— The Platform —
Kirsten’s platform is built on three commitments: care before crisis, stability for working families, and a government that works for everyone. Every policy should answer at least one of these questions:
Does it fix problems before they become more expensive?
Does it help working families build a stable life?
Does it make the government accountable to the people who pay for it?
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When people cannot get care early, problems get worse, families suffer, emergency rooms fill up, and taxpayers pay more later. A state healthcare buy-in would help working families who make too much for current assistance programs but not enough to afford private insurance. It would also help small businesses that want to take care of their workers but can’t compete with the benefits large corporations can offer. Kirsten will introduce legislation to expand the Healthy Indiana Plan so more Hoosiers can get care before they fall into crisis. Her plan would:
Allow Hoosiers above the current income limit to buy into the HIP plan through the state.
Use sliding scale payments so coverage is affordable.
Remove POWER Account lockouts due to lack of payment so people are not cut off from care when they are already struggling.
Simplify sign-up and renewal so people do not lose coverage because of paperwork.
Increase reimbursement rates so more doctors, clinics, mental health providers, and specialists accept public coverage.
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When a hospital closes or EMS is stretched too thin, the whole community pays the price. Kirsten will fight for state funding that maintains hospitals and emergency services across Indiana, including rural and small-city communities that are too often left behind. That includes:
Maintaining hospital access in every county.
Supporting rural hospitals and local emergency departments.
Funding maternal and pediatric care.
Strengthening EMS access in every county.
Making sure low-income communities are not left without emergency services because their local tax base cannot carry the cost alone.
Supporting reliable 24-hour basic and advanced life support coverage.
Treating EMS as an essential service, not an optional one.
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Hoosiers have the right to make private medical decisions with their doctors. This means ensuring health, privacy, family, and making sure mothers and babies can get care close to home. She will introduce legislation to make maternal healthcare available in every county across the state. That includes:
Protecting OBGYN services.
Expanding maternal healthcare access in every county.
Supporting prenatal, labor and delivery, postpartum, and pediatric care.
Making sure families can get care close to home before, during, and after pregnancy.
Reversing Indiana’s abortion ban.
Protecting access to contraception and emergency contraception.
Provide gender affirming care.
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When treatment is unavailable, the crisis does not disappear. It lands on families, first responders, schools, hospitals, jails, and taxpayers. Mental health and addiction care should not begin in jail, the emergency room, or the back of an ambulance. Kirsten will support:
Expanding access to mental health treatment.
Expanding access to substance use treatment.
Funding crisis stabilization options close to home.
Supporting local partnerships between healthcare providers, first responders, schools, and community organizations.
Improving reimbursement rates to increase provider acceptance of public coverage.
Making sure rural and small city communities are not left without care.
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First responders should not be the only answer to every crisis. Supporting them means giving them backup that actually fits the problem. Kirsten will write legislation to create and fund a Department of Community Safety. They would support first responders by helping communities place trained support workers where they can reduce repeat emergency calls, connect people to services, and address problems before they become more dangerous and expensive. This would help with:
Mental health calls.
Addiction-related calls.
Reducing repeat emergency calls.
Domestic violence follow-up.
Housing instability.
Connecting families to services before things get worse.
Grief and death-related support.
Connecting people to treatment, benefits, housing, and local services.
Keeping people out of jail when the real need is treatment, housing, or support.
Allowing law enforcement to focus on serious crime and violence.
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Families should not have to wait until a crisis becomes deadly before support is available. Kirsten has worked directly with survivors of domestic violence and has seen how hard it is to find shelter, transportation, and support close to home. She will fight to:
Provide fair funding for domestic violence services in every region.
Ensure each county has access to a shelter program or temporary housing program.
Support transportation and safety planning for survivors.
Improve coordination between law enforcement, courts, schools, hospitals, and service providers.
Make sure rural and small city communities are not left without help.
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Protecting children means responding to danger and reducing the conditions that allow danger to grow. Kirsten has worked with families in crisis and knows child safety depends on more than one agency or one report. She will support:
Stronger child protection services.
Better support for foster families and kinship caregivers.
More mental health support for children.
Better coordination between schools, healthcare, courts, and child welfare.
Services that help families before a child is in danger.
Stronger support for children who have experienced abuse, neglect, violence, or exploitation.
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A decent society does not abandon people when they become easier to overlook. Seniors and vulnerable adults deserve safety, dignity, and support. Kirsten will fight to rebuild adult protection services so vulnerable adults are not ignored or left without help. This includes:
Stronger adult protective services.
Better follow-up for reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Support for caregivers.
Coordination between hospitals, law enforcement, local government, and community organizations.
Services that help seniors and adults with disabilities stay safe and stable.
Care Before Crisis
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Families should not be forced to pay higher utility bills without clear proof the money is necessary and fair. If energy companies want to raise your bill, they need to prove why. Kirsten will fight to:
Make utility companies justify rate hikes, fees, and grid costs before passing them onto families.
Protect households from unfair utility fees.
Make sure large projects, including data centers, pay for the strain they place on the grid.
Keep utility costs from being shifted onto working families, seniors, small businesses, and farmers.
Strengthen public oversight of rate increases.
Make sure families are not paying higher bills because large corporations were given special treatment.
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Housing stability is family stability. People should be able to afford to stay in the homes and communities they helped build. Kirsten supports property tax relief that protects homeowners without gutting schools, libraries, fire departments, EMS, and local services. A property tax plan is not responsible if it simply cuts local services and hands the bills to families another way. Kirsten will also fight for renter protections, including:
Repealing state laws that block local governments from protecting renters.
Restoring local control so communities can respond to rising rent, fees, and unfair leasing practices.
Supporting reasonable limits on rent increases.
Making sure renters know their rights.
Protecting people from being priced out of the communities where they work, raise families, and serve their neighbors.
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Food access is about more than hunger. No family should lose food because of outdated systems, fraud, or political games. No parent should have to choose between paying for their utility bill and feeding their child. Working families deserve to afford a normal life. Kirsten is committed to:
Switching SNAP benefit cards to chip-enabled cards to protect families from skimming and theft.
Opposing harmful restrictions that make it harder for families to buy food.
Basing SNAP benefits on the real cost of healthy meals.
Raising the SNAP income limit to 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
Making accommodations for families with medical, dietary, or unique household needs.
Supporting publicly owned grocery stores where communities need affordable food access and private markets have failed to meet the need. Public grocery stores would be run for the benefit of the community, not for private profit. It would help lower prices, improve food access, support local produce, and give families a dependable place to buy groceries close to home.
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When wages are too low, taxpayers end up subsidizing large employers through public assistance, Medicaid, emergency support, and food assistance. That is not fair to workers or taxpayers. A full-time job should pay enough to live. Kirsten will support raising Indiana’s minimum wage to the level required for a single adult living in Indiana with no children. She will also support policies that help working people get ahead, including:
Stronger wage standards.
Better enforcement against wage theft.
Public contracts that create good local jobs.
Job training and apprenticeships tied to real jobs in the community.
Stronger protections for workers who speak up about unsafe or unfair conditions.
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No one should have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of themselves or their family. A cancer diagnosis shouldn’t mean risking losing your home. Kirsten will support legislation that requires employers to provide one hour of paid time off for every 30 hours worked, including independent contractors. Paid time off helps people recover from illness, care for family, prevent the spread of sickness at work, and stay employed. That is good for workers, families, businesses, and public health.
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Right-to-work is an anti-worker law that weakens wages, benefits, safety, and bargaining power. Kirsten will fight to overturn Right to Work and strengthen the right of workers to organize, bargain together, and speak up without fear. Strong unions helped build stable communities across Indiana. Protecting the right to organize protects good jobs, family stability, and the dignity of work.
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Affordable childcare helps parents work, children learn, and employers keep staff. Current childcare costs are crushing working families and keeping families out of the workforce. Kirsten will write legislation to create free childcare for children 5 and under by expanding the childcare voucher program to all families with young children. Families should be able to choose what works best for them, including:
Childcare centers.
Home-based providers.
Faith-based programs.
Language immersion programs.
Local providers trusted by parents.
Stability for Working Families
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Too often, Indiana hands public money to large corporations while small businesses, schools, homeowners, and workers are expected to make up the difference. If a deal does not create good local jobs, lower costs, or strengthen the community, taxpayers should not be forced to fund it. Kirsten will support legislation that:
Caps the size of firms eligible for state and local economic development benefits so support goes to genuinely small and local businesses.
Bans non-disclosure agreements in economic development deals.
Bans subsidies for data centers and warehouses.
Requires site selection consultants to register as lobbyists.
Makes the application and approval process public and transparent.
Gives schools veto power before tax dollars are redirected away from classrooms.
Eliminates the Dark Store Theory loophole that allows large corporations to lower their property tax bills and shift costs onto everyone else.
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Indiana's tax system asks too much from working people and too little from those with the most ability to pay. Kirsten will work with local leaders, workers, small businesses, and experts to build a tax structure that benefits the public over corporations and rewards work instead of wealth and influence. That includes:
Closing corporate tax loopholes.
Requiring more transparency in state and local tax breaks.
Making sure large corporations pay their fair share.
Protecting homeowners, renters, and small businesses from shouldering the cost of giveaways to large companies.
Building a tax structure where working families are not punished for doing their part.
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Indiana's current definition of “small business” is too broad. It allows large companies to receive the same benefits as places like Wilson's Farm Market. Kirsten will support a tiered small business classification system so tax breaks, contracting opportunities, and support programs are better matched to the real size and needs of the business.
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When public money is spent, it should strengthen the community that pays for it. Kirsten supports strong labor standards for public projects so public money does not reward low wages, unsafe work, or companies that undercut local workers. She will fight for:
Responsible bidder standards.
Strong wage standards on public work.
Apprenticeships and job training tied to real jobs.
Stronger enforcement of worker protections.
Public contracts that support local workers and local businesses.
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Strong public schools are among our strongest traditions. They are where children learn, families gather, teachers and staff serve their neighbors, and communities invest in the next generation. They protect poverty values, prepare kids for good jobs, and ensure children and grandchildren can build a life close to home. Kirsten will fight to:
Fully fund public schools.
Abolish the Choice Scholarship program that diverts public dollars to private school tuition.
Stop forcing school districts to share public tax dollars with charter schools.
Keep public tax dollars in public schools.
Raise teacher base pay to $60,000.
Create a tuition reimbursement for teachers who commit to teaching in public schools.
Fund school nurses, counselors, support staff, and mental health services.
Support strong after-school programs.
Maintain effective class sizes.
Support integrated student bodies.
Distribute resources fairly across rural towns, small cities, and growing communities.
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Local government should be close enough to know the community and strong enough to serve it well. Townships provide local help that many families rely on. Instead of dismantling township government, Kirsten believes we should modernize it, support it, and make it more accountable and accessible. She supports legislation to:
Keep township assistance local and accessible through at least two ways to apply.
Create a statewide shared intake system that routes people to the correct township.
Standardize forms and eligibility.
Build referral partnerships with local organizations.
Create county shared service centers that townships can opt into for payroll, accounting, reporting, and administrative support.
Create an accountability and support system that includes technical assistance, training, temporary financial support, and reporting assistance.
Provide state or county funding for fire and EMS when those services are tied to the township's existence, so low-income communities are not excluded from emergency services.
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Growth should not come at the cost of farmland, water, drainage, domestic wells, or the families who already live there. If a project is going to use large amounts of water or energy, the public deserves to know who benefits, who pays, and what happens when conditions change. Kirsten will support legislation that:
Freezes data center development until routine water impact reviews are established.
Requires public water use information before large projects are approved.
Requires drainage and runoff protections.
Protects domestic wells and agricultural operations through groundwater monitoring, clear dispute resolution, and strong guardrails.
Creates a clear process for community members to have a say before projects are approved.
Requires energy grid improvements to be paid for by builders, not shifted onto families and small businesses.
Protects agricultural land.
Requires developers to pay for the strain they place on roads, utilities, public safety, drainage, and emergency services.
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Data centers use large amounts of water, energy, and land. Growth should make life better for the people already there, not just hand them the bill. Kirsten will fight to:
Freeze data center development until routine water impact reviews are in place.
Require disclosure of water sources, expected withdrawals, seasonal peaks, and emergency plans.
Require energy impact reviews.
Put the cost of grid improvements on builders, not local families.
Protect domestic wells.
Protect farmland.
Require drainage and runoff protection.
Give community members a real voice before approval.
Ban subsidies for data centers.
Make sure schools and local governments are not forced to carry the cost.
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Kirsten will fight to end secret deals and make sure local people know what is being promised before their tax dollars, land, water, or services are affected. Kirsten will fight for:
Provide public notice before major projects move forward.
Provide public meetings before large subsidies are approved.
Clear reporting on promised jobs, wages, tax breaks, water use, energy use, and infrastructure costs.
Guarantee local input before state or regional authorities approve projects that affect local communities.
Banning disclosure agreements that keep taxpayers in the dark.
Government That Works for Everyone
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If the goal of incarceration is accountability and rehabilitation, people need a real path back to responsibility. People in prison should be held accountable, but they should not be forced to work for free. Kirsten will support legislation to pay incarcerated workers a fair wage. Fair wages would allow incarcerated people to:
Pay restitution to victims.
Pay child support.
Save for release.
Buy basic hygiene items.
Reduce reliance on family members who are already struggling.
Prepare for successful reentry.
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Private prisons have a financial incentive to keep people incarcerated. Public safety dollars should be spent on safety, not private profit. Kirsten will introduce legislation to phase out private prisons in Indiana and move resources toward evidence-based practices that reduce repeat crime. That includes:
Reentry support.
Employment support.
Education.
Treatment.
Housing support.
Family reunification where appropriate.
Accountability programs that reduce future harm.
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Accountability means making sure people are less likely to harm someone again. Most people who are incarcerated will return home. The question is whether they will return with support and a path forward, or with no job, no treatment, no housing, and no chance to succeed. Kirsten will support:
Reentry programs tied to work, education, treatment, and housing.
Job training inside correctional facilities.
Support for people leaving incarceration who are trying to work and meet their obligations.
Programs that help people pay restitution, child support, and court obligations.
Policies that reduce repeat harm rather than simply repeat the same expensive failures.
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Kirsten owns guns and respects the many Hoosiers who hunt, sport shoot, protect livestock, collect firearms, or choose to own a gun for personal protection. Law-abiding gun owners are not the problem. Gun ownership does come with responsibility that includes safe storage, accountability, respect for the law, and keeping firearms away from people who have shown they are a danger to themselves or others. Kirsten's approach is common sense: protect the rights of responsible gun owners while doing more to prevent violence, suicide, domestic violence, accidental shootings, and threats against schools and public spaces. Kirsten will support policies that:
Keep guns out of the hands of violent felons, domestic abusers, people under active protective orders, and individuals who have made credible threats.
Strengthen background checks so the law is actually enforced and people who are legally prohibited from having a firearm cannot avoid accountability through loopholes.
Support extreme risk protection orders with strong due process, court oversight, and clear evidence standards when someone poses a credible threat to themselves or others.
Require safe storage when firearms are kept in homes with children or when someone in the home is legally prohibited from accessing a firearm. Provide free or low-cost gun locks and safe storage resources through local public safety agencies, health departments, schools, and community organizations.
Strengthen penalties when adults knowingly give children or prohibited individuals access to unsecured firearms.
Improve suicide prevention by working with veterans, farmers, first responders, gun owners, healthcare providers, and families to promote voluntary safe storage during a crisis.
Close domestic violence gaps so people with a documented history of abuse, stalking, or credible threats cannot easily access firearms while victims are trying to get safe.
Support school safety that includes secure buildings, trained staff, mental health support, and clear emergency planning without turning schools into political props.
Focus law enforcement resources on serious threats, illegal gun trafficking, stolen firearms, violent crime, and people who are using guns to harm or intimidate others.
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Every Hoosier deserves to live safely, work, go to school, raise a family, and be treated with dignity. Kirsten will oppose efforts to target LGBTQ+ Hoosiers for political gain and will support policies that protect people from discrimination, harassment, and government overreach. Respect does not depend on who you are, who you love, or how politicians think they can use you in their campaign.
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People who follow the rules and show up to vote deserve a government that respects that vote. Kirsten will support:
Protecting the right to vote.
Making voter information easier to access.
Protecting absentee and military voters.
Opposing unnecessary barriers to registration and voting.
Improving communication about deadlines, polling locations, and ballot access.
Ending political games that make it harder for people to participate.’
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Being smart on crime means focusing on what actually keeps people safe. Too many public dollars are spent cycling people through courts, jails, and prisons without making communities safer. Kirsten will support:
Legalizing marijuana in Indiana.
Decriminalizing low-level possession and use of illicit substances.
Redirecting law enforcement resources toward serious and violent crime.
Expanding access to treatment and harm reduction.
Reducing the long-term consequences of criminal convictions for poverty-related offenses.
Supporting people who seek treatment instead of making them afraid to ask for help.
Using cannabis revenue to support public services, treatment, prevention, and local communities.
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The goal is simple: protect people, stop exploitation, and put resources where they actually save lives. Kirsten will fight for policies that protect survivors of trafficking and focus resources on exploitation, coercion, abuse, and violence. Kirsten understands the difference between consensual adult sex work and human trafficking. Treating every adult engaging in consensual sex work as a criminal makes it hard to identify trafficking, protect victims, and hold exploiters accountable. Kirsten will support legislation that:
Decriminalizes consensual adult sex work.
Redirects resources toward trafficking, exploitation, coercion, and abuse.
Protects survivors from arrest when they need help.
Improves services for people leaving exploitation or violence.
Focuses law enforcement on those who are harming, coercing, trafficking, or abusing others.
Rights, Freedom, and Accountability
Make an Impact Today
Kirsten has a plan to support Hoosiers through healthcare for all, ending corporate greed, keeping Hoosiers safe, and providing freedom and opportunity for all. Donate today to help our campaign reach every corner of District 21.