington that went to other states instead. We are first in the nation in hospital closures per capita and rank in the bottom ten states for maternal and infant health. I grew up in a family that couldn't afford a doctor's visit. No one should have to make that choice in 2025. Expanding Medicaid is not a partisan issue — it's a commonsense investment in the health and economic security of Tennessee families.
Repealing the Tennessee “Education Freedom” School Voucher Program
Last year, the Republican supermajority narrowly passed a universal school voucher program — and it is already threatening the public schools that the vast majority of Tennessee children depend on. Under the Education Freedom Act, families can use taxpayer dollars toward private school tuition — and two-thirds of the families expected to receive that money are already enrolled in private school. That's not expanding opportunity. That's subsidizing choices families already made, on the public's dime. The state's own fiscal analysis projected the program will cost taxpayers at least $1.1 billion in its first five years. And the results don't justify the cost: Tennessee's ESA voucher students have underperformed their public school peers by 15.5 points on average in math. Now, Republicans are pushing to expand the program to 35,000 students and eliminate enrollment caps entirely — while simultaneously stripping the accountability measures and testing requirements that were the only reason the bill passed in the first place. I believe in public schools because public schools believed in me. Every dollar diverted to this voucher program is a dollar taken from the teachers and classrooms that serve the 90% of Tennessee kids who remain in public schools. We need to repeal this program and reinvest that money where it belongs.
Paid Parental Leave & Affordable Childcare for Working Families
Working families in Tennessee are being squeezed from both ends — and something has to give. In 2024, the average annual cost of infant care in Tennessee was $13,126 — barely less than in-state tuition at the University of Tennessee. The cost of center-based childcare now consumes 14.3% of the median family income in our state — more than double the 7% threshold considered affordable. Tennessee has a shortage of nearly 92,000 childcare slots for children whose parents are in the workforce, and 37 Tennessee counties — most of them rural — were considered childcare deserts in 2024. On the parental leave side, Tennessee still has no state-mandated paid family leave for private-sector employees — meaning most working parents must choose between their paycheck and their newborn. We've already proven this works: after Tennessee implemented paid parental leave for state employees, the Department of Human Resources reported a 22% reduction in turnover and a 25% decrease in retirements within just one year. We need to extend that same dignity to every working family in this state — not just those lucky enough to work for the government. Expanding paid leave and investing in universal Pre-K isn't a luxury. For families like the one I grew up in, it's the difference between getting ahead and falling further behind.