Upisode 52: We’re back! Washington State Association for Justice Executive Director Liz Berry stops by the new digs to talk about her firsthand experience with gun violence, Washington’s inability — or unwillingness — to raise tax revenue, and her legendary cousin Glen.
About Liz Berry
Liz grew up in Arizona the daughter of a trial lawyer and a schoolteacher. She answered phones and filed paperwork at her dad’s law practice, a small business she says fought for working people
She got her first introduction to politics when her mother ran and won a seat on the local school board in 1988 (when Liz was five). In 2007, she took a job working for a little-known Arizona Congresswoman named Gabby Giffords; a Democrat representing a generally Republican district. Working for Giffords throughout her tenure in Congress, she eventually became the Congresswoman’s Legislative Director.
On Jan. 8, 2011, the nation watched in horror as a gunman shot Giffords, her staff, and constituents; Liz’s close friend and colleague Gabe Zimmerman, Giffords’ outreach director, was the first Congressional staffer killed in the line of duty, and five other people died, including a nine-year-old. Since then, Liz has been devoted to the quest for commonsense gun laws.
Due in large part to Liz’s advocacy as executive director of the Washington State Association for Justice, the Evergreen State corrected what she calls a longstanding injustice and reformed the state’s wrongful death law. Washington parents of adult children killed by preventable negligence now have equal rights under the law.
Today she is running for the state legislature in the 36th Legislative District, focusing on affordability and revenue.
