Currently holds the office of Illinois State Senate - District 20 until January 6, 2025.
Candidate for Illinois State Senate - District 20 in 2024 Illinois General Election.
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Get Started100% pro-choice. Learn more
Fiercely defend the right to abortion, keeping Illinois a safe haven for patients, physicians, and families and opposing any legislation that attempts to restrict our reproductive rights. Learn more
Fight for the Decriminalization of Sex Work The criminalization of sex work makes sex workers more vulnerable to violence on the job and less likely to report violence. This criminalization also prevents sex workers from accessing healthcare and other critical services, funds an out of control mass incarceration system, and marginalizes folks struggling in poverty who have been pushed out of the formal economy and into sex work. Learn more
Fully and successfully implement the Safe-T Act, which ended money bond and brought much-needed reforms to police departments across Illinois in a critical first step to addressing the profound racial disparities within our criminal justice system. Learn more
Increase funding for proven strategies to increase community safety, including community violence intervention, youth employment, and providing formerly incarcerated people with the housing and employment opportunities they need to safely and successfully transition back to their former neighborhoods. Learn more
Fight for the Decriminalization of Sex Work. Learn more
Invest in real mental healthcare as violence prevention, such as funding and expanding the Community Emergency Services and Support Act, to follow the lead of Chicago’s Treatment Not Trauma campaign and deploy mental health professionals, not armed police officers, in the event of a mental health emergency. Learn more
Fully and successfully implement the Safe-T Act. Learn more
Fight for progressive revenue solutions to reverse generations of regressive tax policy, including a graduated income tax and a permanent expansion of the Earned Income and Child Tax credit that put hundreds of dollars back into the pockets of poor- and working-class Illinoisans. Learn more
Fully fund our state colleges and university systems, including increased adult education programming, and creating a path towards free community college for all. Learn more
Ensure students have quality schools no matter what educational route they take. Whether that’s at a neighborhood school, magnet school, or selective enrollment, parents be empowered in their choices, knowing that they have high-quality options across the board. Learn more
Promote democracy in public education, including fair maps for Chicago’s new elected school board, an elected board for City Colleges of Chicago, and a curriculum that honors the true history of Black, indigenous, and immigrant communities in the United States. Learn more
Fully fund our state colleges and university systems,including increased adult education programming, and creating a path towards free community college for all. Learn more
Fight for fully-funded neighborhood schools that serve all students and supporting all school workers, including teachers, librarians, special education aides and support staff, parent mentors, nurses, and social workers. Learn more
Make Illinois and Chicago a leader in decarbonization and climate resilience with generational investments in public transportation, green social housing, green new schools, and community energy independence and wealth-building. Learn more
Enact Clean Vehicle Standards that dramatically reduce the air pollution burden borne by Black and immigrant environmental justice communities and force giant corporations like Amazon to do more for the health and wellness of our communities. Learn more
Create green union jobs with the unprecedented influx of federal dollars from the federal Inflation Reduction Act, with a focus on workforce development and job creation for communities directly impacted by generations of disinvestment. Learn more
Invest in real mental healthcare as violence prevention, such as funding and expanding the Community Emergency Services and Support Act, to follow the lead of Chicago’s Treatment Not Trauma campaign and deploy mental health professionals, not armed police officers, in the event of a mental health emergency. Learn more
Support programs like healthcare navigators, which drive resources to under-served communities to facilitate healthcare enrollment, and making key improvements to Illinois’ successful implementation of a state-based insurance exchange. Learn more
Fight towards single-payer healthcare for the state as a pathway towards universal coverage, and a better healthcare system for all that is motivated by the health, safety, and welfare of our community. Learn more
Champion access to the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare, including combating postpartum mortality, improving access to contraceptives and telemedical reproductive health services, and protecting funding for family planning and sexual health education in community-based settings. Learn more
Require Illinois hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities to comply with required staff-to-patient ratios that improve patient safety and reduce the risk of injury to nurses and other healthcare workers. Learn more
Protect and expand access to gender-affirming care. Graciela will increase efforts to spread the word that Illinois is a safe place for reproductive and gender justice, and that we welcome all who wish to live free from persecution and harassment. Learn more
Combat gentrification and preserve the cultural identity of our neighborhoods through supporting small businesses, grassroots civic engagement, and initiatives such as the Here to Stay Community Land Trust, which provides affordable homeownership opportunities to long-term residents. Learn more
Fully fund service providers across Chicago and Illinois who provide permanent supportive housing, emergency and transitional services for youth and adults, and long-term support to prevent homelessness before it begins. Learn more
Lift the ban on rent control by passing legislation that would give the municipalities the ability to protect their tenants and preserve their affordable housing stock. Learn more
Push the federal government to resource a humane migrant response system. Learn more
Consolidate Pace, Metra, and CTA into one coordinated system to allow better planning and fare integration across operators. Learn more
Redirect federal dollars away from highways toward transit statewide to improve access in all communities and reach Illinois’ climate goals. Learn more
Fight for progressive revenue solutions to reverse generations of regressive tax policy, including a graduated income tax and a permanent expansion of the Earned Income and Child Tax credit that put hundreds of dollars back into the pockets of poor- and working-class Illinoisans. Learn more
Increase state funding in Chicagoland transit to reverse service cuts and expand beyond pre-pandemic service levels. Learn more
Defend our right to work with dignity and retire with security, including fully funding workers’ hard-earned pensions and eliminating subminimum wages for tipped workers and people with disabilities. Learn more
Protect workers from exploitation by expanding the state Department of Labor, providing workers with tools to fight wage theft, and expanding public benefits like TANF and All Kids which make workers less dependent on their bosses for basic services. Learn more
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