LAWMAKER.

AND CAME IN WITH A DIVERSE FIRST-TIME CLASS OF LEGISLATORS.

REPRESENTATIVE, FIRST OF ALL, THE QUESTION WE START WITH EVERYONE, WHY DID YOU WANT TO RUN FOR OFFICE?

>> I CAN START, ACTUALLY, EVEN, YOU KNOW, BEFORE I WAS BORN WITH THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF MY FAMILY IN THIS COUNTRY.

I'M FOUR GENERATION JAPANESE AMERICAN ND MY GRANDPARENTS, ALONG WITH 120,000 JAPANESE AMERICANS WERE INTERNED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT DURING WORLD WAR II, AND, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A HISTORICAL EVENT, A LEGACY THAT HAS REALLY SHAPED, YOU KNOW, THE HISTORY OF MY FAMILY AND HAS ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF INFORMED HOW I LOOK AT PUBLIC SERVICE.

I'VE ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, HAD A REAL SENSE OF GOVERNMENT DECISIONS AFFECT PEOPLE'S LIVES, RIGHT, AND WHO IS AT THE DECISION MAKING TABLE IS REALLY IMPORTANT.

>> Mary: I'M GUESSING SOME OF OUR VIEWERS MAY KNOW YOUR FATHER.

>> MY FATHER IS AN AUTHOR AND ARTIST THAT HAS LIVED IN THE TWIN CITIES FOR A LONG TIME.

A LOT OF THE WORK THAT MY DAD HAS DONE IS REALLY AROUND KIND OF TELLING SOME OF THESE OFTEN UNTOLD OR MARGINALIZED STORIES OF PEOPLE OF COLOR, SPECIFICALLY ASIAN AMERICANS IN AMERICA AND DONE A LOT OF WORK IN MINNESOTA TO REALLY, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE CENTERED IN OUR ART SPACES.

>> Mary: HAS THAT INFLUENCE FROM YOUR FATHER AFFECTED AND HAD AN IMPACT ON LEGISLATION AND PRIORITIES AND POLICIES FOR YOU NOW IN THE CAPITOL?

>> MY DAD IN HIS OWN WAY WAS AN ACTIVIST, RIGHT?

AND, SO, FROM A YOUNG AGE, I WOULD GO TO PROTESTS WITH HIM AND I WAS TAUGHT THAT USING YOUR VOICE IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

A STORY THAT HE LIKES TO TELL, I THINK I WAS MAYBE 5 OR 6, AND ME AND MY FRIEND LED A PROTEST AT OUR THANKSGIVING ABOUT BEING RELEGATED TO A KID'S TABLE.

>> Mary: WAS THERE SPECIFIC LEGISLATION, WERE YOU ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING THAT FIRST SESSION SO FAR?

>> I WAS REALLY LUCKY TO COME INTO A SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MADE IT REALLY GREAT TO BE A DEMOCRAT IN MY FIRST TERM IN THE HOUSE.

I WAS NOT COMING IN EXPECTING A TRIFECTA BUT WAS JUST IMMEDIATELY IMPRESSED WITH OUR CAUCUS' ABILITY TO REALLY HIT THE GROUND RUNNING AND GET THINGS DONE.

ONE OF THE PIECES OF LEGISLATION THAT WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO ME WAS THE PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE PLAN.

YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE MORE KIND OF PERSONAL EVENT THAT IS LED ME TO RUN FOR OFFICE WAS BECOMING A MOM.

I WAS A 2-YEAR-OLD, AND WHEN HE WAS BORN, HE SPENT A FEW WEEKS IN THE NICU.

I WAS REALLY LUCKY, WHEN HE WAS BORN, TO BE AT A AT AN ORGANIZATION WHERE I HAD A PAID FAMILY LEAVE POLICY.

SO THAT I COULD SPEND TIME WITH HIM.

I SAW A LOT OF OTHER FAMILIES THAT HAD BABIES IN THE NICU THAT DIDN'T HAVE THAT BENEFIT.

PASSING THAT PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAD WORKED ON FOR DECADES WAS REALLY MONUMENTAL AND ACTUALLY HAD MY SON COME AND SIT WITH ME SO THAT HE COULD BE THERE WHEN I PRESSED GREEN FOR THE FINAL TIME ON THAT BILL AND THAT WAS REALLY SPECIAL.

>> Mary: SO HOW DID IT GO FOR YOU BEING A NEW MOM, BECAUSE THAT CAN BE A LOT TO JUGGLE IN THE LEGISLATURE, THE HOURS ARE UNPREDICTABLE.

>> BOTH IS WHAT PROPELLED ME TO RUN FOR OFFICE AND ALSO THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE ABOUT BEING IN OFFICE.

WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT THE KIND OF WORLD THAT I WANTED MY SON TO GROW UP IN, YOU KNOW, AND THE THINGS THAT I THOUGHT NEEDED TO BE CHANGED TO BETTER SUPPORT YOUNG FAMILIES, I FELT LIKE I HAD TO USE EVERY MECHANISM THAT I HAD TO MAKE CHANGE FOR HIM WHEN I THINK ABOUT THINGS LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE AND YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE HIM AND THE WORLD THAT THEY'RE GOING TO GROW UP.

IN BUT -- BUT IT'S INCREDIBLY HARD BEING A YOUNG PARENT IN THE LEGISLATURE, AND MY COLLEAGUES AND I TALK ABOUT IT A LOT, RIGHT, I DON'T THINK THESE POSITIONS WERE, NECESSARILY, CREATED FOR PARENTS TO BE THERE, RIGHT?

THEY WERE NOT CREATED FOR MOMS TO BE THERE.

>> Mary: BUT DOES IT HELP TO HAVE MORE YOUNGER WOMEN, BECAUSE IN THE PAST THERE WEREN'T A LOT OF YOUNG MOMS IN THE LEGISLATURE.

AND IT WASN'T UNHEARD OF THIS PAST SESSION, WAS IT?

>> I FEEL REALLY LUCKY TO COME IN AT THE TIME THAT I DID WHERE THERE'S MORE MOMS, THERE'S MORE YOUNGER PEOPLE, THERE'S MORE PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND WE ARE WORKING TO CHANGE SOME OF THESE YSTEMS, RIGHT?

I WAS LUCKY TO SERVE IN THE HOUSE, WHICH AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN DRINK WATER ON THE FLOOR AS OPPOSED TO -- >> Mary: WELL, YOU CAN IN THE SENATE NOW, THANKS TO SOME FRESHMEN.

>> AS CONTINUED, A LARGE PART OF THAT CHANGE WAS NEW MOMS.

>> Mary: WHAT ABOUT THE LARGE FRESHMAN CLASS, THE RECORD AMOUNT OF DIVERSITY AND THE RECORD NUMBER OF ASIAN LAWMAKERS, TOO.

HOW MUCH DID THAT HELP KIND OF BOLSTER BEING NEW O THIS OFFICE?

>> YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I THINK ABOUT THE FOLKS THAT HAVE COME BEFORE US, AND THERE WAS THE PEOPLE OF COLOR AND INDIGENOUS CAUCUS WAS CREATED IN 2016, I DEFINITELY KNOW THAT FOLKS LIKE ILHAN OMAR, WHO RAN IN THE DISTRICT THAT I GREW UP IN, ARE PART OF WHAT KIND OF PAVED THE WAY FOR ME TO SEE MYSELF IN THESE SPACES.

THERE'S A LOT OF NEW ENERGY AT THE CAPITOL, RIGHT?

I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING DIFFERENT BECAUSE I HAVEN'T BEEN HERE BEFORE.

>> Mary: I'M SURE YOU HAD EXPECTATIONS, WHAT WAS DIFFERENT, WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT IT?

>> I HAD NOT SPENT A LOT OF TIME AT THE LEGISLATURE, SO KIND OF EVERYTHING WAS NEW TO ME.

I WOULD SAY THE BIGGEST SURPRISE WAS JUST THE PACE, RIGHT?

AND I THINK THAT PACE WAS DIFFERENT, IT DIDN'T REALLY FEEL LIKE WE HAD A TON OF TIME TO KIND OF EASE INTO THINGS.

I KNOW THAT OUR LEADERSHIP REALLY FROM THE BEGINNING WAS SAYING, LIKE, ANY MOMENT THAT WE ARE NOT PASSING BILLS IS A MOMENT THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE KIND OF UPSET.

THERE'S NOT A LOT OF JOBS WHERE YOU START ON DAY ONE AND YOU GO BACK TO YOUR OFFICE AND I WENT BACK, ALREADY HAD TEN VOICE MAILS, I ALREADY HAD 30 EMAILS FROM CONSTITUENTS.

AND I THINK THAT'S WHEN IT HIT ME, LIKE, WOW, PEOPLE ARE REALLY RELYING ON ME, RIGHT?

THERE WAS A NUMBER OF CONSTITUENTS WHO SAID, LIKE, I HAVE THIS ISSUE AND I'M NOW LOOKING AT YOU TO SOLVE IT.

AND I WAS LIKE, WELL, I'VE BEEN AT THIS JOB FOR TWO HOURS.

'.

BUT, YOU KNOW, OKAY, LET'S GO.