Growth & Grace

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NB studios original program. The following program is underwritten by Crawford management group and Chris glow and does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jaz and Moore the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education

Music 0:18
even better than I was the last time, baby. We back and

Music 0:35
we back and we back and we back and we back and we back. And I was the last do,

Leaha Crawford 0:44
hey, hey, hey, happy, happy. Saturday, Las Vegas. I got tongue tied there. Hey, water, nope, no, I got tongue tied because I realized it's the end of July. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh my God, we are in the third quarter Julian. Yes, we are football season get ready starting a couple weeks, right? Or is it next month?

Julian Rosado 1:04
August? It's next month. We're probably in the second, third, beginning of third of our training camp.

Leaha Crawford 1:12
Oh, nice, right now. Okay, so we, so we go on Sunday. So me, yes,

Julian Rosado 1:17
our teams, no, the roster is current. Team rosters is still at like 6060, man, so they have to cut it down to 53 got it? So a lot of people are going to be furloughed. Well, no football

Leaha Crawford 1:29
season's about to start, so we can go ahead and see how, since Julian didn't handle the basketball finals, well, hopefully we'll make it to the Super Bowl and he you have a better well, you like eagles winning, though, right?

Julian Rosado 1:43
Oh yeah. That was, that was good. That was a domination. That was, that was

Leaha Crawford 1:46
E, A, G, L, E, S, that's all I'm gonna say, all right, and y'all know, even y'all know I'm an Eagles fan. But today we have somebody very special in the studio with us. I am happy to say that I have known this man for a while now, and he is a freshman assembly member. He just finished his first term in Carson City. Welcome assembly member. Joe von Jackson, how you doing?

Jovan Jackson 2:16
I'm doing well. I'm doing well. It feels good to be in the studio and it feels good to be home after a long legislation session. It does

Leaha Crawford 2:25
Okay. Well, first of all, tell your parental high. Hi mom,

Jovan Jackson 2:29
hey dad,

Leaha Crawford 2:32
Love y'all Right, right? Because when they hear this, we gotta, you know, we gotta tell them Hello. How was it I know going to Carson City for the first time as a freshman assembly member. How was that experience?

Jovan Jackson 2:47
That experience was man, it, it brought me to a different level. Okay, you you think you understand politics, but then when you understand, like the stakeholders of of laws, lobbying, sponsoring bills, and then the culture of politics alone, it's a whole different world. So it was adjustment. It was a it was a great feeling to be a part of that. But it was a constant adjustment, constant learning, the day of when you needed to learn them, learn things. So it was a learning experience, but it definitely elevated me.

Leaha Crawford 3:27
I appreciate that. So you had some bills that were actually signed into law. You want to talk about them? Yeah.

Jovan Jackson 3:36
So I had one bill, AB 321, and this bill allowed those inmates who served as wildland firefighters during their incarceration to be able to have that same job once they're released out of custody. That's so cool. Oh, that's cool. And you know, I was inspired by this law because recently, you know, we seen the fires in California, and I felt like it was the right time. You know, we see these inmates sacrificing their lives to save communities, and then, you know, I know we're gonna get later, get get into this later. But you know, I'm also formerly incarcerated, and I served as a wildlife firefighter during my incarceration. So it was a full circle moment. I didn't run the bill for me. Trust me, I don't want to be a wildlife firefighter, but I see the importance of those who, you know, willing to sacrifice their life and give back to community during their incarceration, that they should be able to, you know, attain that same career once they're

Leaha Crawford 4:39
released. I love it. I love it. And the governor signed that one into law. The governor

Jovan Jackson 4:43
signed that one. And then I actually got two bills passed freshmen legislators, legislator, which is a big deal to get two bills passed under, you know, come on, our governor, current governor. And so the other bill is AB, 406, Six. So my background is in mental health. I have provided mental health services for over 10 years. And so this bill, we see AI, you know, coming about, and I think AI is a great tool, but I don't think AI should replace people. So this bill is focused on AI not being able to replace licensed social workers, therapists, school counselors. And I felt like it was important, just because the integrity and quality assurance of mental health should be protected, especially with our children. We see our children are almost best friends with the cell phones, with cell phones. So I think you just

Jovan Jackson 5:41
came up that was, I was gonna say,

Leaha Crawford 5:43
I'm gonna give you heard of Well, yeah, the funny thing is, I'm sitting here, well, just, you know, my family's in the studio today, and I'm watching my niece. My niece is engaged with her phone, right? She's sitting there right now. She's she's on her phone. And you're right, the phone is their best friend.

Jovan Jackson 6:00
So those are two bills that I passed. I did get one veto, and the other three died throughout the process. But you know, you go through the first house, the second house, and then it goes to the governor's death. So I did get three bills that made it all the way through. One was vetoed,

Leaha Crawford 6:17
got it so. Okay, so, but let's talk about that process, because, when, I mean, because I remember, remember the bill, I know it's a bill. Yes, it's only a bill, right? Yeah, but what is the process of somebody's idea? Because basically, these are somebody's idea turned into something that's signed into law. So what is the process? The

Jovan Jackson 6:39
process, like you said, it literally just starts off as an idea, okay? And then you have to frame it into a law. And there's so many places where your bill could die and people really don't understand, like, just getting a bill presentation is a big deal. Just getting your bill assigned to a committee is a big deal. So there's so many places where your bill could die. And I know that that cartoon, you know, he always talks about, you know, he could, you know, die on Capitol Hill, or, you know, die in all these places. So the goal is to get your bill passed out the first house. So if you're in the simile, your bill starts in the assembly. If you're in the Senate, your bill starts in the Senate. Okay,

Leaha Crawford 7:25
so then after, after the presentation is this, is it assigned to a committee for the presentation, or is it presented then assigned to a committee? So

Jovan Jackson 7:32
assigned to a committee first. Okay, it's presented. That committee votes on it. So just those committee members vote on it. It has to make it out that committee. And then once it's out that committee, it has to be sent to the floor, okay? And then you have a vote on it on the floor, and whether that's the Assembly floor or Senate floor, okay? And then you need the majority of the votes to get it passed off each floor.

Leaha Crawford 7:57
And then you take it, then it goes back to the committee on the Senate side, yes, I'm sorry. On the other side, other side. That's why we like to say first house, second house. So, so the second house, then it goes to similar committee, second house, right? And it has to make it out of there. It

Jovan Jackson 8:12
has to do the exact same thing. Okay? In the first house, it has to get done in the second house. Oh, what do you

Julian Rosado 8:17
have to do? So make sure that the bill doesn't intercept with no other current law.

Jovan Jackson 8:22
So you you want to work first, talk to your your caucus members, or just your colleagues, and check like, are you running this type of bill? There's really, like, no perfect system, so it's just really conversations. And then we do have a legal department with the state, and they'll let you know, oh well, you know, this law already exists, or this, did you read that? Did you read that? Yeah, that sounds like me, or it might be something like a constitutional change. I'm like, Well, we could do this, but just know that this would change the constitution and that you will have to, you know, it'll take on a whole nother process,

Leaha Crawford 8:59
okay, yeah, I love it. I love it. So whenever. So guys just know, whenever you see that NRS something, something. Normally, it had to go through this process. Yes, whenever you see, whenever you see, nrs.dot.it, had to go through a process. Everything goes through this process. Anything that you took home, I mean, because I know you had to, you had to live up there for six months. When you came home, how did you feel?

Jovan Jackson 9:26
I was happy to be home. To be honest with you, I grew up in North Las Vegas, the East Side, and those to me, are one of the most diverse communities in Nevada. So coming from a very diverse community to, you know, living in Carson City, which is a rural community, it was a hard adjustment for me, but what I took home is that you could really push yourself to wherever you want to be. You know, you shouldn't put a limit on yourself. And. Um, and you shouldn't let no one dictate your value. When I was in Carson City, I felt that a lot of people felt like I didn't belong, but I wasn't there to, you know, prove the people to Carson City wrong. I'm there to uplift my community. I'm there to bring stuff back to my community and advocate for my community, so I was happy to be home and and also, like I said, it showed me my true value and my true potential. So

Leaha Crawford 10:30
let's talk about your district. Because your district is 86 Yes, what are you? What are your jurisdictions? No, your your boundaries. I was like, I'm drawing y'all can't see me. I'm drawing it. What are your boundaries? I love my district. I have the I love your district. I love your district. Go ahead. So

Jovan Jackson 10:49
we have the historic west side. We have, I like to call Old North town. We have that civic center area. So it goes all the way up to Rancho, where Texas used to be, okay, and then it goes all the way down to Pecos near the outdoor swap meet. Okay? So I have the Pearson center in my district. I have do a little in my district. Have the West Side library. I have MLK. And so basically it goes from, I will say about from Bonanza to Cheyenne and then to Rancho to Pecos.

Leaha Crawford 11:25
Nice. That's a nice area. So do you find because you were a freshman, and you stand on a stand on the shoulders of some amazing people you know, Billy, Billy William McCurdy, Chandra summers, Armstrong, now you are you carrying bills that they maybe, that died for them in the past? Or Are y'all working together? Because it's a lot of stuff going on on that side of town, a lot of development going on. So

Jovan Jackson 11:51
even though I was a freshman legislator, my community is so resilient. And when you when you know the history of my community, you know why that they're, you know, resilient. So they didn't want me to run freshmen legislator. They wanted me to run impactful legislation. And so I did bring back one bill that didn't make it last session, that was held by the former Assembly Woman Sandra summer Armstrong, and that bill was to allow ADUs on your properties. If you put an adu on your property and you rent it out to Section eight that that adu will be tax exempt. And it's a huge deal. Well, it's a huge deal

Leaha Crawford 12:34
because they're talking about rent right now, affordable housing is the is the hot topic, right So, and we need a number of affordable housing units in Clark County, right? And that's a way, I mean, it's only was it's one off, but people, we have these large lots on older homes, yeah, you put an adu on there, and you collect the rent, yeah, on some property, especially on the west

Jovan Jackson 12:57
side, especially on the west side, especially on the west side, big front yards, backyard, side yards and not and I thought, like, Okay, I seen the potential of it. Because, one, it kind of gives the power back to the people to help the people, because you have, you know, homeowners that could benefit from the tax break, and then we're housing some of our most vulnerable populations and and also that area, you know, throughout history, you know, it has experienced what segregation, redlining, and I really felt like this was an opportunity to bring equity to that

Leaha Crawford 13:32
community. It's so funny because in that community, especially when you talk about the historic west side, there's some eight, I guess they didn't call them ADUs back then, but there's some properties right where there's a house in the front and, like, an apartment, multi unit in the back. Yeah, they used to call them shotgun homes, shotgun homes, yeah, shotgun homes, right. Shoot, shoot a shotgun through the front and go through the back. Yeah, shotgun home. Oh, yeah. But no, it was no, but there were some properties over there, like, Yeah, but I love it. So that building make it out again.

Jovan Jackson 14:00
No, it didn't, but it got further. That's a part of the legislation. You know, certain bills first time they're being heard, people like, oh, I don't know. And then the second time it gets a little further, and then maybe the third time it gets passed and it gets approved. I know this bill actually made it to the first house, and they went to the second house, and it died in finance because of our current budget situation. Got it. Got

Leaha Crawford 14:27
it. All right. You are listening to growth and grace. I am Leah Crawford, this is Julian Rosanna, and we have Assembly member Joe fine Jackson, in here with us, sharing his experience about being a freshman legislator. Now I'm gonna dig deep because I want, I want to dig deep for the people. Let's talk about Jovan Yeah. Who is Jovan Jackson, not the assembly member, not, you know, because you ran for office, and you know, that was stressful. But who is Jove because Joe, who is Jovan Jackson.

Jovan Jackson 14:56
I say Jovan Jackson is a a young man. With a big heart, a caring heart, who really just love people, who loves his community. I was born and raised in Vegas by two loving parents, loving I gotta you know, mention that my family is very diverse. You know, I'm not the traditional family. I'm in a blended family, but with that, you know, you constantly stick out.

Leaha Crawford 15:26
Well, you won't know what you said some very because you said two different terms. Yeah, not only is your family diverse, it's blended, right? And you guys are, I'm not gonna lie, meeting his parents, his parents are absolutely they are just as cute as they just as cute as pie. Because I remember, because this wasn't your first time running for office, right? And your family is supportive, very supportive. Do you remember what your dad said to you? Because I remember. Let me see if you remember. After the first race, you don't remember we came home. You told me, No, okay, no, but dad said, Dad, you know your dad and John, Hello, how are you? Your dad said, don't worry about it. Son, we'll get it next time. He said, Don't worry about it. You know, it wasn't because some people go through a lot of it's emotional when you don't want to win a race, and you poured a lot into that race. And he said, Don't worry about it. Son, we'll get it next time. And next time we got it, we got it. Got it. Wow. So more about your background. So you talked about, you know you were, you were incarcerated, yeah?

Jovan Jackson 16:27
So, yeah, I was incarcerated. So I started off. I went to Desert Pines, high school after high school, I went to unlv my first year, became a college dropout to start my first business. My first business was very successful. And, you know, being a young man with a lot of, you know, you got a house, you know, I had a Mercedes, you know, I had money in the bank. And I think, I know, I became arrogant, and it was even to a point where I stopped praying because I was like, You know what? I donate money to my church every month. I'm good, you know? But that was just that naiveness. And so I fell on substance abuse. And, you know, you you try one drug after another, drug after another drug. You think that nothing could stop you. And then I tried the one drug that literally took everything away from me. And it didn't, you know, they literally took one time, and I went from this successful, successful young man to having very serious mental health issues. And it was at a point in time where that I couldn't even speak, you know, you would talk to me, and I couldn't even, you know, come up with any words to say back. I would just look at you blank. And so I went through so many different levels of mental illness, and I thought it was ironic, because, you know, my background was in mental health, and then so, you know, I got into a little trouble. My god brother was released from the military. He was an Army Ranger, and he was dealing with his own issues at the time. And two people that you know wasn't doing well mentally, made some bad mistakes. And you know, my god brother, he decided that he wanted, you know, to rob this place. And, you know, I wasn't in the right mental state and and I but at the end of the day I was there, I was in the car, and, you know, and I was charged as an accessory to robbery. Okay,

Leaha Crawford 18:36
got it and afterwards. But you are not your story, yeah, you know you did the work, yeah? And you are about your community, and now you are assembly member, yeah? And you can tell that story,

Jovan Jackson 18:47
yeah, I could tell that story, even though, what one Dave, decision shouldn't dictate your entire future. And it kills me, you know, that was over almost, oh, I'm 33 you know, that was like almost 10 years ago, 10 years ago. That

Jovan Jackson 19:03
was 10 years ago. I'm not

Leaha Crawford 19:04
even going, I'm not even going. Later on, I'll share my style if I share my story

Jovan Jackson 19:08
with you, yeah, but you know what? I would think that happened yesterday. It

Jovan Jackson 19:12
did happen yesterday. It's 10 years ago,

Jovan Jackson 19:16
no, but that's how people make you feel. Uh, especially in the political amazing, yeah, and so going up there, I had to, you know, fight that stigma, because, one, I'm a young black man, you know, and then two, I have a background, so that's what people that's what they seen, you know, that's the first thing they seen. Oh, this dude doesn't know what he's doing because he's formerly incarcerated. Oh, this dude doesn't know this. And so I had to, you know, I just couldn't go up there as a regular lawmaker. I had to hold myself to different standards. And then I think that was the most important about me passing bills, letting people know that, hey, I am good. Good enough and and, you know what,

Leaha Crawford 20:01
I can read, I can read, I can read, I can read. Wow, that's amazing. Are able to vote again.

Jovan Jackson 20:11
So, yeah, it was actually a bill that allowed me to run for office. You know how we talk about, you know, you have to run a bill a few times. So there was a bill, A, b4, 31 sponsored by Jason Frierson, that allowed felons to vote. And so maybe I was meant to be a state lawmaker, because when the bill passed, I'm like, okay, felons to vote. And so the the Democratic Party, you know, they wanted me to share my stories and what I've been through. And I thought about I said, Well, if, if I'm able to vote, you know, I should run for office. And then so I looked at the laws, I looked at the nlrs, and it says, you know, what qualifies someone to run for office? You You got to be 18, and you got to be able to vote. I said, Well, I could vote, and I'm 18, and as people were like, can you run for office? I'm like, the law says.

Leaha Crawford 21:11
The law said you got to be 18 and able to I'm just reading what the law said. Yeah. Jason fryer, yeah, Jason, you know. And shout out to Jason Frierson. He was an amazing legislator. When he was an amazing legislator. I mean, that whole, I think he was there with Pat Spearman, yeah. Pat Spearman, Aaron Ford, a Ron Aron Ford, I mean, just amazing lawmakers, right? Dina, Dina, I think Dina was there too, right? Dina, Senator Dina Neal, Senator Dina Neal, just amazing lawmakers, yeah, because they are, I remember they made a law one time, just FYI, Doc, prep services, 2017, legislative session. So if you are not a CPA, an EA or an attorney, in order to prepare tax returns along with some other documents, you have to have this license. And because I know some and when I was reading, like, some of the stuff that was passed, I was like, Do y'all see what y'all did? Then I got to pay some extra money, because the people around me weren't licensed, but they were just, they are forward thinking as to what we needed in this state. So kudos, actually, all, I mean, everybody that goes up there that sacrifices for that six months, especially if you live around Nevada and not in the Reno Carson City area, you really are sacrificing because you're not going home every night. Yeah? Wow, yeah, yeah. It's Yes,

Jovan Jackson 22:32
and the food is not like Vegas. I'm gonna tell you that.

Leaha Crawford 22:35
What's that? What's that basil tie basil?

Jovan Jackson 22:37
Yeah, that's one restaurant. That's what

Leaha Crawford 22:42
you said that. Well, la bakery was good too. That's two restaurants, 222, but did you ever, did you go to Tahoe at all while you were there?

Jovan Jackson 22:52
Oh, wow, I was upset that that was the first time I ever been to Tahoe. Really into session, because, you know, I love the desert and everything, but Tahoe is probably the most beautiful place in Nevada, really, yeah,

Leaha Crawford 23:07
it just so anyway, oh my gosh, I need them. Okay, all right, so I'm gonna need to go,

Jovan Jackson 23:11
Yeah, you gotta go, yeah, I gotta go. Beautiful. You gotta go, gotta go. All right,

Leaha Crawford 23:15
gotta make that happen. All right, maybe the next time y'all go up, okay, so when you but when you're there, it's cold.

Jovan Jackson 23:20
We got, uh, we got, we got blessed with a little heat this session, okay? Because, you know, I was mentored by Senator Pat Spearman, yes, and I was up there the session before, and I think it snowed all the way up to April. Okay, last session. But this session is snow. We had one day we were snowed in, but it didn't snow that much. We maybe got like, a week's worth of snow the whole time I was there. But that was a new experience for me, you know, I'm like, What do I do? I shovel the driveway, you know. So that was a new experience for me, you know, having a snow day and being snowed in. So that was fun.

Leaha Crawford 24:00
How are you how like meeting lobbyists? How was that?

Jovan Jackson 24:03
It really wasn't that bad. I think we have this perception of lobbyists that they're all like evil, bad people, right? Oh, the lobbyists, the lobbyists, they're gonna there are good lobbyists out there. There are good people that are trying to advocate for good laws. You know, there is the other side of lobbyists that you know they're they're trying to, maybe not get the same things that you want to get done, but that, you know they're entitled to their perspectives. And I think that's something that you know, when we push for a law, we we only see one side of it, but the lobbyists, they give you all sides of it, you know. And I think that was the most important part about me getting my bill passed, because I was willing to, you know, listen to the opposition and understand the opposition and actually work with, you know, the other party, or the cause and effect of it. Okay, yeah, the cause and effect. So, you know, we we often just see the benefits of it, but it like there's a. Cause and effect. So working with the lobbyist was a good experience. And I think my background in mental health and providing mental health for 10 years what really made me able to be successful up there, because I was able to, you know, listen to people, let them vent, whether they are emotional, mad, upset, you know, I just Okay, okay,

Leaha Crawford 25:22
okay, you took your daddy's spirit up there with your dad, because your daddy is calm, cool and collected, yeah, yeah. I love it. I love it, all right, so you are listening to growth and grace. I am. Leah Crawford, this is Julian. Miss out on and we have Assembly Member Jovan Jackson in here, sharing with us his experience as a freshman assembly member. Well, you no longer freshman baby. You are all you broken in now. You broken in now. Are you ready to go back? If the people have you, are you ready to go back?

Jovan Jackson 25:55
I love doing the legislation work. I've that part. I guess I'm a workhorse for that part. But, yeah, I love working my legislation. I I love meeting with, you know, other legislators and getting their opinions and getting their feedbacks and, you know, running, running around with my bill, trying to get votes. You know, I really enjoy that process. So I definitely want to go back, and I feel like I represent a great district, and we see the growth that's going on in my district right now, so I really don't want to go anywhere. I know I originally ran for city council, and my passion is in local government, but I will say the committees that you sit on, you could still be involved in local government, and you can still advocate for local government. So I'm not going nowhere.

Leaha Crawford 26:47
I appreciate that. So let's talk about that. So real quick, the committees that you did sit on this session, which committees, which committees did you sit on?

Jovan Jackson 26:54
So I sat on natural resources. I sat on Health and Human Services and Government Affairs

Leaha Crawford 27:01
got it. I got to bring you back, because I need to understand, I know natural resources. Natural Resources was the one when we did the garden the garden bill.

Jovan Jackson 27:09
So natural resources most of the time it's about water, water rights, right, Health and Human Services, kind of exactly where, you know, Health and Human Services, Medicaid and then government affairs is local government and veteran issues.

Leaha Crawford 27:23
Okay, yeah. Oh, about that? Oh,

Leaha Crawford 27:25
wow. So local government, that would be the committee that it would go through if they wanted to expand city councils and all of that. Oh, yeah, that's government. Oh, you want some nice okay, yeah, because you would think natural resource like, oh, do I really want? But that's but that is huge, though, when you talk about the water and the gardens and the stuff. Yeah, I

Jovan Jackson 27:42
actually like natural resources. So the first law that we ever passed during session was to allow eggs. Was it uncaged? Because you have caged eggs and then you have uncaged eggs. So the law was allowed to have caged eggs because of, you know, the price increase on eggs. So it's natural resources, to me, is fun because you talk about food, you talk about water, like you talk about the

Leaha Crawford 28:08
basics, the basic stuff, right, right, right. That was a good way to get started. And then I love it. So how many terms are you able to serve in the legislature as an assembly member?

Jovan Jackson 28:18
So you could serve six terms, up to 12 years.

Leaha Crawford 28:22
So that's up to 12 years, 16. Got it, got it. All right, so we gonna see you around for a while. All right. Well, that brings us to the end of our show again. Thank you for accepting my invitation. I'm gonna bring you back, because y'all home for about a year and a half, right? Yeah. All right, I'm gonna bring you back so we can continue to have a conversation. Because, I mean, I know you're working a little bit, but I want

Jovan Jackson 28:42
to, yeah, so I am working. I'm actually starting a non profit. I'm trying to get more justice impacted people to run for office. Okay, I'm heading to the East Coast right now, actually, in a few hours, you know, to get the word out that I'm trying to see more people like myself with similar backgrounds to run for office.

Leaha Crawford 29:03
I appreciate that. All right, y'all Well, until next week, when we have another conversation. I am Leah Crawford, this is Julian Rosati. You have a very velocity weekend, and all those going to see Beyonce tonight, y'all be careful. Have fun. Vegas is a good time. Peace and blessings. Y'all bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai