WORKING FAMILIES SUSTAIN AMERICA
No full-time worker should live in poverty. Colorado seems remarkable with some of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. But when we look closely, rural residents, single women with children and people of color are unemployed and underemployed at far greater rates than their city-living white, male counterparts. I will uphold and strengthen employment laws that guarantee equal wages and prevent discrimination, that support paid family leave and access to affordable childcare.
As Senator, I will also oppose big tax cuts to big corporations while I push banks to provide loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially those that are underrepresented- and/or women-owned. I will work to protect the jobs of teachers, nurses and other healthcare providers, farm workers and service workers, and to create additional jobs that improve our infrastructure for the future.
Communities throughout Colorado are dependent on agriculture, coal/fossil fuels, and tourism. As I work to support different aspects of these economic drivers, I will also promote legislation to assist communities to shift from outdated industries into sustainable alternatives such as clean energy and cyber security, in which Colorado is already heavily investing.
While individual states are increasing their minimum wage, we must ensure wages remain a livable wage rates. Colorado home prices and rents are among the fastest growing in the nation. The minimum wage has to be connected to the cost of living. I will fight to make sure that everyday people and working families make enough money to afford to live and support their families.