What types of transportation do you use during an average week, and how has this shaped your view of transportation policy?

I primarily drive and use the CTA throughout my week. My work in healthcare advocacy, organizing with immigrant communities, and participating in mutual aid, much of it centered around neighborhoods like Belmont Cragin, has shown me just how deeply working families depend on reliable buses, trains, and walkable or bikeable streets. These experiences make the need for strong, responsible, well-funded public transit not an abstract policy choice, but a lived necessity. With Illinois’ historic 2025 transit overhaul now set to take effect, I’m more convinced than ever that investing in accessible, dependable public transportation is essential for strengthening the social and economic fabric of our communities.

What are some transportation challenges in your district?

Many 20th District residents continue to face unreliable CTA service, from the major bus routes that crisscross our neighborhoods to the Blue and Brown Lines that thousands depend on. Staffing shortages, inconsistent schedules, and aging fleets disproportionately harm students, seniors, and workers, leaving them with no alternatives. We need sustained operational funding to make transit reliable again, and I strongly support expanding protected bike lanes and implementing more rapid bus transit corridors.

The passage of SB 2111 begins to address these gaps by providing stable, long-term operational funding and mandating improved coordination across agencies. Now we must ensure those investments reach neighborhoods like ours, which have historically been underserved.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) plays a significant role in transportation throughout the state, in Chicago, and Cook County. What is your opinion on their role with the Chicago Department of Transportation, Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways, local communities, and the impact that has?

IDOT has enormous influence on transportation outcomes across the region, but too often decisions have been siloed or highway-centric. In 2026, with new mandates tied to the transit overhaul, IDOT must embrace a modern approach that prioritizes safety, transit, accessibility, and climate resilience. Improving coordination with CDOT, Cook County DOT, and local governments is essential.

IDOT’s leadership should include people who regularly use the transit systems they oversee. Better communication, cross-agency planning, and transparent oversight can help ensure that state and local funds are used effectively and that investments address our real mobility needs, not 20th-century assumptions about car dependence.

How do you view the Illinois General Assembly’s role in setting IDOT’s priorities for public transit, passenger rail, and strengthening accessibility in transportation?

The General Assembly plays a critical role in shaping IDOT’s priorities, and that role has only grown in the wake of the 2025 transit overhaul. The legislature must ensure that IDOT aligns its work with statewide goals: strengthening public transit, expanding passenger rail, improving ADA accessibility, and advancing climate-focused transportation policy.

Because I refuse contributions from corporate polluters and special interests, I remain accountable only to the public. That is the kind of leadership we need as the Assembly continues to guide IDOT through the state’s transition to a more equitable, multimodal transportation system.

States like Colorado, Minnesota, Virginia have passed legislation that has shifted their transportation infrastructure spending towards projects that prioritize safety, transit and cycling, and greenhouse gas mitigation. What’s your position on Illinois’ current transportation infrastructure spending, and if you could change anything, what would it be?

Illinois has historically over-invested in highways while underfunding the very transit systems that millions of working families depend on. While the passage of SB 2111 was a transformative step, providing long-term operational funding and modernizing governance, we still have structural fiscal challenges that limit how boldly we can invest in safety, transit, biking, walking, and climate-friendly infrastructure. If we want to match or exceed the progress made in states like Colorado or Minnesota, we must pair smarter spending with fairer, more progressive revenue. That includes:

• Passing a true graduated income tax, so the wealthiest Illinoisans pay their fair share while working families are protected.

• Closing corporate loopholes that allow large corporations to avoid paying taxes while everyday residents shoulder the burden.

• Ensuring transportation dollars reflect our climate and equity goals rather than defaulting to highway expansions.

• Shifting more federal flexible funds into transit, following the example of states that aggressively redirect federal dollars toward greener, safer mobility.

Progressive revenue reform is essential because we cannot build a modern, safe, climate-aligned transportation network on a regressive tax structure designed decades ago. Illinois needs a revenue system that actually aligns with the transportation and environmental future we’re trying to build. A truly equitable and sustainable transportation system requires both policy reform and revenue reform, and I’m committed to advancing both.

This fall, the Illinois General Assembly passed a historic investment in transit operations – as well as significant governance reforms in the establishment of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. How do you view the Assembly’s role in ensuring both the short- and long-term success of this legislation?

The Assembly took decisive action by passing SB 211, replacing the outdated Regional Transportation Authority with the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) and stabilizing the system with new long-term funding. This legislation prevents a devastating fiscal cliff that would have triggered service cuts, fare hikes, and widespread harm to riders and our regional economy. Now, the Assembly must ensure its success by:

• Continuing robust oversight of NITA’s governance reforms.

• Ensuring integrated fares, ADA improvements, and seamless coordination across CTA, Metra, and Pace actually materialize.

• Protecting and expanding the new revenue sources as needed.

• Making sure the benefits reach historically underserved neighborhoods.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and maintaining legislative leadership will determine whether we fully realize it.

What is your position on investing to expand passenger rail service in Illinois, including the development of high-speed rail?

I strongly support expanding passenger rail across Illinois, including moving toward true high-speed rail corridors. Rail expansion strengthens economic mobility, reduces congestion, and offers a clean alternative to car and air travel.

With the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority providing improved regional coordination, this is the moment to pursue statewide and interstate rail partnerships, electrification, and improvements to long-distance service. High-speed rail between Chicago and major Midwest cities should be a long-term goal, and we must secure the federal and state investments necessary to make it a reality.

Federal funding for Illinois transportation projects – such as the Red Line Extension and Red-Purple Modernization projects – has come under threat from the Trump administration. How can legislators shore up funding for critical infrastructure projects under a hostile federal climate?

When federal support becomes unreliable, as we’ve seen with repeated threats to funding for the Red Line Extension, the Red-Purple Modernization, and other significant projects, Illinois must be ready to protect our transit system with intense state-level action. That includes more than just defending existing revenue streams; it requires fundamentally reshaping how our state raises money for infrastructure. To secure long-term, independent stability for critical transportation projects, legislators must:

• Adopt progressive revenue solutions, including finally passing a graduated income tax so the wealthiest residents contribute their fair share.

• Close corporate tax loopholes that allow large corporations to avoid paying into the public systems they benefit from.

• Build a diversified funding base that does not rely on the political climate in Washington to keep major projects afloat.

• Collaborate with other states to push for consistent, long-term federal transportation commitments, regardless of presidential politics.

Federal volatility shouldn’t derail the essential infrastructure that millions of Illinois residents depend on. A more progressive, fair, and sustainable revenue system gives Illinois the power to defend our transit future, even when Washington is hostile or unpredictable.