Issues

Charles knows the value of work. And so do Kentuckians. And they’re tired of putting in a full work week and still struggling to get by. Charles is fighting for his 40x40x45 plan because he knows workers in Kentucky and across this country deserve a raise. Despite rising costs of living for everything from healthcare to housing to childcare to utilities, wages have stayed largely stagnant. Charles will be fighting to change that. 

40x40x45  is a new deal for Kentucky and it’s simple: If you work 40 hours a week, you should be guaranteed a minimum 40 hours of paid sick leave and a minimum wage of $45,000/year. Charles would couple this with support of the Cost of Living Tax Exemption, which means that $45,000/year will be tax free. 

This means more money in the pockets of hard working Kentuckians and all workers will have the dignity of paid sick leave. 

This plan will be possible because Charles pairs it with support for a wealth tax, which will allow us to generate lost revenue by leveling the paying field between regular people and the ultra rich.  He will also support legislation that equalizes the tax rates for capital gains and eliminates the loopholes that allow corporations and billionaires to pay fewer taxes than you do. Because wealth should be taxed the same as work. And when we are all contributing, we can build an economy based on basic fairness.

Healthcare is a human right.

Charles supports Medicare for All to create a healthcare system that provides quality, affordable healthcare to everyone. As a Type 1 Diabetic who has rationed his insulin because he could not afford his medication, Charles believes that no one should die because they don’t have money to pay for life-saving medication.

As a nation, we pay twice as much for our health care as any other industrialized nation. The current healthcare system is expensive, wasteful, and places profits over people.  Every Kentuckian deserves quality healthcare no matter how much money they have in their pocket.

Charles is clear that the development of generative AI and the role it will play in the future of work is possibly the most significant issue facing working people. We are standing at the precipice of an economic revolution that has potential to reshape the labor market and our economy. We need to have plans now to ensure that people are protected. Workers can’t be an afterthought. 

Without strong guardrails, AI will further concentrate wealth, undermine workers, and allow corporations to replace human judgment with unaccountable algorithms.

That’s why Charles has called for a moratorium on building data centers until regulations can be put in place to protect the environment, communities against rising costs and other harms, and workers against potential displacement due to these developments. 

Beyond data centers, Charles is also backing a number of strong protections and regulations that will support workers including:. 

• Ensure workers share in the wealth created by AI. We will create a public equity stake in AI development so the profits generated from human labor, creativity, and public investment are shared broadly through a dividend for working people.

• Protect workers from displacement and exploitation. We will prohibit companies from relying solely on AI to make hiring, firing, or disciplinary decisions and impose surcharges on corporations that conduct layoffs due to AI automation to fund worker protections and retraining.

• Guarantee economic security during technological change. We will establish a federal jobs guarantee with paid retraining, relocation support, and income protection for workers in industries transformed or displaced by AI.

• Put strong guardrails on the AI economy. We will enact strict environmental and labor protections for AI development, prevent rising utility and other costs related to development from being passed on to communities, strengthen intellectual property rights for human-created work used in AI systems, ensure organized labor has a seat at the table shaping the future of work, and protect states’ ability to implement AI safeguards.

To ensure these protections are more than promises on paper, the centerpiece of this plan is to call for a new federal enforcement agency: The Human Labor Protection Bureau (HLPB).

Modeled on the successful framework of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, this independent agency would be tasked with affirmatively protecting workers from harmful displacement and disruption caused by artificial intelligence.

The Bureau would enforce the laws protecting workers’ rights in the emerging AI economy, monitor and investigate companies to ensure compliance, and operate as a mechanism for workers to report potential violations.

Throughout our history, strikes have been a powerful tool of working people to come together in solidarity and demand change. Charles knows the strength of our collective power and unified voice, and he believes now is the time to use it. 

A general strike is when multiple workers across multiple industries collectively agree to shut down production simultaneously to send a message that the system can’t work without us, so it’s time the system works for us. 

Charles believes we are in a dangerous moment as we slide swiftly toward authoritarianism. This president has trampled on the rule of law, unleashed a rogue agency to terrorize our communities, threatened to take over elections, and illegally initiated acts of war. We are past the point of needing to save American democracy. We need to restore it. And without an empowered opposition party, we need other mechanisms to make our voices heard and demand accountability and change. In a moment like this, the power of the people is undeniable, and Charles is ready to organize for a general strike.

Charles has been consistent and clear that the actions of the Israeli government against the Palestinian people in Gaza constitute a genocide. And right now, the U.S. is funding that genocide, despite it being against U.S. law to provide weapons for countless war crimes.

Charles shares the grief felt across the world over the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives in this conflict. He unequivocally supports a free Palestine, the release of all hostages, and a real and lasting end to the violence that has plagued this region and claimed too many innocent lives.

Housing is a human right. Charles is committed to bring much needed affordable housing to Kentucky. Charles will also work to pass a Tenant Bill of Rights that protects renters from unfair practices. He has signed the Tenant’s Union pledge and is committed to ensuring that the priorities of renters are priorities in our housing agenda.

As someone who has experienced homelessness firsthand, Charles understands the impact that housing insecurity has on an individual’s ability to lead a productive and dignified life.

Too many Kentuckians struggle to pay their rent or mortgage, which is in part due to a national housing shortage that is driving up prices across the country. We must create more affordable housing to meet this vital need, and develop policies that lower the cost of housing overall.

We are in the midst of an affordability crisis. With the rising costs of childcare, housing, healthcare, and food, many of us can’t comfortably afford to live in the state we love and raise our children, live healthy lives in safe and vibrant communities, have a place to call home, and put food on the table. We need to make life more affordable for everyone. Charles’ plan is simple: A good life we can all afford: 

• Guarantee a pathway to financial freedom. We will pass a universal basic income so every American has the financial security and freedom to build their future. 

• Make it possible to raise a family. We will pass universal childcare so the security of knowing your children are taken care of while you work isn’t a luxury..

• Make housing affordable and abundant. We will build more affordable housing, implement federal rent stabilization, strengthen tenant protections like just-cause eviction and the right to counsel, and make major investments to end homelessness. Because housing is a human right. 

• Expand opportunity for the next generation. We will cancel student debt, make public colleges and universities tuition-free, and invest in high-speed rail and public transit so all communities are connected to jobs, education, and economic opportunity.

Expand and strengthen the power of unions. We will protect and expand the right to unionize and collective bargaining rights for workers and tenants and restore more power to the people.

Every Kentuckian deserves the financial freedom to make decisions in their lives and an equity stake in the economy that we as workers build.

Charles believes strongly in the power of unions and will fight to strengthen and expand the right to unionize and collective bargaining rights.

Connecting  the Commonwealth from corner to corner so all can live a gainful life no matter where they’re from.

Healthcare is a human right and abortion is healthcare. In the Senate, Charles will be a champion for reproductive freedom and true bodily autonomy. He will fight to ensure that a right to abortion is fully protected and accessible to all people who need it regardless of income. He will work to restore abortion rights, repeal the Hyde amendment, ensure that abortion and contraceptive coverage are fully covered as a form of health coverage.

All people have the right to live with equal rights, access, and dignity regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and as Senator, Charles will fight for federal protections for LGBTQ people and families against discrimination and harassment and work to reverse this administration’s harmful attacks on the community.

Full and equitable investment in our education system ensuring that all Kentucky’s children have the resources and opportunities to pursue their dreams

Full and holistic investment in community safety, working together to create safer, healthier communities in every corner of this Commonwealth.

Ensuring that no Kentuckian is punished simply for being in poverty and that all Kentuckians have the opportunity and resources to live a gainful life.

Restorative economics that directly account for our nation’s deepest ills and move us towards a more equitable future for all.