[2] In March 2019, Hester worried that a bill banning the use of plastic foam food containers in Maryland would hurt farmers, including those in her district.

[2] In 2020, Hester worked alongside state delegate Courtney Watson to secure $8.25 million dollars in funding from the state to support Howard County executive Calvin Ball's Safe & Sound Plan, a multi-phase proposal to advance flood mitigation projects and support local business and property owners in Ellicott City, Maryland.

[9] In November 2023, Hester and eight other state senators signed a joint letter that threatened to defund immigrants rights group CASA de Maryland because it had called for an immediate ceasefire in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war and condemned the "utilization of US tax dollars to promote the ongoing violence.

She ultimately decided to vote to override the governor's veto on the bill, viewing it as a step toward economic equity, but she also supported GOP proposals to vary the minimum wage in different parts of the state and offered an amendment to give certain small businesses more time to pay the higher wage, both of which were rejected by Senate Democrats.

[2] In April 2019, Hester convened a bipartisan workgroup consisting of Democratic senators Guy Guzzone and Brian Feldman and Republican senators Andrew Serafini, Christopher R. West, and Mary Beth Carozza to look at possible aid for small business owners in light of the $15 minimum wage veto override.