Make America Work for Working Americans
Policy Priorities
Protecting The American Dream: Investing in Education & Jobs
Cait believes everyone in the Hudson Valley should have the same shot at the American Dream that she had. But for too many, that dream is fading away. For the first time in modern American history the economic prospects of young Americans are worse than that of their parents. Families in NY-17 are feeling the pressure of an affordability crisis that touches every part of daily life, from the cost of housing, to energy and healthcare. Our economy is no longer working for the people that make this district thrive. That MUST change.
In Congress, Cait will bring good paying jobs to our community and prepare us for the future by:
Investing in Trades: There are numerous paths to success and many – like trade skill careers – do not require a four-year degree. Cait will work to expand BOCES and Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs and create partnerships with unions and employers to increase the number of apprenticeship programs.
Creating a Better Path for Young People to Thrive in NY-17: Young people in the Hudson Valley deserve to build a good life here — not feel like they have to leave to find opportunity. Cait will fight hard to lower costs and expand job opportunities so families can stay together in NY-17.
Putting Public Education First: Cait will fight to expand STEM education, modernize our schools’ aging infrastructure, oppose voucher programs that are stripping money out of our public education system, ensure lunch programs are fully funded for all students who qualify, and increase funding for early childhood education programs like Head Start.
Addressing AI Displacement: AI and other technological advancements are going to change the job market, and we are already seeing the unemployment rate for recent college graduates exceed the national average. We need leaders in Congress who will make sure that working Americans are included in the growth created and aren’t left behind.
Cait will work to create pathways for everyone to not only get by, but thrive in the Hudson Valley, no matter what education path they choose.
Rebuilding for Resilience: Infrastructure That Works for the Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley’s critical infrastructure is outdated, overstressed, and failing. A failure to invest in updating our infrastructure has left us with a broken system incapable of managing the increasingly destructive impacts of climate change, like once-in-a-century rainstorms that are now happening once a month causing devastating flooding. Our infrastructure can’t support our growing towns or changing climate, and our families are the ones paying higher utility bills as a result. Hudson Valley families should not be paying for the failures in corporate and federal government leadership – they’ve had chances to fix this and haven’t gotten the job done. Now it’s time for change and accountability, not excuses.
Cait has worked directly with Congress on some of the most complicated national security threats facing our country from protecting Americans against terrorist plots to strengthening the cyber and physical security of our nation’s critical infrastructure, including the water we drink to the energy that powers our homes and the election systems that underpin our democracy. As climate change now takes American lives, destroys homes, and displaces communities, it is time we recognize climate change is a national security crisis and the urgency of action.
In Congress, Cait will improve the Hudson Valley’s infrastructure by:
Delivering investments to the Hudson Valley for critical water, sewer, and transportation infrastructure. She will get rid of outdated red tape to get alternative energy projects moving. This will lower utility bills and create good paying local union jobs.
Lowering electric bills by taking on corporate utility giants, like Con Ed, NYSEG, and Central Hudson, who are jacking up our bills. Cait will force greater accountability of electrical companies so that they spend their profits on modernizing and replacing our outdated electrical grid – not to give bonuses to their C-Suite. Plain and simple: Hudson Valley families should not have to pay for the failures of corporate leadership.
Protecting homes and businesses against storms by expanding flood mitigation efforts, including physical infrastructure and nature-based resilience solutions, to prevent homes from being severely damaged.
Increasing our energy supply by investing federal funds in energy projects that utilize the Hudson Valley’s natural resources like wind, solar, hydro, and geo-thermal energy.
Addressing the PFAS issue in our water, increasing testing, removal, and prevention efforts to ensure our communities have clean drinking water.
Our families deserve clean water, safe neighborhoods, and affordable utilities. Instead, Hudson Valley residents are stuck with rising costs and fewer protections because our current representatives have failed to do their job.
Opening Doors for Opportunity: Lowering the Cost of Housing
Growing up in the Hudson Valley, Cait’s mom was able to buy a house and raise three girls on her own, working for the Postal Service. Today, that’s no longer possible and Trump’s reckless tariff policies are only putting it further out of reach by jacking up the price of materials needed for home construction.
More and more, working families are being priced out of communities they’ve called home for generations. And kids who grew up here are prevented from coming back to raise their families in the communities that raised them. The rising cost of housing in the Hudson Valley is a threat to all hard working New Yorkers, and it’s pulling families apart.
In Congress, Cait will lower housing costs by:
Making it easier to build affordable housing by cutting outdated red tape and zoning rules that slow down projects and drive up prices. She will fight to undo the reckless tariffs that have driven up construction costs.
Increasing funding for affordable housing by expanding federal community block grants and improving tax credits for builders developing mixed-income housing projects.
Cracking down on corporate landlords and Wall Street hedge funds that are buying up properties and pricing out working families.
Lowering the cost of heat and electricity by modernizing our energy infrastructure. Cait will fight to make sure families can afford to not just get a home, but be able to stay in it!
It's no secret that we are facing a housing crisis here in the Hudson Valley. And if we don’t act now, it's only going to get worse.
Care You Can Count On: Expanding and Protecting Affordable Healthcare
Every American should have the right to access affordable healthcare. Growing up, Cait’s dad worked as a construction worker and could not always afford health insurance. He ended up suffering from a devastating stroke caused by uncontrolled diabetes that he didn’t know he even had, because getting routine healthcare was something he could not afford.
The cost of healthcare has gotten out of control, and the GOP is only making it worse.
Mike Lawler cast the deciding vote to gut Medicaid and strip coverage from thousands of people in our district. From attacks on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to rising prescription drug costs and the war against women’s access to basic healthcare – now more than ever, we need representatives who will stand up to special interests and put the health of our community first.
In Congress, Cait will fight to lower healthcare costs in the Hudson Valley by:
Defending the Affordable Care Act & Medicaid and expanding Medicare to include vision, dental, and hearing to ensure our families and seniors can receive the health care they need. She will protect critical funding for our hospitals and local healthcare providers.
Cracking down on Big Pharma price gouging, capping insulin prices at $35 for everyone, and allowing Medicare to negotiate more prescription drug prices so people no longer will be forced to choose between medicine and groceries.
Protecting reproductive freedom and women’s access to healthcare. She will fight to codify Roe v. Wade into law to restore women’s right to make personal healthcare decisions without interference from politicians — including access to abortion, contraception, and IVF and secure federal funding for Planned Parenthood by repealing recent federal legislation that cut off Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood clinics.
Investing in veterans’ care by strengthening the VA system and ensuring that facilities like the Montrose VA Medical Center get the funding and support they need to keep our promise to our Hudson Valley veterans.