To build a strong foundation for our district's prosperity and safety, Rena is dedicated to taking on the core challenges facing families in our neighborhoods: jobs, education, healthcare, safety, and transportation issues. By working together, we can rise above the obstacles that hinder our day-to-day lives and find real solutions in order to make a real change for us all. Join Rena as she leaves behind the status quo and seeks genuine results that will get us back on track to community-wide prosperity.

Rena on the Issues: Jobs | Education | Healthcare | Public Safety and Justice | Transportation

Rena on Jobs

Rena plans to create jobs for community members and help get Minnesotans back to work. Having gone through periods of trying to raise her family on a minimum wage job, Rena understands the importance of creating and protecting family-sustaining wage jobs. Plain and simple, if you are working full time in Minnesota, you should not be living in poverty.

She will fight to make sure that future development protects and respects the thriving culture and emerging small businesses in the area. Small, family owned businesses help make our community great - and we must work to ensure that they survive through central corridor light rail construction and beyond.

Rena will continue her leadership to ensure that local residents gain equal access to jobs created by the light rail and other public investments. She will move to create greater transparency, reporting and accountability in public investments to ensure hiring equity for low-income and communities of color.

Additionally, Rena has already collaborated with state legislators to make sure low-income residents and people of color received their fair share of Minnesota jobs created by federal stimulus money. She will fight to extend funding for job training and support, raise the minimum wage to a livable wage, and will advocate for a mandatory number of sick days for all employees. These are common sense measures that will help everyday working people.

Finally, our public assistance program should expect, support and reward work. Rena will work tirelessly to ensure that our welfare-to-work program is supported through job training and education opportunities and a fully funded child care subsidy program for the working poor. We can build strong communities by putting people to work, and making sure that work pays.

Rena on Education

Rena believes that every child in Minnesota deserves a great education, regardless of where they live and will fight to give urban school children the same quality of education that their peers in affluent suburbs receive. She will work with state legislators to create a more equitable system by investing in education to reduce class size, expand proven programs and work to close the achievement gap between students of color and white students.

In an increasingly global society, our young people are entering a job market that's more competitive than ever. Unlike their parents and grandparents, our children are competing in a true global economy. It's our responsibility to give them the education and training they need to keep Minnesota internationally competitive, prosperous, and a great place to live.

Furthermore, Rena will improve affordability and accessibility of higher education. Subsidized grant programs helped Rena earn her college degree, and is currently making college possible for her son Jovan, who will be entering his junior year at Minnesota State-Mankato. She understands the promise and benefits of a quality education, and will be a fierce advocate for the right of all students to reach their full potential.

Rena on Healthcare

Rena supports a single-payer, universal healthcare system. The Minnesota Health Plan is a solution that will address access, quality and cost. By removing private insurance companies from serving as the "middle man" - we will reduce wasteful costs and put those savings directly to keeping Minnesotans healthy. If elected, Rena will sign on as an author of the Minnesota Health Plan on her first day in office.

All nine people in Rena's immediate family have been uninsured at some point in their lives, so like many Americans, this issue hits close to home. Health insurance is a basic right, and Rena will work to ensure that everyone is covered and that we put our dollars to actual health care, not profit margins, CEO salaries and other wasteful spending in our current system.

Rena on Public Safety and Justice

We all deserve safe neighborhoods and a sense of peace as we go about our daily lives. Our law enforcement deserves the support of our full community. It is an incredible responsibility to keep us safe and protect our neighborhoods in the face of real danger.

All people, regardless of means or background, also deserves equal and fair treatment throughout every part of the criminal justice system. Rena will fight to eliminate racial profiling and protect our civil liberties and privacy, while also working tirelessly toward a system that allows ex-offenders who have served their sentence every opportunity to re-enter society in fair, productive and meaningful way.

Additionally, Rena opposes invasive laws that would require police to question community members, based on race, ethnicity or their immigration status. She will work against dangerous proposals similar to Arizona's new immigration law. There is no place in Minnesota law for legalized racial profiling and harassment of innocent Minnesotans.

Public Transportation

Public transportation is the wave of the future. It is environmentally friendly, reduces congestion, creates jobs and spurs local development. The Central Corridor is an exciting development for St. Paul and our district, but it must work for the whole community, with a special focus on current residents and business owners.

Rena has been leading the charge to protect local homeowners from being displaced due to gentrification and rising property taxes. She founded the "Save Our Homes" campaign to assert the rights and voice of homeowners as decisions were being made that would have impact for decades to come.

As a state legislator, Rena will provide oversight for the performance of contractors hiring people of color and women on the Central Corridor. With an 18% goal for these groups agreed upon, it will be essential to have a Representative that understands the difference between a hiring goal on paper and actual boots on the ground. Rena will not give up until the hiring goals are met, and that a fair portion of the paychecks are brought back to our local families.