Issues

We are in a cost-of-living crisis, and East Bay families feel it every day — at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and in every rent or mortgage payment. Melissa knows these challenges firsthand: her parents were migrant farmworkers, and she paid her way through college while raising her kids as a single mom.

In Congress, Melissa will use her experience and energy to drive down the costs of housing, healthcare, and childcare, protect Social Security and Medicare from cuts, and prioritize growing small businesses to strengthen our local economy. As Mayor, she kept Dublin financially strong without raising taxes — and she’ll bring that same fiscal discipline to Washington. Lowering costs and expanding economic opportunity for working families will be her first priority.

As Mayor of Dublin, Melissa led it to a “Best Places to Live” designation, building housing at every level of affordability. In Dublin, she oversaw one of the largest housing expansions in the region, including affordable housing for seniors and residents with disabilities alongside market-rate rentals. She pushed to create walkable neighborhoods and more homes close to BART and other public transit. She knows what it takes to cut red tape, lower building costs, and make housing more affordable because she’s already done it. In Congress, Melissa will work to lower the costs of raw materials, provide incentives to build new housing, and make it easier for first-time homebuyers to afford a down payment and get a home loan.

As Director of Healthcare Services for an Alameda County Supervisor, Melissa works to expand access to affordable, quality healthcare. Melissa knows we can do better at driving down costs and improving health outcomes. In Congress, Melissa will prioritize patient health and preventative care, lower prescription drug costs, protect and expand Medicare, restore insurance subsidies to reduce the cost of insurance premiums, and restore funding for health programs that serve vulnerable families. There are also cost savings to be had by requiring national standards of care, creating national data sharing, and making costs and care more transparent and standard to drive down costs. Melissa will also fight to protect reproductive healthcare and restore reproductive freedom by supporting legislation like the Women’s Health Protection Act.

ICE has become a symbol of an immigration system that’s broken and out of control, and it needs fundamental reform. Melissa believes we can secure our communities without tearing families apart. ICE is deporting immigrants who are contributing members of our communities, many of whom are already working their way through the legal immigration process in good faith.
Melissa knows this fight personally: as the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, it took her own father years to become a U.S. citizen. That’s why she’s fighting for real immigration reform, so that earning citizenship isn’t a process that takes years, costs a fortune, and keeps families in limbo. Melissa supports a real pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and undocumented community members who are already contributing to our economy and our neighborhoods.
At the same time, Melissa supports smart border security and regional cooperation to address the root causes driving migration, not political stunts that put families in danger.

Melissa is deeply concerned about the current climate crisis and supports a transition towards a diverse array of renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She supports legislation that fully restores the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest piece of climate legislation in modern times. The Trump administration’s rescission of programs created by the IRA set the country back on the progress we’ve made to reduce emissions. It also eliminated programs that seek to make decarbonization more accessible for low-income Americans who already struggle with the high cost of living. Melissa also supports legislation that reverses the staff cuts made to the EPA and the DOT.