Judy Gibson has been an active member with TakeAction Minnesota since 2010. This week, she’s reflecting on her history of political involvement, a meeting she recently attended with Rep. Dean Phillips, and the importance of advocating to our elected officials and holding them accountable.
The first interaction I remember having with a legislator was writing to Senator Byrd (I was living in West Virginia at the time). I don’t remember the issue, but I wrote several times and I remember thinking that his stock answer as to why he was voting the opposite of what I wanted him to was that ‘he had information that led him to think otherwise’. A few years later I was in Iowa, and a friend said that it wasn’t enough to just vote – that you needed to go to caucuses where the leaders were selected.
But I really didn’t get involved until I started working for the State of Minnesota in the 1980s, and my union pointed out that as state employees we got to select and elect our bosses. I went to caucuses, Senate District Meetings, Congressional District meetings, and to the state party convention. I also served for a while on one of the party committees, and of course, joined in our union ‘Day on the Hill” where I met face to face with my representative and senator and found them to be very approachable human beings
In 2010, I became involved in the movement to expand MinnesotaCare, and was invited to advocate with TakeAction Minnesota. I was looking for something that might replace my union activity, as I was planning to retire the next year. I believe that for the sake of public health, everyone should have health care. For example, if my neighbor has COVID-19, I want them to receive treatment so the rest of us don’t catch it. I believe that transferring what we are paying in health insurance premiums to paying taxes that would cover EVERYONE would, at worst, not cost us any more than we are paying now, and would likely cost us less.
In February, I volunteered to join TakeAction Minnesota for a meeting with Representative Dean Phillips for much the same reason I go to committee hearings at the state house; elected officials need to know we are watching. I know they are human like the rest of us.
From my point of view, Rep. Phillips started off the meeting on a very good basis by appreciating the advocacy work that TakeAction does. We brought up a number of issues, ranging from housing that does not allow for quarantining during COVID-19, to ethnic food not being available at food banks or under SNAP, to concern for personal care assistants, to the $15 an hour minimum wage and opposition to Line 3.
While we agreed on many issues, we held different paths to the solutions. One example was the Raise the Wage Act (raising the Federal minimum wage to $15/hour). While he said he would vote for the bill, he held some concerns and said he hoped to find a hybrid solution. It’s disappointing when elected officials don’t share your perspective, but we know that by building relationships, sharing our stories, and staying in conversation with our lawmakers, we’re more able to educate them and hold them accountable for keeping people at the center of the policies they set.
Rep. Phillips was very appreciative of the specific stories of how people are affected in each area. Overall, I found him approachable and willing to meet again to share points of view. It is unlikely that I would have ever met Rep Phillips if it were not for TakeAction. I am not in his district and would not have tried to see him. TakeAction Minnesota makes it easy to get a chance to meet more elected official and share ideas and thoughts with them.
We know the kind of world we all want to live in – one with a clean climate future, where everyone has enough to thrive no matter their race, gender, or geography, and where people at the center of our politics. It’s important that our elected officials hear from us, so they can inform their decision making on the real needs of their constituents – and when they don’t act to meet our needs, they have to know that we’ll hold them accountable. Politics and policy can seem overwhelming and confusing, but at the end of the day, as Judy says, decision makers are human, just like the rest of us – and letting them know what we need is crucial to people-centered politics. TakeAction Minnesota is a political home to many who want to foster those relationships and build people power in the government, and there’s room for everyone to come on board! Email info@takeactionminnesota.org to get connected with an organizer.
