ISSUES | Kiana 4 Congress

What we care about.

AFFORDABILITY

RAISE THE MINIMUM FEDERAL WAGE

The federal minimum wage is $7.50. At that rate, one hour of work won’t even cover a McDonald’s meal. You might manage two meals a day—but not three. The minimum wage must be raised—for everyone.

In District 4, the average household income is around $137,000. That sounds comfortable—but only if you’re single, debt-free, and have no kids, which is rare. Many people work multiple jobs just to keep up, and most of us live with family or friends to make ends meet. My family earns below that average, and we rely on coupons, food pantries, and asking for help.

I hate asking for help—it’s physically stressful—but I’ve had to reframe it. I’m not failing; I’m restructuring my small business to better match reality and plan for the future. My grandparents are still working, refinanced our home to cover debt, and are paying a new mortgage—a common situation in CD4.

Well-paid work means a well-earned living. Money gives you time, and time allows you to earn, invest, and live with dignity. Raising the minimum wage is about giving people both security and the time to live fully.

HOUSING

HOUSING AS A HUMAN RIGHT

My generation—and those coming after us—are struggling to achieve the American Dream. We can’t afford housing, we’re carrying debt from years of schooling, and many of us are living at home with our parents or grandparents. This is the everyday reality of the affordability crisis, and we need leaders who are living it too.

I want to focus on what will actually make us safe. That starts with treating housing as a human right. We need policies that create affordable, green housing and provide stable transition housing for seniors, veterans, and houseless Americans.

That means investing in real, practical solutions:

Grant money for short-term rentals owned by Land Trusts
Land Trusts building both transitional and long-term housing
More green, affordable housing overall
Stricter laws on luxury developments, with higher percentages of affordable housing required within those developments
Strong support for co-op investment and refinancing

These are the kinds of solutions that meet people where they are—and move us toward a future that’s actually affordable.

employment

Workers, Unions & Dignity on the Job

My mother was in a union—and now my grandma is too. Some of my favorite teachers in school and college were union members.

Respect and purpose in the workplace are essential to the success of any industry. Period. Fair wages, dignity on the job, and contracts that provide job security and health insurance are what make workers feel invested—not exploited. Capitalism can thrive on exploitation, but it doesn’t have to. When we invest in worker dignity, we increase wealth for everyone. When workers are respected, workplaces are stronger, employers are more profitable, access to education increases, and families are able to grow.

To get there, we need real action:

Restore and strengthen the NLRB. Under the Trump Administration, the National Labor Relations Board was significantly weakened. Major corporations like Amazon and Starbucks are actively union busting, and workers can’t hold them accountable without a strong NLRB and related agencies.
Raise the federal minimum wage. Too many domestic and day labor workers are still employed under exploitative conditions.

IMMIGRATION

DIGNITY FOR ALL MIGRANTS

It is human nature to be mobile. We need to restore humanity to our immigration laws. Our current practices are undignified and unworthy of us as a nation. We need to bring back everyone who was taken—the students pulled from graduation, the business owners of our family shops, our parishioners, and our PTA parents. There must be full accountability for ICE, DHS, Kristi Noem, and Greg Bovino for terroristic behavior against new American residents. Federal agencies employed some of the most dangerous individuals, armed them, provided little to no training, and unleashed them into our communities. Enough is enough.

We must restore immigration policies that allow residents to become citizens in a timely, dignified way.

As a New Yorker, I still feel something every time I see the Statue of Liberty from the ferry in the summer. Her words are clear: give me your tired, your hungry, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free. We have sullied those words and the power of the American Dream. The American Dream of freedom is meant for all. The words at her foundation call me to demand dignity for every migrant.

INFRASTRUCTURE

GOOD INFRASTRUCTURE STARTS WITH BETTER INVESTMENT

Long Island’s infrastructure hasn’t meaningfully changed since Robert Moses built it. We are nothing like the island he first ventured out on. Our cars are faster, traffic is constant, and what worked then does not work for us today. We need to reimagine and invest in a modern transportation system. That starts with real federal investment in local transportation. Funds have already been allocated to Nassau County for infrastructure repairs, but too often those dollars were mismanaged and diverted to other district needs. We need accountability and investment that actually reaches our roads and rails.

We’ve invested heavily in LaGuardia, JFK, and MacArthur Airports. Now we need to invest in the LIRR.

That means:

More frequent and faster trains on the LIRR
Reduced fare prices
Investment in local travel options like electric bikes and a local trolley system

We also need to re-regulate the airline market. Airline tickets are ridiculously priced, and passengers are constantly charged to switch or cancel flights, check bags, or cover costs completely outside their control.

Long Island deserves a transportation system built for how we actually live today—not one stuck in the past.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Financial Accountability IN GOVERNANCE

The power of the purse is one of the most important responsibilities of a member of Congress. Right now, Congress spends as if its constituents are made of money—and we are not. Billions have gone to the wealthiest Americans with little to show for it, while the gap between the top 1% and everyone else keeps growing. As someone who is deeply anxious about managing my own budget, this kind of government mismanagement is unacceptable.

We need better, more responsible use of our tax dollars:

Better management of government funds. The military has never passed an audit, yet receives the largest share of our taxes. We need real accountability—especially when veterans are unhoused and VA hospitals lack dignified care.
Tax the rich. They’ll be fine. Shared responsibility is part of a dignified society.
Remove taxes on Social Security. Seniors already paid into the system. Taxing their benefits is a tax paid twice.
Divest Social Security and retirement funds from foreign investments tied to destruction or genocide. These funds are meant to protect American workers, not harm others.

Fiscal responsibility means fairness, dignity, and respecting the people who fund this country.

HEALTHCARE

QUALITY HEALTHCARE FOR ALL

Healthcare is a human right and must be rooted in medicine and systems that respect bodily autonomy. Not having access to basic care or necessary medical procedures can be the difference between stability and crisis.

Universal healthcare. Regardless of status, race, religion, or economic situation, everyone deserves quality healthcare. Children should receive the highest quality care, no matter their economic or immigration status.
Hold medical institutions accountable. Harmful beliefs still exist in medicine, including the idea that Black and brown patients experience pain differently than white patients. Black patients are often met with resistance when advocating for themselves.

This is personal for me. I was hospitalized for a month at Northwell Health in Manhasset. When I requested specific procedures, I was told, “We usually don’t take requests, but we’ll see what happens in the operating room.” I woke up to learn my request was ignored, and the evidence will remain on my body for a lifetime.

Healthcare must be built on dignity, trust, and being heard.

EDUCATION

FAIR PAID TEACHERS, FULLY FUNDED EDUCATION

I’m a public-school kid, raised by union teachers. Public schools are the most accessible form of education for many marginalized communities in my district. They don’t need to be replaced—they need to be properly funded and raised to exceptional standards, for free. We do not need charter schools.

Education should be a public good:

Free early childhood education through 12th grade (and, in my view, associate degrees as well)
Student debt forgiveness. We bailed out banks, airlines, and major corporations—students deserve the same relief, followed by real regulation.
Lower the cost of tuition. Tuition is out of control, especially when schools can’t guarantee students a stable future. I support tuition caps, $0 application fees, more grants, and fewer loans.
Federal debt-matching program. For every dollar a borrower pays, the federal government matches it.

Our government helped create this crisis and it has a responsibility to help fix it.

climate justice

Climate, Environment & Community Protection

My childhood home was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy. Even before the storm, it needed repairs—like many homes in District 4, it was built in the 60s. The storm left a boat in a neighbor’s yard, wrecked our basement, ruined the water heater, and damaged the foundation.

My mother and I recently met the new owners of our home. They are a beautiful, big family who’ve restored so much love to the space. I want to protect the home they’ve built. But major corporations are polluting our planet just to buy damaged homes we can’t afford to fix—and then sell them back to us at prices that are out of reach.

I didn’t need to watch the Hurricane Katrina documentary. My cousins told me plenty about how the federal government failed them, and how southern hospitality only extends so far. Only a handful of my relatives still live in Louisiana. The United States must never fail its citizens during a major disaster again. I support restoring FEMA funding and expanding its powers to include preventive measures. We also need to invest in green energy—wind, solar, and other sustainable solutions. But we must be careful: many green energy materials come from places like Sudan and Congo. I refuse to risk the future of our children on the exploitation of others.