The Connection

Candidate for Delegate in District 86

Town of residence: Herndon, VA

Age: 48

Family: Husband - Glenn Boysko, Daughters - Hannah and Sophie Claire

Education: B.A. Hollins University;

Occupation and relevant experience: Former Aide to Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; Legislative Assistant, Bayles Boland Madigan and Barrett; Staff Assistant US Senator Richard Shelby

Community involvement: Virginia Board of Real Estate- Citizen Member, Creating a Livable Community for All Ages in McLean, Great Falls Seniors Committee, Rt. 28 Working Group- Staff representative, Dranesville APR Task Force- Staff representative, Sugarland Run and Horsepen Creek Watershed WAG, Herndon High School Synthetic Turf Committee, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Town of Herndon Interjurisdictional Transportation Staff -Level Working Group, North County Human Services Team, Safe Community Coalition, Unified Prevention Coalition, McLean After School Child Care Committee, Herndon High School PTSA, Executive Board and Parent Education Chair, Herndon Fortnightly Club, Vice President, Eleventh District Democratic Committee, Dranesville Democratic Committee, Dulles Area Democrats- Founding Board Member, Delegate, Region V, Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, Radiant Child Yoga Teacher, Board of Trustees, Montessori Country School, Stephens Minister

Website: www.jenniferboysko.com

Email: jennifer@jenniferboysko.com

Twitter handle: @jenniferboysko

Name three favorite endorsements: Teachers (VEA and AFT); First Responders- (Virginia Firefighters and Police); Constituency groups (New Virginia Majority, CASA in Action, Emerge USA, Equality Virginia, Labor, Women’s Health Groups)

Questions

What is one issue that defines your call to serve, why does it matter, and how will you tackle it?

Improving our education system.

What distinguishes you from your opponent(s) and why should voters choose you?

I have a long history of working on the ground in our local community, solving problems and helping people with issues that are important to them. I’ve been able to bring people together to get things done regardless of what political party. Voters want more of that in Richmond.

Given the political makeup of the state legislature, what examples from your own experience suggests you can successfully bridge the intense partisan differences there?

As I said above, I’ve been working my whole adult life solving problems in a nonpartisan or bipartisan way. I will continue to be a leader to find commonsense solutions to the problems that Virginians face.

In order, list your top 5 specific legislative priorities.

Improve Education-Fully fund our schools, expand early childhood education, reform SOL testing so that our students and teachers can focus on critical thinking and problem solving instead of high stakes testing; Work with Governor McAuliffe and our local leaders to bring new jobs to expand our economy; Bring our fair share of transportation funding from Richmond - and stop the initiative to toll I-66; Expand Medicaid to cover the 400,000 Virginians without healthcare and free up the $5 million per day we already pay in taxes in Federal funds to tackle our other underfunded priorities - like schools, mental health and transportation; Keep the government out of our most personal private affairs.

How has your district changed in the last 10 years? What caused those changes?

The 86th District sits in the heart of the Dulles Technology corridor. We’ve experienced significant growth in the past 10 years and the district continues to diversify both ethnically and socioeconomically. It’s a microcosm of the region in the education, transportation and economic challenges that this kind of growth presents.

Will you support legislation restricting high interest lending including car title loans?

Yes, absolutely.

Will you support funding for Fostering Connections which would result in an influx of federal funding for foster children aging out of foster care?

Yes, I spent years working at the County level covering Health and Human Services issues. I know that all of our child advocacy programs in Virginia are under funded. We should honor our commitment to care for our most vulnerable so that they can grow up to achieve their full potential.

Do you support expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and if so, what would you do to make that happen?

If we look at Medicaid Expansion in economic terms, we know that it would be a wise business decision for the Commonwealth. It would stretch our budget dollars, lessening the burden on our struggling hospital system and providing our residents with the economic flexibility that health care coverage gives. Currently we are giving up $5 million per day because we refuse to expand medicaid. If you take away the partisan perspective, and focus on this as a common sense business decision, the answer is clear. The business community, hospitals and public health professionals all agree, and current examples of expansion in states like Kentucky have proven the wisdom of this choice. Our approach to legislating should be based on these kinds of considerations--starting with the data--rather than based on an ideological foundation. I know there will be Delegates who would be open to civil discussion based on data, and that is how I would approach all of my work in the House of Delegates.