MY PLATFORM

HOMES GUARANTEE

Secure housing as a universal human right, institute universal rent control, fully re-invest in public housing, build 12 million units of social housing to end homelessness in America especially as children and veterans are concerned, de-commodify housing to put an end to real estate and land speculation, establish a People’s Housing Commission, National Tenant Bill of Rights, reparations to reverse the impact of generations of redlining.

I support Representative Ilhan Omar’s Bill to cancel rent and mortgage payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill would institute full payment forgiveness for renters and homeowners, with no negative impact on their credit rating or rental history. This bill will also create a relief fund for landlords and mortgage holders to cover losses from the cancelled payments and create an optional fund to fully finance the purchase of private rental properties by non-profits, public housing authorities, cooperatives, community land trusts, and states or local governments—in order to increase the availability of affordable housing during this downturn.

Labor

Support a national ban on Right to Work and reinstate public worker’s right to strike by amending the Taft-Harley Act, unions for all workers, pass the Workplace Democracy Act, raise federal minimum wage to $20 an hour, expand Social Security, lower the age for full Social Security benefits to 62, prohibit reductions in pension benefits employees, 3 weeks paid sick leave for every worker, 5 weeks of paid vacation per year, demand that workers receive a year-long sabbatical after working for the same employer for 7 years, establish a hardship leave policy would allow federal employees to take paid leave in the case of a government shutdown, mandate that the executive branch fully staff all regulatory agencies, allow grievances for federal workers to be contested in federal courts instead of arbitration processes, protect Davis-Bacon, stand with trade unions against wealthy developers and union busters, fight for passage of Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act, reject trade deals that hurt the working class, create pathways for the community to access union apprenticeships.

JOB CREATION & INCOME INEQUALITY

Fight for a federal jobs guarantee that guarantees a living wage, a secure pension, and the right to form a union, generate living wage jobs through the Homes Guarantee and Green New Deal with mandatory community hiring requirements. Remove the Social Security wage cap to ensure the wealthy pay share and Social Security remains solvent for years to come. End IRAPs to protect worker safety and training standards. Support Universal Basic Income with a provision to keep existing social entitlement benefits intact, postal banking, worker cooperatives to ensure communities have direct ownership and control over the job creation process, fight for infrastructure development to be unionized. Advocate for passage of Work Act, fund states to raise the youth employment rate and provide training in diverse upcoming fields to set up an entire generation for success.

Healthcare

Universal healthcare coverage for all is a moral obligation in the wealthiest country in the world. We need to replace for profit insurance companies with a single payer federal government healthcare fund to ensure universal coverage and move towards a democratically public owned pharmaceutical sector. With this fund we will be able to reduce costs per capita and for the first time negotiate with pharmaceutical companies bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, thereby eliminating out of pocket costs like co-pays, deductibles, and premiums, companies, unions and individuals will see cost reductions throughout a fair transition. Savings employers generate would be applied towards union member benefits. In addition to passing Medicare for All, I will strongly advocate for passage of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act and Prescription Drug Price Relief Act.

NYCHA

Demand full federal funding for NYCHA, fight to pass the Fair Chance at Housing Act, advocate for moratorium on RAD, protection of Section 3 status, convert NYCHA land to Community Land Trusts, decarbonize NYCHA by passing Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, create a space for NYCHA residents to oversee the rehabilitation and construction process to ensure contractor accountability, hold congressional hearings in NYCHA developments, fast track federal funding to have NYCHA comply with 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, provide targeted grants for community development, raise awareness about home ownership opportunities under HUD’s Public Housing Homeownership Section 32 in the community, link NYCHA re-investment to a Homes Guarantee.

FAMILIES & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

In addition to striking the Hyde Amendment to allow low income women on Medicaid to have the right to choose, we need Medicare for All, funding of public hospitals, community clinics, invest in doulas and culturally sensitive healthcare access to eliminate racial disparities largely responsible for the black maternal mortality crisis, fight for universal: childcare, paid family leave, pre-k, free school lunch, child allowance to make it easier for families to rear their children in the community.

PUERTO RICO

We need a permanent exemption of Puerto Rico from the Jones Act, investigate response to Hurricane Maria, audit and cancel Puerto Rico’s unconstitutional debt, repeal Congress’ Fiscal Control Board (P.R.O.M.E.S.A.), end Puerto Rico’s Medicaid crisis and disenfranchisement by ensuring full-federal funding, investigate and penalize Wall Street profiteers who are profiting off of Puerto Rico’s economic crisis. As a member of the diaspora, I commit to centering and amplifying the collective actions of Puerto Ricans living on the island specifically as it relates to self-determination.

INTERNATIONAL

The United States must cease interference in the democratic processes of other nations, whether through the use of unilateral coercive measures (sanctions), forced imposition of neoliberal austerity plans through the IMF, or through both covert and overt warfare. In every corner of the world, frontline communities are innovating responses to food scarcity, housing shortages, and climate change. These solutions have the best chance of building toward a liberated future since they are time-tested, sourced locally, and implemented through collaboration.

RE-ENVISION FEDERAL BUDGET

Fight excessive military spending and redistribute savings to domestic social programs that address the root causes of poverty, divest from financial institutions that invest in the military/prison industrial complex, instituting a universal Participatory Budgeting program at the Federal level as a way of creating a path for our communities to have more decision making power over the budget appropriations process.

Immigration

Abolish ICE, demilitarize the border, keep families together, institute Right to Counsel in immigration court, repeal 1996 immigration laws, provide whistleblower visas for immigrant workers to stop ICE workplace raids when undocumented workers unionize against owner exploitation, pass federal day labor protections, ban the criminalization of undocumented people, expand DACA and DAPA, support pathways to citizenship, DREAM Act, repeal discriminatory HUD housing policy that targets mixed status families.

Criminal justice reform

End cash bail, solitary confinement and private prisons, invest in language justice, institute community oversight board for communities disproportionately affected by police brutality and mass incarceration, prohibit local police departments from receiving military-grade weapons. Institute oversight for prosecutors at the federal level, decarcerate women and children, restore voting rights, legalize marijuana to promote economic justice in black and brown communities disproportionately impacted by mass incarceration related to marijuana, invest in restorative justice practices to prevent people from ending up in the prison system to begin with, put a moratorium in place for new jails until these conditions are met.

DISABILITY RIGHTS

Advocate for passage of Disability Integration Act in every State to make independence a real choice for people with significant disabilities to restore their dignity so they can decide where to obtain/receive the care they need. Promote policies that reduce work disincentives for people with disabilities to protect their entitlement benefits, double the length of the Social Security Trial work period, make Medicaid eligibility permanent, regardless of income, for anyone needing long term care, ban sub-minimum wage, require nation-wide mandatory training for law enforcement on how to interact with people with disabilities, appoint disabled people to top administrative posts.

VETERANS RIGHTS

There are thousands of homeless veterans per night due to PTSD and substance abuse stemming from lack of family support and a social network which has led to high rates of suicide in our veteran population. Military training and occupations are often times do not transfer to mainstream society placing the veteran at a disadvantage in employment. Veterans do not obtain the support system they need in training and vocational options prior to discharge along with a mental health screening to determine who is at risk of PTSD and unable to hold employment. Veterans need a just transition into society leading up to their discharge. Passing the Access to Home for Heroes Act of 2019 is a step in the right direction.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

Strongly advocate for a Green New deal following the leadership of front-line environmental justice communities in the South Bronx. Fully fund federal resiliency projects to protect the Hunts Point peninsula under the federally sponsored Rebuild by Design initiative. Achieve decarbonization of NYCHA, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promote multi-modal transportation infrastructure, reverse environmental racism surrounding interstate highways. Re-imagine Federal Right of Ways to reduce personal auto use and prioritize green commerce and transportation. Gain democratic control and own our energy sources.

LGBTQ & TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

Halt all discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification, mandate organizations receiving federal funding to commit to non-discriminatory practices, expand civil rights testing to determine discrimination in the delivery of services and accessing entitlements; with a Homes Guarantee, address the homelessness crisis being experienced in the LGBTQ community. Fight for a federal equivalent of New York State’s Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), prevent weaponization of religion to discriminate against and harm LGBTQ community.

Education justice

Fully invest in public schools, end the privatization of our public schools and the school to prison pipeline, cancel all student debt, hold lenders and the federal government accountable for issuing loans to students with limited to no background in financial literacy. Stand with teachers to demand a starting salary of $60,000, support the Free CUNY movement to push for tuition-free public college and universities, push for culturally responsive education that centers the contributions of black and brown communities in the development of this country.

Money in politics

End the corruptive force of big money in our local politics, introduce public financing matching program at the federal level, advocate for Congressional term limits, reject corporate PAC money, campaign contributions from predatory real estate developers, landlords and contracts that steal wages from our workers so that elected leaders can have the independence to put the needs of our communities first, not the lobbyists or corporate elite.

Postal service

The postal service is the backbone of our society, and is one of the leading employers of minorities, women, and veterans. Yet in recent years, the federal government has been attempting to kill and privatize the postal service. Congressman José E. Serrano has stood for the Bronx against these attempts at privatization, and that is exactly what I will do. Especially now during a time of a pandemic, it is important that we fully fund the postal service, an agency that has historically made money rather than costing money (notwithstanding the bad-faith "pre-funding" requirements from Congress). Moreover, our postal service should be expanded to deliver basic banking services to communities like the Bronx that have been severely under-banked.

District 15 MAP