Charles Booker
DemocraticQ1 Obesity and diabetes is a rising concern throughout the nation and Kentucky consistently ranks among the least healthy states (i.e. ranked 5th in citizens with diabetes). What evidence-based policies, if any, do you support to improve community and preventative health for your constituents (e.g. Type II diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity)?
As a Type 1 diabetic who’s had to ration my insulin in order to have enough money to feed my daughters, I understand the struggles Kentuckians face every single day. Healthcare is a human right. No one should have to ration their medicine, skip a doctor’s appointment, or choose between paying a medical bill or putting food on the table. We need to make healthcare more affordable for every Kentuckian. We need to restore the Affordable Care Act subsidies, provide additional options for access to health insurance, lower prescription drug costs, and restore the devastating cuts to Medicaid threatening to close dozens of rural hospitals across Kentucky and even more across the country.
Q2 Kentucky faces significant ongoing environmental challenges which includes coal ash dumps and acid mine drainage contaminating groundwater and streams. What policies, if any, would you implement to address Kentucky’s water quality degradation, and why?
Every Kentuckian deserves access to clean drinking water. We need to make sure we direct federal resources into our communities to address the damage done to our groundwater and streams. When I served as Director of Administrative Services at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, I saw firsthand the impact of water pollution and was left especially motivated to combat it.
Q3 Kentucky is actively pursuing AI datacenter construction projects, and already has 37 such facilities throughout the state. Datacenters are central to domestic AI development and bring construction jobs, but can strain limited resources, harm the environment, and often face public opposition. What policies, if any, do you support related to datacenter development projects, and why are these policies right for Kentucky?
Kentuckians deserve to know how data centers will impact their utility bills, environment, and their communities. It’s why I support a national moratorium on all new AI data center construction until we fully understand the impact on our health, environment, water supply, and utility bills. We must ensure that existing data centers pay the full costs for the impact on our electric bills and pass legislation to limit the impact of data centers on our environment and natural resources.
Q4 Vaccine hesitency and public skepticism about the safety of medical treatments have contributed to falling vaccination rates.. A recent Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory from the CDC highlighted Kentucky has only 43.8 % of individuals aged 18 and above recieved a flu vaccination. What policies, if any, would you implement to help Kentucky manage infectious diseases for which there are safe and effective vaccines?
Access to healthcare remains a barrier to trusting healthcare professionals. Surprise medical bills, lost coverage, closed hospitals. All of this can breed mistrust and skepticism of healthcare professionals and lead to lower vaccination rates. I believe healthcare is a human right and improving the access, affordability, and quality of care will help us improve community trust. This means restoring funding to Medicaid and the ACA while providing options for accessing and affording the same type of high-quality care people like Mitch McConnell receive.