Candidates’ responses

On a recent weeknight, the six candidates vying to represent legislative District 4 stood at the front of a school auditorium that can seat hundreds of people. Unfortunately, only 14 citizens attended the event. But the messages shared and the beliefs held by the candidates should matter to the residents of District 4, which encompasses the Valley, Mount Spokane and Liberty and Newman lakes. It’s bordered by the Spokane County-Pend Oreille County border to the north, the Idaho state line to the east, Saltese Lake Road to the south and U.S. Highway 2 to the west.

The two representatives and one senator this area chooses to send to Olympia will make decisions that will affect schools, jobs, the economy, infrastructure and more.

The incumbents – all Republicans – face competition from an award-winning teacher, a retired U.S. Army chemist and current teacher, and a homegrown resident who works with refugees.

To learn more about all the candidates’ views, The Spokesman-Review asked them to respond to the same five questions, listed below. The responses you see are the candidates’ words.

The newspaper will run two more stories on the District 4 race in the daily pages next week.

Voters also are encouraged to contact the candidates for further clarification of their positions and to ask about issues that affect them personally.

Questions:

1. What is the most pressing problem in education that the state is facing today and how do you propose fixing it?

2. What will you do to help bring more living-wage jobs to District 4?

3. The Spokane region is running out of wastewater treatment capacity, but the Spokane River’s pollution levels are high. Until the Department of Ecology completes studies to determine the maximum amount of treated sewage allowed in the river, plans for a new treatment plant are on hold. How will you help solve these issues?

4. Do you support Initiative 892, which is tax foe Tim Eyman’s attempt to expand gambling in nontribal businesses? If it passes, the state will collect a 35 percent fee on electronic slot machines and use that money to lower property taxes. Whether you support I-892 or not, how do you think it will impact District 4 if it passes?

5. For incumbents: What bills have you sponsored that have become law? Of those, which are you most proud?

For challengers: What’s one law you hope to propose to the Legislature? Why?

House, Position 1

Rep. Larry Crouse

1. Fields of knowledge have expanded rapidly in recent years, and vocations have multiplied and increased in specialization. As a result, we are seeing a greater need for decentralization of education. Charter schools, home schools, and Internet resources are elements of a new paradigm that we are beginning to see take hold in education. Cookie-cutter approach to education will not equip students with the tools they need for successful careers in the new economy. Education is moving toward greater personalization, and the Legislature must keep pace with these trends.

2. We have a highly skilled workforce and a network of high quality colleges, universities and technical schools capable of accommodating the training needs of virtually any employer. However, the anti-business bias of Olympia has turned away prospective businesses from locating in Washington and has driven out existing ones. We can improve our business climate in several ways. We can start by overhauling our state’s industrial insurance program, allowing small businesses to buy into group insurance plans and lifting regulations that have made health and liability insurance unaffordable for small employers.

3. Our region needs an additional sewage treatment plant, and we should proceed with it as soon as feasible. The Spokane River has been polluted for decades; it may take years to clean it up. Our treatment plants and businesses should not be forced to abide by water discharge standards that are more stringent than those required for the rest of the nation. Let’s take care of the immediate needs of our residents first – a new treatment plant – and then let’s continue working for a solution to the more complex problem of improving dissolved oxygen levels in the Spokane River.

4. I do not support I-892. This proposal creates more problems than it solves. It would promote a culture of gambling that many, including myself, do not believe is in the best interests of our communities.

5. Two of the most important bills I have sponsored include the omnibus energy bill (EHB 2247) passed in 2001 and the defense of marriage act (ESHB 1130) passed in 1998 over the veto of Governor Locke.

The energy bill was important because it established policies to ensure that the state’s energy production keeps pace with growing demand. This legislation will prevent Washington state from getting blindsided by the kinds of shortages and price spikes that crippled California in 2001. Three main components of my energy bill were: (1) streamlining the regulation process for the building of new energy facilities; (2) providing utility customers with the option of purchasing electricity produced from renewable resources (green option); and (3) the provision of energy assistance to qualifying low-income utility customers

The purpose of the defense of marriage act, ESHB 1130, was to remove all ambiguity about the definition of marriage in Washington state and to ensure that decisions relating to marriage would not be decided by the courts or people of another state. The Legislature put into statute what the American people and American civil law had always held – that marriage is a legal union between one man and one woman.

House, Position 1

Jim Peck

1. The most pressing problem for public education in the state is the decline in funding over the past several years. School systems are forced to make up shortfalls in state funding by attempting to pass levies on local property owners which often fail, causing teacher and staff layoffs and delaying acquisition of up-to-date equipment and materials. It is the “paramount duty of the state” to fund public education, and we in the legislature need to ensure that education funding has a very high priority.

2. Because 90 percent of jobs in the 4th District are provided by small businesses, we need to concentrate on improving the small business environment through financial incentives that will attract and support new businesses. We should take a serious look at the tax system in this state, designed in the 1930s, and develop a more sensible system of taxation more in line with the 21st century business environment. We should also consider measures to improve education, health care and quality of life in the region to make the area more attractive to businesses wishing to locate or relocate to Eastern Washington.

3. Rather than continue to use the Spokane River to dispose of our treated sewage, we need to seriously consider modern, high-tech alternatives to simply dumping treated sewage into one of our most precious resources. State funding of research and development of alternative waste treatment technologies will create jobs and provide funding to local educational institutions. If we can become one of the nation’s leaders in this new technology, we will create even more jobs in the region.

4. I do not support I-892. The gain in state revenue, a very small increase in employment opportunities and some additional income for the owners of non-tribal businesses would be more than offset by the increased direct and indirect costs of social services that have been shown to occur with the expansion of gambling in other communities and states.

5. The one law I would hope to either propose or support would be the establishment of tax incentives for small businesses that provide health care insurance to their employees and tax penalties or fees for large, profitable corporations who refuse to provide health care insurance to their employees to offset the cost of providing health care to their employees through the state’s Basic Health Plan.

House, Position 2

Rep. Lynn Schindler

1. One of our greatest challenges is making sure that education dollars go to the classroom. A lot is being required of schools today – and much of it is not directly related to teaching. Less than half of public education dollars are now used for basic education. State and federal regulations and paperwork take away from valuable time teachers wish they had for teaching. Also, I would like to see a re-evaluation of the Washington Assessment for Student Learning. The millions we’ve spent – and will spend – on writing and correcting the WASL might have been better used for actual classroom instruction.

2. First of all, we need to fix the problems that have caused living-wage jobs to leave our district. Any business owner knows what those problems are – regulations and taxes. Living wage jobs are produced by living, thriving businesses. Prospective businesses to our state are looking for low tax rates and reasonable regulatory standards. Above all, they’re looking for predictability in gauging the costs of doing business here. Creating an environment for job growth in Washington state must include revamping unemployment insurance, reforming Labor and Industries and stabilizing workers’ compensation rates, and requiring greater legislative oversight of agency rule making. I have sponsored or supported all of these proposals and will do so again next session.

3. It’s ironic that we’re trying to attract new businesses to our region, but when they get here there will be no water, no sewer and no building permits. Cleaning up the Spokane River involves multiple governmental jurisdictions, agencies and interest groups. However, those with most at stake – we who live in Spokane County – have very little control over what happens. I don’t believe that there will be a satisfactory outcome from this process unless elected officials have authority over final decisions.

4. No on I-892. If passed, this initiative would put Las Vegas-style gambling machines in neighborhood establishments such as restaurants and bowling alleys. It’s one thing to have gambling in casinos, but quite another to invite it into local businesses that are frequented by children and impressionable young people. On top of that, the tax breaks promised by the initiative are not worth added social costs this expansion of gambling would bring to our community.

5. Of the bills I’ve sponsored, the DNA testing bill is probably my most gratifying. Passed in 1999, it allows DNA testing of evidence for persons sentenced to death or life in prison. Though not likely to affect large numbers of people, it has the potential of making a profound difference in the life of someone wrongly convicted.

Two other bills, though not passed into law, were very important to me. One bill would have required voter approval for assumption of water-sewer districts by a city – those who pay should have a say in how a district is run. And the other bill would have required parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor. Denial of parental authority in this matter remains a fundamental injustice.

House, Position 2

Ed Foote

1. The most pressing problem in education is the cuts being made to teachers, extra-curricular programs and even for basic maintenance and operations. To fix this problem, I propose to stop making any further cuts to public education, to hire more teachers and support staff, to repeal the charter school law and to encourage more community involvement in schools.

2. To help bring more living-wage jobs to the 4th Legislative District, I propose to do the following: to change the Business and Occupation Tax so that net worth, not gross income, will be taxed; to offer tax breaks for small, new and out-of-town businesses and for those businesses that pay living wages; to remove tax breaks for those businesses that force workers to use state social services due to lack of benefits and/or that outsource jobs overseas; to seek grants for area colleges; to put more money into the area’s infrastructure; and to maintain the area’s excellent public schools and quality of life.

3. To handle the current problems related to wastewater treatment capacity, I propose to place a moratorium on new development until the wastewater treatment facilities can adequately handle it, and that the urban areas of the 4th Legislative District have sewage coverage. As soon as the studies are finished, a new wastewater treatment facility needs to be built that takes care of the Spokane Valley and Spokane.

4. I am against I-892 because gambling is not the ideal way to gain tax revenue, because there are already enough casinos in the Spokane area, and because it is a veiled attempt to attack local tribes’ main source of income. If I-892 passes, the 4th Legislative District will become like Nevada and Montana, with slot machines in all kinds of businesses. There will be increased problems with gambling addiction, as well as the possibility of little money coming in due to all the states and tribal lands that already have legalized gambling.

5. One law I hope to propose to the Legislature is the legal importation of prescription drugs from overseas, and the purchase of prescription drugs in bulk from companies that charge fair prices. This is because too many families in the 4th Legislative District are having to choose whether to spend money on their prescription drugs or on food. This also will keep local individuals from being forced to go to Canada or Mexico to buy life-sustaining prescription drugs that they can’t afford at the local pharmacy.

Senate

Bob McCaslin

1. Funding. Our K-12 schools are being asked to provide almost every conceivable service for our children. Rather than being asked to teach, mentor, guide and discipline our children, our schools are mandated to provide day care, food, medical and other services. Providing these extra-curricular services is very expensive and time consuming. Parents need to make their children their number one priority and become more involved and active in their children’s extra-curricular and non-curricular activities.

I believe many school districts provide too many course offerings. Choice is a wonderful thing, but it is expensive. We need to focus on the basics: reading, writing, arithmetic, science (including computer science), history, government and foreign language. Music, art and other elective offerings are important, too, but I believe they should be funded through special levies in each school district.

I believe school districts should have the freedom to negotiate salaries for administrators, teachers and staff. If there is a shortage of math teachers, a higher salary would be an incentive to recruit more math teachers. Supply and demand are excellent indicators.

2. We need to remove the automatic minimum wage increases. On Jan. 1, 2005, the minimum wage in Washington state jumps to $7.35, the highest minimum wage in the nation. Employers in Washington state pay the highest unemployment insurance tax in the nation. Businesses are over-regulated. The B&O tax burden on businesses is unfair. All of these factors rank Washington state as one of the most unfriendly and difficult states to do business in. If we want more living-wage jobs in the 4th District, these conditions must be fixed. I believe we need to offer tax incentives to lure companies and decent-paying jobs to the 4th District.

3. First, we need to insist that the Department of Ecology establish specific wastewater treatment capacity criteria now, not later. That criteria must be based on sound scientific data, not best science available or political agendas. Then cities and/or Spokane County can formulate plans for needed wastewater treatment facilities that will provide for current needs and future growth.

4. Yes. Not because I favor increased gambling, but because I-892 would help level the playing field between tribal and nontribal gaming facilities. Currently, tribal gaming facilities are making hundreds of millions of tax exempt dollars in revenue. I-892 would enable nontribal gaming facilities to offer similar gambling opportunities to the public and would provide much needed property tax relief to 4th District residents, but most importantly to those who are on fixed incomes and/or are retired.

5. The bills I have sponsored that have become law are too many to list. Two bills from the 2004 session that became law are SSB 6105, which revised penalties for animal cruelty, and SB 6518, which changed the general election ballot for the office of district court judge. The past two sessions I co-sponsored and helped to pass in the senate comprehensive tort reform legislation. Unfortunately, it was killed both years in the Democrat-controlled House.

Tim Hattenburg

1. Other than funding, the most pressing problem is preparing students for the WASL testing. We need to have programs in place such as the one being used at CVHS that helps struggling students to succeed. We also should look at programs such as these from an early age for all students. There are many innovative and creative educators in our schools that when given the opportunities will come up with positive solutions. It is also extremely important to work on the basic math and reading skills at an early age. I feel this can be accomplished in lieu of WASL testing at the fourth-grade level.

2. We need to have a continued partnership with business and education in order to prepare our youth for the future. We not only have an excellent K-12 system but also higher education institutions and various training centers to prepare our work force. New technologies such as bio-energy would help create and retain jobs in our rural areas as well as urban areas. These jobs would not be outsourced. Also, continued improvements and funding of our infrastructure in order to move our goods and services to market.

3. As we are reaching near capacity of our sewage treatment plants, I believe it is very important to proceed with an overall plan for a new sewage treatment plant. The Department of Ecology needs to give us the parameters of what the minimum/maximum capacities would be. Then we could proceed with a plan that will be utilized once the study by the DOE is complete. This would be more cost effective. It is vital that we protect our river and aquifer that hundreds of thousands of people rely upon as their sole source of drinking water.

4. In speaking with a member of the gambling commission, there are so many unanswered questions regarding I-892. The lottery commission, which would be charged with oversight, would have to add up to 200 more employees for implementation. Up to $4 billion would have to go through the machines to meet the projected $32-$35 per $100,000 tax break by 2009. Adding another layer of government with the possible increase in problem gamblers is tenuous at best. If passed I would however do everything possible to implement the new system.

5. I would introduce legislation that companies or businesses that receive tax incentives or credits must hire the majority of their employees from within the state of Washington and would not be allowed to outsource those jobs.

I am not against tax incentives and credits, however, those receiving them need to hold up their end of the bargain. Of the thousands of people I have spoken to at their doorsteps, jobs are one of the most important issues in this district.