Aaron Iturralde has chosen to run for the State of Michigan’s 74th House of Representative District. His mission is to usher in a new generation of governing to make life more affordable, accessible and secure in the District which includes South Lansing and Delhi Township.
Aaron Iturralde offered this statement as to who he is and why he is running for office:
“Being a public school teacher is the best job in the world. Teaching students about our shared history, our representative democracy, and how to be engaged members in our community is work worth doing. With that said, I believe that with the current state of our politics, we need a new kind of leader to step up and bring new, fresh ideas to the table.
As a son of Mexican and Filipino immigrants, I was taught that if you work hard, that hard work will eventually pay off. However, in the current political climate, it feels like no matter how hard you work, you cannot get ahead. It should not be this hard. When you go to work day in and day out, you shouldn’t have to worry about your rent, your mortgage; you shouldn’t have to be concerned about whether or not you can fill up your gas tank, or put groceries in the fridge for your kids.
That is why I’m running. I want you to be able to afford all of your basic needs – housing, utilities, groceries, and gas – so that you can pour your days into your passion, your dreams, and your kids & grandkids. I don’t want you to have to miss baseball games, dance recitals, award nights, date nights; the things that make life worth living.
I believe that it’s time for a new generation of government leaders. Like anything, it always helps to have fresh eyes on a problem and new perspectives on how to fix them. I believe that with my background as a teacher, paired with my knowledge of government and politics, I have a unique perspective on different ways we could tackle our issues.
In my platform, I am running on four main components. First, I am running on dynamic housing reform. Housing has quickly become an incredibly hard thing to attain. The housing market is unpredictable and expensive, the rent is too high, and corporate landlords often get away with short-changing their tenants. I want to work to reform our zoning laws so that we can build more types of housing. I want to reform our zoning laws so that our local communities can change those otherwise industrial zones to residential. I want to see more of our local contracting businesses, local carpentry, local landscaping businesses be contracting on building these new homes – our local businesses are the spirit of our community and we should be treating them as such!
Next, I’m running on affordable and accessible childcare. Growing up, my step-father had to stay home with me and my brother instead of working because childcare was so expensive – and it still is! To tackle this, I want to expand subsidies for working class families to help them pay for childcare, but also, I want to invest in after-school programs and summer camp programs to give our students somewhere to learn and thrive after school hours, at little or no cost to you. Childcare shouldn’t be a luxury, it should be something that you can easily attain and envision yourself having covered for your children.
I’m also running on healthcare you can rely on. The cost of healthcare has gotten completely out of hand. If you’re sick, you should be able to go to the doctor, get the tests you need or the medication you need, without going into debt. I am in favor of a universal healthcare system that ensures that you are covered no matter what. In Michigan, we have legislation that is drafted called MiCare, that would implement a universal healthcare program in Michigan. If elected, I will immediately join the lists of co-sponsors. This would also, in turn, lift the burden off of our small businesses because they would no longer have to pay for healthcare for their employees. When you know that no matter what, whether you’re in between jobs or going through a tough time, you have healthcare, that is one more worry lifted off of your shoulders.
Finally, I want to uplift and invest in our small businesses. Corporations and big business shouldn’t be the main driver of economic growth, I believe small businesses should be. We have so many bright minds in our community, so many young people who want to become entrepreneurs, and so many small businesses already deeply involved in our community. I want to help them scale-up, get into a brick and mortar building if they want to, and ensure that they have everything they need to be successful. For too long, politicians have been in the pockets of large corporations and only focused on making them rich. Not with me – I want to see large reforms for our small businesses; we need reforms on the nonsense regulations that small businesses often face, the confusing rules that are hard to track down, I want to make it as easy as possible for you to start a business if that’s your dream. I’m not interested in getting buckets of money from corporations, I’m only interested in gaining your trust and becoming stronger, together.
I believe in our community. I believe that together, we can do amazing things. Our dreams can become a reality. I hope that I can earn your vote in the August 4th primary.”
With warm regards,
Aaron Iturralde
Candidate for the 74th State House District
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