PLATFORM
THE ISSUES
Education
Benjamin was raised by Florida's public school system. He has also worked for DCPS and has worked closely with many teachers as an Extended-day Assistant on top of his current work as an Assistant Preschool teacher. He's seen firsthand the lack of support that Florida educators are getting from their state government. Our legislature has turned our classrooms into political war rooms in their quest to replace imaginary indoctrination, with actual indoctrination. These backward policies have resulted in the mass exodus of thousands of qualified educators from our state. The biggest threat to our children's education is not AP Black History, it's not LGBTQ+ people existing and being learned about, it's our state's insistence on gutting our private school systems in exchange for private school vouchers which makes a quality education less accessible for Florida's youth. In the legislature, Benjamin will be a champion for Florida's educators and uplift them instead of vilifying them for doing their job, as well as make sure that ALL students feel safe in the halls of their school.
Public Safety
We need to rethink how we keep our communities safe. Year after year our state sees more and more funding for police and it fails to prevent crime. The only result we see from this policy is more instances of police brutality and more people being killed at the hands of police which mainly take place in our black and brown communities across Florida.
This cannot continue. If we want to be serious about crime prevention as a state, we need to make poverty public enemy number 1. Studies show that when people have all of their needs met, they're much less likely to commit crimes. This means making sure everyone in every zip code has reliable access to food, housing, healthcare, and quality education.
Our jails and prisons should be focused on rehabilitation so that upon release inmates have a pathway back to being active participants in society that won't commit the same mistakes that got them in there in the first place.
International Relations
We cannot as a state be dismissive of the horrifying events
taking place in Palestine. 2 million displaced people and 30,000 civilians dead including at least 13,000 children is not self-defense, it's genocide. We cannot be passive in the brutal and inhumane actions done by the Israeli government with the support of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Florida must stand for a free Palestine.
In addition, we should be leaders in normalizing U.S. relations with Cuba and ending the embargo that has destabilized their economy and done nothing but lead to chaos in the country.
We also have a major responsibility to be a helping hand to our friends in Haiti whose country has descended into madness in recent months. As a state, we should be open to helping our neighbors with anything they need to regain order under the terms of the Haitian people alone.
Housing
Housing is a human right, and due to failures from both our state and federal governments, the pursuit of one owning a home is becoming more and more unrealistic. Property insurance and rent costs are skyrocketing and too many Floridians are being forced to choose between having a place to live and having enough food to eat.
For too long the state of Florida has allowed our residential properties to be bought up and rented back out to us by out-of-state and even some out-of-country companies. Now how are Florida citizens supposed to compete with that?!
In the legislature, Benjamin will be one of the leading voices advocating for a block on companies buying residential properties as well as advocating for funding for our cities and towns to invest in local public and/or affordable housing initiatives.
Healthcare
Medical debt should not exist. No one should ever go bankrupt over a health condition they can't control. No one should die due to lack of access to necessary care, which is unfortunately the case for thousands of Americans every year. Benjamin is an advocate for single-payer health insurance. We cannot leave healthcare solely in the hands of predatory insurance companies whose only incentive is to make money off of other people's illnesses, the people of Florida deserve a public option.
Being less reliant on corporate middlemen to run our healthcare system would save our state money. A happier, healthier Florida is possible.
Environment
Florida is home to some of the most beautiful sights and landscapes in the country, we have no reason to not be leading the way in land conservation and environmental protection. We can't keep powering our country on nonrenewable sources such as coal and fossil fuels that are slowly making our planet uninhabitable. To ensure the prosperity of our posterity we need to make investments in more sustainable energy sources now! We need to be leading the charge in funding research into solar, wind, and nuclear energy. These investments can guide us to a cleaner more sustainable future and could bring home so many new, good-paying jobs!