Where JAvier Stands on the issues

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Far too many Coloradans are getting left behind as the gap grows larger between the rich and the working class. Javier will make it his priority to put working families first and address the conditions that leave too many in poverty. Colorado families are struggling with the impacts of an unfair economy that prioritizes wealth over work. We must address the rising cost of living, wages that aren’t keeping up, and the burden of student debt. As your State Representative, Javier will push for a living wage so that all Coloradans can afford housing, to abolish TABOR and end corporate welfare and for better protections for workers and consumers.  

Javier believes that housing is a human right. Having spent his legal career fighting to keep Coloradans housed, he knows that having access to affordable and stable housing is critical to a family’s well being - from providing our kids with a reliable and safe space to do homework to ensuring the stability one needs to do their job. As your State Representative, Javier has fought for stronger protections for renters and won. He will continue to advocate for new affordable housing, zoning reform, tax credits for first time homebuyers and anti-gentrification protections like rent control. As a tenant’s rights lawyer, Javier has seen firsthand how inaccessible and unfair court trials are for Colorado renters. If elected, he will work to make the legal system more accessible and fair for Colorado renters on the verge of homelessness.  

 Our criminal justice system is broken. It’s a system built on systemic racism and in the words of Bryan Stevenson, it’s a system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. Standing with the Black Lives Matter movement means fighting for restorative justice. It’s time to end racial profiling, mass incarceration and the death penalty. For Javier, addressing the inequities in the criminal justice system for people experiencing poverty isn’t just a priority - it’s personal. Just four years ago, Javier’s disabled mother was arrested because she had an unpaid parking ticket from decades back. That isn’t justice, that is the criminalization of poverty. We must demilitarize the police and invest in our communities. As your State Representative, Javier will work to end the criminalization of poverty by eliminating cash bail and excessive court fines that unreasonably burden working Coloradans. He will also advocate for expanded access to voting for felons and to ban civil asset forfeiture as he believes that law enforcement should not be able to confiscate your property and sell it if you have not been convicted of a crime. 

Access to quality and affordable care should not be a privilege for few but a right for all including our undocumented neighbors. Working Coloradans deserve equal access to quality care. No Coloradan should go bankrupt because they are sick and no one should have to forego life saving treatments because they are too expensive. Javier supports Medicare for All and as your State Representative, he will advocate for universal coverage, price caps on life saving medicine, expanded access to Medicaid and equal access to coverage for undocumented Coloradans.  

 Every Coloradan deserves a quality public education. Colorado currently ranks 39th in terms of how much we spend per student. That is unacceptable, we must invest in public education and support our teachers. Javier will support legislation that will increase funding for k-12 Schools, aim to reduce teacher shortages, and raise teacher pay so that we can recruit and keep the best teachers possible. Javier would not be where he is today without community college, it gave him the chance to go back to school, get his GED and eventually go on to law school. We have to invest in our community colleges and fight to make all Colorado public colleges and universities tuition free.  

In Colorado, our immigrant communities make us great. This is especially true in South West Denver. As the legacy of Mexican immigrants Javier has always been passionate about standing up for our undocumented neighbors. In 2013, Javier worked as a community organizer focused on immigration reform and the DREAM ACT. Javier also worked for the author of the DREAM ACT in the United States Senate where he worked to push for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Javier believes that undocumented Coloradans should be able to vote in local elections, these communities pay taxes and they should have a say in their communities. As your State Representative Javier will support legislation that will give undocumented Coloradans the right to vote in local elections, expand access to state provided benefits to undocumented communities and he will fight to protect sanctuary cities and to ensure that no state or local dollars go towards immigration enforcement.   

Climate change poses the single greatest threat to our health, safety, and economic security. From increasingly worse wildfires to more extreme temperatures, the impacts of climate change are only getting worse. We also know that climate change disproportionately impacts low income communities and communities of color. It’s time that we take bold action to ensure that all Coloradans, regardless of income or race, can lead healthy lives. As your State Representative, Javier will advocate for legislation that advances a green economy with good paying jobs, transitions to a renewable, carbon-free energy grid, improve our transportation system, keep our air and water clean, and to ensure the state has the resources necessary to be prepared and ready for the reality of increased climate-induced hazards. 

Javier believes that access to reproductive care is a human right. The right to choose is in danger due to decades of GOP court packing and Colorado must do everything in its power to preserve and expand access to reproductive care. Javier believes that Colorado must repeal the ban on the use of state funds for reproductive care. At the national level,  Congress must repeal the Hyde Amendment. As your State Representative, Javier will fight any effort to limit abortion access in Colorado and he will fight to expand access to reproductive care.