On the Issues
Protecting Our Reproductive Rights
For over three decades, Jennifer Boysko has been a relentless pro-choice advocate and activist. In Richmond, Jennifer has led the fight to protect our right to choose. Jennifer believes in protecting abortion rights and our reproductive freedoms because health care decisions should be between patients and their doctors, not politicians. Before being elected to the Virginia legislature, Jennifer was named a board member at Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL).
In the Virginia legislature, Jennifer has led the effort to keep Virginia the South’s only remaining safe haven for legal abortions, including spearheading the ongoing fight to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Virginia to protect reproductive freedom.
Jennifer has spent her life fighting for what’s right. In Congress that will mean working to enact Roe v. Wade protections at the federal level, including the right to travel for abortion care, and ensuring everyone has access to affordable contraception. With all that’s at stake for our health care rights and freedoms, Jennifer is the progressive leader we need to take on our biggest fights, no matter how tough, and stand up to the extreme Republican attacks on abortion rights and the right to choose when, where, and how to grow a family.
Restoring Democracy
On January 6, 2021, we saw our democracy come under attack as the direct result of Donald Trump’s dangerous and false claims about the 2020 election. Trump undermined the faith and trust in our democracy that led to a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Jennifer believes it’s critical that we double down on our commitment to democracy by ensuring everyone can make their voice heard at the ballot box. For decades, Republicans across the country have fought to make it more difficult to vote, while Jennifer has been on the frontlines in protecting our democracy and defending fundamental voting rights for all by passing a record number of bills to make it easier and safer to vote. In Congress, Jennifer will work to pass monumental voting rights legislation that puts an end to extreme gerrymandering and ensures no one eligible to vote is discriminated against.
Our democracy has also suffered from out-of-control, dark corporate money in our politics. For too long we’ve seen politicians do the bidding of their rich, corporate donors and special interests, instead of the people, with hard working families paying the price. Jennifer believes we have to get big money out of our politics and end the cycle of politicians who rig the system for corporations and industries that bankroll their campaigns. Jennifer will work for the people, fight to ban Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists, and stop politicians from profiting off insider stock information. She’ll work to build a campaign finance system that ends the ability of corporations to buy and sell influence at the expense of working families.
Making Virginia More Affordable
Jennifer understands that for too many Virginia families, it’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet with costs continuing to go up on everything from groceries, to homeowners insurance, health care, utilities, and more. It’s time that Virginia’s hard-working families see real relief. In Richmond, Jennifer fought to put more money in the pocket of Virginia families by eliminating the state tax on groceries, menstrual products, and diapers. In Congress, Jennifer will tackle rising costs head on by working to cut taxes for the middle class and working people, hold price gouging companies accountable, and take on corporate special interests who only care about getting richer.
Fighting For Paid Family Leave
Fighting for paid family leave is deeply personal to Jennifer. Late in her second pregnancy, Jennifer experienced sudden serious complications, and her health, and the health of her daughter were in grave danger. Her daughter, Sophie Claire, was born two months pre-mature and spent six weeks in the NICU fighting for her life. During this frightening time, Jennifer and her husband Glenn faced challenges too many families face — living paycheck to paycheck with limited time off, recovering from a major health crisis with a baby in the hospital and a toddler, their older daughter Hannah, at home. To add to the Boysko’s stress, their insurance company made clear that their coverage could be dropped at any time – they received a weekly letter from their insurance company threatening to end coverage — which could have cost Jennifer and her family over $70,000 per week.
Jennifer believes that no family should have to face challenges like that when having a new child or caring for a sick family member and has spent years fighting for comprehensive paid family leave In Congress, Jennifer will fight to invest in national permanent, comprehensive paid family and medical leave that will mean critical relief for working families.
Common Sense Gun Safety
Jennifer’s never shied away from the toughest challenges to stand up for what’s right – particularly when it comes to ending senseless gun violence. A former PTSA leader and mom, Jennifer understands the fear and powerlessness of having a child potentially in the line of fire of an active shooter. In Richmond, Jennifer has long fought to require universal, criminal background checks, safe storage for guns, and hold gun manufacturers accountable for marketing to children. Jennifer is one of the few who successfully brought Republicans and Democrats together to move forward a meaningful Virginia state gun safety law. In Congress, Jennifer will work for commonsense efforts that keep our kids safe and end the gun violence epidemic including expanded criminal background checks to prevent criminals and terrorists from buying guns, a ban on assault weapons, and red flag laws.
Protecting Our Environment And Investing In Renewable Energy
From extreme flooding to severe super storms, we’re experiencing the effects of the climate crisis right now. For too long we’ve seen Washington politicians in the pocket of big oil – with extreme Republicans refusing to take any meaningful action to tackle climate change and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. In the Virginia Senate, Jennifer passed a law to invest in renewable energy and protect our environment. In Congress, Jennifer will bring new ideas to take on the climate crisis and work to invest in wind, solar, nuclear, and other renewable energy sources, ensure climate justice for frontline communities, implement sustainable transportation investments, and end billions in tax breaks to the oil and gas industry.
Investing In Education
The mom of two public school graduates and a former PTSA leader, Jennifer knows firsthand what our students, teachers, and parents are facing and how critical it is to fully fund our public schools. Every child deserves access to a first-class education. But Republicans in Washington and Richmond have taken every opportunity to gut school funding, inject culture wars into classrooms, and put curriculum decisions in the hands of far-right politicians — instead of teachers and parents. In the state Senate, Jennifer has secured substantial funding increases for our world-class local school system and successfully raised teacher pay to attract and retain the best teachers to Northern Virginia. In Congress, Jennifer will work to make our classrooms safer and more equitable for students of all backgrounds by fully funding our public schools, investing in recruiting and retaining the best and brightest teachers, improving the infrastructure of crumbling schools, and investing in addressing student loan debt and expanding career and technical education programs.
