Throughout my time in public service, I’ve looked out for the well-being of Virginia’s families and continued growth and success of our region. I’ve worked hard to tackle the issues that are top of mind right now – addressing inflation and lowering costs. I was proud to pass our landmark Inflation Reduction Act which will save families money on everyday costs, reduce the deficit and ease inflation, and finally make big corporations pay their fair share and crack down on ultra-wealthy tax cheats.
Workforce Development and Equality
I believe that making investments in our workforce is key to growing our economy. I support increased investments in career and vocational training, and retraining for those who have been displaced from the workforce.
Too often, wages have not kept pace with costs and the increased use of low-bid or unrealistic contracts has resulted in an American workforce doing more work for less pay. I support raising the minimum wage, establishing paid family and medical leave programs nationwide, revitalizing America’s middle-class, protecting and expanding workers’ rights, making affordable housing more accessible to Americans, reigning in Wall Street, and having the backs of America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Our bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which I proudly voted to pass, is delivering a significant investment in STEM education and workforce development – a critical field for our country’s and our region’s economic future. This legislation will create high-tech, good-paying jobs in manufacturing, research and development, and more.
I was proud to vote in favor of the Paycheck Fairness Act to strengthen and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and help ensure women are being paid fairly for their work. I am also proud to have successfully advocated for a study assessing the impact and feasibility of returnship programs in the federal government. Returnship programs help mid-career professionals who left the workforce, like millions of women did during COVID, to re-enter and find jobs that are commensurate with their skills and experience. These programs benefit employers, workers, and families, and can be a meaningful tool to support women and caregivers in the workforce.
Federal Workers
I am and will remain a strong advocate for the tens of thousands of federal employees in my district. I was a vocal fighter for the successful inclusion of paid parental leave for all federal employees and have consistently been a leader in fighting for pay raises for our tireless federal workers. I have also championed expanding federal workers’ access to child care, including successfully advocating for a study on the current state of child care for the federal workforce and leading the push to urge the administration to bolster access to backup care programs.
COVID-19 Recovery
Thanks to Democrats’ American Rescue Plan, our country has been on a path to a strong and full economic recovery and consistent job growth. We put money into the pockets of those most in need, delivered vaccines to every community across the country, reopened schools safely, and got Americans back to work.
In particular, I worked to protect our small businesses, meeting with small business owners in every corner of the district and working with them to secure hundreds of federal loans and grants that we enacted through the CARES Act and other relief efforts to keep businesses’ doors open and workers paid. I worked to ensure equity in pandemic aid programs, conducted oversight and combat fraud, and helped constituents cut through red tape at federal agencies to receive the assistance they needed for.