Podcasts about Drug court

Telly Roberts knows addiction from the inside out. She once lived it—now she's helping others escape it. In this episode, Telly shares how she got pulled into a life of drug use and dealing, what finally broke the cycle, and how she's turned her pain into purpose. As a Peer Recovery Specialist, Telly now supports 15–20 individuals in Drug Court, helping them navigate the path to sobriety and stability. Her story is raw, honest, and full of hope. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, don't wait. Call Telly at 870-351-5184. Help is real. Recovery is possible.

Richland County’s Drug Court is seeing its highest success rate ever, with 91% of participants completing the program. We look at how this once-controversial approach to addiction has become a local success story, thanks to decades of work by judges, treatment staff, and probation officers. Richland County Drug Court seeing a rise in participant success rate Grand jury: Columbus man faces life sentence for alleged rape of minor 34th class of law enforcement officers trained in crisis intervention to graduate Obituary: Dustin Yockey Opening date set for new Mickey’s Dunkin’ Donuts in Shelby Support the show: https://richlandsource.com/membersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Richland County Judge James Henson, the county’s longest-serving judge, has died at 83. In this episode, we look back on his decades of service, his role in launching the county’s Drug Court, and the legacy he leaves behind in the courtroom and beyond.Support the show: https://richlandsource.com/membersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's edition of On Location, Tim Lightner (eWorld Enterprise Solutions, Inc.) welcomes Pamela Pipkin (Director of the Monroe County, Wisconsin Child Support program). Learn how Pam got her start with the child support program, hear about some of her accomplishments and about the Monroe County, Wisconsin Child Support Program. Pam joins On Location today to talk about a subject, and an article that she wrote in the January 2025 NCSEA CSQ newsletter, titled “Intersecting Drug Court Participation and Child Support Obligations: A Journey Through Monroe County, Wisconsin”.  You will get to hear Pam discuss the journey between drug court and child support – to positively support families navigating substance use disorders and treatment court obligations, and who also have child support obligations.If you would like to talk further with Pam, please feel free to reach out to her at Pamela.Pipkin@co.monroe.wi.us.  If you are an NCSEA member, please check out her article on this topic in the January 2025 NCSEA CSQ newsletter.

PODCAST: LAS NOTICIAS CON CALLE DE 7 DE ABRIL DE 2025  - Sujeto asesina a su ex estrangulándola en Adjuntas, tenía 7 hijos - Policía Destruido el mercado de valores tras Trump decir que cojan medicina cuando se le preguntó si quitaría tarifas - Fox News 68% de las mujeres víctimas de violencia doméstica dicen que han sido víctimas de un intento de estrangulación - El Nuevo Día FEMA corta más fondos de mitigación de daños, en PR ni sabemos cuántos son los que nos impacta - El Nuevo Día Se disparan compras de soya, carros, ropa deportiva, TV, soya, electrónicos, tras tarifas de Trump - WSJAlcalde de San Juan recibe mega regaño del Supremo - Noticel Presidente de Israel visita hoy a Trump en Casa Blanca - Bloomberg Bad Bunny hoy en el Tiny Desk de NPR Music A confirmación hoy secretaria de Estado y presidentes de la CEE - El Nuevo D´ia Francisco Domenech obliga a que cabilderos no puedan ser contratistas a la vez - El Nuevo Día Gobernadora separó oficinas comunitaria y base de fe en dos distintas en Fortaleza - El Vocero Secretario de la gobernación dice que han reducido contratos en 10 millones - El Vocero Vienen de Trinidad y Tobago a PR para hacer negocios, nos venden mucho más de lo que vendemos - El Nuevo Día Medida para obligar a pagar CRIM o pierdes la casa - El Nuevo Día Empresa vinculada a corrupción en caso de Héctor Joaquín Sánchez no podrá contratar con el gobierno - El Nuevo Día Aprobarán hoy medida de reforma contributiva que presentaron el viernes sin autorización de la Junta de Control Fiscal - El Nuevo Día400 querellas de secuestros en PR - Primera Hora Padre tiene que arrestar a violador de su hija tras la ciudadanía ayudarlo a conseguir donde estaba el sujeto - Primera Hora Otro niño muere por sarampión, no estaba vacunado - USA Today Salud federal corta fondos de vacunación - Axios Trump dijo que no va cubrir medicamentos para rebajar con fondos Medicaid, Medicare - Axios -  Gobierno va a poner GPS a los carros para mejorar uso de flota Gobernadora quiere uniformar fianzas en delitos ¿(es constitucional)? - El Nuevo Día Drug Court, una historia de éxito en los tribunales - El Nuevo Día Desastroso dejar que los niños estén tanto tiempo en redes - El Nuevo Día Trump ha sacado a científicos investigadores con sus políticas anti inmigrantes, otros países buscan aprovecharse - FT6 asesinatos en el weekend - WUNOPadre e hijo acusados de asesinar gallero en Jayuya - PolicíaHOY SE ORDENA DE MARTINS BBQ LA BOLSITA DE SABORDONDE SIRVEN AHORA EL POLLO ASADO. HOY PUEDES ORDENAR EL MEJOR Y MAS SABROSO POLLO ASADO SERVIDO EN LA CLASICA BOLSITA DE LA RECETA ORIGINAL PARA MAS FRESCURA Y SABOR. ¡AHORA LLEGA A CASA EL POLLO CALIENTITO Y JUGOSITO! ¡LLEVATE TU POLLO DE MARTINS EN LA BOLSITA DEL SABOR!MMM...HOY VOY PA MARTINSBBQ...ASADO, JUGOSO, SABROSOIncluye auspicio 

In this episode of Justice Speaks, we continue our series with State Drug Court Coordinators through an interview with Ms. Kaylee Dickenson, the State Drug Court Coordinator for West Virginia. This episode is sponsored by Reconnect. Ms. Dickenson begins by detailing her early career in corrections at the Southern Regional Jail and Beckley Correction Center, experiences that laid the foundation for her transition into probation—a role that first introduced her to Treatment Courts. In her capacity as a probation officer, she engaged with treatment-focused justice by attending the State Drug Court Conference and managing adult Drug Courts in Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties. Her accomplishments in these counties and her commitment to therapeutic justice led to her promotion as a Treatment Court evaluator, where she oversaw evaluations for Family Treatment Courts and then to State Drug Court Coordinator.  In her role, Ms. Dickenson ensures that Treatment Courts across all 55 West Virginia counties adhere to best practice standards, providing tailored feedback and guidance to enhance each court's impact on participants and the broader community. A key theme in her discussion is the systematic approach to treatment court coordination in West Virginia. Ms. Dickenson elaborates on her role in organizing the State Treatment Court Conference, a biennial event funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance that delivers essential training and resources to judges and probation officers statewide. This conference, which is free for attendees, serves as a platform for knowledge sharing on emerging best practices and evidence-based approaches. Working closely with an educational committee, Ms. Dickenson is involved in all aspects of conference planning, ensuring that treatment courts remain informed about the latest advancements in supporting participants.

Jay Alexander's young life was anything but stable. Always on the move, he struggled to find a place in the world. While stumbling through high school, an assistant principal identified his difficulties and brought him and gave him the assignment of helping other students who struggled to learn math and English. Little did he know that would reappear later in life has he worked as a recovering addict in the First Steps rehabilitation facility in Salt Lake City. Throughout his life, Jay had people who, in spite of being in his own way, believed in him giving him hope for recovery. Listen in as Jay tells his compelling story. Sponsors & Partners The Other Side Academy (TOSA) - theothersideacademy.com My Story Matters / Captain Your Story - mystorymatters.org 00:00 - Jay Alexander 01:28 - The Other Side Academy 01:43 - My Story Matters / Captain Your Story 02:20 - Jay's Upbringing 09:45 - Grandmother Dies 17:15 - Moment of Intense Desperation 22:15 - Getting Shot 30:00 - Details on his Arrests 35:00 - Relapsing in Drug Court & Getting in a Car Accident 39:40 - Things are Looking Up 45:20 - Final Piece of Advice

King County's Drug Diversion Court is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It was one of the first programs in the nation to help people clear their criminal records, if they enter treatment and stop using drugs. But amidst the opioid epidemic, drug court enrollment has shrunk in recent years. KUOW's Amy Radil tells us how King County is hoping to change that. We want to year from YOU! Fill out Seattle Now's annual survey to help us make the show better, and weigh in on what we should cover. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. You have the power! Make the show happen by making a gift to KUOW.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson talks about the many successes, as well as some failures, of the county's drug court program. He also provides an update on the Southeastern Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial, and a reminder to be especially vigilant in watching out for children now that school is back in session.

Clark County Superior Court Adult Drug Court will celebrate its 25th anniversary on September 25th with a special event at Clark College's Gaiser Hall. The event, which is free and open to the public, will include a buffet dinner and presentation. Read the full story at https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/superior-court-adult-drug-court-recognizes-25-year-anniversary-with-tribute-celebration/ on www.ClarkCountyToday.com. #AdultDrugCourt #NationalRecoveryMonth #ClarkCollege #SubstanceUseTreatment #VancouverWa #ClarkCountyWa #WashingtonState #LocalNews

This week we revisit our 2022 conversation with Rob Hulls AM, former Deputy Premier and attorney-general of Victorian, and current director of the Centre for Innovative Justice at RMIT. As attorney-general, Rob introduced many significant and lasting changes to our Justice System, including the introduction of the Koori Court, Drug Court and Australia's first Neighbourhood Justice Centre. Through all the ups and downs of a career in the law and politics, Rob has been guided by a simple philosophy; that the justice system can be a positive intervention in peoples' lives. www.greenslist.com.au/podcast

AIDS Alabama South will be at the Drug Court office this Friday, Aug. 23, from 9 a.m. until around 2 p.m. offering free testing to anyone in the community. Please come out and show your support while getting free testing and resources. Veterans helping veterans— To all veterans with a disability rate of 90% or less. There is help for you. Aaron Roper, retired 1st sereant of the United States Army is assisting eligible veterans sign up for disability benefits. Mr. Roper will be in Jackson, Ala. at the Jackson City Hall on September 14 at 10 a.m. Come out...Article Link

In the 9th episode of Plugged In La Porte, host Nate Loucks sits down with Honorable Judge Greta Friedman and Sergeant Adam Hannon of La Porte County Drug Court to inform our listeners of the process and criteria for the program and how it has been making a difference in our community since 2012.Additionally, City of La Porte Park & Recreation Superintendent Mark Schreiber recaps LakeFest and discusses the importance of quality of life in La Porte.

Drug and alcohol addiction disrupts lives and families and most often those who suffer are treated with disdain of lock up and throw away the key mindset. Judge Al Alonso of San Antonio known as “The Father of Drug Court” and his assistant Zachary Hinson visit with me about the notoriously humane and successful court system the honorable judge developed in his life long quest to stop the demonization of addiction and raise awareness of how many lives can be saved. This is an amazing legacy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An incredible story of turning your life around from meth addict who spent all his 20s in prison, to being clean for 3 years with a fantastic career alongside his partner and child. James Sturch's story is just sensational, and it's all down to the Drug Court, he says. Should we have more Drug Court's in this country? And how do they work?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the show today: An incredible story of turning your life around from meth addict who spent all his 20s in prison, to being clean for 3 years with a fantastic career alongside his partner and child. James Sturch's story is just sensational, and it's all down to the Drug Court, he says. Should we have more Drug Court's in this country? And how do they work? Adrian Orr and his waka that seems to be rowing backwards. BUT thankfully, apparently this recession is about to end. HALLELUJAH! Part time workers, and why they should be just as valued as full timers.  Emma Mclean joins us, along side part time power worker May Lee Starrveld.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ttps://www.bareknucklerecovery.com/episode-18-drug-court/ Tommy and Nate welcome BKR team member, Zach, back to the show along with longtime friend of the show, Dick Boggess.Now working together in the community to help those battling addiction, Zach & Dick's history together started inside of drug court under very different circumstances.Remember, you can watch all of our episodes on YouTube, catch the audio version on your favorite podcast platform, and - if you're in Indiana - you can now find us on TV as well!https://bareknucklerecovery.com

In this episode, Meagan sits down with Maesa who shares her powerful story of struggling with addiction, her experiences in RPF, and her journey through drug court. She reflects on the importance of finding the root cause of her addiction and how it has impacted her life.Topics Covered:Personal struggles with addictionExperiences in RPFDrug court and the legal systemFinding the root cause of addictionPersonal growth and transformation

Episode 2, with Chief Judge of the 31st Judicial District in Kansas, Honorable Daniel D. Creitz, and Director of Community Corrections & Kansas Department of Corrections Juvenile Services, Troy Smith   If you've ever wondered what works better than punishment to reduce criminal activity, you will want to listen to this episode! Our guests, Chief Judge of the 31st Judicial District in Kansas, the Honorable Daniel D. Creitz, and Director of Community Corrections and Kansas Department of Corrections Juvenile Services, Troy Smith, share their work supporting persons with substance use disorders as they experience recovery, rekindle hope, and take their lives back. You'll be inspired as they discuss what works, what doesn't, what it takes to stay well yourself when working in a field with this much trauma exposure, and why it's so important to continually celebrate successes, both large and small.  

Former magistrate of the Drug Court, Tony Parsons, has revealed he's against the electronic monitoring devices.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former addict who spent years in jail says prison rehab programs don't work, and investing in more alcohol and drug treatment courts would help cut crime. The specialist courts aim to treat the causes of offending and provides an alternative to jail. They were launched as a pilot program in 2012, initially in Auckland and Waitakere and expanded to Hamilton in 2021. Despite two thirds of prisoners having drug and alchol problems, no further courts have been established.   Rayssa Almeida has the story. 

Episode 91: Court DescriptionsGuest: Emily Coddington and Jack ForsheeThis is the 8th week of the 2024 spring semester at Heartland Community College and Bingham's students are studying the courts. Bingham, Emily, and Jack discuss the following: Their career goalsWhy they enrolled in the courseWhat high school they attendedTheir favorite due process constitutional rightDescription of the Supreme CourtDescription of a State CourtThe goal of Drug Court4th Amendment5th Amendment2nd AmendmentBlack Lives MatterWhite SupremacyShould marijuana be legalized at the federal levelWhat they'd like to see the Biden Administration accomplish You can listen to the JFA Podcast Show wherever you get your podcast or by clicking on one of the links below.https://dlbspodcast.buzzsprout.com  https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/   https://peculiarbooks.org  Also if you are interested in exercise and being healthy check out the Top 20 Triathlon Podcasts.https://blog.feedspot.com/triathlon_podcasts/

Here at the #LovinLebanon Podcast, we strive to inform, and the topic this time around does just that. A new program, helping residents of Lebanon and Boone County kick the habit, is making great strides. It's called Drug Court, and Ashley McClure and Katie DeVries stop by to share how this effort got started and how it's going on Episode 153 of the #LovinLebanon Podcast. Community Corrections Mission Statement Boone County Community Corrections mission is to increase public safety by providing a cost-effective community-based alternative to incarceration by utilizing effective evaluation to determine an appropriate level of evidence-based intensive programming for adult and juvenile clients to motivate the client towards positive citizenship.   Office: 765-482-2484 Website: https://boonecounty.in.gov/offices/community-corrections/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooneCountyCorrections/

Episode 83: Electronic Monitoring and Drug CourtGuest: Courtney Lindsey and Caroline CarrThis is the 13th week of the 2023 fall semester at HCC and Bingham's class is studying the topic Corrections in the community. Today's guests, Courtney Lindsey and Caroline Carr discuss the goals of Electronic Monitoring and Drug Court. Included in this episode is Courtney and Caroline's: Anticipated career pathWhy they're taking the courseWhat high school they attendedTheir favorite constitutional rightElectronic Monitoring DefinedDrug Court DefinedThe goal of drug courtThe goal of electronic monitoringWhich is more rehabilitative What makes it a community corrections toolShould a felon be allowed to voteShould a felon be allowed to be presidentBlack Lives MatterWhite SupremacyShould marijuana be legalized at the federal levelWhat he'd like to see the Biden administration accomplish You can listen to the JFA Podcast Show wherever you get your podcast or by clicking on one of the links below.https://dlbspodcast.buzzsprout.com https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/   https://peculiarbooks.org  Also if you are interested in exercise and being healthy check out the Top 20 Triathlon Podcasts.https://blog.feedspot.com/triathlon_podcasts/

Thinking back on it today, X Games champion Alex Schlopy still shakes his head. A homegrown product of Park City, Utah, in a month-long span in 2011 he won an X Games title in Aspen, became a world champion on his home hill at Park City Mountain and soared to Dew Tour gold in Snowbasin. In a roller coaster decade that saw the highest of highs and lowest of lows, today Schlopy is the happiest he's ever been – an athlete ambassador for Ski Utah and looking forward to his first runs off Jupiter in the season ahead.Schlopy was born to athletic parents. His mother, Holly Flanders, was a U.S. Ski Team downhill star. His father, Todd Schlopy, played in the National Football League. His uncle, Erik Schlopy, was a Hall of Fame U.S. Alpine Ski Team star.In the mid to late ‘00s, Utah was the epicenter of the burgeoning new sport of freeskiing. Schlopy caught the buzz from his buddy Joss Christensen. They idolized stars like Tanner Hall and Simon Dumont. At just 17, Schlopy went to the Dumont Cup in Maine, outlasting over 100 amateurs just like him who wanted a shot into the event. He got it, launching a switch right double cork 1440, and soon found himself on the podium with his buddy Joss and future legend Tom Wallisch.The next season he cranked out win after win and found himself on top of the world in a new sport that was to make its Olympic debut in 2014. Then it all came crashing down.This interview is deep and emotional, coming full circle to the joy of skiing. Here's a teaser:You're still having fun skiing?Oh, yeah. More fun than ever.Going back to your youth, what role did gymnastics play in your skiing success?Gymnastics has helped me throughout my whole entire life. And I think for any kid out there, having a baseline in gymnastics is huge. Just knowing how to use your body, learning how to flip and do all those things safely.What triggered your interest in freeskiing?When I transitioned into middle school, I met Joss Christensen and we started hanging out just as friends. He started showing me all these freeski movies with, you know, Tanner Hall, Jon Olsson, Simon Dumont. And I was like, what is this? I saw ski racing. I've seen moguls and aerials and I loved all that stuff, but this was the one that really clicked. It was artistic expression on skis. And I thought that was really cool.What role does Park City, Utah play in winter sport?I mean, this is the Mecca for that in my eyes. There's just so many kids out here learning how to do whatever winter sport they want and then having the facilities and the programs to push it as far as they want. And it's just a beautiful community.After the stunning 2011 season, what path did your career take?After winning those three events, X Games, World Championships, Dew Tour and then kind of stepping into that pro realm, big contracts started to come up and I kind of lost my drive to win. And I think that was my biggest problem. I hadn't really built the best work ethic. I had used a lot of natural talent my whole life, you know, and having overcome some of those injuries that really helped out. I didn't have to work as hard to get back, but it came to bite me after I did win, because I started to coast and I started partaking more in the party side of the sport. I was still doing okay. You know, I was able to stay top five, top ten, but I wasn't winning. And what it took for me to refocus was the announcement that the sport that we were getting into the Olympics for Sochi and I had a lot of ground to make up.In 2014, you missed that last spot on the Olympic team to your buddy Joss Christensen, who went on to win gold. It was a really beautiful yet bittersweet experience because Joss is one of the best people I've ever met in my life. He's incredible. I thought he was the best skier. He just couldn't put it down when it counted until that point. And he went and did it. So it was really cool. But behind the scenes, I was starting to struggle after that and watching him in the Olympics and my friends – it was like all that work I had just put in and I'd really changed my life quite a bit to make that happen and get that close. It shut off pretty quick and I started falling.You're a few years past rehab and drug court. How did it help you get your life back?It's life changing.They always say, you know, addiction is like a broken brain and that means a broken person. So, how do you rebuild that? I mean, it's like your best chance because you can't rebuild everything in a short period of time. So there's something really beautiful about the recovery process.What's the sickest ski run that you've ever taken in Utah? Tiger Tail at Snowbird – lapping that last winter. It was endless smiles and joy.There's plenty more from Ski Utah athlete ambassador Alex Schlopy! Buckle up for this episode of Last Chair as he takes us through the highs and lows of his career, finding sobriety and the sheer joy he feels today when he's up on the mountain all for himself.

Thinking back on it today, X Games champion Alex Schlopy still shakes his head. A homegrown product of Park City, Utah, in a month-long span in 2011 he won an X Games title in Aspen, became a world champion on his home hill at Park City Mountain and soared to Dew Tour gold in Snowbasin. In a roller coaster decade that saw the highest of highs and lowest of lows, today Schlopy is the happiest he's ever been – an athlete ambassador for Ski Utah and looking forward to his first runs off Jupiter in the season ahead.Schlopy was born to athletic parents. His mother, Holly Flanders, was a U.S. Ski Team downhill star. His father, Todd Schlopy, played in the National Football League. His uncle, Erik Schlopy, was a Hall of Fame U.S. Alpine Ski Team star.In the mid to late ‘00s, Utah was the epicenter of the burgeoning new sport of freeskiing. Schlopy caught the buzz from his buddy Joss Christensen. They idolized stars like Tanner Hall and Simon Dumont. At just 17, Schlopy went to the Dumont Cup in Maine, outlasting over 100 amateurs just like him who wanted a shot into the event. He got it, launching a switch right double cork 1440, and soon found himself on the podium with his buddy Joss and future legend Tom Wallisch.The next season he cranked out win after win and found himself on top of the world in a new sport that was to make its Olympic debut in 2014. Then it all came crashing down.This interview is deep and emotional, coming full circle to the joy of skiing. Here's a teaser:You're still having fun skiing?Oh, yeah. More fun than ever.Going back to your youth, what role did gymnastics play in your skiing success?Gymnastics has helped me throughout my whole entire life. And I think for any kid out there, having a baseline in gymnastics is huge. Just knowing how to use your body, learning how to flip and do all those things safely.What triggered your interest in freeskiing?When I transitioned into middle school, I met Joss Christensen and we started hanging out just as friends. He started showing me all these freeski movies with, you know, Tanner Hall, Jon Olsson, Simon Dumont. And I was like, what is this? I saw ski racing. I've seen moguls and aerials and I loved all that stuff, but this was the one that really clicked. It was artistic expression on skis. And I thought that was really cool.What role does Park City, Utah play in winter sport?I mean, this is the Mecca for that in my eyes. There's just so many kids out here learning how to do whatever winter sport they want and then having the facilities and the programs to push it as far as they want. And it's just a beautiful community.After the stunning 2011 season, what path did your career take?After winning those three events, X Games, World Championships, Dew Tour and then kind of stepping into that pro realm, big contracts started to come up and I kind of lost my drive to win. And I think that was my biggest problem. I hadn't really built the best work ethic. I had used a lot of natural talent my whole life, you know, and having overcome some of those injuries that really helped out. I didn't have to work as hard to get back, but it came to bite me after I did win, because I started to coast and I started partaking more in the party side of the sport. I was still doing okay. You know, I was able to stay top five, top ten, but I wasn't winning. And what it took for me to refocus was the announcement that the sport that we were getting into the Olympics for Sochi and I had a lot of ground to make up.In 2014, you missed that last spot on the Olympic team to your buddy Joss Christensen, who went on to win gold. It was a really beautiful yet bittersweet experience because Joss is one of the best people I've ever met in my life. He's incredible. I thought he was the best skier. He just couldn't put it down when it counted until that point. And he went and did it. So it was really cool. But behind the scenes, I was starting to struggle after that and watching him in the Olympics and my friends – it was like all that work I had just put in and I'd really changed my life quite a bit to make that happen and get that close. It shut off pretty quick and I started falling.You're a few years past rehab and drug court. How did it help you get your life back?It's life changing.They always say, you know, addiction is like a broken brain and that means a broken person. So, how do you rebuild that? I mean, it's like your best chance because you can't rebuild everything in a short period of time. So there's something really beautiful about the recovery process.What's the sickest ski run that you've ever taken in Utah? Tiger Tail at Snowbird – lapping that last winter. It was endless smiles and joy.There's plenty more from Ski Utah athlete ambassador Alex Schlopy! Buckle up for this episode of Last Chair as he takes us through the highs and lows of his career, finding sobriety and the sheer joy he feels today when he's up on the mountain all for himself.

#marycole #ericrinehart #lakecountyillinois #safety #ricklesser #petejansons #statesattorney #lakeforestillinois #lakeforestpodcast #mentalhealth #addiction #arrested Main Clip: https://youtu.be/eT_lvvNZpoc Mary Cole is running for States Attorney of Lake County Illinois and she stopped by the Lake Forest Illinois Podcast to talk to Joe Weiss, Rick Lesser and Pete Jansons to talk about her campaign. In this shorter clip Mary Cole explains how The Therapeutic Intensive Monitoring (TIM) Unit of Lake County Illinois tries to help people arrested that have mental health issues. https://19thcircuitcourt.state.il.us/1167/Therapeutic-Intensive-Monitoring-TIM-Uni In July 2005 the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit established the Drug Court component of the Therapeutic Intensive Monitoring (TIM) Court.  In January 2007 Mental Health Court was started and in 2011 the Veterans Treatment and Assistance Court was established for veterans. The mission of the TIM program is to reduce crime, enhance public safety and reduce jail populations by providing a comprehensive treatment and supervision plan.  Each component of TIM Court has an established multidisciplinary team consisting of treatment professionals, probation officials, judges, assistant state's attorneys and assistant public defenders.The Adult Probation's TIM Unit supervises all clients of Drug Court, Mental Health Court and Veteran's Treatment and Assistance Court (VTAC). Each Court is assigned a Probation Officer that acts as the TIM Court Coordinator.  The TIM Court Coordinator prepares weekly agendas and chairs Mental Health Court, Drug Court and VTAC staffing meetings. Staffing meetings include members from multidisciplinary teams that support each court. Members of the Probation Field Supervision Unit augment supervision in the community to all three courts. The TIM Court Program has received supplemental funding though two SAMHSA grants, one BJA grant, and annual Adult Redeploy grants.  Each grant involves significant administrative duties which are managed by Adult Probation staff. https://www.maryforlakecounty.com/ https://www.maryforlakecounty.com/donation_front_page --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lakeforestpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lakeforestpodcast/support

Today on Sense of Soul Podcast we have, Author & Advocate Marlon Bacote. After three decades of battling addiction, he hit rock bottom and searched for recovery and wellness. He spent a combined total of 23 years in jail and prison for petty larceny charges to support his habit. With co-occurring disorders ranging from depression, PTSD, bipolar, and Substance Use Disorder, he felt he had no way out of a meaningless life. Hopeless, suicidal, and lacking self-esteem, he entered the Drug Court Program, and everything changed. While in Drug Court, he earned two college degrees, held a steady job at the regional hospital, and began a career as a mental health professional to include becoming a VA Board Certified Peer Recovery Specialist.  He joined us today to share his first book, “Lighting the Way: Hidden Treasures.” Which highlights the importance of peer support in the treatment of mental health and promotes self-love in the hidden treasures we all possess. Get his book: https://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Way-Treasures-Marlon-BaCote/dp/B09PK6JC6D/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=29a573e5-8176-42e9-9682-fffc9c56fbd4 Follow his journey on social media:  https://instagram.com/bacotemarlon?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== https://www.tiktok.com/@marlonbacote623?_t=8edDlE1nrYM&_r=1 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100055507114504&mibextid=LQQJ4d Learn more about his journey: https://www.wavy.com/opioid-addiction/portsmouth-health-department-hosts-opioid-anti-stigma-training/amp/ https://www.wtkr.com/2017/06/08/after-years-of-battling-his-own-addiction-newport-news-native-saves-man-who-overdosed-in-car https://www.liberty.edu/journal/article/the-opioid-epidemic-responding-to-a-crisis-that-is-gripping-our-nation/ https://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Way-Treasures-Marlon-BaCote/dp/B09PK6JC6D  

"What an opportunity for me to help somebody get their kids back, to repair relationships, to get a job, … so many benefits…"  That's how Mike Shears, Whiteside County Drug Court probation officer, describes his job.  In part II of our conversation, Mike talks about the successes, failures, and new areas of growth in the drug court program and Boomer describes what he observed in his two hour visit in drug court. Alternative/specialized courts are effectively improving how local judicial systems handle people who are likely to be repeat prisoners.  AND COOL NEW THEME MUSIC FOR THE PODCAST!! YAY YAY YAY.

News Radio KKOB's TJ Trout meets with Dr. Barry Ramo as they discuss skin cancer, tanning beds, exposure to the sun, sunscreen, and carpal tunnel syndrome. News Radio KKOB's Terri Travis delves deep into the state of New Mexico's first summit for a unique set of graduates. Her guest, Carlos Gonzales, is the Program Manager for Peer Support and a licensed drug abuse counselor for the state's Drug Court.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"No one ever wakes up and says, 'You know, I think I want to be a drug addict,' " says Mike Shears, drug court officer.  That's part of the mind frame that shapes the drug court in Whiteside County, IL.  If you think that drug court, a specialized diversionary court program, is a dark place full of dreary proceedings that involve the dregs of society, you're wrong.  It's a place that regularly celebrates the successes of alcohol and drug addicted felons.  It's a place that transforms lives, mends relationships, and stops the revolving door of recividism- the act of felons being jailed and freed, only to repeat the same crimes as before.  Need some good news?  It's right here. 

Richland County Drug Court provides an alternative to incarceration: https://www.richlandsource.com/solutions/richland-county-drug-court-provides-an-alternative-to-incarceration/article_66f65f70-f101-11ed-a54e-13b4510f6d7c.html  Today — A local woman's journey from being a drug user to a beacon of hope.Support the show: https://www.sourcemembers.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today was graduation day at the Chelsea Drug Court, and it was done in-person for the first time since the start of the pandemic. WBZ's Carl Stevens has the story.

Candid conversations about current topics with court and community leaders.

Podcast Drug Court and the 5 Rules of Recovery with Carl Mack About the Episode Date: April 12,, 2023 Episode 20: Drug Court and the 5 Rules of Recovery with Carl Mack Summary Have a listen to our latest episode with Carl Mack, R-PRS, FPRS who works in Lynchburg, Virginia for the Virginia Health Department and Drug Court as well. In this episode, we discuss the nexus between his work at the Health Department and Drug Court through the lens of an evidence-based recovery philosophy called the 5 Rules of Recovery that he shares with the peers he is supporting in Region 4. Carl Mack is a Registered Peer Recovery Specialist. He is also a Forensic Peer Recovery Specialist. In addition, Carl is a veteran of the United States Army.

Join us this week for a somewhat satirical look at a serious and successful program for getting people with substance use disorders the help they need and keeping them out of jail. Turning Point is part of Four Rivers Behavioral Health's comprehensive substance use disorder treatment services and was established to provide easy access to those in recovery with a focus on those who are just learning to live a sober life. Turning Point is unique in that the program is designed around the concept of Peer Support. Staff at Turning Point have personal experience with substance use disorders and can offer guidance and support from a “been there, done that” perspective. You can learn more about Peer Support at https://4rbh.org/behavioral-health-co... #KORE #CrossTalkRecovery #TurningPoint #recoveroutloud https://4rbhaddictiontreatment.org/tu... https://fourriversbh.podbean.com

March 31, 2023 - Times Union Capitol reporter Josh Solomon explains how drug courts are an important diversion program in the criminal justice system, but they've seen a sharp decline in utilization since New York reformed it's pre-trial bail and discovery laws.

In this episode, I talked about my journey to get my Masters at Assumption University in why I do not see children or family at this time despite my specialty. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is briefly discuss and how it has impacted me since age 16. I also talked about my internship and the realization I made there. I also go in-depth in regards to my journey in the community justice system and how it has been a great and challenging situation. From the jail, to diversion, to parole, to courts, I have been in most law enforcement fields here in Massachusetts. I briefly discussed my journey to Vermont.YouTube ChannelCoaching And Website

Host, Dr. David Nelson and Author, Dr. Rashi Shukla discuss the success of Drug Courts in Oklahoma County and the fentanyl crisis with Honorable Judge Ken Stoner.

On today's midweek show, Crystal welcomes Senator Manka Dhingra, Chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, to preview the tough issues her committee will take on in the upcoming legislative session. Senator Dhingra walks through her data-driven and community-informed approach to legislating and how this lens guides her thinking on revisiting the Blake decision fix, a temporary solution put in place by the Legislature in 2021 when the Washington Supreme Court struck down the state's drug possession law as unconstitutional. Despite widespread recognition of the need for a public health approach to substance use disorder, Crystal and Senator Dhingra lament the unfortunate political truth that the public is often ahead of elected officials and that the Blake fix will likely not be based on best practices.  The two then discuss the pushback from some in law enforcement interests in response to bills that restricted their use of high-speed vehicle pursuits and sought to hold officers liable for taking wrong actions. Senator Dhingra stands by these policies that solve the issues of unnecessary bystander deaths and community demands for reduction in police violence. Finally, the show wraps up with what a trauma-informed criminal justice system could look like, where implementation of the 988 crisis system is, and Senator Dhingra's delightful tradition of introducing legislation from teenagers in her district. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Senator Manka Dhingra at @Dhingrama.   Senator Manka Dhingra Manka Dhingra is Deputy Majority Leader of the Washington State Senate. She brings two decades of experience as a prosecutor to her role as Chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee. She also serves on the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee and Senate Ways & Means Committee.  In November 2017, Dhingra was elected to the Senate by the constituents of the 45th Legislative District, the first Sikh legislator in the nation. Since then, she has sponsored and passed legislation addressing a wide range of issue areas, including: curbing domestic violence and sexual assault, preventing firearm violence, providing property tax relief for seniors and people with disabilities, prosecuting financial fraud, and reforming the criminal justice system with an evidence-based approach.  During her time in the Senate, Dhingra has helped pass legislation and funding to transform the Washington State behavioral health system, reorienting it around prevention rather than crisis response. She continues to strive to ensure that Washingtonians with behavioral health needs get the treatment they need and deserve. As a member of the Special Committee on Economic Recovery, she is helping the state craft an economic plan to lead an equitable recovery from the COVID economic downturn. She also serves on several task forces dedicated to reducing poverty, reforming the criminal justice system, improving equity in state government, and providing a sound and fair fiscal footing for the state.  Dhingra continues to serve as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. As Chair of the Therapeutic Alternative Unit, Manka helped develop and oversee the Regional Mental Health Court, the Veterans Court, and the Community Assessment and Referral for Diversion program. As a mental health and crisis intervention expert, she has also been an instructor at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission for the 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training for law enforcement officers to reduce the risk of tragedy and improve the response to people in crisis.  Outside the courtroom, Dhingra is a community leader and anti-domestic violence advocate on the Eastside. She co-founded Chaya, an organization that assists South Asian survivors of domestic violence and led the organization's work to end systemic violence through education and prevention. She also serves on the board of Hopelink.   Resources Senator Manka Dhingra | Washington Senate Democrats   “With Dhingra's Win, Democrats Take Control of the State Senate” by Hayat Norimine from SeattleMet   Q & A: The Blake Decision | ACLU of Washington   “In Last-Minute Move, Legislature Adopts New Approach to Drug Possession” by Paul Kiefer from PubliCola   “WA lawmakers try to thread needle on drug possession, to mixed reviews” by David Kroman from Crosscut   “Washington Voters Want to Decriminalize Drug Possession and Fund Substance Abuse Resources” by Anika Dandekar with Data For Progress   State v. Blake: ESB 5476 and behavioral health expansion | Washington Health Care Authority   “Not all crimes merit high-speed chases that risk bystanders' lives” by Manka Dhingra in The Seattle Times   “Pursuits and Fatalities in WA since 2015” by Martina Morris from Next Steps Washington and Washington Coalition for Police Accountability   2021-2022 Washington State Legislature Policing Bills Explainer | People Power Washington   “State leaders prepare for implementation of the 988 call line” by Shane Ersland from State of Reform   “Meet the students who fought for free menstrual products at Washington schools — and won” by Sara Gentzler from The Olympian   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. So today I'm absolutely thrilled to have joining us the Deputy Majority Leader of the Washington State Senate, Manka Dhingra. Welcome. [00:00:47] Senator Manka Dhingra: Thank you so much. It is such a pleasure to be here with you. [00:00:50] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely a pleasure to have you - have followed your work and admired your work for quite some time. So you are also the Chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, you've done a lot of work. I just wanted to start off with - what was your path to the State Senate and what have you been working on? [00:01:11] Senator Manka Dhingra: So I'll just say my path to the State Senate has been extremely unusual. I don't know anyone else who came into politics the way I did. I, as a young person, knew very early that I wanted to go to law school and that I wanted to be a prosecutor. I got involved in gender-based violence early on because my grandmother used to help survivors of domestic violence back in India. And so I went to law school, became a prosecutor with King County. I actually created and ran the first ever Therapeutic Alternative Unit where we really took a look at alternatives to incarceration, crisis intervention. I helped train law enforcement in the 40-hour crisis intervention training at the Criminal Justice Training Center. And I considered myself a good Democrat because I voted. And then we had our 2016 national election. And for the first time in my life, I was actually having an Election Night party at my house because I really wanted my children to see the face of the first U.S. woman president. Clearly the night did not go as I had planned. And so I went to my first Democratic Party meeting that December. And when I went there, I can tell you that the room was full - packed - with women. When I looked around that room, I recognized so many of the PTSA moms. And most of us were there, again, for the very first time because we felt we had to do something. And I didn't know what that something would look like. And a very good friend of mine who was on city council saw me there and she said, We have to have coffee. And so we sat down for coffee and her first question was, Do you want to run for office? And my response was, I don't think I'm qualified. And she literally fell off her chair laughing. And later I realized what a cliché my response was because apparently that's what all of us women say - we think we're not qualified. So she kind of worked on me and we had a Senate seat that was available. And February 14th, I announced I was running for the Senate. So my entire political engagement from the time from my first meeting to me announcing for Senate was two months. [00:03:25] Crystal Fincher: Wow. Well, and then you ran in a district where your victory was certainly not guaranteed - very competitive race - where you were successful and victorious and a first yourself, the first Sikh member of our state Senate. How did you use all of your lived experience in the Senate and how was your first term? [00:03:56] Senator Manka Dhingra: So the election was exciting because my seat actually flipped our State Senate. So our Senate was controlled by the Republicans and when I won, Democrats got in control. So the first session was actually pure chaos because we'd had gridlock in Olympia for so many years because we really couldn't pass meaningful bills. We had a session that would go into special session year after year because budgets couldn't be agreed upon. The year I was running, there were three special sessions and they still did not have all their budgets passed. And so when I won, normally people have orientation or some kind of onboarding. But when I won - because of the change - we had new Chairs, all this legislation that had been blocked for so many years like the flood gates had opened. So it was a very exciting time because I think we just passed such amazing progressive legislation and really were this beacon of light for the entire country on what a progressive legislation could look like or what a progressive state can look like. But I got to tell you, I was kind of lost in the mix there. But luckily I was able to hold my own and was very proud of the nine bills I passed my first session. [00:05:16] Crystal Fincher: And what were some of those bills? [00:05:17] Senator Manka Dhingra: So a lot of those bills were things that had really irked me for a very long time as an attorney and as a prosecutor. So there were a lot of bills around helping survivors of domestic violence, there were bills around sexual assault, around trafficking, and I had a Medicaid fraud unit bill, work around behavior health because I have been very concerned about mental illness and substance use disorder in our state. And normally when you're a first-time legislator, they do this thing on the Senate floor where your first bill - people actually kind of tease you a little about it or kind of give you a hard time. And when they looked at all my bills, they were all of such serious matters that they couldn't figure out which one should be my first bill. And so actually the Medicaid fraud unit was my first bill because that was the least serious about my other bills. But this was legislation that I knew that had to be fixed and we needed to do it. And frankly, I think the reason why I was so successful is because most of my bill ideas come from people who do the work and are able to really articulate what the problems are and then have the solutions because they're the experts in that field. And so I have maintained that manner of doing my work - is really making sure I hear from the people on the ground doing the work. [00:06:42] Crystal Fincher: And you have built that reputation of being very in touch with the community, of reaching out to stakeholders for your various bills, making sure that you speak with, inform, get feedback from people who are involved with and impacted by legislation you're proposing and the issues you're trying to address. One such issue was spurred by the Blake decision - that the Supreme Court found in our state - that essentially decriminalized personal use possession. And because of some challenges that that presented, like a potential patchwork of different laws passed by different cities all throughout the state, the Legislature decided to take action to try and pass one uniform policy all across the state. What was your approach to that and where did that end up? [00:07:30] Senator Manka Dhingra: Thank you. That is really the issue and the question that has been - people have been interested in for the last two years. Any time legislation is required, my question always is why? And what you gave in your question was really one of the reasons why we knew that legislation - is because we wanted a uniform way of making sure enforcement is the same for people, that they're not treated differently because they're using at a different intersection down the street. So that's why we wanted to make sure we had state legislation. This decision came out in the middle of session, so the timing was not optimal. And then it was very important to me to have a solution that is based on best practices and that is practical. So the original bill that I had was actually based on what the policy of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office was, along with a lot of the other prosecuting attorney's offices around the state. Because what we found at that time is - a lot of people doing this work had realized - that dealing with substance use disorder, it's not a criminal justice issue, it's a public health issue. And treating it like a criminal justice issue is what has really led us to where we are today. But you have to make sure you're focused on getting people into the treatment that they need. And so I was really trying to come up with a solution that said you have to have public health lead. And you also have to understand that while using the substance shouldn't be illegal, if there's criminal activity around that - like theft, criminal trespass, possession of weapons - that is still a criminal offense, but really being able to focus on treatment. So after a lot of negotiations, because I'll tell you, elected officials are very nervous of criminal justice issues. And I come from it differently because I practiced for 17 years. And we unfortunately did not get a bill that was based on best practices. We came close, but not quite. So what became the law of the land is that law enforcement was going to offer diversion the first two times that they came into contact with an individual. And then only after that would they refer that for a criminal case. And we took this opportunity to really provide a lot of resources for treatment - so we ensured that we had substance use disorder navigators who can help get people into treatment, we provided funding for treatment like Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, to wraparound teams like HOST - Homeless Outreach Stabilization Teams, PACT - these assertive community treatment models. So really making sure that those resources go hand-in-hand, because if people have no place to go and they don't have treatment, nothing's going to really work. I also wanted to make sure that because we were creating this in the middle of session, that we had an expiration date. So I insisted that this law expire in three years. And we created a committee or task force made up of a wide variety of individuals - people with lived experience, people in the treatment community, housing people, law enforcement, prosecutors, defense - everyone who deals with this issue to come together to come up with recommendations. So those recommendations have officially been made. And our law expires this 2023, so we as the Legislature have to actually pass another substance use disorder law to make sure that we're, again, pushing ourselves to doing things that are based on - with best practices. [00:11:16] Crystal Fincher: Now the bill did not end up - at that time what passed - was not what you were ultimately happy with and didn't earn your vote at that time. But you did say that - because of some of those things that were funded, you really wanted to focus on getting those implemented and working across the state, because it's important to - if someone is going to make a referral for treatment or for services, that those services be available. And we were in a situation where those were not available in sufficient quantities around the state and people may not have been able to get their needs met. Where do those stand today? How far have we made it in terms of implementation and availability of services? [00:12:02] Senator Manka Dhingra: So I'll just say - on paper - the funding, the availability of services looked amazing. And then COVID hit. And one of the biggest barriers became COVID, because we weren't really able to implement everything that we wanted to. We had inpatient treatment services that had to be dramatically reduced because of social distancing - they had to limit their bed capacity. And so it's very challenging to talk about how successful or not successful this program could have been because it was greatly hampered by COVID. And we know from years and years of data and just knowing how humans behave - that when there is a huge incident like COVID - people do tend to self-medicate because of anxiety and depression. And we saw that. We saw use of alcohol and drugs go up exponentially because people were dealing with trauma. And so the combination of factors made it a lot more challenging. And so the resources weren't able to be deployed as timely as we would have liked. Now we're in a position - with this summer, we were able to do statewide deployment of the substance use navigators, so now they're around. We have funded a lot more options for law enforcement assisted diversions. So we have this program set up, but unfortunately we also had a lot of inpatient treatments that actually closed - because of COVID and their not being sustainable. The other issue also became is - there are a lot of individuals who really feel that there has to be an option for court-directed treatment - the court has to force you to do treatment. And so one of the things we had talked about is - if you want the option of that, you still have that through Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Court - if people engage in other criminal activity in addition to substance use disorder. We also have a civil commitment statute - we have Involuntary Treatment Act - we have assisted treatment where if you really want it to be court-ordered, you can do it through the civil system. And so we were really hoping to ramp up our civil system to do that. And again, due to COVID and what happened with our judicial system, we weren't really able to get there. So I would say where we are now from when the bill was passed - not as far along as we would have liked. And we simply haven't had the time to give these programs the setup that they actually needed. So in an ideal situation, I would have liked to see one more year of us working under this bill to really see what's working and what's not, and then come up with a different solution. But unfortunately we don't have that time and COVID did make things more challenging in terms of implementation. [00:15:00] Crystal Fincher: So in terms of these programs and what was funded and addressing the capacity and now increased staffing issues with a lot of these services, is there going to be a push for increased funding? Does the existing funding already cover the implementation? What action needs to be taken from the legislature to ensure that in another year's time we are where we do want to be? [00:15:24] Senator Manka Dhingra: So absolutely the funding needs to continue and it will. The cities and the counties that do have the programs up and running - because it was a gradual start - have actually shown really positive results. We are seeing individuals getting the help they need. We have had law enforcement in those areas actually appreciate the resources that have been provided to the community to do this work. We also have to take a look at - how do we staff inpatient units? The way we pay them for per bed usage doesn't really work when you have pandemics because a third of the beds can't be used. So if you're only paying them for the beds, they can't do full staffing if they're not allowed to use a third of their beds. So we really have to rethink what that payment for treatment looks like. And there've been some really interesting ideas on integration, and paying for the whole person, and paying for programs rather than for each beds. And that's what COVID really taught us - being really creative on how we are supporting some of our community clinics, so I think you're going to see some really exciting stuff coming in on more integrated community-led efforts. Our federal government, in the last two years under President Biden, has really made a lot of federal dollars available for us to do this work. And Washington is really set up very well to take advantage of these federal dollars. I think it's still an exciting time and - it always gets darkest before the light, but I do think we are going to be turning the corner on the opioid epidemic. [00:17:06] Crystal Fincher: I hope so. And so now you're going to be taking up this legislation again - you're forced to - and many people were supportive of the sunset and revisiting of this legislation this session. It looks like there, once again, is a mixed variety of opinions on the right way forward this session. And it looks like there are a growing amount of people, supported by what looks like changing public sentiment, or absolutely a number of polls in support of a public health approach as opposed to a criminalized approach to substance use disorder and possession of personal amounts. Is there the opportunity this session to move towards a full public health approach and move away from criminalization of personal possession of substances? [00:17:59] Senator Manka Dhingra: I wish I could tell you there was. This is unfortunately the truth in politics that I've learned - is that normally the public is way ahead of elected officials. Over and over again, I've heard from the public that when they see their loved one, their neighbor, their friend, or even the stranger struggling with substance use disorder, they want treatment. The first response isn't to send someone to prison. And so the recommendation out of this committee - it's actually called SURSAC [Substance Use Recovery Services Advisory Committee] - was for decriminalization of personal use. And so the bill that I will be sponsoring is based on the committee's recommendation, because I think it's really important to honor that work. That work and their conclusions are based on best practices, it's data driven through looking at what has worked around the world - not just in the United States - because we know this is a worldwide problem. We don't have the votes for that in the Senate or in the House. So I'll have my bill, which is based on best practices and data. We are going to have another bill by Senator Robinson, who is going to take a lot of the treatment recommendations coming out of that group, but it does make possession of personal use a gross misdemeanor. It encourages diversion, but that's where it's at. We're going to have other individuals who may want to make it back as a felony - I don't think there's appetite at all to have it be a felony because that has failed so miserably. And I know there's some interest in making it a misdemeanor. All of those have issues, right? No one is going to agree on one version of it, but I think the best decisions are always the decisions that are made when they're data-driven. I don't think our legislature is there. I don't think the Blake fix is going to be evidence-based or data-driven. It will criminalize personal drug use with a lot of options for diversion. And the hope really is that the prosecutors, the judges are in a position to make those referrals. The hope really is that community resources come in and are able to help people outside of the criminal justice system. I'm a little disappointed, but that's human nature. All you can do is continue to make the case on trying to do things that work. [00:20:40] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. [00:20:41] Senator Manka Dhingra: But people are driven by fear. [00:20:43] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. And appreciate your continued work to continue to make the case and for standing by that when it comes to voting. Is there the opportunity with this to implement another sunset - for as you said, as we get more infrastructure set up around the state, accounting for the COVID delays and challenges, that maybe we get to revisit this in another couple of years? [00:21:08] Senator Manka Dhingra: You know, I'm not sure about that - we'll have to see how it works. The reality is you can have whatever laws you want - it depends on what implementation looks like. So when the Blake decision came out, the current individuals who were charged with drug possession cases - all those cases had to be dismissed. And if they were in custody, they had to be released. Now, I was very curious to know how many of those individuals currently existed, because I had heard and know that most of these cases weren't being prosecuted - that they were actually being deferred. And that was actually true. People thought the Drug Courts would close - they didn't. There were very few Drug Courts that actually had individuals that were only there for drug possession cases, because the culture of enforcement has changed so much. Because the people that do that work know that having someone go through the court system or look at incarceration does not improve the substance use disorder. It actually makes it worse. And so practically, there were not people in Drug Court to any significant degree when this decision came out. And that's why I tried to tell people - that there was already that recognition in our criminal justice system that said, We're not prosecuting these individuals, they're being offered diversions at the time of booking. Or they end up pleading guilty to a reduced sentence and finish that time in jail and leave. So there is a disconnect between the laws on our book and what is being implemented. And I think all we can do is actually make that community treatment program really robust and provide those resources, and destigmatize substance use disorder so that people can actually feel comfortable going for treatment and acknowledging that they have a problem. [00:22:56] Crystal Fincher: That makes sense. Another issue that has been an issue that has been talked about throughout the community has been those surrounding police pursuits. High speed vehicle chases - I suppose some may not be at high speeds - but pursuing people who they suspect of fleeing because of some crime or being wanted for a reason. And lots of talk in the community and data and evidence about the injuries and deaths caused by police pursuits - and really weighing whether the risk of pursuit is worth it in cases where someone is not wanted for a violent crime and people's health and wellbeing seem to be in immediate jeopardy, as opposed to a property crime or something else like that. What is the work that you've done on that? And do you anticipate that being an issue? Where do you stand on that? [00:23:53] Senator Manka Dhingra: I go back to the way I deal with legislation - I start off with what is the problem you're trying to solve? So when it came to police pursuits, the question was - what is the problem we're trying to solve? And the problem we were trying to solve is data that came out that said 50% of the people that are killed during police chases are individuals that have nothing to do with the incident. These are innocent bystanders who get killed. And that number is at 50% in the state. That is an unacceptable number. So we took a look and said, OK, how can we reduce that number? And so the police pursuit bill that was passed by the Senate and the House and signed into law is one that's actually based in best practices. It was based on a policy that very closely mirrored what a lot of our cities were already doing. So we do have some cities that had very similar policies and others that frankly were not good partners in doing this work. And so we passed that. There were a few cities who didn't really have to change their policies because that is what their official policy was. And there were others that were forced to change their policy. And this is exactly what you mentioned, Crystal - it is about doing that analysis. We made sure that if it's a domestic violence case, you can pursue the vehicle. If it's a case involving violence, you can pursue the vehicle. If it's a DUI, you can pursue the vehicle. But when it comes to property, we said, No, you can't - because there are other ways to catch an individual in today's day and age. And guess what? We haven't had innocent people dying since this policy was enacted. So did we solve the problem of not having 50% of the fatalities be uninvolved? We absolutely did. We do not have innocent people dying in vehicle pursuits. And I've heard criticism that, Oh, people are just fleeing and not getting caught. And I've asked the question, Are they not getting caught in that instant? Are they getting arrested the next day or a few days later? Guess what? They're being arrested, they're just arrested a few days later. And now they're being charged with a felony - attempting to elude - because they fled. So I know that there are cities and law enforcement agencies that want us to go back on our vehicle pursuit bill. And I have asked them for data - because I do tend to be data-driven - and I've said, Show me how many people have not been caught because of this data. The only data they can show me is the number of pursuits is up. And I'm like, And what happens the day after? Because when they share the stories with me, they always end with, Oh, yes, and we caught the guy two days later or the next day. And so again, I think for those who want us to change our policy, I come back with what is the problem you're trying to solve and where is the data supporting that? And I have not seen the data that tells me that this is the wrong policy. [00:26:53] Crystal Fincher: Well, and I appreciate the approach you take in being very data-driven because really - there's a lot of conflicting information out there. There's a lot of people who sometimes are scared just by change. And so looking at what the situation actually is based on evidence makes a lot of sense. This was an issue with a number of bills around public safety in prior sessions where there - in 2020 - where a number of accountability bills passed. And then following that, some seeming cold feet amid pushback from some law enforcement officials and others saying, Well, you have prevented us from being able to do our jobs and you're putting public safety at risk by holding us more accountable. What was your take on that, and on some of the legislation that rolled back some of the accountability progress that was made? [00:27:53] Senator Manka Dhingra: When people started saying - Oh, the Legislature prevented us from doing our work, my question was - No, we made sure you can be held liable for taking wrong actions. If they choose not to act because they're afraid of liability, that is not the Legislature preventing them from doing their job. It's that they have to relearn how to do their job. Or go back to best practices that they were taught - but over time, those practices have kind of gone away because you just kind of start doing what everyone else does and not really focus on best practices. And the bottom line is this. We had to do all of that work because of George Floyd. And the years and years and years of Black people telling us that they're being killed at the hands of law enforcement and frankly, the world not listening - until we had COVID, was stuck in our house, didn't have any new Hollywood movies coming out or new TV shows coming out - and we had to watch the video that was captured. And finally acknowledge and say, Yes, what people have been saying is true and real. We, as elected officials, have to do something about it. So it comes down to, again, what is the problem that we were trying to solve? And the problem is that Black and Brown men and women are treated unfairly with law enforcement. And when you see that so blatantly and so starkly that you cannot make excuses for it anymore, like we have been for decades, you have to do something and you cannot do business as usual. There has to be accountability. And like you said, change is hard. People don't like making change. But unless they do it themselves, it is thrusted upon them and that is - the job of electeds and the Legislature is to make sure we are standing up for each and every human being. I represent cities like Duvall and Woodinville, Redmond, Kirkland - each and every one of these cities had a Black Lives Matter protest - down in Duvall, Woodinville, Redmond, Kirkland. I was there at all of them. This is something that our population demanded and the Legislature provided. And it's going to take a while for people to make the changes, but these are changes that are needed. We are an outlier in the United States when it comes to fatalities at the hand of law enforcement. No other country has that rate like the US does. And it's time we took it seriously and put in practices that are going to prevent it. [00:30:46] Crystal Fincher: Agreed. And as you talked about before, lots of times the public is more in tune with data and reality - because they're living it - than some of the elected officials. We just saw in these past elections in November where we had a county prosecutor race where people with two very different views were running. One focused on more punitive punishment measures, focused a lot on criminalization and focusing on that. Another one who's saying, Okay, we're not going to not follow the law, but we need to follow the evidence and start to pursue policies, or continue the path of pursuing policies like diversion that have been shown to be more successful in helping people get on a productive path to not commit any more crimes and to reduce the amount of people who are victimized. As you continue through this path of various legislation in this session, what is your message to people who do say that police accountability gets in the way of public safety? [00:31:54] Senator Manka Dhingra: And I just say that is absolutely not true. Holding someone responsible for bad actions has nothing to do with public safety. Public safety is about your perception of safety. You can talk about domestic violence and I can tell you, and I'm going to say mostly women - because we are talking mostly women who are victims or survivors - they have not felt safe in their house for decades. And people will not say that that is a public safety issue because they're thinking about what happens when they walk down the street, not what is happening in their own home. When we talk about sexual assault, it's a different concept of public safety. When we talk about trafficking, it's different. And so we have to - when we talk about public safety, it's not about property crimes. It's about individuals feeling safe - at home, in their school, or out in the street. And so we have to be focused on human safety and them feeling safe in whatever environment they're in. Right now when people talk about public safety, they're only talking about car thefts, and thefts from businesses, and graffiti, and seeing people using drugs on the street - that's not public safety. Those all tend to be public health issues and systems that aren't funded appropriately. And frankly, the systemic racism that has occurred in this country for generations that has allowed these wealth inequities. So we have to talk about public safety as the human feeling safe. And I can tell you - it is women, women of color who are most at risk of being victims of public safety, but we don't talk about that. I do. And that is how I frame these issues is - we have done a terrible job when it comes to investigating, reporting, prosecuting sexual assault. Same thing about domestic violence, same thing about trafficking. And when you take a look at the ills in our society, it comes down to gender-based violence. It comes down to our children being raised in households where they see domestic violence, the trauma that occurs through there. So public safety is a lot more complicated than seeing there's a rise in their concerns about public safety - because when you really take a look at the holistic concept of public safety, there isn't. And I'll just say for decades, crime in our country has been reducing. Then the last three years, because of the pandemic, you've seen a rise in violence and a rise in crimes, but overall, when you take a look at trend over decades, we are at a downward trend. It is still the best time to live in America right now than it ever has been. That is actually true. Technology is there to help us, we have more access to resources, there are more people being fed, and there are more people who are actually safe. So let's try to change that conversation on public safety because the sound bites are not based in reality. [00:34:55] Crystal Fincher: They really aren't. And it looks like by these - once again - most recent election results, the public recognizes that and wants to move towards more evidence-based solutions. I also want to talk about - you talk about who are most often victims of crime. And when we talk about victims, so often it's in the context of, Well, victims would want this person punished. And what are you going to say to the victims if this person doesn't spend a whole bunch of time in jail? But it seems like we engage less on - how do we actually best support victims? How do we do that? And how can we do better? [00:35:32] Senator Manka Dhingra: That is such a great question. Thank you so much for framing it the way you just did because that's absolutely true. People - because of TV shows - mostly have this image of this victim who's like this innocent, fragile, vulnerable person who has never done anything wrong in her life. That is not who the victim is. Victims are as complicated as any single human being. And many times when you take a look at a victim of crime, especially in our society, they're not strangers. You normally know the perpetrator of violence, and there's that connection. And so when you talk about what the victim wants, it isn't necessarily punishment or prison time for 20 years. It is much more nuanced and much more complicated. As I mentioned, I used to run the Therapeutic Alternative Unit, and we really used to make sure - we were the first in the country, actually, to not have any criminal history that's a bar to participate in this program. But I insisted that part of this program, we have a victim advocate. And that when there were crimes involving victims, that the victim's voice would be part of what the resolution is. And I cannot tell you - over and over again, when you provided victims the resources and the services and you explained the program, they wanted that defendant to go through that program. Because they want that person to get better, they want to make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else. And when the victim feels supported and has resources on their own, they can actually deal with their own trauma and move on - because no one wants to hold on to that hurt and that anger. It is not good for anybody. But unless we as a society can provide those resources and that support, the victims aren't going to get better. And when they don't, you just have that cycle over and over again. And one of the bills that I'm really proud of - I passed a couple of years ago - and it was about making sure that if you are a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault or trafficking, when you are on your path to recovery, you can get your criminal history, your convictions expunged. And the reason I really wanted that bill is because - trauma exerts itself as a reaction, not just as a memory. And so there are so many people in the criminal justice system who are survivors - they're survivors of violence. And they're engaging in the criminal justice system because of that trauma. And we don't have a criminal justice system that is trauma-informed. We're trying to get there. But being trauma-informed means you have to understand that anyone coming into that system may and most probably has suffered trauma. And unless you deal with that underlying trauma, you're going to continue on that cycle. So I think there's a lot more work we need to do in being trauma-informed throughout our criminal justice system. [00:38:31] Crystal Fincher: Well, I appreciate that and appreciate your work. And also, your work on the 988 system. Can you explain what that is and where that stands in terms of implementation? [00:38:43] Senator Manka Dhingra: Absolutely - you're asking about my favorite bills. I've been working with the mental health community for a very long time in my other job as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney. And one of the things people have wanted for a very, very long time is a mental health crisis line. Because it's not illegal to be mentally ill, yet we call 911 and have law enforcement show up. And so 988 is a national number that went live in July. And we took this opportunity in the state of Washington to create an entire crisis system around 988. So right now, if anyone who needs help - if they're suicidal or in crisis, that's a mental health substance use disorder crisis - they can call 988. The 988 phone number is actually staffed by mental health professionals - individuals who are trained in how to deescalate and help with situations. And so we made sure that we provided funding for the people responding to the calls - that they had the credentials needed to do this work. We made sure that these hubs of 988 are actually going to - in the next few years, they are going to have a mobile response team that is made up of community mental health professionals along with peers. We are connecting 911 and 988 in the sense that there's cross-training - because a lot of the calls that come to 911 are actually mental health calls. So we want them to be able to transfer those calls through 988. And there may be times when a call comes into 988, but there's a weapon involved or a gun involved, and they need that help from 911. So we're working on cross-training and some kind of cross-mobilization. But what we have found is - from other states that have done some of this work - is that when you have a mental health professional answering these calls, 90% of the calls are able to be resolved. The 10% that need someone to show up for them - 7% can be handled with a mental health professional going out along with a peer, and only 3% need law enforcement. And so being a lot smarter about how we are responding to people in crisis - because they don't need to go to jail, most of them don't even need to go to an emergency room. We also took this opportunity to set up a structure where we can have more technology and data. We would love to do a bed tracking system, so someone who needs help - the 988 operator can take a look and know that there is a bed available for them, that they can connect them to treatment. Come January, our state mandates next-day appointments. So if you call the crisis line, your insurance or Medicaid - whatever it can be - is mandated that the next day you are going to go see somebody. And that's going to be a game changer because you're making sure people get the treatment they need when they need it. So I am super excited about this system. More work to be done on it, but we are well on our path to do it. We - normally, in the state of Washington, while we can be proud of so much, we are not the state that is in the top 10 for mental health services, but our 988 bill is the national model in the country. And I have to say, I was very proud - with Representative Orwall who sponsored the bill, and I - both of us got an award, actually a national award, recognizing us for our 988 bill. So very, very exciting time and so much more to come on this. [00:42:20] Crystal Fincher: Excellent. And what do you say to people who are concerned that - who are trying to avoid a situation that may be escalated, especially with some of the challenges that law enforcement have in responding to and deescalation, deescalating situations - whether it's people of color, or disabled people, or people in crisis - that calling 988 could result in a law enforcement response or an involuntary confinement for behavioral health treatment. [00:42:53] Senator Manka Dhingra: When I said the numbers on the percentage of calls and the manner in which they're dealt with, what you find is when you have the right resources right at the beginning, you don't need law enforcement, you don't need civil commitment because you are able to, again, use your motivational interviewing skills. You're able to offer people services and support. That next-day appointment is critical. Because if they're willing to go see someone - a doctor, a nurse, a mental health specialist, whoever that person may be - they don't need to be involuntary treatment, ITA'ed as they call it, because they're going in for treatment. So you have to make early intervention options available as much as possible. There are always those individuals who may need a high level of care, so you have to make sure that you are able to meet them wherever they are - but you got to make sure you're providing early intervention. I will have a bill next session that actually sets up these facilities called 23-hour facilities. And so the hope really is that those individuals who can't wait for the next-day appointment, that we are actually able to take them to these 23-hour facilities where the hope really is that they're there for 23 hours - because they can't stay there longer than that - and then you have to have a transition plan on how you're going to get them connected to other services and support. And that's what we have found is that - the right intervention at the right time - really, people want help, that's why they're calling. They're not calling because they actually want to kill themselves. It's because they're like, Help me, I'm afraid I'm going to do this. And so you have to provide the help that they're asking for. [00:44:31] Crystal Fincher: Much appreciated. I appreciate you taking the time to go through all of this with us today. As we close, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite things that you, or any legislator does - and that is working with youth. How do you do that? And what were you able to accomplish? [00:44:49] Senator Manka Dhingra: I love working with our youth. When I first ran for office five years ago - at that time, my kids were 13 and 15. And I used to coach Destination Imagination, and Math Team, and a lot of teams. And so I had to tell them that, Hey, I'm going to run for office, so I'm going to have to step aside from coaching these teams. And the teens were like, Can we help? And I'm like, Yes. So I had 250 teenagers helping me on my first and second campaign - no one had heard, seen so many teenagers working on a campaign. And so my promise to them was - I will continue engaging with them. So I sponsor bills that have been brought to me by teens every year for the last five years. And my favorite bill for next session is going to be one - is one - that's been brought to me by teens in my district. And that's around eliminating gender-based pricing. They literally went to Target and Costco and took pictures of a bike helmet that's pink in color and the exact same helmet - same company, same everything - that's blue in color. And the blue helmet is for $20 and the pink helmet is for $25. And they even did that with adult diapers. I didn't know this, but apparently women's adult diapers are much more expensive than men adult diapers - no clue why. So I'm going to have that bill next session - I'm super excited about it. But these teens are the ones that made sure we now have menstrual products in all our schools and college bathrooms. We no longer, in Washington, pay taxes on menstrual products. And it's not just this stuff they care about - they care about access to mental health treatment and services, and substance use disorder, and criminal justice reform. You name it, and these teens want to make positive changes. And I cannot tell you how excited I feel looking at the next generation. [00:46:44] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. And this isn't even the first bill that they've brought to you. In fact, we have better access to menstrual products because of youth bringing up legislation, correct? [00:46:54] Senator Manka Dhingra: Absolutely. They really want to make sure that they can change the world. And that bill came about because of a conversation I was having with some of the teens. And the teens in the Redmond High School said they have menstrual products in their school. And I knew that teens in Kent and Moses Lake did not. And they started talking about how that's just not fair - that our school districts in more affluent communities are actually providing menstrual products than schools that are not in affluent areas. And guess who needs it more? And so just the fact that these teens think about access - and think about who is getting services and resources and who isn't - is just heartwarming for me. And the fact that they're willing to fight for others. So yes, all schools in Washington and colleges provide menstrual products in bathrooms now. [00:47:51] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. And if people want to learn more about the work that you're doing or support legislation that you have, what's the best way for them to get engaged? [00:48:00] Senator Manka Dhingra: The best way is to email my office, or get a hold of me on social media, and subscribe to my newsletter. If anyone is interested in any particular bill or issue, my office can help you get connected to how to get more information. But check out our website, leg.wa.gov - they have a lot of resources on how you can follow a bill, how you can sign up to testify. Our hearings are all hybrid, so you can testify on an issue from the comfort of your home or your car - as long as you're not driving. And if you don't want to testify, you can send in written testimony or simply show your support for a bill or opposition to a bill - and all of that gets counted. And democracy is not an individual sport - it is a team sport. You got to play and you got to be part of a team - and that's the only way we make our world better. [00:48:56] Crystal Fincher: Well, thank you so much today, Senator Manka Dhingra, for joining us and for sharing all of the work that you're doing. [00:49:02] Senator Manka Dhingra: Thank you so much. This was a great conversation and I loved absolutely chatting about these tough issues with you. [00:49:09] Crystal Fincher: Well, thank you and we will stay in touch. Thank you all for listening to Hacks & Wonks. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler. Our assistant producer is Shannon Cheng, and our Post-Production Assistant is Bryce Cannatelli. You can find Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks, and you can follow me @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. You can catch 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 right to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave us a review wherever you listen. 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 - talk to you next time.

The Reverend Andra D. Sparks is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He is the eldest son of the late Cedric L. Sparks and the late Doris Jones Sparks. He is a lifelong member of First Missionary Baptist Church East Boyles. He has been actively involved in all aspects of the ministry. He has previously served as an Associate Minister, Deacon (Vice-Chairman), Trustee (Vice-Chair) Director of Youth and Children's Activities, Sunday School Teacher and the church's legal advisor. Reverend Sparks was educated in the Birmingham Public School System. He is a 1981 graduate of West End High School. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in 1985 from Tuskegee Institute and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1988. Reverend Sparks is a graduate of the United States Army Judge Advocate General's School. He also pursued studies at Birmingham Theological Seminary. He has been honored for community service activities. In 2013 Metro NAACP Award as Pastor of the Year, April 2012, Inducted into the YMCA Order of the Red Triangle (the highest honor for a volunteer). Community Champion Award – The Dannon Project 2010 Meritorious Achievement Award – Lawson State Community College- January 2008 presented with the Key to City of Gadsden, Alabama; Recognized as one the most influential citizens in the 2009 and 2008 Edition of Who's Who in Birmingham, Alabama; 2007 Appointed to the Blue Ribbon Committee to Review the Birmingham Mayor/Council Act; 2006 Recognized as a “Trailblazer for Education” Birmingham City Schools, Ted Hawkins Award of Excellence, Jarvis Christian College Birmingham Alumni; Appreciation from Seraaj Family Homes, Inc.; 2005 Award of Appreciation from Jefferson County Aids in Minorities; February 2004 The Alabama Association of Family and Consumer Science Professionals presented him with Family Advocate Award. In 2003, he was presented with the first Western Area YMCA Harrison/ Atkins Award for Outstanding Board Leadership. In 2002 he received the first IMPACT Family Counseling G.O.L.D. Medal Award, and was presented the Professional Child Advocacy Award from Seraaj Family Homes, Inc. In 2001 he represented the Birmingham City Council District Eight on the Citizen's Commission of Redistricting (Co-Chair). In 2000 he was honored as Adult Volunteer of the Year by the Western Area YMCA. In March 2008, he was appointed Municipal Court Judge for the City of Fairfield, the first African American to hold the position. In August 2008, the Birmingham City Council appointed Judge Sparks to a newly established seat on Birmingham's Municipal Court to establish and preside over the Drug Court and Gun Court Dockets. He was reappointed in 2012. In December 2010 he was appointed Presiding Judge for the City of Birmingham Municipal Court (the largest Municipal Court in the State of Alabama with five full time judges, two part-time Special Judges and more than one hundred employees) by the Mayor. Reverend Sparks has been happily married to the former Karen Moore since June 28, 1986. They are the proud parents of Anthony (author of #Better and RelationTips) who is married to Ashley (a teacher in the Hoover School District) and Brittany, (a registered nurse with UAB who writes the blog Until Nothing Is Left) who is married to George (a Birmingham firefighter). They are the proud grandparents of Aidan, who currently believes he will be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, George Solomon, and Ashton Donell.

Hour 1 -- Hurricane Ian wrecks west central Florida, concerns about "hundreds" dead but no formal reports so far, compare and contrast of TV campaign ads for US Senate candidates Patty Murray and Tiffany Smiley, even the WaPo judges a Patty Murray campaign ad "4 Pinocchios" for lying about Republicans wanting to end Medicare, Murray's "tired talking points" about gun control should be a warning sign for her supporters, Seattle librarians now trained for deploying Narcan is a little ironic when compared to opposition about hardening schools from mass shootings, Grays Harbor Co. Fire Dept. reports $90,000 emergency life saving equipment stolen in burglary, former Pres. Clinton Treasury Secretary lays the blame for devastating inflation at the feet of Congress and Pres. Biden for $1.9 trillion in COVID spending, VP Kamala Harris blunder in South Korea says US has enduring relationship "with the Republic of North Korea", Hour 2 -- King Co. officials hold a private meeting with 15 leaders from Seattle's CID who are upset with the process for a proposed homeless complex in the SoDo neighborhood, during the King County gathering a homeless man confronts other protesters from the CID neighborhood, Day 2 (and example #2) of exclusive series: "What do you get for a $10 billion dollar budget surplus in WA?", GUEST: current WA St. Rep. (from Shoreline), Lauren Davis, wants to decriminalize all drugs in WA (a la Oregon), Davis mentions cannabis potency was never capped with legalization, consequences for drug use, "on-ramps" for treatment, Seattle essentially reflects what happens with de-facto drug decriminalization or legalization, Davis says there's a "fallacy" based on treatment versus incarceration, cites constitutional right to reasonable bail, "cold dose of reality to get out of this (drug addiction) lifestyle", what happened to 97 % of defendants that ended up in Drug Court. Hour 3 -- GUEST: former Republican US Senator, Phil Gramm, timely new book about the claim of "income inequality" (by Democrats), Gramm explains how "income" data is calculated, how the federal government doesn't include tax credits and EBT food payments as income, the statistical manipulation is used by Democrats to claim a much larger 'wealth' gap, Gramm says in inflation and crime are the big issues in the November election, his recollections of Sen. Patty Murray as a Senate colleague; RIP to Coolio, sometimes the socialists on social media help illuminate a bigger political problem not just claim inane things, Alan White tribute concert in Seattle this Sunday after the prolific drummer's death in August and the concert is a fundraiser for hunger/food programs, podcaster Brandi Kruse's brilliant takedown of Seattle Times criticizing one campaign ad by Tiffany Smiley but ignoring a similar one from incumbent Patty Murray.

Attorney, past specialty court judge (drug court), and social entrepreneur, Katie Sullivan, joins Recovery Uncensored from her home to share a remarkable story of trials, tribulations, and success that took her all the way to working with the Trump Administration's Department of Justice.  Having nearly 26 years of continuous recovery from alcoholism, Katie was nothing short of honest with her challenges with alcohol, later attending 12 step meetings, and being challenged as a judge of Colorado's 5th judicial district for being in recovery by defense attorneys and their clients. Before becoming a judge, she had a private practice and later served as Deputy District Attorney in Colorado. Katie was appointed by William Barr as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs. Today, she and her husband, Dr. Art Kleinschmidt, have retired from government positions and began a new journey with their organization Recovery for America Now Foundation, where the well-known Dr. Drew Pinsky sits on their Advisory Board. Their mission, "saving lives through treatment scholarships."  

Addiction has taken a toll on many American households. Young and old, rich and poor, and people of all races struggle with opioids and other drugs. While the problem might be national, a new study from The Manhattan Institute's Charles Fain Lehman says the solutions are more local.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this bonus episode, we present our Hacks & Wonks Candidate Forum with Tyler Crone, Nicole Gomez, Jeff Manson, and Julia Reed - all running for State Representative Position 1 in Seattle's 36th Legislative district, which covers northwestern Seattle, including the neighborhoods of Ballard, Magnolia, and Queen Anne. This was originally live-streamed on Facebook and Twitter on July 13th, 2022. You can view the video and access the full text transcript of this forum on the 2022 Elections page at officialhacksandwonks.com. We hope you enjoy this forum, and please make sure to vote by Tuesday, August 2nd!  As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal, on Twitter at @finchfrii.   Resources Register to Vote, Update Your Registration, See What's on Your Ballot: MyVote.wa.gov   36th LD Primary Candidate Forum Video and Transcript: https://www.officialhacksandwonks.com/36th-ld-candidate-forum-2022   Hacks & Wonks - Julia Reed, Candidate for 36th LD State Representative (April 26, 2022): https://www.officialhacksandwonks.com/blog/julia-reed-candidate-for-36th-ld-state-representative   Hacks & Wonks - Nicole Gomez, Candidate for 36th LD State Representative (May 10, 2022): https://www.officialhacksandwonks.com/blog/nicole-gomez-candidate-for-36th-ld-state-representative   Hacks & Wonks - Jeff Manson, Candidate for 36th LD State Representative (May 24, 2022): https://www.officialhacksandwonks.com/blog/jeff-manson-candidate-for-36th-ld-state-representative   Hacks & Wonks - Tyler Crone, Candidate for 36th LD State Representative (June 21, 2022): https://www.officialhacksandwonks.com/blog/tyler-crone-candidate-for-36th-ld-state-representative   Transcript   [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Hello everyone, this is Crystal Fincher, host of Hacks & Wonks. This is a bonus podcast release of our Hacks & Wonks Candidate Forum with candidates for State Representative Position 1 in Seattle's 36th Legislative district. This covers northwestern Seattle, including the neighborhoods of Ballard, Magnolia, and Queen Anne. This was originally live-streamed on Facebook and Twitter on July 13th, 2022. You can view the video and access the full text transcript of this forum on the 2022 Elections page at officialhacksandwonks.com. We hope you enjoy this forum, and please make sure to vote by Tuesday, August 2nd! Hello everyone. We are here for the 36th Legislative District candidate forum. My name is Crystal Fincher - I'm a political consultant and the host of the Hacks & Wonks podcast, and I'm honored to welcome you to tonight's candidate forum. I'm so excited to hear from our guests - all running for State Representative Position 1 in the 36th Legislative District. Before we begin tonight, I would like to do a land acknowledgement. I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands of the first people of Seattle, the coast-Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish people, past and present. I would like to honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. So welcome to the Hacks & Wonks 2022 Primary Candidate Forum for Legislative District 36 Position 1. We're excited to be able to livestream this series on Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, we are recording this forum for rebroadcast and later viewing. We invite our audience to ask questions of our candidates. If you're watching a livestream online, then you can ask questions by commenting on the livestream. You can also text your questions to 206-395-6248. That's 206-395-6248, and that number will scroll intermittently at the bottom of the screen. The candidates running for 36th Legislative District Representative Position 1 with us tonight are - in alphabetical order - Tyler Crone, Nicole Gomez, Jeff Manson, and Julia Reed. A few reminders before we jump into the forum: I want to remind you to vote. Ballots will be mailed to your mailbox starting today - ballots were mailed. You can register to vote still, update your registration still, and see what will be on your ballot at MyVote.Wa.gov. So please take advantage of that and double check that everyone you know is also. I want to mention that tonight's answers will be timed. Each candidate will have one minute to introduce themselves initially and 90 seconds to answer each subsequent question. Candidates may be engaged with rebuttal or follow up questions and will have 30 seconds to respond. Time will be indicated by the colored dot labeled "timer" on the screen. The dot will initially appear as green, then when there are 30 seconds left it will turn yellow, and when there are 10 seconds left it will turn red. You will be muted as soon as time is up. I want to mention that I'm on the board for IDF or, The Institute for a Democratic Future. Jeff Manson is an IDF alum and Nicole Gomez was the program director for the most recent IDF class. We've not discussed any details of their campaigns or of this forum. In addition to tonight's forum, Hacks & Wonks is also hosting a 47th Legislative District State Rep Position 2 candidate forum, in South King County, for next Wednesday, July 20th at the same time - 6:30-8p. Now we'll turn to the candidates who will each have one minute to introduce themselves, starting with Tyler Crone, then Nicole Gomez, then Jeff Manson, finally Julia Reed. And we will proceed immediately to a lightning round of Yes/No questions following that. So starting with Tyler Crone. [00:04:14] Tyler Crone: Hi, I'm Tyler. I'm a global public health leader, human rights advocate, public school parent for 14 years and counting, and a mama bear of three. I'm not an ordinary candidate and this is not an ordinary time. The stakes are extraordinarily high. We are at an inflection point for shared prosperity and progress. We continue to live through a pandemic. We are experiencing an historic rollback of our rights, self-determination, and even our collapse of our church and state separation. COVID-19 has shown us that global health is local and public health is essential. Advancing sexual reproductive health and rights has been what I have done throughout my career and it is needed now more than ever with the overturn of Roe. And ultimately I had to jump into this race as transgender kids and their families, just like mine, are being criminalized across our country. I spent my lifetime making a difference for others, partnering with impacted communities, and centering those most impacted. And so I look forward to your questions and I see this as the leadership our state needs now. Thank you. [00:05:20] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - and next. [00:05:26] Nicole Gomez: Hi everyone. Hello, I'm Nicole Gomez and I'm a mom, an advocate, a community leader, and I'm running to be your next State Representative here in the place I'm really proud to call my home and where I've chosen to raise my family, the 36th District. I'm running to be the next State Representative of the 36th because I would like to help create an economy that works for everyone. And that means addressing our regressive upside-down tax code, healthcare for everyone, fully funded public education, affordable housing, addressing the climate crisis, and so much more that's important right now in the 36th and across the entire state. At age five, I went from living in a secure house and lifestyle to quickly losing a home simply due to the illness of a parent. And from that moment I learned everything I can to navigate complex systems. And so I've been quietly doing this work behind-the-scenes through my healthcare nonprofit that works on transformative policy. I currently sit on the Universal Healthcare Commission and I'm the Executive Director of IDF, and I look forward to talking to you more. [00:06:27] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - and now Jeff. [00:06:31] Jeff Manson: Hi everyone. I'm Jeff - I'm a state administrative law judge, labor leader, and disability community advocate. And as an administrative law judge, I see every day how state laws and budgets affect people and I'm tired of underfunded government that tends to prioritize the wealthy and corporations over working people and the most vulnerable in our state. And although administrative law judges are state employees - for almost 40 years, we did not have the right to collectively bargain. So a few years ago, I organized my colleagues to successfully lobby the Legislature to extend collective bargaining rights to us. And then we formed our new union with 85% of my colleagues signing union authorization cards. I'm endorsed by the King County and 36th District Democrats, the Washington State Labor Council, the Environment and Climate Caucus of the Washington State Democrats, and Mary Lou Dickerson, who represented this district in the house for 18 years. And for those who are watching who are registered voters in the 36th - would be honored to have your vote. [00:07:30] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Julia. [00:07:32] Julia Reed: Thanks - my name is Julia Reed and I'm running for the State House to advocate for a Washington State where everyone can belong and everyone can have a place. I'm a workforce policy expert, an advocate for youth and racial justice, and a lifelong Seattleite - and I love my hometown. I love the 36th District. But I know that if my public school educator parents were moving to Seattle today, they couldn't afford to live here. As a millennial, my peers and I are living the housing crunch, the high cost of living, lack of childcare, and the threat of climate change. These aren't policy hypotheticals to us, it's about fighting for the future - for our future and the future of other young people. I know we can make different choices in Olympia that will build a vibrant, empowering, equitable economy, where everyone can participate and everyone can thrive. As someone who bridges old and new Seattle, I wanna help create a future of shared prosperity and possibility for generations to come and I'm excited to get your questions. [00:08:41] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much. So now, we are actually gonna start right off with the lightning round portion. Candidates - get your Yes/No paddles ready to respond to questions. After the lightning round is complete - with all of the questions - you'll each get one minute to provide any further explanation of any of your votes or waffles or anything that happens like that. So we've got a number of questions to dive into - they go pretty quickly and we will attempt to announce the votes as they happen, so if anyone is listening along, you can hear that. So starting off - first question, do you support calling a special session this year to codify reproductive rights and access into law? That is a Yes from everyone, and it looks like we have some background interference with green in that, for those of you who have that. So please make an extra effort to make sure that your green check is visible, but everybody appears to be a Yes for that. Are there any instances where you would support sweeps of homeless encampments? I see Nicole Gomez, Julia Reed, and Jeff Manson have said No. Elizabeth Tyler Crone has said Yes. We'll move to the next one. Would you vote to end single-family zoning to address housing affordability? I see that - I see Nicole Gomez and Julia Reed have answered Yes. Jeff Manson, Elizabeth Tyler Crone have answered No. Would you vote to end the statewide ban on rent control and let localities decide whether they want to implement it? Everyone has answered Yes to that question. Would you vote in favor of Seattle's, or will you vote in favor of Seattle's social housing initiative, I-135? Everybody is a Yes vote for social housing. Would you have voted for the Legislature's police reform rollbacks in the last legislative session? Everybody is a No. Should the Legislature pass restrictions on what can be collectively bargained by police unions? It's taking a long time to get those Yes and Nos up. This is - looks like everybody's waffling on this - so you can address this in your one minute afterwards. So we have a districtwide waffle on this. Should we continue to limit the circumstances under which law enforcement is authorized to perform vehicular pursuits? Everybody is a Yes. Do you support a state law that would remove obstacles, like qualified immunity, when suing police officers for violating a person's civil rights? Everybody is a Yes on that. Should we offer tax credits or rebates for the purchase of electric bikes? Another Yes from everybody. Would you vote for any bill that increases highway expansion? Nicole Gomez is a No and the only one to answer definitively so far. Julia Reed says No. And Jeff and Tyler look like they have a more nuanced answer to this. Will you vote to ensure that trans and non-binary students are allowed to play on the sports teams that fit with their gender identities? Everybody is a Yes. For people wanting to change their name to match their gender, do you support removing the cost and need to see a judge for legal processing name changes and gender marker changes? Everybody is a Yes. To provide relief from inflation, should we temporarily suspend the gas tax? I see everybody as a No. Would you vote to enact a Universal Basic Income in Washington? Everybody is a Yes. Do you support a wealth tax? Nicole, Julia and Jeff are Yes. Tyler was a little bit after the Yes, but it's a Yes. Should we increase taxes on large corporations? Everybody's a Yes. Should we increase taxes on small businesses? Everybody's a No. Should we lower taxes on small businesses? Everybody is a Yes. Do you support implementing ranked-choice voting in Seattle? Everybody is a Yes. Do you support moving elections from odd years to even years to significantly increase voter turnout? Uniform Yes. In 2021, did you vote for Bruce Harrell? We've got three Nos, except from Julia Reed who just came in with a No. In 2021, did you vote for Lorena González? We have uniform Yeses. In 2021, did you vote for Nicole Thomas-Kennedy for Seattle City Attorney. I've got a Yes from Nicole Gomez, a No from Jeff Manson, No from Tyler Crone, a Yes from Julia Reed. In 2021, did you vote for Ann Davison for Seattle City Attorney? Nicole Gomez, Tyler Crone, Julia Reed, and Jeff Manson all say No. Is your campaign unionized? We've got uniform Nos. If your campaign staff wants to unionize, will you voluntarily recognize their efforts? Everybody says Yes. Would you vote to provide universal healthcare to every Washington resident? Everybody says Yes. There's more uniform agreement than I thought we were gonna have. The Legislature just passed a law that will cap insulin at $35 a month for out-of-pocket costs for Washington residents. Would you vote to expand price caps to other commonly used drugs? Uniform Yeses. Will you vote for a budget that increases funding for charter schools? Everybody is a No. Right now, money raised by PTAs and parent organizations can be donated to their individual school. Should we require that this money instead be distributed equally across all similar schools in the district? Nicole, Jeff. Okay. So Julia and Jeff are Yeses, Nicole Gomez and Tyler Crone say No. That concludes our lightning round today. So thank you - just kicks off, sets a baseline for where folks are and what they have. So moving into these questions, and we will begin the questions starting with Nicole Gomez. First question is we've seen significant increased investment in programs meant to reduce homelessness, yet people are saying they're not seeing the problem get much better despite a significant increase in funding. Do you agree that our homeless crisis is not improving? And if so, what needs to happen to get results? Starting with Nicole. [00:17:00] Nicole Gomez: Great. I think that - so the homelessness and - [00:17:08] Crystal Fincher: Oh! [00:17:08] Nicole Gomez: Wait, did we get to respond to our answers before we move on? [00:17:11] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, you did. I totally forgot that - thank you for that reminder, Jeff Manson. Yeah, you guys get to explain your waffles and there were a number of them. I just jumped into the other section. So pause on that, Nicole - thank you so much for your flexibility in that. And we will start the explanations starting with Nicole on that one. Anything you wanna clarify about your answers, waffles, your unique Nos? [00:17:35] Nicole Gomez: Sure. So I think the only one that was a unique No was the requiring PTAs or PTSAs to distribute equally to other schools as a requirement. I believe that individual PTAs should be allowed to make that decision. And the only reason is that back when my kid was at Salmon Bay K-8, that did come up as a topic. And so we were really interested in exploring it further and were able to vote on it together as a team. Parents have kids in their schools and so sometimes they would like to donate the money to their school specifically and other times not. So I think it's more democratic process to allow them to have that opportunity to vote. We ended up with a vote to share. [00:18:32] Crystal Fincher: Thank you, and now we move to Jeff. [00:18:36] Jeff Manson: Yeah, so a couple answers I'd like to discuss. One was collective bargaining rights for police officers. There have been a couple things that have been addressed. One is making the collective bargaining sessions open to the public, which I am opposed to, because I think that would undermine public sector unions beyond just police officers. And I don't think the benefit we would get would be worth that risk. It's been a right-wing, anti-union idea for years and I think we'd just be handing them something if we did that. In terms of - the other thing that's been discussed is the discipline process. I do think that law enforcement are in a unique position of power that other public employees like myself are not in. And so if we're careful about how it's written, there could be some aspects of the discipline process that we could look at. The other is highway expansion - should be our lowest priority, but wouldn't absolutely vote No. [00:19:36] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - and Tyler. [00:19:39] Tyler Crone: Yes, so the collective bargaining - I do not know enough to make a sweeping statement on that. Regarding eliminating single-family zoning, I think we all agree that there needs to be more density. We have affordability and housing as a middle-class crisis, but I am not in favor of eliminating single-family zoning all together. It needs a more thoughtful approach. The sweeps piece - I couldn't make an absolute statement to say, I would never agree to that, because there have been instances where there are encampments in schools and other places where children and families need to go and we need our civic space. Regarding the PTAs and the schools, we need to fully fund education so that our PTAs do not provide our specialists, our librarians, our counselors, our nurses, our arts. So I will fully support fully funding education. I understand that parents are desperate for options around - [00:20:35] Crystal Fincher: It looks like that is your time. And we'll go to Julia. Oh, Julia, you're gonna have to unmute yourself - there you go. [00:20:47] Julia Reed: Oh, sorry. There we go, I'm unmuted. I was just gonna say on the police bargaining question, I think that I have seen from working in City Hall, the challenges and obstructions that can come from police unions and sometimes that run counter to police officers' own wishes around wanting to implement reforms. So I'd like, but I'd also as someone who's endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council, I wanna be sure that any actions we're making regarding collective bargaining or something that the labor community feels is right and is not going to undermine overall labor rights across the board. And I thought Tyler's answer just now was excellent on the need to fully fund public education, so I feel like I wanna change my position on that question. She definitely convinced me, made a great argument. I think that fully funding our schools is essential. We shouldn't be relying on PTAs to fill the gap. [00:21:46] Crystal Fincher: And that is the time. Thank you so much. And now - thank you for your flexibility. We are heading into the general question portion. So restating the question and we will start this time with Jeff, we've seen significant increased investment in programs meant to reduce homelessness, but people are saying that they're not seeing the problem get better yet despite the increase in funds. Do you agree that the homelessness crisis is not improving? And if so, what needs to happen to get results? [00:22:24] Jeff Manson: Yeah, so I think we have - the City and the County make a lot of decisions about homelessness programs and contracts and parcel by parcel, but the state provides a lot of the funding for shelters, for tiny homes, for permanent supportive housing, for low income housing. And I think the - what the pandemic in the last few years have shown is that we've underinvested in these areas in recent decades. I do think that the services and the housing options are getting better. I just think during the pandemic, the lack of housing was rising faster than the services for homeless could keep up. So I think we're heading in the right direction, I think we are slowly seeing improvements, I think we're finding models that work. I think having peer navigators start with people when they're on the streets and looking through the whole process, I think tiny house villages are a good first stop for people. I think we've relied too much on our emergency shelters. As a housing option, they're great when it's subfreezing or 108 degrees but not as much as a night-to-night housing option. But a tiny house village is a good first stop and the majority of people there are placed in permanent housing within a few months. And I think permanent supportive housing is the gold standard. It's permanent housing, but with mental health therapists and other social workers on site for people who can't fully live on their own. And the Legislature put money in for about 2,000 more units statewide this last session, which should be coming online later this year, which is great, but it's not enough. We need a round two. [00:23:56] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much. And now we head to Tyler. [00:24:04] Tyler Crone: Thank you. I know that the issue of homelessness is top of mind. I was out door knocking today in Ballard and that's the major concern. I have seen us spend a ton of money. I do not know what the results are and we've been calling it a protracted crisis for a very long time. I think it is the moment to accelerate and strengthen our partnerships at a city, county, and state level. Coordination was one of the key takeaways from an article in The Seattle Times about what we needed to strengthen our response. One, housing is a human right - we do not currently have enough shelter to put those who are unsheltered on the streets somewhere safe overnight. We need more immediate shelter options. Two, that long-term work towards affordable housing is critical. Right now, housing insecurity now is a middle class issue. Three, we do not have a sufficient mental and behavioral health system. That is top of mind for me - that both, we need to have a place where people can go and people can be safe, but we also need to be taking care of those who are most vulnerable amongst us. And currently our sweeps are happening without necessarily a place for people to go and that is not okay, so circling back to an earlier point that I made. The last piece I'll make is that it needs to be a regional approach. Thank you. [00:25:33] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much - now Julia. [00:25:36] Julia Reed: Yeah, I think that - so when I was working in City Hall, one of the things that I remember - what came up in the conversations we had around the original start of the Regional Homelessness Authority was that actually the system within the greater Seattle area is exiting thousands of people and thousands of families from homelessness every year. The challenge is that tens of thousands of more are entering homelessness every year because of the high cost of living, the shortage of affordable rental property, the stagnant wages that we experience all across our country that mean that every person is really just one medical emergency or one sudden event away from finding themselves homeless. I understand that people's frustration is that we put money into it, it seems like it's getting worse. But I think that we invest comparatively little in our homelessness response. If you look at the billions of dollars we might put into roads and bridges, we don't invest a comparable amount in our human infrastructure in our state. And as a legislator, that is gonna be one of my big focuses - not just housing, mental healthcare - but also human infrastructure, like childcare, green spaces, access to healthy food. All of these things contribute to a safer, healthier community for everyone and particularly contribute to addressing our homelessness challenge in a permanent and lasting way. [00:27:09] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - now Nicole. [00:27:11] Nicole Gomez: Sure. So I think of homeness as a phenomenon that also should be contextualized with systemic issues, right? Racism or ableism, education access - there's a lot of different things that go and contribute to homelessness. So while it might seem like our numbers have been increasing, we've also been in the middle of a pandemic. And that, in addition to the high cost of housing overall, has been - exasperated the problem. Our unhoused individuals are carrying an immense amount of pain and trauma and we need to be looking at the programs that are also supporting - we've been underfunding a lot of them for decades. And so it's really time for us to think about what our true north is again - and make universal housing a goal - making sure that we are housing everyone and make it a priority. And I think that we're on the right track, we just need to get there in the long run. It's an issue and a problem for a really long time and it's gonna take a while to fix. [00:28:40] Crystal Fincher: Thank you. For the next question - last year, Washington experienced a natural disaster in the form of our record breaking heat wave that left hundreds dead. Due to human-caused climate change, we're guaranteed to see more disasters like this. What will you do as a legislator to prepare our state and your district for future crises? And we are going to begin this question with Tyler. [00:29:13] Tyler Crone: Thank you. So to prepare our state for future crises - this is an urgent and top-of-mind response issue for me - accelerated climate action and the climate impacts must be embedded into all of the decision making we make. One of the things that was top-of-mind related, Crystal, to the heat dome question as I entered this race was how smoke season has come up as a issue in the very short time that my youngest child has been alive. I see a way forward as - one, bringing my public health expertise and prioritizing that as what are the health impacts of these climate emergencies and how are we centering frontline communities? Two, the UN report on the climate crisis has suggested a very important strategy and that is something that we have an abundance - is centering Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous leadership. That is another key priority and approach of mine. Three, it is again about planning and coordination. Do we have the systems in place to keep people safe and healthy? Four, there is a piece of - do we have the funds available to help people recover from these climate emergencies and navigate them? And five, I would say it is about leaning into the bold innovation and leadership across our state so that we are all working together. As a young student said to me, "It's Earth Day, and I don't know what to do to make a difference." Thank you. [00:30:50] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - and next we're headed to Julia. [00:30:53] Julia Reed: Thanks. When I was working in City Hall, a group of Parks Department staffers came to me early in the spring and said, "We really wanna work on getting ready for wildfire season early. Can you help us?" And as a mayor's policy person, I was able to help elevate that issue. We created the first ever Smoke Ready Communities Day, which was a four-countywide event across King, Pierce and Snohomish county that tried to create awareness and information about preparing for wildfire smoke, especially for low-income communities, because these climate emergencies - they touch all of us, but they hit our low-income communities, our communities of color, our working people who have to go out to work the hardest and first. It's one of the reasons I'm proud to be endorsed by Puget Sound Sage and one of the reasons why I've been talking about wildfire smoke resiliency from the start of my campaign. I really want to see the state use some of our cap-and-invest funding to create a grant program for small cities to increase their climate resiliency and to help create a strategy for those cities as well - because large cities like Seattle have the staff and the expertise to create their own filtration systems as we did when I was in the mayor's office, but smaller cities and towns don't have that support and their folks are suffering right now and they need the state to step in and help them understand what to do and help them afford to make the retrofits to keep their community safe. [00:32:22] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Nicole. [00:32:25] Nicole Gomez: Sure. Our communities are being attacked, are being destroyed every day by the climate or impacts of climate change. And we're seeing this in the forms of the flooding, the wildfires, droughts and we're being threatened by the inaction that's been not taken. So I think Washington should lead on reducing the carbon emission through more sustainable, like transportation, construction and consumption. Also, one of the secret weapons - I've read articles - one of the secret weapons against climate change is affordable homes. And it's a problem that I think that if we think about it in a more holistic way and look at the larger overarching systems, I think we can come up with some really good ideas for tackling our goals, our climate goals. And then also with the creation of the HEAL Act that's just been put into place - and that's engaging community through our state agencies and being able to make those recommendations from the bottom-up will really help also with that environmental justice aspect as well. [00:33:52] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - now, Jeff. [00:33:54] Jeff Manson: Yeah, I agree with what everyone else has said. I would just add, in addition to smoke season that we have now and the heat waves, which are gonna be more common, we also have a water crisis that's coming - and that's both our drinking water, it's our agricultural water, it's our electric power. So we need to be preparing for not only the disasters we're already experiencing, but the ones that we should be anticipating 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now. And we also need to keep leading on preventing these worse outcomes. Washington - the good news is Washington State has been a leader among states and among countries in terms of pushing our pro-climate policies to reduce our carbon footprint. The bad news is it's not enough. Even if every jurisdiction in the world copied exactly what we're doing, they're not gonna meet - none of us are gonna meet our climate goals of halving, cutting in half our carbon emissions by 2030 and even more by 2050. We had some low-hanging fruit this last legislative session - we had electric vehicle subsidies, which we can bring back - also support the electric bike subsidies, redoing our building code to promote electricity over natural gas. There was also a bill to include climate effects in the Growth Management Act comprehensive plans. So it's easy, low-hanging fruit to pick up next session, but we need to keep investing in green infrastructure and clean energy to prevent the worst from happening. [00:35:28] Crystal Fincher: Thank you very much. Our next question will be an audience-submitted question. Pat in Greenwood wants to know what actions can the Legislature do to protect reproductive care with the Dobbs decision coming down from the Supreme Court, but our right already codified in state law here - but a constitutional amendment seems unlikely given the makeup of the chambers. So what actions can happen to protect reproductive care? And we are going to start with Julia. [00:36:04] Julia Reed: Yeah, I think that I want to just push back a little bit against the concept that a constitutional amendment is unlikely. I think that it'll be challenging - maybe we can do income tax and reproductive rights in the same push. But I think that we have to start thinking about a constitutional amendment. Our rights are legally protected, but that law is only as good as long as we have Democratic majorities in the Legislature and a Democratic governor. And that could change and I don't feel comfortable leaving our rights up to that kind of risk, especially not in this day and age. I also think another thing we can do is - in Washington State, we have legally protected access to abortion. But in many parts of the state, there are no accessible abortion clinics and hospital systems have merged with Catholic hospital systems that restrict access and information about abortion. So there are people in Washington State who have legal access to abortion, but they lack actual access to abortion. I think it's really critical that we ensure that we're regulating state hospital mergers and Catholic hospital mergers to ensure that everyone's access continues to be protected in our state. And I also think helping to support and create funding for people who may be coming here from other states - I want to applaud the governor's work limiting the State Patrol's ability to be pulled into investigations of people coming to seek abortion care in our state. [00:37:37] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Nicole. [00:37:40] Nicole Gomez: Yeah, so since the start of the campaign, I've been talking about the Keep Our Care Act, which is something that I worked on last session and I'm looking forward to continuing the work on it in the upcoming session. And that's similar - it's the bill that would ensure those health entity mergers, acquisitions, and contracting affiliations to improve rather than harm access to that affordable, quality care within the community. And it would, like Julia mentioned, put that prohibition on those consolidations that diminish that access to affordable quality care, including our reproductive rights. That is one very small thing that we can do right now. As Executive Director of Institute for a Democratic Future, one of the things that I heard a lot about when visiting the areas along neighboring states like Idaho was that we're going to need additional funding for those health providers that are right along the border there in order to appropriately have that intake of new, potentially new patients coming into the state to seek care. And so that's something I look forward to continuing to work on in the future. [00:39:10] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - and Jeff. [00:39:12] Jeff Manson: Yeah - again I agree with what both Julia and Nicole have said. I do agree that we need to push for a constitutional amendment. We, at the federal level - I think a lot of people thought that Roe was settled law, Roe v. Wade was settled law and we had a constitutional right to abortion access. And it took the right wing 50 years, but unfortunately they were successful and I don't think we can take anything for granted here. I feel rather confident that our current legislature is in the right spot, our current Supreme Court's in the right spot, but you never know what's gonna happen 5, 10, 20, 50 years from now - so we should push for a constitutional amendment for an explicit right to abortion access. In terms of what we can do, this last legislative session the Legislature did pass a bill to expand the types of providers who can perform services, anticipating that Roe may fall, which is great. That helps expand access, but I really think funding is gonna be a major issue. We need to make sure that we are fully funding our clinics and other providers 'cause people are already - even before Roe - people from Texas were already coming here for services as they were being further restricted across the country. And we should be a safe haven for people, we should be a place that people can come and feel safe, no questions asked and have access to services. And if that means also funding for their stay or transportation, I'm open to that as well. And I also agree that we need to - [00:40:48] Crystal Fincher: Oh, thank you - and now Tyler. [00:40:55] Tyler Crone: I've served on the board of Cedar Rivers, which is an independent feminist abortion provider in our state and one of the best in the country. I've also been on the frontlines of advancing safe, legal abortion around the world. This is an urgent moment, it is an all-hands-on-deck moment and is one of the key reasons why I'm running. One, we have to codify Roe - we have to do it. Two, we have to invest in the infrastructure of care - the services, the providers, the clinics. We have a desperate shortage in eastern Washington and in the 36th legislative district, you cannot get abortion care at a hospital because of the mergers. Just so you know, it is here at home that you cannot get the care you need. I also am deeply invested in increasing and expanding the funding that has already been initiated by Dow Constantine, by the governor, by our mayor to overcome barriers and to ensure access to care for everyone who is seeking abortion care in our state. We also have to think about upstream - let's ensure that we're scaling up our access to reversible, long-acting contraception such as IUDs - that will take the burden off of our limited clinic and service facilities. We need to invest in training - all of these rollback of Roe means that all those states where abortion is not legal, you cannot train to provide that care. And I guess I would like to say one last point - this is just the beginning. I hope you look to commentaries by my law school classmate, Melissa Murray - [00:42:30] Crystal Fincher: Appreciate that. And for the next question - the pandemic exposed our healthcare system's limited capacity - which has grown even worse, continues to grow worse and more limited - and our state's unequal access to health services. What action do you propose to increase our state's capacity to respond to a health crisis, including behavioral health crises, and what will you do to make sure that our response supports our most vulnerable communities? And we are going to start this with Nicole. [00:43:03] Nicole Gomez: Oh, Crystal - can you please repeat the question one more time? [00:43:06] Crystal Fincher: Sure. [00:43:07] Nicole Gomez: Thank you. [00:43:08] Crystal Fincher: The pandemic exposed our healthcare system's limited capacity and our state's unequal access to health services. What action do you propose to increase our state's capacity to respond to a health crisis, including behavioral health crises, and what will you do to make sure that our response supports our most vulnerable communities? [00:43:28] Nicole Gomez: Okay, thank you. One of the - I work on healthcare policy quite a bit at the state level, that's what I do. And one of the things that we have done to help increase access to medical care has been, like this last session, we got additional funding to help cover our undocumented population and we're seeking additional funding for that. So that was something that that was done during the pandemic because we saw the huge inequities in the way medical coverage and care is provided. I've been working on the Universal Healthcare Commission - I was appointed by Governor Inslee there - and so we are in the current talks of trying to figure out what the nuts and bolts of a comprehensive healthcare plan for Washington State would look like. [Noise of object hitting ground] And I just dropped my little thing. At any rate, we are currently in the process of doing that right now - to ready the state for a potentially single-payer program. And that's something that my nonprofit has been working strenuously on, and I'm hoping that by being there as an elected official, I'd be able to continue that work in a different capacity. [00:44:56] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Jeff. [00:45:00] Jeff Manson: Yeah. I support universal healthcare, universal coverage, health insurance coverage. Ideally the federal government would take the lead on this, but we can't and shouldn't wait for the federal government to get its act together and need to do it here in Washington. I supported the creation of the Universal Healthcare Commission and I want to give a shout out to Nicole for all of her great work on this issue. If elected, I'll be relying on her on healthcare access issues. We need to take the lead here and if federal government maybe could follow our example in how we set things up here. But we don't just need health insurance coverage. I do Medicaid hearings as an administrative law judge. These are people who are covered by Medicaid, which was expanded under Obamacare, which is great. But often there are not sufficient providers for a lot of different types of services, including behavioral health services. And often, I think they would say the reimbursement rates aren't high enough to be able to cover people. So we need to not just provide universal coverage, we need to be providing the funding so that the actual services are available for those with insurance coverage. So it's attacking it from all angles and really it comes back to - are we gonna raise progressive revenue through progressive revenue sources in order to fund the services that people need and deserve. [00:46:28] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Tyler. [00:46:34] Tyler Crone: First, I want to start with where you started - the pandemic exposed - the pandemic is not over. We need to be learning from where we fell short, what we did right, what we do better next time - that is the first pillar of continuing to navigate and recover from COVID-19. Too many of us are sick, too many of us have had our lives disrupted. A key piece of this, for me, is bringing that pandemic expertise coupled with investment and fortification of our public health systems, our public health leadership, and our public health infrastructure. A next piece of this for me, that is top-of-mind, is about how are we taking care of those who keep us healthy? We have an incredible nursing staffing shortage in our state, our healthcare workers are exhausted and overstretched, and we need to keep that top-of-mind if we're thinking about how we're navigating a crisis and who takes care of us. Likewise, we have frontline responders who are overstretched, such as our firefighters. I'd like to make sure those stay top-of-mind as well. I think the piece that I will close with here is how I would legislate and how I lead. I lead from behind centering those who are most impacted. A key question you asked is about how would those who are most vulnerable not be excluded - they would be partners in the solutions. Thank you. [00:47:59] Crystal Fincher: Thank you very much - Julia. [00:48:03] Julia Reed: I'm really proud to just recently have been endorsed by SEIU 1199 Northwest, which represents thousands of nurses and behavioral healthcare workers all across the state. It's an honor after all of the work that they've put in to keep us safe, that they've put in to keep us safe every day to have their support in this race. And one of the - we talked about two things in the endorsement process. One is the essential need for safe staffing. Too many of our hospitals in healthcare settings are being run at staff-to-patient ratios that are unsafe - that put the medical staff at risk, that put patients at risk, that put care at risk, that put our whole system at risk when there are stresses like pandemic. The other thing we talked about is the really important need to grow our healthcare workforce pipeline. I'm one of the only candidates in this race who has worked on and built workforce development programs and that includes having done work with the Somali Health Board to try to advocate for greater access for immigrant and refugee doctors. We have a lot of excellent medical, trained medical personnel in our state who, because of government regulations, aren't able to do the work that they're trained to do. And I want to work with SEIU 1199 Northwest Multi-Employer Training Fund to help grow our next generation of healthcare workers, especially women and people of color. Because to ensure they aren't excluded, we have to have, you have to have providers available who come from your community, who look like you. [00:49:40] Crystal Fincher: Thank you very much. According to a recent Crosscut/Elway poll, Seattle voters were asked what they think are major factors in the crime rates. The top three answers were: at 85% lack of mental health and addiction services, at 67% homelessness, and at 63% economic conditions. And when asked specifically if they could direct where their tax dollars were spent, the top three responses were: at 92% addiction and mental health services, 81% said training police officers to deescalate situations, and 80% said programs to address the root causes of crime. Given that the Legislature has already voted to increase public safety funding, largely devoted to policing and prisons, do you feel that we should increase funding for behavioral health resources, non-police intervention services, and rehabilitation services before passing further increases for police spending? And we will start with Jeff. [00:50:45] Jeff Manson: Yes, I do. I think in terms of where we have underinvested in recent years, mental health and behavioral health services and interventions is where we are the farthest behind, where we need to invest the most. The Legislature did increase some funding this past year, but I think it's just a start, it's just a drop in the bucket. And I was trying to type up the numbers and I'll have to look it up later - and I think I generally agree with the respondents to the poll. I think mental health and addiction is a major contributor to criminal activity, and we need to make sure that we have these services available and that we are directing people who enter the criminal justice system into services, when they're properly identified to need those services. Drug Court is a huge success, other alternatives to incarceration for those with addiction issues and other mental health issues have been a real success story. But there are stories of Drug Court telling prosecutors not to - don't send as many referrals, we don't have enough providers to provide services for as many people who are wanting to come over to Drug Court. So we need to make sure that we're providing that funding so that the services are available. I do think that is the - one of the main causes of criminal activity and the cheapest way to reduce it. [00:52:12] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Tyler. [00:52:18] Tyler Crone: Investing in the criminal legal system does not work. It does not help us solve the problems of today. I'd like to put forward and agree with many in Seattle who do feel concern, grave concern, about our public safety situation at present and push you back, Crystal, a little bit and say it has to be nuanced. We are currently facing a public health and public safety crisis. And so I am not going to pit two things against each other of saying - absolutely, we need to be investing in mental health, we need to be investing in behavioral health. And those are some of my key priorities - bringing forward a public health and a harm reduction approach to both. But you said - would you say you would do this rather than - I'm not sure we're at a moment where we can say rather than. As much as I'd love to put forward public safety as public health, I recognize we have Starbucks closing down, I recognize that my child who worked at Majestic Bay had to shoo out a person using drugs from the entrance who lurched at them and they had to call out a manager. And my daughter last night had someone break a bottle on her car. So just to say we are facing a moment that is complex and nuanced and is going to take a lot of integrity, thought, and care to center human dignity and put the services that we need to prevent these types of scenarios. So thank you so much. [00:53:49] Crystal Fincher: Thank you very much. And just clarifying the question - it's would you fund those things before passing other ones, not necessarily instead of. With that, we will go to Julia. [00:54:05] Julia Reed: I think safety, public safety, is the issue we hear about on the doors - all of us - the most every day. I think everyone deserves to be safe, but I think we can see that doubling down on our current system, which is broken, is leading to the results we're having in our streets. As someone who's worked in government my whole career, I really try to be led by data in making decision making. And I think the data shows us that we have solutions that work here in our City. I'm proud to be endorsed by Dominique Davis, the CEO and founder of Community Passageways, which is one of the leading examples of community-based, evidence-backed, non-incarceral, non-police-related solutions to public safety that create lasting safety in our City. I've also been a longtime board member for the YMCA Social Impact Center which sponsors the Alive and Free program, which similarly is a community-based program, community-based response to crime that has shown real measurable results. I want to see us investing in the solutions that work. I want to see us investing in things like Community Passageways, Alive and Free, greater access to advocates for victims of violence, of sexual assault, and addressing the scarcity and poverty that drives a lot of low-level crime, including the lack of mental and behavioral healthcare. [00:55:33] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Nicole. [00:55:37] Nicole Gomez: Yeah, so on the topic of behavioral health, I actually will - first, to answer the question - yes. But on the topic of behavioral health specifically, the Legislature just recently put in a really large package of behavioral healthcare funding because it is a top issue - top-of-mind not just here in the Seattle area, but across the entire state and nation, quite frankly. And there still needs to be additional investments. This past session - something that I'm proud to have helped pass was this budget proviso that one of my, one of the local nonprofits came to me and said, Hey, can you help with this? And we ended up passing a proviso for a pilot program that - mental health providers were coming to them and saying, Hey, I would love to volunteer my time, but there's no way that we can figure out how to pair patients with providers. There needs to be a screening process that's easy for us to manage. And so we helped pass that through, so it's a pilot in King, Snohomish and Pierce. And with innovative ideas like that, if it works - let's see if we can continue to do it, especially now that we have telehealth, that could potentially help get providers across the state specifically in the areas where there's a lack. There's a huge lack of mental health providers statewide. [00:57:15] Crystal Fincher: Thank you very much. And with that, it's 7:30, it is a hot evening, there's a lot going on. We are going to take a quick two-minute break just to give people the chance to grab some ice, refill water, do whatever you need to do. So we will start that two-minute countdown now, which goes by pretty quick. So we will start that break and then be back shortly. Excellent. So it looks like we are back - I'm waiting for, there we go - we're all back. So this next question is a combination of two - a combination of a preexisting question and one sent in from a viewer. Starting off - Washington's facing housing affordability crisis - lots of conversation about ending exclusionary zoning, making further investments in the Housing Trust Fund, but also balancing concerns of different constituents. One in particular writes in asking, citing a King 5 story where Seattle has lost 11,500 rental property units in the past year, mostly smaller locally-owned properties, according to this and suggested by the King 5 article. They're wondering if you're gonna pursue similar regulations at the state level, which they feel greatly disfavor and disincentivize mom-and-pop landlords. So that's question one. And question two - in addition to what you plan to do for landlords or not, what needs to happen to address this housing affordability crisis beyond expanding zoning and investing in the Housing Trust Fund? And we are going to start with Tyler. [00:59:07] Tyler Crone: Thank you. So I think that the first question piece was about these smaller landlords and what are we doing to find strategies that work? I think that we are at a extraordinarily difficult moment because one, we're facing a homelessness crisis that will only be exacerbated when we lift an eviction moratorium. This eviction moratorium is placing a disproportionate burden on some of these small landlords who are an important part of the solution. And so what I would look to do would be to one, bring these stakeholders around the table to see where have our actions had unintended consequences, or that article, Crystal - I just saw it on Twitter before we hopped on - where we're losing critical space where people are selling their units and it is impacting our housing availability. So one, that partnership with landlords looking for practical solutions, exempting small landlords from some of these onerous regulations. To that piece of affordability, we have to be finding smart ways forward around density, around building with that urban village model, increasing density along our secondary arterials and seeing it as a strategy for inclusive, safe, healthy neighborhoods. [01:00:38] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Julia. [01:00:41] Julia Reed: Yeah, it's hard for me to speak to that specific article without having read it and dug into the data a little bit more. I, like I said, I like to be driven by the data and I know sometimes television news can can create packages for clicks as opposed to things that are more nuanced. I am very concerned about the loss of rental property in our City and the lack of affordable rental property. The University of Washington researchers just put out a book that I've been deeply reading for this process called Homelessness is a Housing Problem - the thesis is in the title of the book. And one of the things that they identify is that the lack of affordable rental property is the number one most determinative factor in the rates of homelessness in a particular area. So it's a huge concern. I'm really focused on this rising trend around LLCs and corporations buying up homes as investment properties to increase corporate profits. I want to explore what that looks like in our state and see if we can regulate that to ensure that our market can remain something that individuals can buy into for their own ownership. And that's really gonna be, I think, a big focus of mine in the Legislature. [01:02:04] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Nicole. [01:02:07] Nicole Gomez: Sure. So like others, I have not had an opportunity to read the article that was posted, but what I would say is that this is exactly the reason why we need different options for housing. Aside from being able to lift the ban on rent control or something of that nature, we would also need to look at limiting predatory fees. There's other ways in which we can work through making sure that we have more affordable housing. I was thinking about an article that I read - I think it was regarding Amsterdam and there's a 40-40-20 rule that they use there. And so essentially what that is - is you have 40% of regulated rent, and then you have another 40% of medium-term rental, and then 20% would be an expensive rent option. And looking at other countries who are tackling this problem and are doing it in a successful manner could be helpful in helping guide the work that we do. We're in a - oh, there's time. Thank you. [01:03:34] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - and Jeff. [01:03:36] Jeff Manson: Yeah, our housing affordability crisis, I think, is related to a lot of the issues we all hear at the door and I think we're all experiencing ourselves. I think in terms of the role the state can play in that - there's twofold - one is direct state investment at the lower end of the market. This would be the Housing Trust Fund, other direct investments. The other is we need more density. We need - we're tens of thousands of housing units behind where we need to be. People are moving here faster than we're building new units and that's causing the - one of the main reasons that prices are rising. Seattle has taken steps in recent years to increase density - it could do more - but other cities in the region haven't done nearly as much. I think another thing is people who are wanting to build more housing units are having a lot of trouble with just basic things like permitting. I hear, of course, at the doors about Seattle's process and we need to make sure that our municipalities have the resources, are able to raise the resources they need to process permanent applications expeditiously. In terms of small landlords, I also haven't read the article. I would say my overall approach is that we need to respect tenant's rights, but also need to make sure that we aren't disincentivizing providing rental units so much that we don't have any housing for everybody. So I do think it's a balance and it's complicated. But those are the two things I would be looking at in any of this legislation. [01:05:07] Crystal Fincher: Thank you very much. Now we go to a audience-submitted question. What would make Washington's tax code more fair for the poor and working families? And how much funding would you look to raise for needed services in Washington? And we're gonna start with Julia. [01:05:28] Julia Reed: That's a great question. One of the things that makes our tax codes so regressive is that poor and working families who purchase more of their goods and consumables are paying a lot of money in sales tax. Tons of money in sales tax. Also, we talked about the gas tax earlier in the lightning round. People who have older cars, less fuel-efficient cars are paying more in gas tax than people who are buying - well, people who are buying Teslas in general aren't paying gas tax. So it's just another example of how working families are carrying the load for our parks, our roads, our schools, our infrastructure - and wealthy folks are getting a free pass. I think what we need to do in our state is - I'd like to see us create a statewide income tax. While we are working towards that, dealing with constitutional issues, I really support the wealth tax that Noel Frame who held this seat before has proposed - which she proposed a 1% tax on wealth over a billion dollars. I think you could even bring that threshold down a little bit. I also would like to see us increase the estate tax on large estates and use that as an opportunity to lower the estate tax on smaller estates so that families of color can afford to create generational wealth and that all working families can try to bring some generational wealth to the next generation. [01:07:01] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Nicole. [01:07:04] Nicole Gomez: This is the billion dollar question. So I've been working with the Balance Our Tax Code coalition over the past few years. And we've been working in detail on this very issue. There's a lot of different ideas that are floating out there. We did pass the capital gains tax, so that was one effort. I do think we need to tax excessive wealth - that is something that we've been working on and will continue to work on it. That 1% tax on the value of stocks, bonds, and the other financial intangible assets over $1 billion, which again, I do also think that should be lowered. And I believe that they're working on a number that might be a little - a different number perhaps, or a different way of looking at it - but that only affects like a hundred people in Washington State. It's time that the wealthy do pay their fair share. There's also other ideas like a guaranteed basic income program I've seen out there. Baby bonds has also been floated where you're giving funds to - I think the bill was like $3,200 to give funds to people, to kids who are on the state's Medicare Apple Health program. And then that money grows over time and they get it when they're an adult, which is a good way to eliminate or to address the wealth gap. And I have so many more - I could talk about this topic for hours. So thanks. [01:08:36] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - Jeff. [01:08:39] Jeff Manson: Yes - as I'm sure this is a very informed audience and everyone's aware that we have the most regressive tax structure in the whole country. It is by far the worst, and we're really feeling it right now with inflation and the affordability crisis - the sales and property taxes that are so regressive. That's one thing I hear at the doors all the time. So I support capital gains tax and am cautiously optimistic our State Supreme Court will find it constitutional. Same with higher earners income tax and a wealth tax. We need to be pursuing all of these progressive revenue sources. And once we raise enough money to fund the services that we say that we need, then we could provide some relief from the more regressive taxes. The second part of the question was how much more revenue do we need? I don't know if I can put a number on it, but it's definitely in the billions - like billions and billions. Think about all the things that we've all been talking about, we mostly agree on that we need - we've been talking about healthcare, we've been talking about behavioral health and mental health, we've been talking - we haven't talked about childcare, but that's really expensive and requires direct state subsidies. We're talking about low-income housing and Housing Trust Fund and permanent supportive housing - and fully funding education. All of these things cost money besides the basic government services that we already have - often, which are not acting at full capacity. So we have not enough revenue and the revenue that we have is being collected too aggressively. So we need more - [01:10:20] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - now Tyler. [01:10:24] Tyler Crone: Thank you. My approach to this question, which is a critical question, is that we need to be closing corporate loopholes. We need to put our weight behind a move to an income tax. And I would like to see that income tax ultimately reduce our sales tax or move us away from sales tax, which I think Julia made a really good case of how that disproportionately impacts working people and people with less income. I am also very concerned about how our property taxes are affecting our seniors, our single moms - it's a concern that's raised to me, time and again, at the doors of how do we manage this and provide the supports we need with such an upside-down tax structure. A question that has been raised to me when I've asked it to colleagues is about a wealth tax. Will people move out of state? Is that something that we need federal leadership around or is it something that Washington can lead on? That's an outstanding question for me, but I just want to underscore the critical, critical need to fully fund our schools, to increase our investments in making high-quality childcare, and a strong start in life available - that we have and we see, as we've talked about throughout this call, a need to lift kids out of poverty and a need to really reinforce our behavioral and mental health systems and services. Thank you. [01:11:49] Crystal Fincher: Thank you. You just talked about childcare a bit, Tyler and Jeff. You were a little bit prescient in saying we haven't talked about childcare yet, but this question is about childcare. We are experiencing a childcare crisis. It was already out of reach for many Seattle families - exceeding $1,600-1,800 a month in the City of Seattle per child for many families and only got worse during the pandemic, with many counties in this state reporting a 40% loss of childcare providers since the start of the pandemic - causing costs to rise even further and access to lower and become even harder. What can be done specifically to make childcare more affordable and more accessible to all parents in Washington? And we are starting with Nicole. [01:12:41] Nicole Gomez: Yeah, so I recall this - even pre-pandemic - my nine years, wait how old is my son now? Oh my gosh - he's 12 - 12 years ago. When we first started looking for a daycare

THE HONORABLE MARK POWELLLACKAWANNA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEYMark Powell, District Attorney of Lackawanna County, has made combating the opioid crisis a top priority of his administration. He is the co-chair of the Lackawanna Recovery Coalition, which works to reduce opioid overdose deaths in Lackawanna County by connecting people with substance use disorder to treatment, implementing lifesaving harm-reduction strategies, advocating for long-term recovery, and working to reduce stigma surrounding the disease of addiction.   In October 2019, District Attorney Powell established an Overdose Fatality Review Team to study overdose deaths in Lackawanna County to determine the root causes of addiction-related deaths and implement evidence-based solutions. DA Powell also initiated a Fresh Start Program for lower-level drug offenders to supplement Treatment Court. Fresh Start gives offenders the chance to choose treatment instead of jail and avoid having a criminal record. He is also a board member of the Lackawanna County Treatment Court, which established and operates the Recovery Bank in downtown Scranton, a peer-driven recovery support center that focuses on whole-person healing of mind, body, and spirit.DA Powell is on the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association's Executive Board and serves on its Education and Training Committee. In addition, he was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to serve on the Continuing Legal Education Board, which oversees education programs for attorneys statewide.Before being elected DA, Powell was a partner in the Powell Law firm in Scranton for 27 years. He earned many professional accolades, including the distinction of being a Board-Certified Trial Specialist in both Criminal Law and Civil Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. For 12 years, he served as a Hearing Committee member for the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board and is a past president of Northeastern Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. He is past co-chair of the Lackawanna County Bench Bar Conference and serves on the Lackawanna Bar Association's Continuing Legal Education and Bench Bar Committee. DA Powell frequently teaches CLE seminars for other attorneys across the state. In 2016, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy awarded him the Teaching Excellence Award at the Advanced Trial Advocacy Program.DA Powell earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova University, his Juris Doctorate from Catholic University, and his Master of Laws in Trial Advocacy from Temple University where he graduated with honors.Check Out Lackawanna Recovery Coalition's Website BelowFREE NALOXONE BY MAIL TODAY with this LINKhttps://www.lackawannarecovery.org/Support the show

Meet ATTORNEY FRANK BOLOCK , Today's guest is Attorney Frank J. Bolock, Jr. Frank has practiced civil and criminal law throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania for almost 43 years. In addition to his law practice Bolock serves as the president, CEO of Treatment court Advocacy Center of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation, and he's also the project director of the Recovery Bank, which we'll speak about today to community Recovery Resource Center, developed by the treatment court advocacy. The mission of the treatment court advocacy is to assist treatment court participants and alleviating obstacles to their compliance with the requirements of treatment court, and also to assist the participants in engaging fully in their recovery. The Recovery Bank Community Recovery Resource Center has as its mission connecting treatment court participants and people new to recovery with peers and long term recovery and recovery resources. Frank is also served as assistant district attorney with the Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office, where he prosecuted a wide variety of criminal cases ranging from Homicide to misdemeanor offenses, compiling an outstanding record of success as a prosecutor. Following several years as an assistant district attorney, Attorney Bolock began his criminal defense practice which continues throughout the Pennsylvania federal court systems.     Additionally, Bolock has served as special advocate to the Lackawanna County treatment court. Today Frank comes in to talk about the genesis of the recovery bank and how that came about. Frank is a friend. And we get to speak about this genesis of the RECOVERY BANK over the course of three decades, where Frank was introduced to service, and with that experience, he was able to help shepherd, the recovery bank with a lot of other great people. VISIT the BANK:https://recoverybank.org/LAWYERS in Recovery PA resources,https://www.lclpa.org/help-for-lawyers/recovery-meetings/Support the show

JR Weaver, author of the award winning, “The Addiction Manifesto,” army veteran and person in recovery, is our guest today. JR and Jeannine discuss drug court, Smart Recovery as compared with twelve step, and JRs journey from crack addiction and alcoholism to nearly five years clean and sober. Info on smart recovery: https://www.smartrecovery.org/ Connect with JR and Recovery Revolution: https://m.facebook.com/RecoveryRevolution100/ Connect with the show: https://bit.ly/3LKk9G3