Our Platform

We believe that people are entitled to go to the doctor when they're sick without the fear of bankruptcy. The U.S. currently spends 16 to 17 percent of our entire GDP on healthcare, more than any other comparable industrialized nation - with 13% of just New Jerseyans avoiding care due to cost. It’s time for Medicare for All!

The Green New Deal is the aggressive action necessary to prevent irreversible harm to our planet. We are already witnessing the most devastating wildfire season in 100 years, a new tornado valley in the southeast, and hurricanes or superstorms reaching NJ with more regularity. Yet still we see proposed oil refineries and pipelines, right here in NJ. We need a plan forward that not only takes every step to prevent these disasters, but transforms the economy to ensure a sustainable and equitable path forward.

New Jersey ranked sixth most expensive location for renters in the United States. In order to afford a modest, one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent in NJ at 30% of their income, a minimum wage earner in NJ must have 2.2 full-time jobs or work 88 hours per week. COVID has highlighted the precarious financial burdens our high rental costs have on our communities, and it has the greatest effects for seniors and minority groups. This is not a new problem from NJ, but one that has gotten systematically more dire.

The first step for any meaningful Ballot Reform in New Jersey is to Abolish The Line, which has hampered our democracy for decades. A Rutgers study found that, during New Jersey’s 2020 primaries, appearing on the county line gave candidates an average 35 percentage point advantage. This helps explain why no New Jersey congressional incumbent with the line has lost a primary in at least 50 years.

More police has never equated to less crime. Investing in consistently underfunded services like public housing, education, and mental health care will have better impacts on our communities. Police violence happens across NJ constantly, and our communities need change. If we are going to make that change, we have to elect politicians that are not beholden to police organizations through political contributions - which is why we also advocate for a No Police Money Pledge.

ICE has detained children by the thousands. ICE has unlawfully jailed migrant children once they turned 18. ICE has subjected women and children to inhumane conditions violating national detention standards and public health protocols. This is an agency of terror and abuse, and should be completely abolished.

Just 10% of registered NJ voters participated in the 2018 primaries. Only 70% of NJ residents are even registered to vote, with over a third of those unaffiliated. Any legislation or lack of action that limits the ability for people to vote is fundamentally undemocratic. We need same day voter registration, expanded early and mail-in voting, and universal automatic voter registration.

Americans have over $1,700,000,000,000 of student debt. Student loan debt is now more than auto loan debt and 2x the size of credit card debt in America. The single most significant form of non-residential debt for many American families is disproportionately affecting black, hispanic and Native American students.

Politicians are supposed to represent the voters, the people. Corporate PACs spent $280 million dollars during the 2020 primary cycle, ensuring their bottom lines, not their employees, were represented in our government. Any political representative that intends to serve the interest of the people that elected them, should have no problem signing this pledge.

15 New Jersey counties rank in the top 25 in the country in property taxes. School funding using the property tax is regressive and should be replaced by a more progressive method, such as ability to pay based upon annual income and sales tax. Spreading the local burden of financing the schools more fairly throughout the state will help ensure cost efficiencies and equity while moving our property tax, income tax, and sales tax to be more regionally competitive.

The Election Law Enforcement Commission in NJ is severely underfunded and understaffed, and therefore toothless. We need to fully fund our campaign finance enforcement system and strengthen limitations on party financing in primaries. We must reverse Citizens United and return to a publicly funded political campaign system.

It's time to put the safety and well-being of people's, both foreign and domestic, above those of corporate profits and political convenience.

Tammany Hall is alive and well in New Jersey. Party Bosses hand out no-show jobs and lucrative contracts to friends and corporate donors in exchange for obedience at the ballot box. The Spoils System is one of the biggest obstacles to progress in having a democratic election process and an effective government. We must purge ourselves of this system.

Despite increasing state-wide approval of LGBTQ+ rights, we are seeing rejection of LGBTQ inclusion from school boards, systematic descrimination in housing, employment, prisons and healthcare. Education on queer history, issues, and health are severely lacking in NJ school curriculums. We need representation on those school boards, on those municipal councils, and in the state legislature to ensure the protection of the basic rights of the LGBTQ community.