Aaron Bautista

Please share briefly what inspired you to run for this office and why you feel you’re qualified for the position.

As a special education teacher, theres no reason why our education system should be ranked so low and we need to fix, I have many ideas. Also a a special education teacher I hear many parents concerns and struggles, and as a son of 2 immigrants myself, I relate and want to fight for them and their families, who also happen to be my students. Also, my parents have been union members my entire life, I've seen them fight for others, and I will always do the same.

Would you support allocating more state funds to help DACA recipients to help with higher education?

Absolutely.

How will the state fight the growing issue of homelessness that is increasing in our communities and use funds to expand on shelters for these community members?

When I used to work with HELP of Southern Nevada, I used to go into the tunnels, encampments, and other places to do housing assessments and render aide. I quickly learned how little there was in aide to help everyone. It was close to maybe 1 out of 20 who scored high enough to even be considered for some kind of program. People would lose hope fast when we couldn't much for them and it horrible seeing that. We need housing justice, I would like the state to work more with non profits to help aide the homeless. At the end of the day, do we need more shelters, yes, so another should be built and funded by the state. However, a lot of people don't like shelters because they feel like they're substandard, and some don't want to sleep on a mat in a courtyard. I'd rather see more homeless individuals get accepted into programs that are offered by the non profits like HELP, Lutheran Social Services, Caridad, etc, that included different classes, therapies, and services that actually gave people a rope to get out of homelessness. I'd also like to see land get donated, and have groups like the newleaf building community help operate it.

Nevada has historically protected the right to abortion, including protecting the right in statute 30 years ago by a vote of the people. However, there remain barriers to access in the state. Do you support not only the right to abortion but policies that improve equitable access to abortion care?

Yes, I believe in women's rights. Its her body, so her choice, and women's rights include healthcare, so we need to protect planned parenthood, plus strengthen the language in the laws to protect women's rights.

The state of Nevada is facing an unprecedented shortage of health care providers – a problem that impacts every area of medicine, including the provision of sexual and reproductive care. Do you support removing the physician-only requirement and allowing advanced practice clinicians (APCs) to provide this vital care to patients with training and certification?

With proper training and certificates, yes, but the APC's should still be overseen by doctors when possible.

It is well documented that patients of color face greater obstacles to obtaining sexual and reproductive health care than non-Hispanic white Americans – a pattern that results in worse health outcomes overall for BIPOC patients. Do you not only acknowledge systemic racism’s role in public health disparities but will you pursue policies that seek to rectify the historical harm of systemic racism and advance equitable access to health care?

Yes, we need to find out why there's a disparity and fix that. It's not fair, nor is it right.

Knowing that the death penalty is exorbitantly expensive, racially discriminatory, and does not promote true healing for victims family members, do you support its abolition and do you think ending the death penalty is a crucial part of criminal justice reform?

We need to abolish the death penalty. Period.

True Colors United, a national organization that implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQ+ young people continues to rate Nevada as critically low, for its State Index on Youth Homelessness (in collaboration with the National Homelessness Law Center) that ranks and scores laws and policies related to preventing and addressing youth homelessness in the United States. Are you willing to support legislation that helps to fund and provide oversight regulations to youth homelessness services?

Yes, absolutely. The youth are the future and need to be cared for and nurtured, not homeless.

Anti-transgender bills are being introduced across the United States that attempt to prevent trans people from having access to health care, gender reassignment surgery, and access to sports in schools. Do you support transgender equality and access to healthcare and an athletic school experience?

I absolutely support transgender equality, access to healthcare, and an athletic school experience. Trans rights are human rights, and I fully support the LGBTQIA+ community. Last summer, I lost my best friend of 24 years to her battle against depression and I feel if she had better access to health care and gender reassignment, she would still be here today. The reason I'm using the same campaign logo that I used back when I ran for City Council in 2019 is because she created it right before transition process, so when I see my logo, I think of her, and will fight for her and everyone like her.

We have seen rental rates increasing at a very alarming rate, in some instances upwards of 30%. How do you see the Nevada Legislature taking action to keep Nevadans in their homes and not being priced out?

We need to protect families. As an educator parents tell me about their struggles keeping a roof over their families heads and I feel for them, I don't want to see my students have to go through these problems. I see several things that need to happen, we need to look at rent control and find a way to implement it, we need to look at predatory practices from landlords and make sure they're not ri[[ing off families, or putting profit over people, we need need to look at investors buying to flip which also prices people out. We also need to look at how and when landlords evict. We can also look at buying or donating property to create affordable housing that is protected from rent going up to ensure continuity for families. Maybe we could even do a cost of living program where families get monthly subsidies. There's a lot of ideas that we can think of and they all need to be looked at.

Nevada has one of the largest shares of federal public land of any state in the country, providing important wildlife habitat, places to hunt, camp, fish and hike, and acting as the foundation of a billion dollar outdoor industry. Even so, some lawmakers have promoted policies that seek wholesale transfer of federal ownership of our national lands to states. A) Would you support or oppose these land transfer policies? B) Would should the State of Nevada’s role be in the management and ownership of federal land?

No because national parks are national, and need an extra level of protection and care. For instance Lake Mead is national and with the water shortage, the federal government could be more of a help. There's also historical places that are national parks that can be better preserved. However, I do think that the state can still help with the management of these public lands because its in the states jurisdiction, but having the federal designation means these lands cant just be sold for development or drilled on, and really does help keep public lands for the people to enjoy.

State investments in conservation provide resources for a wide range of public benefit, like the management of wildlife and state land, and the creation and maintenance of trails and other recreational facilities. In 2019, the Legislature approved $217 million of bonding authority for conservation purposes, including for the acquisition of land for new state parks. A) Do you support or oppose state investment in conservation? B) Has Nevada’s investment in land conservation been too little, too much, or about right, and how would you change it?

I support the states investment in conservation because these lands need to be taken care of and I feel state parks should be managed by the state. This gives the people a chance to have say in conservation and parks. However. I do think there needs to be

Would you support addressing public health disparities in Nevada’s diverse Spanish speaking population by funding a “Promotores de Salud” program through the Nevada Office of New Americans that provides year round, culturally competent education and community engagement in Spanish on public health issues?

Yes. We need to remove barriers placed in front our Spanish speaking population and immigrants. This is healthcare. In general though, we need to make sure we remove barriers in front of immigrants. These barriers only slow growth, and prevent people from

What are you doing to center communities of color and low-income communities in your work, and how do you ensure that equity is part of every decision you make?

I think about my neighbors and students in East Las Vegas, we are a low income district mostly made up of POC and immigrants, and we all have faced the struggle. The reason I'm running is for us. The government has never been equitable and that needs to change, as a Vegas native, I've seen other areas of town get new infrastructure, new buildings, new schools etc, while the Eastside has kind of remained the same. One side of town will get new schools and funding, while we might get the same funding, that wont go as far with our aging schools, thats not equity. One part of town might get shiny new grocery stores and businesses, we might get a Dollar General, thats not equity. Not to mention, I hear parents tell me about not being able to make ends meat, having to work multiple jobs, or feeling like they don't have workers rights, or that the cost of living is too much. They're all POC& low income, I listen to them, I advocate for them, I teach their students, and ultimately I do my best to be there for them, as an educator, but also as a human being giving them an audience. People want to be heard, if elected I will hear them, and I will be able to take actions to improve their lives. This is how I ensure equity is part of every decision I make.

The APIA community faces the largest unmet financial needs when it comes to higher education. Nevada has the highest student loan default rate in the country. In Nevada, there are 333,100 student loan borrowers, $11.5 Billion in student loan debt, and $34,700 in average debt per borrower. What policies can we implement to ensure students and families are protected from predatory lenders and undue financial burdens?

I'm part of the APIA community, and this question hits home as my student debt is actually higher than the average. Student loans are something that need to be addressed, if not by the President Biden then we need to look at what we can do as a state. A policy I would like to implement, and I know Governor Sisolak has a plan for free community college, but that needs to be expanded on to let any student graduating high school go to community college. My first loan was for CSN so I know that would have helped me out a lot. I really believe college should be free in general because I think the more people that take advantage of it, the better its sets up the future of our great state. We also need to expand on letting indigenous people go to college for free as we are on tribal land. Now as for policies, I think we should take a look at some kind of forgiveness to people who have taken out loans, maybe a certain a mount everyone qualifies for, and a higher amount for people who are in public service. Should we forgive all loans in general? Yes, but this would be a start. I don't know if all the other lawmakers would go for just forgiving all loans, but I'd sure bring it up. I'd also like to see colleges provide more clarity with cost. I know when I signed up, I thought it was going to be a lot cheaper than it actually ended up turning out to be and its kind of predatory, especially with the student coming out of high school with big dreams. After graduating I ended up with nearly $20k more in cost than I thought I would, and I know I'm not the only one. Maybe we can start fining colleges for practices like that? I really do think if not free, than colleges need to make it affordable because price have skyrocketed, and its virtually impossible to make it through without loans. Prices aren't in line with wages that people make and what people can actually pay. I'd also like to implement a policy that ensures people know what they are getting into when it comes to student loan lenders, because again I know that I had no clue what I was getting into when I was younger, and same for many others. I also want to make sure high school students know how loans work, about scholarships, trade programs, and other things they need to know about for life after high school as I think we need to do a better job at setting up young adults for success.

Latinx communities are extremely concerned about the drought and ongoing water shortages. What would you do to ensure our families have a sustainable water supply, not just now but also future generations?

Water is sacred, and is basically the lifeline to life. We need to preserve and strengthen the efforts of the SNWA with grass watering restrictions, getting rid of unnecessary grass, not hand washing cars in a driveway with the hose flowing, as well as increase the public outreach the SNWA has done. We can also make sure our water recycling program is stronger and more water is being reused. Ultimately though, we have to realize that Lake Mead is shrinking, and that snowpack that helps feed Lake Mead is also getting smaller with climate change and warmer than average temperatures. We need to negotiate with neighboring states about their water usage, as several states draw from Lake Mead so we need to figure out a more fair share of water, as Las Vegas is growing at a rapid pace, as well as finding new sources for water, whether it be a new pipe from another source, using science to desalinate water, or even capturing rain water which we really don't get to much of anyways. We can even look at ways to slow down climate change or increase water flow. If we do all of the things, I think we can supply water for now and future generations.

One out of seven people in Clark County are food insecure. What policies would you propose to ensure people are not residing in food deserts and have access to healthy food and water sources?

In my district, there is a huge food desert and there are no major grocery stores, just a few smaller markets but mainly gas stations. I often see students come to school with a soda and a bag of chips. Students and families deserve better access. I would ensure there are grocery stores serving the community by talking to companies and convincing them to open up shop, by maybe creating legislation that gives incentives to companies providing services in underserved areas. There used to be a Food for Less on Lake Mead and Nellis, once that closed there was still the Walmart on Craig and Nellis, once that closed it left a huge gap that needs to be closed. Often times, I've found families in the area will only have one car, so sometimes they need to Uber or take a bus just to get groceries and that puts a strain on time and money on a family that is already struggling financially. We also need to make sure there are food banks in these food deserts to provide food & water for families who simply just can't afford to eat or don't have access to stores. I'd like to make sure the state keeps those pantries stocked to allow for people who need it, to have access to food so they can cook meals for their families. During the pandemic, there were many food distribution points in the city, we can also have those in food deserts, or where there are food insecurities. I also found that some students come to school because that's the only place they do get to eat. I'd like to ensure students have access to food they can bring home when not in school. I know some schools send home a bag of food on the weekend, but i'd like to expand that and ensure no one is being sent home to a situation where they are going to be hungry.