State Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, spoke of student debt, voter ID and student engagement in politics at an Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs meeting Monday.
“I think that it is so important for young people to be engaged,” Taylor said. “You determine who gets elected.”
Taylor spoke of student loan debt and the increasing difficulty students encounter affording education. She said the state has failed to fulfill its obligation to the University of Wisconsin-Madison financially, which she claims has been fund-locked for the last decade.
“The student body needs to continue to focus on the crisis that student debt is creating for students post-graduation and how it limits their opportunities,” she said.
She said she thinks one of the best investments of taxpayer money is in public education and that the state Legislature is not fulfilling its obligations to university systems.
“Students are amazing in how much they do and how engaged they are in topics,” Taylor said. “I really want students to continue to feel empowered and engaged.”
Taylor also described her engagement with civil rights as an adolescent and the gender stereotyping she encountered.
“I really kind of rebelled against [stereotyping],” Taylor said.
From there, she said she became passionate about gender issues, inequality and domestic violence, according to Taylor.
She then described her steps toward a political career.
“When you graduate … you want that dream job right away,” Taylor said.
She became the director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and said she gained work experience. She then spoke of Gov. Scott Walker’s election, recall election and protests.
Taylor then ran for government, saying she was frustrated with the political climate. Since then, she focused her efforts on workers’ and women’s rights, independent investigation of officer-involved deaths and voter identification.
“I think there’s a lot of critical issues for you right now,” Taylor said. “I hadn’t looked at [voter ID] in so long. I didn’t think we were going to be dealing with voter ID.”
She said the new law is “one of the most restrictive in the country,” identifying her biggest concerns with voter ID law as the “gutting of absentee voting and limited clerk hours.
“Voting is a fundamental right,” she said. “It is the bedrock of our system. Those kinds of laws are going to prevent people from voting.”
Taylor said students across the state should know their voices matter.
