CONSTITUENT CONCERNS

People become discouraged, disappointed, and apathetic after being told so often that their vote is their voice, and then their representative doesn’t listen to them.  People quit voting when they are ignored and nothing changes.  But change won’t come if people quit voting.  And change won’t come if people keep voting for the same two political parties over and over, again and again.  Republicans represent their party and Democrats represent their party.  Who is representing the people?  The people need a representative, and they deserve to have a representative who fights for them, not a party representative who fights the other party for power and control of the government.

There is too much on the line to have only representatives from the two major parties in the General Assembly.  We would have a better government if we had Independent and third-party representatives to balance out the legislature because everyone doesn’t fall into just two parties, and regardless of political affiliation, everyone has the same basic needs.  People need to be able to work one full-time job that pays a wage or salary that allows them to afford life’s necessities, their basic subsistence: housing, food, clothing, utilities (lights, heating, and cooling), transportation (vehicle), communications (phone), and healthcare.

The Economy is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Prices have skyrocketed.  The lack of jobs, limited hours of work, poverty wages, cost of insurance, and taxes tear at the threads of people’s pocketbooks.  Housing, new and used vehicle prices, and the cost to repair them, have become unaffordable.  More people are made to choose between medications and electricity, or between medications and groceries, and travel is limited or suspended because gas prices are too high. The Democrats in the General Assembly introduced around 50 new tax bills during their 2026 general session, and will most likely re-introduce them in their next session. They campaigned on “affordability”, but 50 new taxes on top of skyrocketing prices does not make life affordable.

Education is a cornerstone of a thriving economy.  Our public schools must be fully funded; not just teacher and staff pay, but classroom equipment, student materials, free breakfast and lunch for all students, and free community college.  Career and technical education should be added to in-school curriculum and schools should partner with local trades businesses to provide students with paid apprenticeships and certification upon completion.  Four-year colleges and universities need to be more affordable, especially for medical and other short-staffed career fields.

Our Environment is at a critical point.  Another concern that affects all of us and allows us to live healthy, productive lives is clean air, water, and land.  We cannot survive if we don’t protect our natural resources and the ecosystem of plants and animals that sustains all life.  We should not be accepting out-of-state trash and we should be putting solar on rooftops and parking lot canopies.  We need an actual R4 plan: Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle.