Work should pay enough to live on. That used to be a basic promise in this country, and for too many families in Minnesota’s Second District it has quietly disappeared. People are working full time, sometimes two jobs, and still falling behind on rent, groceries, and childcare. When the cost of everything rises but wages stand still, families are not struggling because they are lazy. They are struggling because the rules have stopped working for them.

I know what it means to stretch a paycheck, and I have spent years alongside families doing exactly that. A fair wage is not a radical idea. It is the difference between a parent who can be present for their kids and a parent who is always at work and still never has enough. It is the difference between a worker who can save a little and one who is one emergency away from disaster.

In Congress, I will fight to raise the federal minimum wage and, just as importantly, to tie it to regional living costs. A single national number ignores reality. What it takes to get by in our part of Minnesota is not the same as in a rural county elsewhere, and wages should reflect the actual cost of living where people work. Indexing the wage to local conditions keeps it fair over time instead of letting it erode year after year while Washington argues.

Fair pay is only part of the picture. I will support workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively, because unions built the middle class and remain one of the few forces that give working people real leverage. I will back small businesses too, because they are the backbone of our local economy and they thrive when their customers and employees have money in their pockets. Strong wages and strong small businesses are not in conflict. They feed each other.

I will also push for investment in the skills and training that lead to good jobs, from apprenticeships in the trades to career pathways for young people who are not headed to a four-year degree. As an educator, I have seen how much talent goes unused when opportunity is not there to meet it.

Local prosperity is not measured by the stock market. It is measured by whether a family in our district can work hard and build a decent life. That is the standard I will hold Washington to, and that is the fight I am bringing to Congress.