Too many well-intended laws quietly raise the cost of housing, utilities, childcare, insurance, and everyday services.

We already require fiscal notes to show how a bill impacts the state budget, we should also require a Family Cost Impact Review to show how it impacts your household budget.

What I will do:

• Require Cost-of-Living Impact Statements for major legislation and regulations

• Measure impact on:

  • Housing costs

  • Utility bills

  • Childcare

  • Healthcare access

  • Transportation

• Make findings public and easy to understand

If a bill raises costs for Tennessee families, we deserve to know before it passes.

Affordability should not be an afterthought.

Politicians love to talk about “inflation” and “economic growth.”

Families experience the economy differently — through monthly bills.

That’s why I support creating a Tennessee Family Budget Index that tracks:

• Rent or mortgage

• Groceries

• Childcare

• Healthcare

• Utilities

• Transportation

This index would:

• Guide state budget priorities

• Evaluate whether new policies help or hurt affordability

• Provide transparency to voters

• Keep economic conversations grounded in reality

If paychecks go up but family budgets get tighter, the economy isn’t working. We should measure what families feel — not just what looks good in a headline.

Eliminating the grocery sales tax will help families across our state save up to $400 a year.

It’s time to focus in on helping hard working Tennesseans who need it most instead of the wealthy and big corporations when it comes to our tax policies.

Consumer protection shouldn’t just mean more rules. It should mean lower prices. The best consumer protection is a price people can afford.

I will refocus Tennessee’s consumer protection efforts on:

• Eliminating junk fees and hidden charges

• Requiring transparent pricing

• Removing unnecessary middlemen

• Challenging anti-competitive local rules

• Ending exclusive contracts that inflate prices

Competition — not complexity — is what keeps prices affordable.

Housing is expensive because we don’t allow enough homes to be built.

Childcare is expensive because supply is restricted.

Healthcare costs rise when provider access is limited.

When we block supply, prices go up. It’s that simple.

I will support policies that:

• Reward communities that increase housing supply

• Reduce unnecessary zoning and permitting delays

• Remove barriers to childcare expansion

• Expand healthcare workforce access

Tennessee should reward “yes” communities — not empower permanent “no.”

Other states — red and blue — have enacted income-targeted child and working family tax credits and direct rebates that put money back into the hands of families who need it most.

Tennessee can do the same.

I support:

• A refundable Child Tax Credit targeted to middle- and lower-income families

• Income-targeted rebates during periods of surplus

• Renter relief through tax credits or deductions

These policies:

• Reward work and support parents

• Reduce child poverty

• Increase local economic activity

This isn’t about growing government, it’s about strengthening families. When families have breathing room, communities thrive.

This platform is built on a simple principle:

Affordability is a systems problem — and systems can be fixed.

Together, these policies:

• Lower costs without raising taxes

• Increase supply instead of subsidizing scarcity

• Expand opportunity without micromanagement

• Support working families and small businesses

• Replace political theater with measurable reform

It’s about affordability for everyone in our state, both the left or right.

It’s about restoring the idea that hard work should be enough to build a good life in Tennessee.

And it’s about putting people ahead of politics again.