California State SenateCandidate for District 1Short Term

As a breast cancer survivor, Silke’s number one issue is having access to affordable healthcare. If elected, she will fight for every Californian to get the healthcare they need, when they need it, and from the provider of their choice. Access to healthcare is not a privilege, it’s a basic human right.

When faced with a serious illness, our first and only thoughts should be around how to become healthy, not how to pay for treatment. We cannot depend on a system where a GoFundMe is one of the main funding mechanisms for medical care of serious conditions, and where insurances encourage patients to beg for money.

The ACA (Affordable Care Act) was a step in the right direction, however it leaves too many uninsured; 3 million Californians are still uninsured. It is especially problematic in the border areas of Senate District 1, where often the only available ACA plans will not cover treatment in other states adequately, even though the closest provider may be in Nevada or Oregon.

Silke will also lead the fight to keep rural hospitals open while ensuring that they have adequate equipment and specialists.

The federal government owns and manages the vast majority of California’s forest, yet the US Forest Service budget gets cut year after year, while the fire danger in our forests increases year after year. We saw the largest fires ever in each of the last 4 years, and we will see them again in the next years.

Silke’s goal is to empower residents and communities to create defensible spaces and improve their communities' fire resiliency by boosting education and outreach to landowners to teach them on the most effective ways to reduce vegetation and other forest-fire fuel sources. Beyond education, Silke will fight for funding that goes directly to communities and residents to improve the health of their forests and create defensible space, creating safer environments as well as much needed rural jobs.

As a longtime home-owner in fire-prone areas, Silke will also work to ensure that every homeowner has access to homeowner’s insurance, as well as ensure that insurance payouts are adequate and not bare-bones.

Finally, after seeing the inadequate FEMA response after the Butte and Camp fires, she will work with the state and the federal agencies on better emergency follow-up for wildfire victims.

Growing up in a European country with some of the best free public education in the world gave Silke a unique perspective among our senate candidates on education funding. She will push to adopt statewide policies and support local efforts to improve the quality of public education in the North State.

Because of her background, Silke also has firsthand experience with a system that pro-actively strengthens the relationship between higher education, workforce development, and employers. She knows how to utilize public resources to help education lead directly to jobs.

K-12

Silke supports legislation that invests in California’s children by improving early education and school readiness initiatives, providing significant investments to yield exponential returns for students and schools.

It is vital for communities to partner with local school boards to effectively prioritize resource allocation. Silke will ensure that local educational agencies are fiscally stable, and resources are targeted to student populations the most in need of support.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Silke believes that California lawmakers should promote affordability, access, and efficiency in higher education, and she recognizes the importance of developing the skilled workforce needed for the state to meet its ever-changing workforce needs. Being the world’s 5^th largest economy, California can, and should, make an undergraduate degree achievable for students from low- and middle-income families through reduced or no-tuition programs. Silke will fight for funding for two free years of community college for first-time, fulltime students.    

Based on her own experiences and career success, Silke will introduce apprenticeship and vocational programs that enable students to gain job skills that allow them to work for local employers.  She proposes that California establish a new educational institution in the North State, with Redding being a top choice for this initiative.