LSSC Spotlight Series: Ida V. Eskamani, Senior Director of Legislative Affairs, State Innovation Exchange (SiX)
LSSC's Spotlight Series profiles some of our incredible partners. Advocates across the country and across disciplines (from campaigners to communicators, researchers to lawyers) - all have enormous roles to play in protecting local democracy; we hope this series offers inspiration and ideas to anyone who is engaged in fighting abusive preemption in their community.
We recently chatted with Ida V. Eskamani, the Senior Director of Legislative Affairs at the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), advancing racial, gender, and economic justice in state capitals across the country by building people-centered governing. In her role, she manages SiX’s team of State Directors as well as the organizations' 50-state Economic Power Project. Before joining SiX, Ida was Policy Director for Florida For All, the state’s statewide alignment table; and prior to that role she was Legislative Aide to Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, Florida’s first LGBTQ+ Latino legislator. Ida has organized on countless intersectional fronts; from LGBTQ+ rights, housing justice, and combating abusive preemption. Ida believes power can be built everywhere and that solidarity is our movement’s superpower.
Tell me a bit about your journey – what brought you into advocacy?
I'm a working class kid. My parents immigrated from Iran, met in America, and worked hourly wage jobs in Orlando, Florida. Growing up, I would spend weeknights at Kmart with my mom while she was taking the overtime shift. My dad worked multiple jobs while getting his degree at a local public university. My parents instilled in me the values of hard work and sacrifice, because they really gave all they could to give their kids a brighter future than what they had.
So with that, I would stand up to bullies in elementary school, I would help to organize campaigns - like to keep my friend in the same lunchroom in fifth grade. When I was in high school, I had a really amazing American government teacher who instilled [an appreciation for] not just federal politics, but also state and local. That was the moment when I first learned the difference between a private interest lobbyist and a public interest lobbyist. The textbook talked about how a private interest lobbyist would defend the fossil fuel industry and a public interest lobbyist would fight for the environment. I remember thinking - damn, that'd be cool to be a public interest lobbyist. When I went to college, I fell into organizing on campus with various clubs - around a lot of different working class issues, voter registration, civic engagement, and really the power of students. Most of my family still lives in Iran, so I also got really involved in human rights work on campus.
It’s been 14 years of this work in Orlando; and now I work in all 50 states. But Orlando is still my home and my roots, and definitely where I cut my organizing teeth was at the University of Central Florida.
When did you first hear about abusive preemption?
My first boss out of college was Representative Scott Randolph, and he was actually the campaign manager for the earned sick time campaign in Orange County. We were running a petition gathering effort to get earned sick time on the ballot, and we needed to collect around 50,000 to 60,000 signatures.
Throughout this process, we had a situation that was later called “textgate.” The Orange County mayor and other county commissioners were texting lobbyists from Disney and Darden Restaurants about how to undercut this initiative that we were working to get on the ballot - during a commission meeting! While we were playing by the rules, collecting petitions - the county commission was working to undercut us in collaboration with some of the biggest corporations not just in Central Florida or America, but in the world.
We actually won the local effort and got [earned sick time] on the ballot. But before the election happened, the legislature convened. Governor Rick Scott, again in collaboration with those same corporations, signed into law a statewide preemption measure banning our local effort; and also preventing any other local community from doing the same thing.
You’ve done significant work both in Florida and, now through your role with SiX, across a number of other states. What preemption trends would you trace back to Florida that you’ve since seen spread elsewhere? And - what lessons do you think advocates in other states can learn from the work in Florida?
We are up against a coordinated and well-resourced network of corporations, billionaires, and the extremist think tanks that they fund. Ideas often don't originate from a state - they originate from this network that’s headquartered in places like New York or DC. But they experiment in states like Florida, Tennessee, and Texas. They have complete corporate capture of our public institutions in some of these states, so they can experiment with different policies.
Even HB 1, the anti-protest bill, got a lot of attention in Florida - but it actually popped up in Tennessee first; and that’s how we knew it was coming to Florida. This cross-state network feeds off of each other, which is why our work at State Innovation Exchange focuses on building solidarity across states and putting forward affirming visions for what states can look like when we’re building power for everyone versus the few.
We also see connections to other countries. Russia has been banning LGBTQ+ curriculum; Hungary has weaponized rhetoric against migrants. It really is a worldwide fight against the far right. You see this centralization of power in the hands of the very few both in corporate capture and preemption; and in dictatorships.
What’s one lesson you’ve learned during your career that you’d like to share with others doing community-building and advocacy work?
I think of campaigns in terms of vision, values, villains, and victory. First, we have to paint a vision of governing that centers people; and we need to lift up and build up the champions who are committed to that vision through collaboration with our communities.
We also must center directly impacted people in this work; both their leadership and their stories. The folks most harmed by abusive preemption will always be Black and Brown communities, immigrant communities, queer communities, working class communities - and they must be at the organizing table. That’s also how we connect over universal values. We all want the same things - housing, health care, education. You discover those common values when listening to the stories of the folks most impacted.
It’s also important to name a tangible villain. Do not be scared to name names. A lot of these trade associations, for example, are front groups for corporate boards and corporate brands that hide behind them.
What do advocates need right now in terms of investments from funders and others to support and grow the work?
We need long-term investment - we are not going to solve this in a year. Winning takes long-term, hard work, and funding all the facets of a successful campaign. That means field, communications, advocacy - all the parts of a campaign.
We also need investment in coalition and table-building. Solidarity is essential, and preemption is a natural issue that brings diverse voices together - immigration advocates, organized labor, LGBTQ+ equality, civil rights, environmental. Oftentimes, preemption is the issue that both matters for protecting local power, but also is essential to building state infrastructures for the long-haul.
We’re up against a cross-state, well-resourced, coordinated machine that is working to centralize power in the hands of the very few. When we won Roe in the 1970s, the far right didn’t pack their bags. They put together a 40 to 50-year plan to win. Whenever we have a setback, that doesn’t mean it’s not the time to invest. In fact, that’s the time to double down.
Who are the people and communities we need to be more proactive about engaging in the fight against preemption, and where and how can we meet them?
I spoke earlier about the importance of centering impacted voices; but I’d like to put a particular emphasis on undocumented people. We’re in a moment right now with the very real possibility of mass deportations. We’ve seen abusive preemption efforts targeting immigrant communities; basically mandating that law enforcement collaborates with ICE. This not only leads to things like family separation, but they actually make our communities less safe - because many folks will feel like they can’t report crimes to law enforcement.
So in terms of how we organize, we have to center immigrant communities. We have to be proactive in asking ourselves who is not at the table that should be here? We have to be proactive in reaching out to those who should be at the table; engaging in ways that build trust and allow us to collaborate as peers and shared decision makers.