Caroline on the Issues

We must end the culture of corruption in Montgomery and elect representatives who are transparent and understand that they must be accountable to the people they represent. I will fight for campaign finance and ethics reform. It’s no wonder so many representatives are beholden to special interests when there are no limits on how much money these powerful special interests can contribute to their campaigns.

As your state senator, my business will be your business. I will hold regular town halls and be accessible to you. I will share any bills I am sponsoring or supporting online for your feedback. I know that I will work for you, and my duty will be to represent your interests in a transparent way.

Alabama cannot be a leader in a 21^st Century economy when our 20^th Century infrastructure is crumbling. 50% of Alabama’s roadways are rated as fair, poor or very poor. More than 20% of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Alabamians are not safe.

Our infrastructure issues go beyond roads and bridges. To compete in the new digital economy, access to reliable, high-speed internet is crucial. Today, 842,000 people in Alabama, particularly in rural Alabama, do not have access to wired broadband.

As your state senator, I will work to expand internet access throughout our rural areas and to improve our roads & bridges so that we can attract the good jobs that will grow our region.

To prepare our young people for the future, we must provide them with quality, public education at an early age. We have the best Pre-K program in the country, First Class, but the level of state funding enables only 32% of eligible children to attend. We must fully fund this program so that all of our children get a strong start in school.

We also must improve career tech in high school. In the digital economy, many good jobs require vocational or technical training. Currently, we only provide 50% of the training needed.

As your state senator, I will work for an education lottery to fully fund career tech and K4.

Many Alabamians are working more than one job to make ends meet and our per capita income is ranked 47^th nationwide. We are 50^th in professional opportunities for women. And women make $.74 for every dollar paid to men. 600,000 Alabamians are either unemployed or underemployed. We must do better.

As your state senator, I will work for legislation to address gender wage inequality and to improve workforce training and development so that we can attract better-paying jobs to our area.

Alabama is ranked 47^th in the nation for health care, and our rural communities are in crisis. Rural hospitals are closing and health care providers are leaving.  In states like Alabama that haven’t expanded Medicaid, rural hospitals are 6 times more likely to close than in states that did expand Medicaid. This is a problem that effects every one of us. We have the highest infant mortality rate in the nation, and a big reason for this is lack of access to health care.

As your state senator, I will work to expand Medicaid. Expanding Medicaid will infuse $1.8 billion into our health care system, will help our economy by creating jobs, and will make quality health care more accessible to all of us.