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Biography (max 750 char)
Jamila E. Taylor, a public interest attorney, small business owner and community advocate, is a Washington State Representative. She currently serves as the Chair of the Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee and as the First Vice Chair of the Members of Color Caucus. She previously served as Chair of the Washington State Legislative Black Caucus and Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. She is also an appointee to the Washington State Women’s Commission. Rep. Taylor is recognized as an emerging leader in the Legislature was tapped to serve in key roles to advance policies addressing the racial equity, economic recovery, housing, behavioral health, and other landmark legislation.
I'd protect community-based services for people with disabilities and seniors first. I've fought this session against cuts to Medicaid-funded home and community services, and those cuts just shift costs onto emergency rooms and institutional care later. I'd also resist cuts on behavioral health and housing investments–as they are paramount to preventing these large issues in the first place. On revenue, I'd look at closing tax preferences that don't serve a clear public purpose before I'd look at cutting services people depend on to stay in their homes.
Same-day registration, ballot access in more languages, and funding for county elections offices so results are fast and secure. I'd also invest in civics education in schools. A lot of the distrust I hear about isn't really about fraud; it's about people not understanding how the system works or feeling like no one explained it to them. People trust a system more when they understand how it works, not just when they're told to trust it.
Making critical investments in prevention and intervention services are some of the most effective long-term strategies. For example, funding youth violence intervention and diversion programs, following through on our “Blake” response with real investment in treatment and recovery services, and making sure police departments have the training and staffing to build trust in the communities they serve. We cannot arrest our way out of deeply complex public safety issues. Investing upstream often has a proven track record.
Local news deserts hurt accountability at every level of government. I'd support state grants or tax incentives for local newsrooms, similar to what a few other states have done, like in Illinois and New Mexico; I'd want any funding structured so it doesn't come with strings attached to editorial content. People can't hold us accountable if they don't know what we're doing.
I'd support more transparency in how the commission draws lines and more public comment built into the timeline, not just hearings after maps are mostly set. Communities of interest, like the 30th's immigrant and working-class neighborhoods, should be kept together rather than separated when it's convenient. When a community gets divided across multiple districts, its voice gets diluted along with it, and that's the opposite of what redistricting is supposed to protect against.
Affordability. Housing, child care, and health care costs are outpacing what families in Federal Way, Algona, Milton, and Pacific can afford. The state's role is to keep investing in affordable housing production, cap costs where we can, and protect the safety-net programs that families fall back on. As a caregiver myself, I know how fast the costs stack up.
