On the Issues

For most of us, healthcare expenses eat up far too much of our budgets, and too many of us are one accident or diagnosis away from serious financial hardship. Essential services like older adult care are beyond the means of many families. We should be expanding healthcare coverage, and yet, due to Congressional Republicans, we are already seeing rising premiums and Medicaid cuts closing rural clinics in the Valley.

Harrisonburg and Rockingham County have nearly 30 thousand individuals (about 20% of the total population) that depend on heath insurance programs currently being cut by the federal government. Andrew would support legislation to defend and expand public coverage so that everyone has access to the care they need. 

Housing is too expensive and most jobs don't pay enough. We've seen rent and housing prices skyrocket. Less than half of working households in Virginia can afford a median cost home, and home ownership is becoming out of reach for young Virginians.

Andrew would support legislation to protect tenants and lower housing costs and would pursue measures to address burdensome zoning laws, like mandatory parking minimums, that impact our ability to build more affordable housing.

The rising costs of groceries, childcare, and insurance are squeezing many of us to breaking point while wages aren't keeping up with inflation.

We all deserve to be safely housed and paid a living wage for the work that we do. Andrew would support measures to increase the rights of workers, like the right to collective bargaining, protections from workplace discrimination, and ensuring paid parental leave and paid sick leave for all workers.

Quality education is the hallmark of a successful society, and we live with enough abundance to ensure that every child has access to a public education that meets their needs and expands their horizons. Classrooms should be safe and supportive, and we should let teachers teach.

Andrew supports fully funding the public schools, and to do that, he would make sure corporations and the 1% pay their fair share in taxes. He believes what's good for teachers is good for students, and that includes restoring collective bargaining rights and making teacher pay competitive with other states. He believes we should be able to offer universal pre-K and lower the cost of higher education, including making community colleges tuition free. 

The Valley sustains us from the food we eat to supporting our local economy. We should maintain our water, our land, and our rural culture. Andrew would work to protect farms and public lands from development pressures.

Andrew helped to lower energy bills for Valley families and will continue to do so as a delegate. State programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative help reduce utility bills and energy burden on low-income homes and prepare us for natural disasters like floods, but only if we protect them from politicians who care more about the bottom line of utility companies than they do about our people and our planet.