on the issues

+ Healthcare for All

Healthcare costs take up more and more of every paycheck, driven by increasing prices for insurance and prescription drugs. We pay more, but we aren’t getting any healthier.

We need single payer healthcare. We need to control costs and eliminate the barriers to the care that so many people face.

Today, politicians spend a lot of time focusing on paying for medicine and medical intervention, and nowhere near enough time on the social determinants of health -- keeping our neighborhoods safe from gun violence, reducing pollution, and ensuring every family has a stable home and every worker earns a living wage.

It’s time to think bigger and do better for our communities.

+ Fighting for Racial Justice

As a physician, Robbie sees every day the ways that structural racism is a barrier to his Black and Brown patients. He will ensure that our district has a voice in this conversation and a representative ready to lead on these issues.

In Congress, Robbie will work urgently to address police brutality by passing the Resolution to Condemn Police Brutality, Racial Profiling, and the Excessive Use of Force, the Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act, the Stop Militarizing Our Law Enforcement Act, and the Andrew Kearse Accountability for Denial of Medical Care Act.

And, he will work closely with community partners and local leaders to create a healthcare system, economic system, and criminal legal system that affirm people of color by placing equity at the center of every piece of legislation.

+ Preventing Gun Violence

Massachusetts has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but communities in Boston are still traumatized by gun violence every day. Gun violence impacts not just the victim, but the victim’s family, survivors, the community, and those called to help.

Unlike anything else that kills 40,000 people a year, we have limited data on how best to avoid gun violence and mitigate its impact.

Robbie has recieved a Gun Sense Candidate distinction from Moms Demand Action. In Congress, Robbie will work to make sure the CDC can study gun violence as the public health crisis it is, to reinstate the federal assault weapons ban, and to implement universal background checks.

+ Ending the Opioid Epidemic

Substance use is the epidemic of our lifetime. It is taking the lives of hundreds of people each day, most of them far too young. It’s not only an epidemic of substance use; but an epidemic of missed opportunities, of insufficient resources, and of stigma and discrimination that prevent those affected by substance use from fully living their lives.

Local leaders and families have sown the power of organizing and evidence-based harm reduction strategies to prevent fatal overdoses. They deserve a champion in Congress who will fight with them.

In Congress, Robbie will work with local leaders to advocate for meaningful investment in harm reduction, substance use counseling and treatment, and strategies to destigmatize substance use.

+ Protect Reproductive Freedom

Reproductive rights are under attack. And as President Trump stacks the Supreme Court with anti-choice justices, it’s on Congress to step up. Robbie is unabashedly pro-choice.

As a physician, Robbie has seen firsthand the dangers of restricting access to reproductive healthcare. In Congress, he will affirm that every person should be able to decide for themselves if, when, and how to have a family, and he will fight every day to protect choice. He will prioritize repealing the Hyde Amendment, and will work to ensure that everyone has access to comprehensive, high-quality reproductive care.

Representative Stephen Lynch, a self-described “pro-life” Democrat, has voted repeatedly to attack reproductive rights. We need new leadership that reflects the values of our district and upholds the rights of women. Robbie is and has always been a champion of women’s health care and will fight to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land.

+ Climate Change

Climate change is an existential threat to our communities that is already changing our coastline as rising sea levels and temperatures bring storms that cause more flooding more often.

Without urgent action, entire neighborhoods in Hull, Quincy, Weymouth, and Boston could cease to exist in our children’s lifetimes.

Robbie will be a leader on urgent climate action. He will organize for the Green New Deal and focus on how we can leverage efficiency to rapidly address the impact of climate change. Robbie will work with community stakeholders to ensure they have the resources they need to mitigate the effects of climate change on cities and towns throughout the 8th District and Massachusetts.

+ Transportation

Metro Boston has the worst traffic in America. The T and commuter rail are more expensive and more unreliable than ever.

For the hundreds of thousands of people who get on the T in Braintree, Quincy, Dorchester, and Southie every week, this summer’s Red Line derailment meant missed shifts at work, missed classes, and missed medical appointments.

“Robbie will advocate for meaningful federal investment in our transportation system, including strategies to make our streets safer for bikers and pedestrians and an investment in high speed regional rail.

+ Education

Our current education system lacks the equity and affordability that are necessary to prepare our students for success. Universal pre-kindergarten will ensure that everyone starts kindergarten on a level playing field and will ensure equity in access to childcare across the country. Pre-kindergarten is one of the strongest predictors of educational success and Robbie will fight to make sure there are federal incentives for states to act.

Student loans are crushing young people in America, with a disproportionate impact on young people of color. Robbie’s plan to solve the student loan debt crisis will prioritize closing the racial wealth gap, forgiving loans for Americans who attended for-profit colleges, and couple debt-forgiveness with a push for tuition-free public education and limitations on the increases in the cost of private school tuition to avoid perpetuating the problem of student loan debt for generations to come.

+ Financial Security

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs. Countless more are making the impossible choice between providing for their families by going to work and risking infection.

No one should go without basic necessities during a crisis. And, no one should sacrifice their health to afford food, rent, and other needs. A one time payment wasn’t even close to enough to meet the needs of struggling families.

In Congress, Robbie will fight to create a monthly emergency cash relief program for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis.