Capitol Concepts: Where Creativity Meets Policy
Join Kassi Kincaid for an insightful discussion with Texas State Representative Caroline Harris Davila. Experience firsthand how creativity plays a crucial role in problem-solving, not only in everyday situations but also at the policy level.
Transcript:
Kassi Kincaid (00:00):
Welcome to The Edge of Creativity Podcast. I'm your host, Kassi Kincaid, and join with me today is Texas State Representative Caroline Harris Davila. Caroline, thank you so much for being here today.
Caroline Davila (00:13):
Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited about this.
Kassi Kincaid (00:17):
This is such a special moment for me. We literally graduated high school together, kind of went our separate ways and found ourselves back together when you were running for literally the district where I live. So crazy!
Caroline Davila (00:35):
It is. It's so crazy and that's one of the things that is so neat to me about even being a state representative is that I get to represent the place I grew up, the place I went to, high school, middle school, whatever, where I grew up. I know it very well.
Kassi Kincaid (00:51):
Absolutely. You have lived in the same well until you got married, the house,
(00:58):
That same house your whole life, Right? Absolutely right around the Kalahari area, the house that we would go over to.
Caroline Davila (01:04):
I know. I tell people all the time. I grew up swimming in Brushy Creek and so that was my childhood, just spending time outside in that area. It was awesome.
Kassi Kincaid (01:13):
I'm so excited to delve in to really creativity and impact from a legislative standpoint. Sometimes it seems like a really kind of an intense field, right? Yes. Like politics and all of the things,
Caroline Davila (01:26):
Especially nowadays.
Kassi Kincaid (01:27):
Oh, absolutely. So let's just dive right into it. Can you tell our listeners where your journey, your state representative journey began and how it's progressed to where you are today?
Caroline Davila (01:42):
Absolutely. I love talking about my story and I tell people I'm very curious and I'm always up for learning something new. And so when I graduated college with my bachelor's in communications, I was actually offered a job to work at the capitol. I had no plans to be in politics. Of course, I had been to the capitol building a ton of times growing up, but I didn't really know that much about it. And so I immediately said yes to the offer because I was just excited to learn more. I love Texas history. I'm a very proud native Texan, and so I started in 2014 and I just fell in love with it. I tell people all the time that the building and working in the building is about two things, people and problem solving, and those are two of my favorite things. So it worked out fantastic for me.
(02:35):
And so I worked here for eight years as a policy analyst, as a receptionist, as a scheduler office manager. I think I've pretty much had any job you could have in the building, which is really neat. And the moment that I decided to run was kind of a moment I know that we've all had, where I just got mad about something I saw going on and I said, somebody needs to do something about this or why isn't somebody doing something about this? And so I went to search for somebody who I could get behind who'd make a difference. And I started talking to all these people, friends, family, and they all came back and they said, yeah, we've got the person. We know who it is, so when will you start?
Kassi Kincaid (03:22):
Wait a second. I know.
Caroline Davila (03:27):
I was like, I didn't sign over for this. I was only 27 at the time, and I had never thought about running for office. I loved the policy work. I loved being behind the scenes. I was never a big public speaker growing up. Just always terrified me. And so honestly, I prayed about it, laid it before the Lord said, is this really what you want me to do? Because it's a lot of time and effort. There's so much that goes into it and I want to make sure that my area is well taken care of, whether it's me or somebody else. And so I prayed about it. The Lord said, go for it. And so I immediately launched the campaign at 27 years old, I announced to run for office, and eventually it turned into an open primary. And so that means that there was no incumbent running. And so it was me and three men in the Republican primary.
Kassi Kincaid (04:20):
Whoa, that's intense.
Caroline Davila (04:22):
Very intense. Yeah, it's crazy when you say yes to the Lord. You never really know exactly what it's going to look like. You have an idea, but normally he has something completely different in store for you. And that was definitely true in this case, but it was just so much fun. I loved the campaign. I came in second place in the primary and then went on to a runoff. So that's when the top two people run against each other again, because no one gets over 50%. So in the runoff, I came in first place by 108 votes. It was very tight, and I attribute that well to the Lord, but also to knocking on doors. I made that a huge part of my campaign. And when we talk about later, we'll talk about some creativity, but I was just thinking if I was an oral person living my life, what would I want in my elected official?
(05:18):
How would I want them to come ask me for my vote? What would that look like? So I spent a ton of time showing up at people's doors and really asking them what their top concern was. I'd let them know, Hey, I'd love to have your support. This is what I'm all about, but what is your top concern? If I'm going to win this election, what can I work on for you as a constituent? And I was able to hear great stories. I was able to pray with people knocking on doors. Part of my team, my parents knocked on doors for me. They shared the gospel with people. People came to know the Lord. So it was just amazing. It was just so impactful, just even outside of politics. So I loved it. I had a great campaign and then I went on to the general election and I won that.
(06:09):
And same thing, knocked on a ton of doors, almost 9,000 all said and done between the three races. And then I started my first session that next January. So really hit the ground running. And it's just been such a joy. I love the job. I love the problem solving. I love the people. We had a great session, and for those of you who don't know, session is every other year for 140 days, and that's when we put new laws in place for Texas. And so it was very intense, as you can imagine. And we had a great year. As a new legislator, normally you don't get that much done just because we're learning a ton. And thankfully because of my experience, we were able to get 13 new laws passed, which is a huge deal. We were told that if we got one done, we'd be doing good. So that was awesome. And then at the end of session, I got voted freshman of the year by all my colleagues.
Kassi Kincaid (07:10):
That is such a big deal!
Caroline Davila (07:13):
So it has been a fun, amazing whirlwind, the whole thing, and I still love the job. It's just awesome.
Kassi Kincaid (07:22):
And kind of switching gears a little bit into the creativity, as you mentioned, I love, I mean, I just want to to touch a little bit on the creativity of the campaign itself. People think creativity is all about the laws, how to be creative, how to better problem solve in that aspect. But it really, even it started before that in the creativity, like you said, how am I going to be different and how am I going to communicate differently? And really showing up on people's doors that I've even gotten people that are part of a party. And I know you have a team, but I don't think I've ever had an elected official show up at my door and just be like, tell me what you need. Because politics sometimes has a little bit of bad taste about they want to get in the office, just cast your vote.
Caroline Davila (08:09):
Yes, exactly.
Kassi Kincaid (08:12):
You really showed up for your constituents that way. And I love the creativity in that where you were thinking, how can I not only make a difference, but how can I show my constituents I'm creatively thinking in this process?
Caroline Davila (08:26):
Absolutely.
Kassi Kincaid (08:27):
And in that way, you connected just so much deeper.
Caroline Davila (08:32):
You're right.
Kassi Kincaid (08:33):
Going into office.
Caroline Davila (08:34):
Yeah, absolutely. And I tell people, it really made me a better legislator to have that feedback. And it was kind of cool because in a campaign, you do polling and you try to figure out where people are on things. And it was so cool because I knew from knocking on doors what the polling was going to say because I had talked to so many people that I was able to gather on my own from the face-to-face interactions, what people really cared about in the district. And I talked to people who may have had the opposing team stickers all over their car, for example. And what I asked those people was, Hey, we may not agree on everything, but what is that percent that we do agree on? Because I think we have this notion that if you don't agree with me a hundred percent, you're not my friend, but nobody agrees with anyone in their life a hundred percent of the time.
(09:29):
I mean, there's a percentage of difference there. And so again, talking about creativity, I was always trying to figure out how do we cross bridges, make bridges between people that we may think we don't have anything in common with? And again, just asking that question, what's your top concern? Or what is something that you think we can work together on? What do we both care about that might not be in the mainstream of what everybody else is talking about? Yes. And I told people all the time, sometimes I would get a response, well, I'm not really into politics. And I said, listen, I don't care if you want to tell me about your neighbor's lawn or your mailman. I am here to listen and hear you out because I want to know big or small, what's important to you.
Kassi Kincaid (10:19):
Absolutely. And that's such a vital point too, because a huge part of creativity is making the connections where there aren't any, finding those connections. Like you said, not everyone really, nobody agrees on everything. So where do we agree and how did that translate once you got into the legislator? Once boots are on the ground, you're in session. Tell me a little bit about that.
Caroline Davila (10:41):
Yeah. Well, again, just being I think young and just thinking through, okay, what would I want my state legislator to be like? I had a bill that I really wanted to get passed about medical transparency. And I thought, okay, I know there's going to be opposition, and so how can I be creative and get ahead of that? And so what I decided to do was I decided to kind of become my own advocate. And so I myself went to offices all throughout the capitol to all sorts of different members, Republican, Democrat did not matter to me. And I went door to door and explained the bill that I wanted to get passed to them. And it was usually just staffers in there. And I would sit down with them and explain to them what the bill did, because knowing what a staffer's role is, I knew that I would also need their support and their help to get it done.
(11:34):
So I worked behind the scenes like that for about a month or two. And then when I actually presented the bill for the first time, I was able to say that more than 60 members out of 150 had signed their names to support my bill. And once I had done that, I mean it floored the opposition. I mean, they just didn't really know what to do because no one had really ever taken that approach before. And when I went to the offices, it kind of cracked me up because I'd show up and the staff would say, okay, okay, we'll take it. We'll look at it. And then they'd stop and they'd look at me and they'd look at the paper and they'd say, wait a second. Are you the representative? And I was like, yeah, yeah, it's me. I'm trying to get this done and I know you guys need to know about it. And they were just so surprised that I was willing to do the legwork like that myself, that I was showing up myself in the office to talk to them too, not just the member. And that bill passed with over a hundred members signed onto it, helping me get it done again out of 150. But it was because of that creative outside of the box type of thinking that led to that success.
Kassi Kincaid (12:47):
That's incredible. Because the hierarchy around the capitol, correct me if I'm wrong, it's very Stafford to staffer, representative. Representative. There's not a lot of representatives going around and I don't think talking about their own bill.
Caroline Davila (13:02):
I don't think so. Maybe I've changed that. Maybe we'll have more of that. But it was something I was passionate about, and so I really wanted to think outside the box and how I could accomplish that.
Kassi Kincaid (13:14):
That is incredible. Wow. Talk about creativity. Oh my word. So delve into just a little bit more about what kind of an impact, you said you've passed 13 bills this past session. What have you seen just transpire the impact of those bills?
Caroline Davila (13:33):
Absolutely. So I'll tell you that Bill that I was really trying hard to get past. It was about transparency when it comes to medical billing. And we had a situation in Williamson County where a hospital was suing individuals over bills, hospital bills as low as $2,000. And these people only had about two options. They could represent themselves in court or go on a payment plan to try to pay the bill off, but what they couldn't get was an itemized statement that showed what they had been given so they could take it to court with them and say, Hey, I never received this care and actually show the judge that. And so this bill I was working on, it says that the hospital has to give you an itemized bill before they send you to collections. And that itemized bill has to have the billing codes, a plain language description so that you and I who don't know medical terms, we know, okay, they gave me an IV, it's not called some crazy name.
(14:34):
And then the prices next to it. And it sounds pretty straightforward, but it was very difficult to get it passed because it's just not something that, I guess what I heard was people didn't want it. They thought people didn't want it. But I heard overwhelmingly from people in my district and outside of it that yes, they did want it, and in fact, they needed it in these court cases. And so now that law has gotten passed, the judge in that particular court keeps a copy of the bill on her desk and any of those cases that come before her, she's able to let them know that they can get an itemized statement and they can get help for trying to combat these medical bills that might not be right, that they're getting sued over. And so I have heard so many stories like that of how it has helped people practically. I had a lady come to me in tears talking about how her husband and her had come here on a green card. They had had their first child here, and it was so overwhelming, just the healthcare system. And she said, to know that there's someone like you out there that is fighting for us is just huge. I mean, just through tears, she was telling me this. So it is just an amazing job to get to see those reactions and get to know that I was able to help people in that way. It's just incredible.
Kassi Kincaid (16:05):
And all your hard work, all the hours campaigning, all the going door to door, all of it leads up to these moments.
Caroline Davila (16:13):
Exactly. Exactly.
Kassi Kincaid (16:14):
And they're only a fraction of the moments of impact that we get to see in our lives. Right? It's like those ones highlighted that help us to keep going.
Caroline Davila (16:23):
Absolutely. It is so encouraging, and again, it takes that creative problem solving of seeing an issue and trying to figure out the best way to do something about it. And again, I'm so blessed to be in this role to be able to do things like that, to help people in real tangible ways.
Kassi Kincaid (16:43):
So Caroline, just wrapping up today, this is an election year. What would you want the listeners to know moving forward? This is a big year for you. You're hoping to serve for many years to come. Just what are some of your parting thoughts?
Caroline Davila (17:00):
Absolutely. Well, one thing that I want to add that what we do in our role as state representatives is that if you have an issue with a state agency, like you can't get your driver's license renewed or something like that, you can call my office and we'll help you out with things like that. I was just talking to someone today about how his insurance company dropped his insurance insuring him after 40 years, and he doesn't know why he's trying to figure it out. And so we're going to call the Texas Department of Insurance and see if there's anything we can help him with. And so situations like that, I don't think people know that that's part of my role.
Kassi Kincaid (17:39):
I didn't know that. You learn something new everyday.
Caroline Davila (17:44):
So I try to encourage people to call my office. We have been able to get a stoplight put in part of the district because of people calling our office. I mean, it's really practical things that, again, I don't think people know that's part of the job, but I love that part of the job. And then, yeah, I will be running for a reelection in the fall in November, and I have a two year term, so if I went in November, I'll be there for another two years and I would love to continue serving. I absolutely love it. It is a privilege to get to be here. And again, it's a privilege to get to represent my friends, like you, my family, my parents, my grandparents, and it gives me, I think, more motivation to be a good servant knowing that I'm taking care of friends and family as well as all of my constituents.
Kassi Kincaid (18:34):
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for everything you do and all the hard work that you put into making not only our district, but Texas, and ultimately on just a big level America, so great.
Caroline Davila (18:46):
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Kassi Kincaid (18:47):
You've heard it, folks. So go out and vote for Caroline Harris D Love. Make sure you watch out for her name on the ballot this fall to keep her in office and to keep her doing the amazing work that she is doing. Thank you so much for being here for the Edge of Creativity podcast. Joining us for today's conversation. Be sure to follow so you don't miss any of our upcoming conversations, and we'll see you next time.
