Economic Security & Affordability

Life should be Affordable

Working people are doing everything right. working full time, picking up extra hours, and still falling behind. The problem isn't that people aren't working hard enough. The problem is that the cost of living has outpaced wages, and corporations are allowed to raise prices dramatically without accountability.

Housing Affordability

Housing is something that is hard to tackle on a national level. Housing markets are very localized and there are different issues plaguing different markets.

On a national level, I support banning corporations from buying up single-family homes and artificially reducing the supply of houses on the market. I will also support national bills that support housing development as our population grows while still protecting the environment.

A Living Wage That Reflects Reality

The federal minimum wage has failed to keep up with the real cost of living, and a one-size-fits-all number doesn't reflect the reality of different states.

I support raising the minimum wage and implementing dynamic minimum wage adjustments where the minimum wage gets adjusted every year based on inflation. As housing, food, and basic expenses rise, wages should rise automatically without Congress or States having to pass legislation for increases every year.

We already have a version of this legislation in Florida. I think it would work well on the National level. For Florida, the cost of living increases go into effect next year, after the minimum wage becomes $15 per hour.

No one working full time should be living in poverty.

End the Sub-Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers

Tipped workers should not have to rely on the generosity of strangers to survive.

I support eliminating the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers and guaranteeing the same base wage as everyone else, with tips on top - not as a substitute for fair pay.

This protects workers from wage theft, income instability, and discrimination, while still allowing customers to tip for good service. Tips should be a bonus to workers, not a requirement to survive.

Stop Insurance Price Gouging

Auto and home insurance costs are rising faster than inflation, especially in Florida, and families are being forced to absorb the hit.

I support legislation to cap annual insurance premium increases so that insurance companies cannot raise rates faster than inflation in a given year. If costs go up 3%, your bill shouldn't go up 10%.

I also support protections that prevent insurers from raising your premiums on the same vehicle, home, or apartment when you are not at fault for an accident or loss. If someone else causes the damage, families should not be punished for it.

Insurance exists to provide protection to families if something goes wrong, not to bankrupt people.

Lowering and Stabilizing Grocery Prices

Groceries are a necessary part of everyone's life. Everyone spends money on them and we need them to survive. Since the Covid Pandemic, large grocers and food corporations have used the excuse of inflation to over-inflate prices at the grocery store.

To keep prices from rising and to potentially lower prices, my stance is to enforce antitrust laws in the food industry, prevent anti-competitive mergers that allow monopolistic entities in our food market to set egregious prices, and to provide support to smaller, regional grocers and food producers to help get them in the market.