The right to keep and bear arms, for both personal protection, and hunting/sporting/collecting purposes, shall not be infringed. That, and all tenets of our Constitutions, I will swear to uphold.
So many jobs are related to farming, directly and indirectly. Programs that support our hardworking farm families and related businesses are essential. Government needs to listen to the needs of this sector and find creative ways to meet those needs.
Government does have a role to play in helping those who cannot help themselves. Programs which allow seniors and the disabled to stay in their homes, if that is what they want, are to be incentivized. Providing services thru partnerships with non-profits and churches are to be encouraged as well.
I will be a budget and deficit watchdog, opposing wasteful spending and unnecessary duplication of resources. Balanced budgets and looking for ways to reduce tax burdens on families will be my top priorities. I will not vote to raise taxes. We must do more with less at the government level, just as families like mine have to do.
I am a strong believer that life begins at conception and all life is special and sacred. We must defend and protect life and support all mothers by making available crisis pregnancy centers and adoption alternatives. Through churches and non-profit organizations. We must pass the Protect Life Amendment to the Iowa Constitution that failed in June, by just one vote.
Iowa's health care system includes some of the best doctors and nurses in the world. We must provide support and incentives to protect our rural providers and ensure that Iowans have access to the specialists they need. The cost of health care is exorbitant. But at the state level, we can make sure that tax money spent providing health care is well managed and not wasteful.
Manufacturing jobs and small business jobs are the backbone of our community. We need to reduce red tape and regulations that handcuff these businesses. We must reduce the tax burdens on these job creators so they can hire more people and grow their businesses. This will allow them to produce more revenue, that will generate more income for them, and more dollars for local and state governments.
I believe in supporting public, Christian, independent, and homeschool families. All children deserve safe learning environments where teachers and students can thrive, and dollars spent on public education get to the classroom for teachers, books, and technology, not extra layers of bureaucracy. We have an outstanding public university system that needs proper funding, but also oversight to make sure the dollars go into the students, teachers and infrastructure and are best utilized. This includes Muscatine Community College and our community college system as well.