Michela Barnett (D)

Blue Tennessee - Executive Director

Founder of KnoxFill

Congressional Science Policy Fellow

Strategic Sustainability Consultant

PhD Fellow - University of Virgina

Behavioral Scientist

An Economy that Works for All
- Secure federal appropriations for workforce development and job training programs that bring high-paying jobs back to East Tennessee
Fight for East Tennessee’s share of infrastructure dollars
- $15 Minimum wage
- Hold corporations accountable for violating labor laws and anti-trust practices.
- Champion legislation to make America lead R&D again: I’ll support increased federal investment in STEM education, basic and applied research, national labs, and emerging technology
- Manufacturing grants and tax incentives to East Tennessee businesses
Grow domestic semiconductor production, protect national security, create skilled jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign supply chains
- Cosponsor legislation to close billionaire tax loopholes
- Expand and fund national service programs to allow for Americans to give back to their country and their communities

Healthcare Focused on People, Not Profits
- Rein in insurance company abuses … penalizing companies that routinely deny valid claims, and support antitrust action to break up corporate healthcare monopolies ...
- Work to restore and expand the ACA premium tax credit
- Advocate for a universal healthcare option, while preserving your freedom to purchase additional insurance coverage
- Drug price caps
- Empower Medicaid to negotiate drug prices to directly lower your costs for your medications
- Fight to lift the cap on federally funded medical residencies by supporting the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act
- Draw more medical professionals to our region by increasing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates in rural areas
- Increase telehealth availability and coverage
- Fund community-based health programs…
- Support evidence-based substance abuse treatment to address the opioid crisis in our communities

A Government that Actually Represents Us
- Limit political spending by massive corporations
- A constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore power to the people
- End partisan gerrymandering by requiring independent redistricting commissions, ensuring free and fair elections where every vote counts equally
- Ban congressional stock trading
- Set reasonable age limits for members of Congress, President, and Vice President
- Institute a lobbying moratorium or ban for members of Congress after they’ve left office
- Establish term limits for members of Congress
- Institute term limits and a binding Code of Judicial Ethics for the Supreme Court

Building Better Infrastructure
- Fund our most critical road and bridge projects
- Push for federal incentives that reduce red tape
- Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)... while adding criteria to prevent overdeveloping the farmland and green spaces that make East Tennessee worth living in
- Fight for clean water funding
- Close the broadband gap in rural communities by advocating for full implementation of BEAD program funding
- Invest in vocational and trades education
- Advocate for federal transit grants to add bus routes and advance regional rail projects that connect workers to jobs without adding to our traffic crisis
- Support legislation that directs clean energy tax credits, grants, and manufacturing incentives to East Tennessee to bring clean energy investment and jobs to our region while building on our region's existing strengths in energy production

Invest in Education
- Invest in educators by raising salaries to recruit the best and brightest minds to teach our children
- Cap student loan interest rates to make a quality education affordable for every young person
- Push for federal education infrastructure dollars to address the $330 million backlog in school renovations and new construction projects across our district, and make sure every classroom has the technology students need to compete
- Expand dual enrollment funding …
- Increase transparency of federal spending on education
- Lower cost barriers for trade and vocational education …
- Fund affordable childcare and early childhood education …

Common Sense, Dignified Immigration
- Fund a just and humane immigration system to remove the backlog of immigration cases
- Return ICE to 2024 funding levels and mandate comprehensive training and background checks
- Pass legislation to modernize and secure our borders
- Create practical paths to citizenship for the people who play by the rules and contribute to our communities
- Hold public officials, including ICE agents, accountable for their actions by requiring identification just like our local law enforcement
- Prosecute federal agents who break the law
- Upgrade our temporary worker programs to fill essential roles in regions with low unemployment
- Support policies to help those fleeing danger and violence settle into our communities

Protect Our Environment
- Hold corporations accountable for the pollution that they and their products cause
- Fund vocational training for new workers and transitioning industries
- Incentivize clean energy growth and investment in East Tennessee
- Fight for appropriations that invest in solar, wind, battery storage, and advanced nuclear in East Tennessee
- Bring good paying clean energy jobs to the region through grants and tax credits tied to creating union jobs
- Protect East Tennesseans from rising utilities bills caused by AI data centers
- Set federal clean energy targets to ensure that future generations can enjoy our beautiful home

Reproductive Freedom
- Restore and protect the right to abortion
- Defend access to contraception and fertility treatment
- Rebuild and modernize our maternal healthcare infrastructure
- Fund research to identify best practices in caring for pregnant women
- Support paid parental leave so parents don’t have to choose between financial security and raising children
- Expand access to quality, affordable childcare programs …

Affordable Housing for All
- Reduce barriers to housing construction by modernizing land use and zoning laws
- Lower the cost to building low income housing projects
- Invest in our construction workforce through vocational training programs
- Fund innovative community projects to build better homes faster
- Support rural affordable housing programs
- Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to build more affordable units
- Get private equity out of the housing market by capping how many residential units corporations and foreign investors can own

Responsible Gun Ownership
- Fund research on gun violence prevention strategies to help our government and our communities make evidence-based decisions on how to protect our country and ourselves
- Support bipartisan legislation to enhance background checks, protecting our communities by making sure that dangerous individuals do not get access to firearms
- Continuing to listen to gun owners and gun safety experts to learn about your needs and experiences to solve this crisis in our communities without infringing on your 2nd Amendment rights

Serve our Veterans
- Increase VA funding, ensuring veterans get the care they need and deserve
- Fully fund veteran mental health and suicide prevention programs
- Help veterans involved in the criminal justice system get the resources they need
- Provide job training and job protections for veterans to help them get and stay employed
- Ensure that veterans and their families can afford educational opportunities that they choose
- End authorizations for endless foreign wars that put service members in harm's way

Age with Dignity
- Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices
- Cap out-of-pocket costs for medications for seniors
- Prevent Social Security from going bankrupt by making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes and removing the social security income cap
- Ensure that all Americans have access to health insurance they can afford
- Bring back and increase funding for senior meal programs, transportation services, and home healthcare
- Fight against Social Security privatization and cuts

Regulate AI
- Prevent companies from using AI to promote their own products or analyze your data to price gouge you
- Support research of the impact of AI on the workforce
- Fund research into the trustworthiness of AI systems
- Ensure that companies reveal how AI is affecting their hiring and firing practices
- Break up big tech monopolies
- Mandate environmental standards on AI data centers
- Invest AI-driven productivity gains into education, infrastructure, and healthcare