Debra has a record of standing up for the middle-class and fighting for average Minnesotans. She never shies away from a hard fight.

Standing up to the banking lobby. When the foreclosure crisis hit, Debra took on the banking lobby and chief authored the Homeowner-Lender Mediation bill to require lenders to sit down with homeowners to try to work out a solution before they could foreclose on the house. Unfortunately, then Governor Tim Pawlenty vetoed the bill.

Holding credit card companies accountable. When Debra learned credit card companies were taking people to court based on weak and sketchy information, Debra took on the credit card companies by chief-authoring a bill to require a tougher burden of proof on the part of companies. Debra got the bill passed despite the credit card industry's opposition.

Taking a stand against public corruption. When a bill was passed to allow corporate lobbyists the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money to wine and dine legislators, Debra opposed the bill because it stacked the deck for wealthy corporations. Legal aid attorneys, head start families, and neighborhood justice volunteers would not be able to have the same access.

Fighting for Ratepayers. Debra authored a bill to stop utility companies from billing the costs of their corporate lobbyists to ratepayers. Debra took on droves of utility lobbyists and didn't back down.

Holding fraudulent coin dealers accountable. When Debra found out that some coin dealers where scamming senior citizens, she chief-authored and passed legislation that protected consumers from fraudulent coin dealers.

Protecting Vulnerable Adults and Senior Citizens. Elder abuse is a growing problem. Debra has chief-authored numerous bills to tackle this issue. Debra chief-authored and passed a law to protect vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. The law created a new type of penalty for the financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult involving an amount greater than $35,000. The law also makes it easier to investigate and prosecute cases.

Addressing Cyber-Bullying. Cyber-bullying continues to be a growing problem for our students. In 2007, Debra passed a law to require school districts to have a policy on addressing cyber-bullying.

Debra will always fight for hardworking Minnesotans.