Catherine grew up in Las Vegas and attended public schools. Throughout her time in public service, she has worked to protect students and make sure they can access the same great education she had. When Las Vegas faced a student suicide crisis during the pandemic, Catherine led efforts in the Senate to deliver funding so Nevada schools could safely reopen for in person learning, and she made sure to deliver funding to get students the mental health support they need. Catherine also led efforts in the Senate to deliver funding for more school counselors, increased teacher pay, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for teachers and students, and expanded after-school programs focused on students’ emotional well-being.
Catherine has worked to ensure all K-12 students in Nevada have internet access and delivered critical funding through pandemic relief and the bipartisan infrastructure law to ensure they can get online in and out of the classroom. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included her bipartisan bills to increase safety for student pedestrians, to improve air quality in schools, and to expand broadband in rural classrooms. She is leading bipartisan legislation with Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas to train more teachers to teach English learners.
Catherine and her sister were the first in their family to graduate from college, and she has worked to make higher education more affordable for students across Nevada. As Attorney General, she helped secure a major settlement from shady companies deceiving veterans into attending for-profit colleges and shut down their operations. Catherine knows the student loan system is broken and has fought to protect student borrowers, improve access to student loans, and allow students to refinance their loan debt at lower rates. She has led efforts to make it easier for members of our military to access public service loan forgiveness, and is pushing to ensure loans are forgiven for students who were victims of fraudulent colleges and universities. During the pandemic, Catherine’s legislation to allow student veterans to access their full housing benefit while attending classes online was signed into law.
