Platform

As a housing attorney, I’ve seen the disconnect up close: politicians say they want more housing, yet adopt policies that delay, water down, or outright block the very homes they claim to support. These barriers — often well-intentioned on paper — have a devastating real-world impact: they drive up the cost of living and push people out of the communities they call home.

Los Angeles is now one of the most unaffordable cities in the country. That’s not by accident — it’s the direct result of decades of underbuilding. And the people paying the highest price are working families, low-income renters, and communities of color who face rising rents, shrinking options, and mass displacement. Even dual-income professionals increasingly find themselves priced out. The math is simple: we don’t have enough housing. We must build more. Full stop.

That’s why I’m running to lead on housing policy at the state level. In the 26th District and across California, we need more multifamily housing in urban areas — especially near transit and jobs. I’ll fight for policies that increase density in high-opportunity neighborhoods, build more workforce housing, streamline approvals and inspections, mandate staffing increases for permitting departments, increase home ownership in urban areas, make the construction of duplexes and fourplexes more viable and ensure cities follow state housing law. More homes in walkable, transit-connected areas not only reduce costs, they cut emissions and vehicle miles traveled — allowing people to live closer to where they work and raise their families.

Too often, public debate frames housing production and tenant protections as opposing forces. I reject that false choice. California must do both: build more housing and protect the people already here. I support thoughtful just-cause eviction protections, anti-rent-gouging laws, and expanding affordability covenants to 99 years. I’m in favor of rolling rent control legislation like the 2019 Tenant Protection Act, and I believe new development must come with safeguards for vulnerable low and fixed-income tenants: right-of-return guarantees or displacement compensation.

Finally, we need to rethink how we use public dollars to increase affordable housing. Rather than always defaulting to costly new construction, we should prioritize acquiring existing housing and converting it into permanently affordable homes for low-, middle-, and working-class families and exploring innovative social housing models, community land trusts and using public land to build affordable housing. 

The housing crisis wasn’t inevitable — it was a policy choice. It’s time to choose differently. And I’m ready to lead that fight.

One of the biggest lessons I took from my years as a classroom teacher in Los Angeles is this: mobility is a civil rights issue. Access to everything this city has to offer — jobs, education, opportunity — depends on how well you can get around this metropolis. 

A safe, reliable, and connected public transit system can be the bridge between struggle and stability. Researchers have found that access to efficient transportation is the single most important factor in helping people escape poverty. And when we build housing and mobility infrastructure near major transit hubs, we lower housing costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help people live closer to where they work and play.

From Downtown to Pico Union, from Eagle Rock to Hollywood, we know what makes a community thrive: streets where people feel safe to walk, bike, sit, gather, and linger. Where the sidewalks are full and the air is clean. Where mobility isn’t a barrier but a benefit. As a state senator, I want to work to make our public transit systems one of the safest, cleanest, and most reliable in the world. I’ll champion CEQA exemptions for bike lanes and light rail. I’ll fight for funding to increase the frequency of our buses and trains — and to make transit stops feel vibrant, not neglected. World class public transit means a universal TAP card across all transit systems, fast underground Wi-Fi and cell service, and business vendors in Metro stations.

I’ll push to expand our Metro bus and rail lines  and add more than 500 miles of protected bike lanes across our communities. Because when people aren’t stuck in traffic, they live healthier, happier lives. And when we demand more of our cities, they can deliver.

I grew up in a community where college was not the norm, it was the exception. Access to educational opportunity, specifically higher education, has fundamentally changed my life trajectory in relation to my peers I grew up with. But I also graduated law school with over $200,000 in college debt. This is not a sustainable system- for students, for families, or for our future.  

There is a crisis in America, and it revolves around education. The key to solving issues of economy, the environment, poverty, health care , unemployment, criminal justice reform, rests on training young people and increasing access to higher education at scale. However, that access must not come with a lifetime of student debt. That is why I’m so passionate about the work I do as a Trustee for the LA Community College District, the largest community college district in America. I believe that the future of higher education lies in the fundamental promise of community colleges. With the cost of four year universities sky rocketing, getting young people ready for the future of work and to solve tomorrow’s challenges, rests in providing access to higher education and a degree or a job that doesn’t break the bank, but can also lift a person and their family out of poverty. 

That is why I’m committed to working to increase the ability of institutions of higher education in offering more  bachelor’s degrees in areas where we have workforce shortages and need, like in nursing, cyber security, biomedical manufacturing and cloud computing and can provide a pathway to the middle class. We must make these professions more accessible to students from lower income backgrounds and help address statewide shortages in the workforce. 

As your state senator, I’ll also champion expanded access to union apprenticeships, construction trades, and workforce training programs that not only lead to good-paying jobs but also help us build the affordable housing we so desperately need. Because when we invest in education, we invest in solving our most urgent challenges—from housing to economic mobility.

The fight to end gun violence is personal. In the summer of 2024, a bullet went through my bedroom window while my husband and I were sleeping—whizzing by less than three feet from his head and lodging into the wall. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story in many neighborhoods across the 26th District. 

Gun violence is a well-documented social determinant of health. Repeated exposure doesn’t just increase the risk of fatal injury—it’s tied to higher rates of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. It also undermines a community’s ability to thrive, limiting social mobility and disrupting childhood development. Needless to say, the daily threat of gun violence has had a devastating impact on children, families and communities throughout Los Angeles.  

As a mother, I’m committed to fighting for safer communities. That means getting guns—especially untraceable ghost guns—off our streets. These are weapons built by unlicensed individuals using parts sold without background checks, serial numbers, or any of the safeguards required by law.

As a state senator, I will fight every day for stronger gun safety laws, increased enforcement, and real investment in violence prevention strategies that protect our children and our neighborhoods.

The legacy of environmental racism is visible throughout the 26th District—especially in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles—where communities have endured the worst effects of industrial pollution for decades. These neighborhoods suffer from some of the poorest air quality in the nation and a severe lack of access to parks and green space—factors that have led to serious, long-term health consequences.

Nationwide studies show that children who grow up with the least access to green space face a 55% higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders later in life. In Los Angeles, researchers found that living within a quarter-mile of green space significantly improves mental health—equivalent to reducing the local unemployment rate by two percentage points.

As your State Senator, I’ll prioritize two urgent environmental justice goals:

1. Fighting for clean air by expanding zero-emission infrastructure for freight and goods movement—especially along transport corridors that run through high-density residential communities; and
2. Expanding parks and green space across the 26th District to increase the percentage of Angelenos who live within a 10-minute walk of a park or plaza from 65% to 80%.

That starts with making Hollywood Central Park a reality and securing funding to build at least five new parks in the most park-poor neighborhoods in the district. Clean air and green space aren't luxuries—they're basic rights. And I’m ready to fight for both.

I lived for over a decade just steps from Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles—ground zero for one of the largest and most visible concentrations of homelessness in the country. Every day, I walked out my front door and was confronted with some of the most devastating and dehumanizing suffering in our county. You cannot live in the heart of this crisis and turn away.

That experience has shaped much of my career. I’ve spent years working on homelessness—not because it’s easy, but because it’s urgent. And what I’ve learned is that there is no single solution. But what we can do is clear: we must expand access to housing, addiction treatment, and mental health care—and we must deliver these services proactively, not passively wait until people are too far gone to recover.

We are facing a dual crisis: a housing market that’s become unaffordable for working people, and an fentanyl and opioid epidemic that’s pulling people deeper into suffering. If we’re serious about change, we need to build immediate, transitional housing across all communities, not just in the neighborhoods that have always carried the burden. That housing must be designed to meet real needs—mental health, substance use, safety, and connection. The State must step up to support local governments with the resources to open shelter beds and expand supportive services, that's what I support Care Courts as a way to connect individuals with mental illness to treatment while upholding civil liberties . We must also invest in the community-based organizations and nonprofits who know their neighborhoods best and are already doing the work.

California has spent billions on homelessness in the past five years—and the problem has only gotten worse. I’ll also push for stricter oversight of public funds. Voters passed Measures H and HHH in Los Angeles because they believed in solutions — not bureaucracy. As Senator, I’ll demand results from every agency and non-profit receiving public dollars.  It’s time for transparency, accountability, and the political will to admit what hasn’t worked and change course. Lives are at stake, and we cannot afford more of the same.

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world. Film and television aren’t just part of our culture — they’re the economic lifeblood of our region. Thousands of creatives, craftspeople, and industry workers call the 26th Senate District home, and their livelihoods are at risk. Productions are increasingly leaving for other states and countries, taking with them jobs, income, and opportunity. When film and TV productions stay in LA, the ripple effects are enormous — restaurants, small businesses, and entire neighborhoods benefit.

According to the California Production Coalition, a single location shoot injects an average of $670,000 and 1,500 jobs per day into the local economy. Every dollar spent on keeping productions in-state generates $24.40 in economic activity, $8.60 in wages, and $16.14 in added GDP. These aren’t abstract numbers — they’re jobs, paychecks, and rent for real working families.

As someone who worked on film permitting policy for the City of Los Angeles, I’ve seen firsthand how red tape and outdated rules can drive productions out of state. I’ll fight to expand and protect California’s film and TV tax credits — but I’ll also push for reforms that go beyond incentives:

1. Mandating the modernization of local permitting processes so productions can move quickly without being bogged down in red tape..
2. Support workforce development and career pathways through LAUSD, LACCD, and community-based programs (like Hollywood CPR at LACCD) so the next generation of Angelenos can access creative careers.
   

Keeping Hollywood home means protecting one of California’s last remaining unionized, middle-class industries. It means centering equity and access in the creative economy. And it means fighting to make sure that LA — the birthplace of modern cinema — doesn’t lose its heart and soul.

The first five years of a child’s life are foundational for their development—yet in the richest country in the world, we invest shockingly little in this critical stage. As a mom, I’ve felt this firsthand. Childcare is one of the biggest expenses in my family’s budget. And I’m not alone. In California, working families are expected to spend up to a third of their annual income on childcare. That’s simply unsustainable.

The few subsidies and assistance programs that do exist are nowhere near enough to meet the overwhelming demand. And the brokenness of our childcare system doesn’t stop with cost—it extends to those who care for our children. In California, non-unionized childcare workers earn a median annual wage of just $23,760, often without benefits. Many childcare centers are understaffed, leaving dedicated providers overworked, underpaid, and without the resources or support to give children the attention and care they deserve.

This is a crisis—for parents, for children, and for the people we trust to help raise the next generation.

As a state senator, I will fight to make universal childcare a reality in California. Let’s be clear: universal childcare does not currently exist—not here, and not anywhere else in the country. But it should. Every family, regardless of income or ZIP code, should have access to free, high-quality care for children from 6 weeks to 5 years old. And childcare workers—25% of whom currently live in poverty—deserve to earn wages on par with public school teachers, along with the benefits and respect their essential work demands.

It’s time we stop treating childcare like a private burden and start treating it like the public good it is.

As an attorney who has won asylum cases for pro bono clients and spent countless hours inside private immigration detention centers, I’ve seen firsthand the cruelty and dysfunction of our immigration system. But the disaster unfolding in our communities today under the Trump administration isn’t just because of their complete inhumanity — it’s also the result of decades of failure to deliver real, humane immigration reform.

We must fight back —  but we must also fundamentally change how this country treats immigrants. That means creating a real pathway to citizenship for the people who have helped build this nation and deserve to belong here.

As a community college board member, I take the safety and well-being of our students deeply personally. Many are living in fear, afraid to attend classes or worried about being targeted or separated from their families. Schools like Cal State LA have wisely moved classes online to protect students, allowing them to stay safe at home during these uncertain times. But I know this is only a temporary solution. True safety means changing the system that creates this fear in the first place. That’s why I’m committed to fighting relentlessly for lasting protections so students and working families never have to choose between their education, their livelihood, and their security.

As a state senator I’ll be at the forefront of this fight, championing legislation that protects our communities from racial profiling and from the terrifying, unconstitutional tactics of masked, unidentified individuals claiming federal authority. I will fight to require ICE officers to clearly identify themselves during enforcement actions, and I’ll push California to lead the nation in standing up for the dignity and rights of every person who calls this country home.

Bodily autonomy is a fundamental right. California must lead the fight to protect reproductive freedom — and ensure gender equity in every part of public policy.

The fall of Roe v. Wade was a wake-up call. We’ve seen states across the country criminalize abortion, restrict contraception, and roll back rights that generations fought to secure. That won’t happen here — not on my watch.

I’ll fight to expand access to abortion care, birth control, and gender-affirming healthcare across California. That means fully funding reproductive health providers, ensuring services are available in every zip code — not just major cities — and protecting patients and providers from out-of-state attacks.

But reproductive justice goes beyond the right to choose. It’s about economic security, paid leave, maternal health, and care work that’s treated with dignity. It’s about ending the wage gap, protecting trans and nonbinary Californians, and building systems that center care, not control.

In Sacramento, I’ll stand with the coalitions — led by women, trans leaders, and communities of color — that have been defending our rights long before it was politically convenient.