Julia Reed, Candidate for 36th LD State Representative

On this midweek show, Crystal chats with Julia Reed about her campaign for State Representative in the 36th Legislative District - why she decided to run, how the last legislative session went and her thoughts on addressing issues such as housing affordability and zoning, homelessness, public safety, drug decriminalization, climate change, and COVID response and recovery.

As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. 

Find the host, Crystal, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Julia at @juliagrantreed.

 

Resources

Campaign Website - Julia Reed: https://www.votejuliareed.com 

 

Transcript

[00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes.

Today, I am thrilled to be welcoming Julia Reed, who is a candidate for State House in the 36th legislative district. Welcome, Julia.

[00:00:46] Julia Reed: Thanks for having me - it's great to be here.

[00:00:49] Crystal Fincher: Great to have you. So what made you decide to run?

[00:00:52] Julia Reed: It's a number of things - I grew up in Seattle, I'm a teacher's kid. My parents both worked in public schools here. My dad was a long time educator in Seattle Public Schools and my mom works in Edmonds and Shoreline Schools in special ed. And so I think a lot of my initial interest in public service really comes from them and seeing how they serve their communities, were active in their communities, and also the things that they struggled with - the lack of funding, the state bureaucracy, families that just weren't getting the supports that they really needed. And I absorbed a lot of that as a child and it inspired me to really want to pursue public service as a career. And I worked on the East Coast in the other Washington in the Obama administration, and then I came back to my hometown and worked in public policy here locally.

And I've just seen a lot of changes in that time - from when I was growing up here and my parents, as an educators' family, could afford to buy a house and offer us a community that supported us and uplifted us. And now I think if my parents were moving to Seattle today, that same kind of lifestyle wouldn't be possible. And there are lots of people who are struggling, and as we are transitioning from the first depths of COVID into whatever is going to come after COVID - I think this is a really transitional time for our state and this is the time when we have to make choices about affordable housing and climate change and community safety and workers. And I want to be a part of that work, and I've been really involved in politics and community work here ever since I moved back as an adult. And I want to try to bring the voices of people like me - younger people, people in their thirties, who are trying to build lives here to the State House. So that's sort of what's inspiring me to run right now. I think this is a really transitional time and we need big thinkers to meet it.

[00:03:00] Crystal Fincher: It does seem to be, and I definitely agree we need big thinkers to address it. We just came out of a legislative session where there were definitely some great things that happened and a number of other things that left a number of people disappointed. What was your evaluation of this past session?

[00:03:21] Julia Reed: Yeah, I think you're right - some really great wins and some really tough losses. I think not being able to pass the missing middle housing bill, despite the governor's support was really hard - I see this as someone who's in her mid-thirties, I have a lot of friends who are trying to buy homes and make a life here, and they - because we have the fewest number of housing units per household of any state in the country, so we're 50 out of 54 housing units compared to number of households. The lack of supply is just choking them and they're starting to leave and go other places. And so I think we really needed that bill to try to address exclusionary zoning - what is keeping younger people from building lives and being able to settle down here. I think that -

[00:04:15] Crystal Fincher: Well, that's a huge issue. Do you support increasing density in single-family neighborhoods?

[00:04:21] Julia Reed: I do. I support - I think of it as inclusionary zoning, because I think it's important to remember that single-family zoning is fundamentally exclusionary. It's saying that a lot of people, a lot of families, a lot of people of color, a lot of younger people don't get to live here and it's - if we - I definitely think that our priority when it comes to upzoning and building denser housing should be urban villages and commercial centers. But the truth of the matter is we have a huge housing crisis and we just don't have enough arterials and urban villages to absorb all of that. And many of our urban villages are already upzoned and are already kind of starting to build. And I think what we need in some of these areas that have been exclusively zoned is to have more inclusionary zoning - to allow modest home choices, like duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes - to incentivize ADUs and mother-in-law apartments. I really think this is about are kids going to be able to live in the same neighborhood as their parents, in the same neighborhood where they grew up. Are they going to be able to move - are adults who want to move their elder parents to be closer to them - are they going to be able to live near them? Are we going to have communities that are walkable and climate-friendly or are we going to have a never-ending urban sprawl? Because growth is continuing and if we don't have housing to keep up with it, it's just becoming impossible.

And I see that in so many people my age, who are - and many of them whom are relatively economically privileged - the majority of people in Seattle, households in Seattle, now earn over a hundred thousand dollars a year. But even for people who are economically privileged, the lack of availability of housing really makes the afford - it really is a huge challenge. And then so much more so for people who can't afford these high prices - and it's not just a Seattle problem, it's an everywhere-in-the-state problem. Spokane was supposed to be the next great affordable city and it's already unaffordable. It's an everywhere-in-the-state problem and it's going to become something that really chokes our economy and our ability to grow. And so I really think that we have to think of inclusionary zoning if we want to have climate-friendly neighborhoods and communities where families and kids and older people can continue to live.

[00:06:58] Crystal Fincher: Well, and one thing that I wanted to talk about was a related issue - I think you raise excellent points on inclusionary zoning and the need to do it just to secure a livable future for those currently here and those who will remain here after we're gone. Related to the affordability issue is homelessness, and it's on a lot of people's minds and wanting to figure out what can be done. A lot of homeless policy is determined at the local level, frankly. And so a lot of people are like, okay, well in your capacity as a state legislator, what can you do? 'Cause affordability is also - the lack of affordability is driving people onto the streets. So what can you do in your capacity as a state legislator to reduce the amount of people living without homes?

[00:07:47] Julia Reed: Yeah, well I think it's really important - I really believe and I think the research shows that homelessness is a housing problem. And there is some great - there's a great new book by some UW researchers specifically looking at it through that lens. And I think as a legislator, I'd love to see us, as a state, think about how are we making massive investments in permanent supportive housing and affordable housing. Along the same lines of - when we're talking about building light rail or highways, we talk about that in the billions of dollars. But when we talk about housing for human beings, we talk about that in the thousands, maybe the millions - even though this is the number one issue.

Certainly there are people who are unhoused who are also suffering from mental health issues or addiction issues. There are housed people who also suffer from mental health and addiction issues. But those are more often than not, conditions that develop after they get onto the street and from the trauma to cope with kind of the trauma of living outdoors. And until we can bring them indoors, make them feel safe, give them a door that they can shut and lock - it's very hard for a person to start to think about how to commit to mental health treatment or substance use disorder treatment, or to think about finding a more stable job, or education or family reunification or therapy. If they need housing and there's not the housing - just like there is a lack of availability for people who can afford market rate housing, there's really a lack of availability for people who need permanently affordable housing, permanently supportive housing.

I'm also really interested in some of these new ideas, like this social housing concept that is going to be on the ballot, which the idea to create a public development authority that would purchase and develop affordable housing on behalf of the - I believe it's the City in this case - on behalf of public entities. I was involved in the creation of the Cultural Space Authority at the City of Seattle, which is a public development authority that can purchase and hold and develop cultural spaces. So for theater and art and dance and music and other kinds of community-specific cultural spaces.

[00:10:10] Crystal Fincher: All extremely valuable.

[00:10:12] Julia Reed: Super valuable - it's really hard to be a working creative in - the creativity of our communities is why people want to live here and why employers have a lot of good workers here. But it's hard to - the lack of rehearsal space, performance space, culturally-specific spaces - so you think about Wa Na Wari, the Black cultural center in central Seattle - trying to preserve spaces like that. So the Cultural Space PDA launched and is doing its job and it seems to be doing really well. And I'm really interested in learning more about how that model can apply to housing. It's something that is new to me, but I definitely want to learn more. So I think as a legislator, the things that we can do is really try to address scarcity in the state because we control the state budget. Excuse me, we use the power of the purse to control the budget. And I think that when it comes - that's the place where we can start to make big investments in housing and where we can start to think about also mental health care and healthcare in general. But I definitely think that when it comes to addressing homelessness - homelessness is a housing problem.

And I think that that is something that everybody needs to understand, because we can't just keep shuffling people along. I understand why people want encampments to be cleaned up and especially when they're unsanitary or unsafe or kind of getting out of control - but we've all seen encampments get cleaned up and then folks tend to just move down the street, down the block, they come back the next week because we're just cycling people through the same system and we can't just keep doing that and expecting to get different results. So I think we need to really start addressing housing and it's expensive and it's longterm and people like quick cheap solutions and that's what politicians are supposed to bring forward. But I think of myself, not so much as just a politician, but someone who is a public policy expert and a public servant. And I think it's incumbent on us to start looking at the systemic solutions to homelessness.

[00:12:22] Crystal Fincher: Really important - another issue, kind of similar, or another area pretty similar when - yes, people love the really simple you-can-encapsulate-it-in-a-slogan solutions to public safety. What will actually make us safer? What will reduce crime? What will keep people from being victimized? And again, when it comes to - certainly the policing element of public safety and often the incarceration element of it - lots of that is determined at the local level on how they're going to approach that. So again, another huge issue that's on people's minds. Lot of data out there - a lot of decisions don't seem to be tied to the data that shows what works. But what do you think again, in your capacity as a state legislator, should you be doing to help make people safer?

[00:13:20] Julia Reed: Yeah - I mean, it's a really good question. Every city in the country has seen an increase in crime in the wake of COVID-19 and that includes an increase in hate crimes targeting the Asian community. And that's a real concern and business owners who have struggled to keep their restaurants open or their storefronts open during COVID-19 - they don't deserve to come to work and see their door smashed in and to see their windows smashed. And they're just trying to keep their doors open, keep our communities going. And I think that that is a - it's a real, it's a serious concern. It's one that I hear about a lot from people as I'm out walking around and I would go back to this concept that one of the things the legislature can have an impact on is scarcity. And I think a lot of this low-level crime is tied to scarcity and tied to poverty. So a lack of jobs, a lack of education, a lack of housing, of healthcare, of community-based healing, and a lack of sort of community and spiritual support for folks.

So I think that as a legislator, we can be using the revenue in our state to invest in our communities and invest in some of these solutions to crime that are actually going to have an impact because - just like shuffling the encampment down the road is not a real answer to homelessness, cycling people for misdemeanor crimes through the system - constantly putting them in and then cycling them out, waiting months for a court date, pulling detectives off of cases like murders and rapes and other cases in order for them to do kind of street patrol. Like, that's not a real community safety solution. Investing money in our communities, addressing poverty, fully funding education, funding community-based safety initiatives - like in Seattle, we have some really great models. We have Community Passageways, we have Choose 180, which is an amazing program that works on diversion. I'm very involved in the YMCA's Social Impact Center, which is a branch of the Y that serves young adults all across King County and even in Pierce County - who are transitioning out of foster care, but also criminal justice involvement, gang involvement and incarceration. They have an amazing program called Alive & Free that works with young people who have been incarcerated or been in gang involvement who are looking to change their lives.

So we have these community models and I think we have to have the courage to really invest in them and prioritize them and say, this is work that is actually creating real safety and this is what the community is asking us for. And I think that is really what this is about is listening and then having courage - I think that speaking to your question about kind of police reform, I think one of the - in the legislature this year, I think one of the disappointments that I had was kind of the rollback of some of these reform measures that the state had invested in last year. And I think when the community has asked for something like this, we should listen to them and once we've passed the legislation, we should stand up for it, even if it's politically inconvenient. And I would like to bring that level of kind of courage and accountability to the legislature and stand with other legislators who I know, feel the same way.

Police reform is a hugely complex issue - I speak to this as a Black woman, I think about my father, my brother, my boyfriend who are all Black. When they walk out the door, I worry about them. I worry about myself. And that is the lens through which I often see these issues. I also have family members who are police officers, and I know that so much gets made about the individual hearts and minds of specific police officers. And in some cases, I think that is appropriate, but this is not about individual people, it's about a whole system that we have to change. And the state has a lot of power - yes, a lot of the policing issues are decided on the local level, but the state has a lot of funding power, we also have a state prison system that legislators have power and accountability over. And I think that we need to be listening to communities, we need to have the courage to stand beside them not just when the focus and the energy is on the issue, but all the time even when it gets a little bit politically inconvenient the next year. And then I think when it comes to police reform, we really have to, again, it's about community solutions. It's about systemic solutions and it's about understanding that people are telling us what they need to be safe, and what makes them feel safe and what doesn't. And I think we need to listen to them.

[00:18:25] Crystal Fincher: Well, and speaking of a legislative action - on the heels of our State Supreme Court's Blake decision, which basically made possession of small amounts of drugs - decriminalized that. The legislature went back and essentially recriminalized in some different ways and added some diversion opportunities to that. Do you think we should be treating substance use disorder and kind of low-level possession as crimes? Or should we be taking a public health approach to that?

[00:19:00] Julia Reed: I definitely think we should be taking a public health approach. I don't think that it serves anyone who has low-level possession to be put in jail. I don't think it - it keeps them from it and to have kind of their opportunities for education and employment and their lives curtailed for those reasons. And I think if you look at the types of possession that get criminalized, I think there is certainly a pattern there of focusing on Black and Brown communities. And so I definitely think it is a public health problem. And I think one of the things that will be really interesting in our state is as we transition into - we're still very much in the midst of COVID, but as we kind of transition into living with COVID or whatever this next phase is - thinking about what else our public health departments were working on before the pandemic and what they want to kind of get back to. And how can we be more invested in those spaces. But I definitely think - when someone has substance use disorder, they need treatment, they don't need jail. And unfortunately, in many cases, their only way to get treatment is to go to jail and that's not right. Like that is not how it should be. People are sick and they need help and we should be helping them to be treated and to get back on their feet and to address their addiction. And I think that it is a public health problem, and it's one that we should be treating in that way.

[00:20:42] Crystal Fincher: That makes sense to me. Another big systemic problem - we're talking a lot about big systemic problems. We've kind of allowed our problems to become bigger and bigger and bigger. Hopefully the things that we're talking about today and that you and other candidates are talking about are able to come to pass, but certainly when it does come to our climate and addressing climate change, mitigating the impacts that we're currently feeling - we have extreme heat and cold events and wildfires and smoke advisories, droughts and floods, just kind of everything here. What will you prioritize to make substantive, tangible change on not only the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but on mitigating the impacts that we're currently feeling in our communities today?

[00:21:36] Julia Reed: Yeah, absolutely. Climate change is an existential crisis for all of us. And I think it's something that all legislators should be really focused on. And it's one of the reasons why I want to run for legislature because, as a millennial, as someone who's in their mid-thirties, this is an issue of serious concern for me. And I don't always feel like the people that represent me are focused on it with the same amount of urgency. I'm really - I come from a background of working in public policy, so I am all about the kind of pragmatic solutions, like what can we do today? And one of the things I'm really focused on in the climate change fight is on community resiliency, which is basically kind of a big phrase that is like how are communities gonna cope with the impacts of climate change? Because while we fight to have a zero carbon future and to decarbonize and lower our carbon emissions, there are impacts that people are feeling today and especially low-income communities and communities of color are feeling today the most. But everyone is really impacted by it, and you mentioned those extreme weather events.

So that's going to be a big focus for me in the legislature. It's something I worked on at the City of Seattle. I helped organize the first ever Smoke Ready Communities Day. That was an event across four counties, we had 12 cities participating, the State Department of Natural Resources. And it was a really great event, but one of the things that occurred to me as I was organizing it was - why am I random City of Seattle staff person leading this? Where is the statewide, or statewide push, for events like these, because this is something that is affecting all communities that really kind of felt like cities were sort of on their own to sort of figure out how to deal with this. There was no playbook, or real guidance for us on what we should be doing. And so I'd really like to see the state invest more in supporting cities in developing responses for extreme weather events related to climate change. I'd love to see a grant program for cities that want to install smoke filtration systems, for example, in community buildings like libraries or community centers or places where people can go during these events to be safe. It often is not really expensive to install or upgrade that filtration, but it makes a huge difference for people to know that they have some kind of safe haven in their community.

I'd also love to see funding for landlords to upgrade, to install heat pump systems that allow air conditioning, or to upgrade air filtration in apartment buildings, which is another big challenge. I live in a condo building - we don't have an air conditioning system in this building, so when it's smoky and it's August and I'm on the top floor and it's 85, 90 degrees outside, I got to close all my windows and just sweat it out until things get better. And I think about all of the people around me who live in senior - there's a lot of subsidized, senior citizen apartments near me - and other just kind of rental apartments that are older buildings that really also don't have that kind of filtration and support. So I'd really like to see the state make some investments in communities that are trying to cope with these smoke impacts and extreme heat, extreme cold impacts so that we can - as we're trying to move towards our zero carbon future, we're still taking care of people today.

[00:25:11] Crystal Fincher: Well, and towards that zero carbon future - right now, over 40% of Washington's emissions are coming from our transportation system. Lots of conversation following this past legislative session - after passing a transportation package that did make some excellent investments and bigger than we've seen to-date in alternatives to driving - people taking different modes of transportation, investments in transit, which are crucial and necessary. But we also saw highway expansion projects and things that actually support the increase of greenhouse gas emissions. As a legislator, will you be voting - will you vote in favor of a transportation package that expands highways, given how responsible they are for these greenhouse gas emissions?

[00:26:03] Julia Reed: Yeah, it was obviously - the highway extension stuff is really disappointing. I think you had Mayor McGinn on your podcast earlier talking about - cars will expand to fill the space that's provided. I was really excited about some of the other investments in the package and some of the investments we've made in things like electrifying ferries or on shore power for ports - so that ships are not idling on diesel, pumping that into the atmosphere - investments in transit. I think it's hard to say without - I don't want to say, yes, I'll vote for this, no, I'll vote for that on hypothetical bills. I am someone who believes that if you can move the ball 40 yards down the field, that is better than moving zero yards and waiting for the perfect touchdown - that's politics - you have to sometimes make imperfect choices and compromises.

But my going-in position is going to be - how are we moving toward that zero carbon future and starting to prioritize non-car travel. And this is where I think that - or alternatives to car travel - this is where I think, again, having voices from people in the legislature who travel that way - my prime - I do own a car, but my primary mode of transportation is my electric bike. I think electric bikes are incredible mobility solutions and they're really expensive. So we spend - we're willing to consider state subsidies for electric car buyers that have no means testing. I think we should be willing to consider state subsidies for electric bike buyers who are potentially - who potentially will be able to reach a lot more people, will change a lot more transit habits. And are a lot less expensive for the state to fund. And so I'd like to see more investment in those spaces, but I am looking for any and all allies to move us towards our zero carbon future. And I want to get us there. We can get a hundred yard - we can get all the way to the end zone in my first session, that would be amazing. But I think that I've been around politics long enough to know you have to be willing to kind of work it year after year after year. But it also is about the priorities you bring into the space. And my priorities are going to be our zero carbon future because that is the future that I want. And if I have children someday, that's the future that I hope that they will have.

[00:28:28] Crystal Fincher: Well, and this is a particularly interesting issue to have this conversation about because we continue, and actually just last week, received an IPCC report that that is basically saying, Hey, now is our last best chance to stave off some of the most severe and harmful consequences of climate change. We have not taken the appropriate action in time to keep from feeling some consequences, but wow, so much worse is coming if we don't rapidly, majorly systemically change the direction that we're headed. And so this conversation about climate change has a tension in it that I think some others don't in that some of that, whether you want to call it incremental or some progress can be made, but if we aren't making big progress, then we are inviting so much worse in the future. And there actually is a timer on the amount of time that we have to do this. So the year after year after year solutions, which has been the approach that we have been taking, which hasn't resulted in a reduction in emissions yet, is what a lot of people are looking at and saying - so what we have been doing has not been working and the situation that we're leaving our kids is dire and I think some of the - lots of discussion around where support is in terms of candidates and where people are leaning and how young people are feeling and voting - them more than anyone, taking a look at their future and saying, it's now or never for us. And we're actually the ones who are going to have to live with this long after the rest of you are gone and you're kind of legislating like it. We're trying to fight for our future. So in that vein, do you really feel like we have year after year after year, or we don't need to increase the urgency and draw some red lines where maybe we haven't drawn them before?

[00:30:42] Julia Reed: Yeah. I should clarify - I do think that there is extreme urgency and I think that you have to act on it with urgency. So it's not sort of like, oh, we'll do a little bit of this, we'll do a little of that. And eventually it'll all add up. I definitely feel that urgency. And I think like you said, it is about a future that I'm going to live in - I'm 35. I hope to have a long life and who knows what the planet is going to - well, scientists know and are trying to tell us what the planet is gonna look like 30 years from now if we don't take more action. So I absolutely think that we have to act with really strong urgency on this issue. And I think that we have to, we need to address things also like transportation pollution and the technology around airplanes and cargo ships. There are many sources of that kind of industrial pollution in our spaces, so I absolutely think that that is something we should be addressing.

[00:31:43] Crystal Fincher: Right now, we're also in, as you've said, in the midst - we're still in a pandemic - and despite a number of recent abandonments of COVID protections and case rates going up in some areas now, hospitalizations have also started to go up. Wastewater indications are certainly that COVID is surging in many areas in the country. What should we be doing and really in your capacity as a state legislator, should the state be doing more? Should you be taking more action to help address and mitigate the impacts of COVID? 'Cause there certainly are some people who are celebrating - there was just new polling that came out this morning showing that three quarters of Americans either are in favor of, or are not opposed, to masking in most areas. Less than 30% of Americans, fewer than 30%, are actually opposed to masking on public transportation and in public shared spaces. What should you be doing? What action would you want to take as a state legislator to help address this - to protect people who - we still have people who can't be vaccinated yet, people who are immunocompromised, people who are disabled or who have autoimmune disorders -

[00:33:12] Julia Reed: People who are under five.

[00:33:14] Crystal Fincher: Exactly. Who are saying, I am concerned about my ability to fully participate in society, and if I do choose to do that, what that means in terms of my health and the risks that we're taking. What actions should you be taking as a state legislator to address that?

[00:33:35] Julia Reed: Yeah, it's an extremely challenging time. And I feel really grateful to have weathered the pandemic in this area where a lot of people are vaccinated and a lot of people do wear masks. But, and I feel like I keep citing my age, 'cause you know I'm 35 - I'm 35 - and I have a lot of friends who have had children in the last three to four years. So I have a lot of friends who have children under five, and they're just so concerned. And as we - people like me who don't have children, or people who are vaccinated and really only around other vaccinated adults are starting to venture out to bars, or sports games, or travel - that is not part of their lives. And they're really worried. And they, and I think also, as you said - people who are disabled, people who are immunocompromised - they deserve to be a part of our society and have full lives as well. And I think that masking is a very small thing that you can do. I don't always love wearing a mask either, but I do wear it in public places and in indoor spaces. Because I do think it is important to respect people's needs and their risks. And I was really disturbed to read these stories as the mask mandate was lifted - of people on airplanes, pilots announcing mid-flight, oh, you can take off your mask and people just tearing off their masks and cheering, and families that were traveling under the assumption that people were going to be masked trapped on these planes for the next several hours. And I think that - I think that this, pandemic - I hope that it has shown us the importance of working together collectively. And I kind of shake my head at the administration's decision not to appeal this federal judge ruling, because it just seems like this is not a safe decision and not something we should be doing.

And, I think that we should be wearing masks on public transportation, I think we should be wearing masks at airports and on planes, I think we should be wearing them on ferries. I think that for those small periods of time that you spend in those business spaces, I think that people should be - I think it's reasonable to ask people to wear masks. And I think the fact that people are not doing that is really troubling and could potentially mean we're in this pandemic for even longer. COVID is not over just 'cause we're all tired of it - I wish it was - I wish it worked that way. But it is definitely super concerning for me.

And I think as a legislator, I think that one of the things we can do is just try as much as possible to invest in public health. I think that was one of the things that really helped us in King County, as kind of the ground zero of COVID for the nation, is we have a fairly strong public health department here. And I think they could certainly use more investment and more supports, but they did a pretty good job getting things up and running. And I think a lot of places in the country where public health has been uninvested or under-invested, you see the effects on people. And the other thing I'm really worried about is, as federal funding, as funding for uninsured people to get tested goes away, that's a big concern as well. So right now, when you go and get tested - or previously - even if you didn't have insurance - if you had insurance, the state would bill your insurance, your insurance company would pay. And if you didn't have insurance, state would cover it - you'd get - the federal funding would sort of make up the gap. But now that funding to cover insurance for testing for the uninsured is going away - and I don't think here in Washington - 'cause I think the legislature has some temporary funding. But in other states, certainly, you're hearing about people trying to go in and get tested and then being told, well, if you don't have insurance, then you're going to be billed directly for this. And then them walking out and not getting tested. And so if we're taking away masks, we're reducing the number of people who can afford to get tested, we're just opening up everything and not having any kinds of restrictions - I don't see how we don't have another significantly harmful viral wave. And that worries me.

[00:38:25] Crystal Fincher: It also worries me. Well, is there anything else, as we close today, that you would want listeners to know about you and why you would want them to support you?

[00:38:39] Julia Reed: Yeah, as I said, I'm running because this is a really transitional time for our state and our city. And Seattle's had a lot of tough times, it's changed a lot. There's a lot of challenges around affordability, transit access, but Seattle is also my home and I'm going to fight for it. My family's been here - my great-grandmother actually lived in the 36th district on Taylor Avenue in Queen Anne Hill at the turn of the century, the turn of the 20th century - she immigrated here from Ireland just the day before the great Seattle fire. So my family's been in this district and this area a really long time. And I really believe that this is a special place and I want to fight to make it a place where everyone can thrive. And I think I have the professional experience to know how to move legislation not just on the stump, but actually in the legislature, and how to write legislation that can actually be implemented by state government. I think I have lived experience as a lifelong Seattleite, as a Black woman, as a teacher's kid, as a public policy professional to really bring a lens of urgency and focus and equity and justice to the legislature. And I hope that the voters will see that, and I look forward to meeting everyone out on the campaign trail.

[00:40:04] Crystal Fincher: I thank you all for listening to Hacks & Wonks on KVRU 105.7 FM. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler with assistance from Shannon Cheng. You can find me on Twitter @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe, to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes.

Thanks for tuning in - we'll talk to you next time.