ISSUES

Let's Do This Together.

THIS SECTION IS FROM THE ORIGINAL ABOUT PAGE AND IS HIDDEN HERE FOR FUTURE USE:

WHY IS MEGAN RUNNING?

I grew up right here in Iowa. Like many people in this district, my parents are immigrants who chose Iowa to be our home because of the good education system, the opportunities for working families, and safe neighborhoods in which we could grow up and play. But during the last several years, those things have changed.

Incomes for working families are lagging, our state budget is a mess, and healthcare has become unaffordable or unattainable for too many Iowans.

Poor governance during the pandemic only worsened these things. Workers' safety and job security have been completely disregarded. Many of our small businesses are struggling to get by. Healthcare remains out of reach for so many people. And teachers and school staff who were once heroes are now vilified as they try to keep our kids safe.

Fortunately, we can solve these challenges if we join together and put people over political party. During the pandemic, I stood alongside so many of you fighting for the lives and livelihoods of Iowans. In the legislature, I’ll continue to use my voice for you. I'll stand up for workers and fight for good jobs with good wages. I'll work to balance the budget, just like working families have to every year. And I’ll bring my medical experience to the state Capitol to show politicians how we can fix our health care system to provide better care at a more affordable price.

During the last 20 months of the pandemic, you've trusted me to help keep you safe. Now I’m asking you to trust me with your vote.

Gun Safety and Common Sense Reform

Gun violence is now the #1 cause of death for children and teens in this country. Dr. Megan Srinivas understands that gun violence is a public health crisis and we must act immediately to end this tragic epidemic. We must take on the gun lobby and demand common-sense gun reform like stronger background checks and reinstating carry permits for Iowans by repealing HF756.

Furthermore, we must continue to study the public health impact of gun violence, so we can develop the best solutions to prevent tragedies from occurring in the future. After the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting, Megan co-authored an American Medical Association piece of legislation calling for the repeal of the Dickey Amendment, an amendment that deterred federal funding for gun violence research by prohibiting the use of federal funds to advocate or promote gun reform.

Megan’s co-authored legislation was read on the U.S. Senate floor and helped lead to the official repeal of the Dickey Amendment in 2018.

In the Iowa House, Megan will continue her work to keep Iowans safe and will fight to:

Reinstate carry permits for Iowans by repealing HF756
Close the loopholes that allow those convicted of violent crimes to own a gun
Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
Take on the NRA by changing campaign finance laws so that the gun lobby stops buying politicians and influence
Continue to fund studies on the public health impact of gun violence, so we can develop the best solutions to prevent tragedies from occurring in the future.

Improve Education.

Dr. Megan Srinivas is a proud product of Iowa public schools. She served on the State Board of Education under Governor Vilsack and teaches at the university and medical school levels. From being a student to understanding policy to working as an educator, Megan understands the importance of a strong public education system. As the only candidate in this race who attended Iowa public schools, she knows that Southside families and students deserve the best education Iowa has to offer.

“We must fully fund our public schools and support our teachers and staff. Public tax dollars belong in public schools.” - Dr. Megan Srinivas

To transform public education on the Southside, Megan will fight to:

Fully fund public schools.
Support public school teachers and staff with more resources and better pay.
Protect local control for school districts.
Properly fund our public universities.

Health Care & Reproductive Rights

“Health care is a human right. It’s time the legislature realizes Iowans deserve more.”

-Dr. Megan Srinivas

The privatization of Medicaid has only increased the cost of services while denying more Iowans the care they need. Every day as a physician, Dr. Megan sees Iowans facing health obstacles that can’t be fixed with a prescription pad alone. As a health policy analyst and a reproductive health researcher, she is uniquely qualified to lead on reproductive choice and reversing Medicaid privatization.

She is also the only candidate in the race who has never wavered in her support for reproductive rights.

Dr. Megan will fight for all Iowans to get the health care they need, when they need it.

As a physician, Dr. Megan is uniquely qualified to fight to:

Repeal the privatization of Medicaid.
Ensure all Iowans get the health care they need.
Protect access to reproductive health care.
Expand coverage of preventive care to include vision, dental, and hearing
Lower prescription drug pricing.

Good Jobs and Better Wages.

Dr. Megan Srinivas knows we must value and protect our working families. The pandemic and inflation are shrinking our economy and diminishing opportunities for all Iowans. Dr. Megan knows we must do everything we can to protect our small businesses, establish a living wage, and revitalize our local economy. Iowans shouldn’t need to work multiple jobs just to get by.

Megan is honored to be endorsed by multiple unions and will fight to protect the dignity of workers on the Southside.

Support unions and reverse attacks on collective bargaining.
Protect workers’ rights and pensions, including IPERS and 411.
Establish a living wage for all Iowans.
Fund mental health resources.
Ensure everyone gets the health care they need and can afford their prescriptions.

Mental Health

Dr. Megan Srinivas knows Iowa’s mental health crisis can no longer be ignored. Throughout her career as a physician and as a board member of the Iowa chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), Dr. Megan spent years fighting to provide mental health resources for Iowans. Now, she is ready to take that fight to the state legislature.

“We are dead last in the nation for mental health resources. Our legislature cuts funding year after year and Iowans are suffering. It’s time to ensure everyone gets access to the care they need.”

- Dr. Megan Srinivas

In the Iowa House, Dr. Megan will fight to:

Increase funding for mental health services.
Expand mental health services, facilities, and beds.
Increase the mental health workforce to alleviate the strain on public safety officers, prevent crises, and improve the safety and wellbeing of Iowans living with mental illness.
Create partnerships for addiction recovery services including staff pipelines.

Pandemic Readiness

During crisis times, public health leaders are vulnerable because of inflammatory political rhetoric. We must pass policies that will adequately fund our public health systems at all levels. We also must ensure objective science leads policy decisions instead of political accountability to interest groups.

The US public health system is based on a spoke and wheel model with the CDC at the epicenter, working with state departments of health. These state-level departments provide regional recommendations that are interpreted locally by county-level health departments. Our public health infrastructure is more unstable now than it was before the pandemic.

We need to focus on rebuilding our state and local public health departments with resources and staffing. Our national monitoring and surveillance systems are effective at tracking small outbreaks, but are severely lacking when there are pandemic-size case loads locally. Building robust systems at the county and state levels will allow public health departments to detect and intervene earlier to prevent rapid spread of the next pandemic.

Additionally, many public health workers have faced threats, are burned out, or experiencing PTSD from the enormous pressures placed on them for the last two years. We must pass legislation to support our public health and health care workers with resources to face mental health obstacles and burn out.