Standing Up for Oregon

Investing In Education

Courtney’s support secured essential funding for Oregon schools. She is especially concerned about equity as well as the mental health of our students and educators as they navigate distance learning. As Vice Chair of the House Education Committee, she will be leading a work group focused on addressing mental health in our Oregon education system. Courtney sees education through the eyes of a parent and a teacher and will continue to stand up for:

Educators, who know that resources, behavioral supports, and smaller class sizes will improve learning outcomes.
Students, who need access to wraparound services such as nutrition and counseling.
Families, who deserve to feel safe and welcome at school.
Higher education faculty, who deserve access to healthcare.
Our communities, because everyone benefits from community members who have been loved and educated as children.

Championing Affordable Healthcare

Courtney helped advance legislation that would make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all Oregonians. As someone who was once denied health insurance, she understands the fear and frustration of not knowing how to afford healthcare. She believes in healthcare as a right. She’ll continue to stand up for:

Affordable, accessible healthcare for all, including mental health and reproductive healthcare.
Lower prescription drug prices.
Protecting Medicaid for our most vulnerable community members.

Fighting For Oregon Families

As a working mom herself, Courtney knows our working families are the engine of our economy and our future. That’s why she passed one of the country’s strongest Paid Family and Medical Leave policies. She’ll stand up for policies and vision that includes equitable treatment of all genders and family structures. She’ll keep supporting working families by fighting for:

Child care access and affordability.
Equal pay for equal work.
Policies that value caregiving for family members of all ages and abilities.

Supporting Small Businesses

Courtney knows that small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and they are being hit especially hard by the COVID crisis. That’s why she’ll continue fighting for:

Targeted relief for small businesses shut down during the pandemic.
Connecting businesses to the resources they need such as PPE and workforce assistance.

Responding to the Homeless Crisis

Courtney wants everyone to have a safe, stable place to call home. She knows that lack of living wage, rising housing and childcare costs, healthcare expenses, and systemic oppression have exposed many Oregonians to extreme vulnerability across our State. She will continue to support equity in our institutions, as well as strategic upstream investments to curb homelessness such as:

Addiction and mental health services.
Financial literacy in our education programs for all ages.
Bridge programs that can help people rebuild their lives after instability.
Veterans and women’s services that respond directly to those in crisis.

Standing up for Workers

Brave members of our community are putting themselves on the line each and every day to keep the rest of us safe during the COVID-19 crisis. From nurses and doctors, to grocery clerks, to agricultural workers, Courtney will stand up for all essential workers for the duration of this crisis and beyond. She’ll keep pushing for:

Proper PPE and testing for frontline workers and their families.
Increased access to sick leave for families impacted by COVID-19.
Hazard pay for those workers who consistently put themselves on the line.
Better access to unemployment benefits for individuals who’ve been laid off as a result of the pandemic.

Protecting our Environment

Courtney is committed to protecting Oregon’s vast natural beauty and resources for future generations. She supported Oil By Rail Safety Legislation, and stood up to the federal government with Oregon’s Environmental Protection Act when the Trump administration tried to roll back policies Oregonians value. Courtney will continue to fight for:

Climate Action that includes job training and accountability.
Stronger standards on toxins with negative health impacts.
Clean transportation infrastructure.
Safe drinking water solutions.

Confronting Racism

Courtney is committed to continuing to champion equitable solutions so that all community members have an opportunity to thrive, whether black, brown or white. Calls for justice across our nation and in our communities cannot be minimized. In her commitment to anti-racism, she supported bipartisan justice reform, the CROWN Act and all six bipartisan police accountability bills in the 2020 Special session. We can count on Courtney to:

Stand up against hatred, bias, and injustices in our communities
Stand in solidarity with our BIPOC community members calling for a thorough review of embedded racism in our systems.
Work with our law enforcement agencies to seek community input, address gaps in policy and training, support accountability and rebuild trust.
Ensure our education system has an effective curriculum to acknowledge systemic racism woven into Oregon’s original statehood fabric

Addressing Coronavirus Recovery

Courtney is committed to supporting resiliency as we endure and rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic. She has focused on supporting the local efforts of cities, counties and school districts as they respond, as well as advocating for their needs at the state level. She knows resiliency will require:

Protections for workers and employers who are trying to safely reopen our economy.
Stabilizing housing and rent, through mortgage and rent resources and evictions moratoriums.
Solutions for families and individuals who know that “normal” is not yet an option, but who want to be able to safely interact with their community as soon as it is safe to do so.
Additional funding for our Child Advocacy Centers and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) as child abuse reports surge.
Ongoing assessment of safe returns to school and play so that we can support the needs of Oregon’s children.
Mitigation of the spread of the virus to ensure our healthcare systems are not overburdened and individuals who fall ill are able to get essential care they need.