State Senate
This is one hot race. The incumbent, Barbara Bailey, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the health care and
health insurance industry. She also gets significant contributions from the
fossil fuel industry and a thoughtful donation from the NRA. She’s a member of
ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) which brings together
legislators and corporate honchos. Together they write legislation which is
subsequently introduced in as many states as possible. Remember the “stand your
ground” law in Florida? Abortion restrictions all over the country? Those are ALEC
products. Bailey regularly introduces ALEC
written legislation. You may get the impression that I am less than fond of Barbara Bailey. This is in part because I have
personal experience with her and it has not been positive. She actually
hijacked a hearing before the Growth Management Hearings Board a few years ago.
During the break, in the bathroom, I heard the presiding officer say to another
board member that she was just getting ready to shut Bailey
down for overstepping the legal bounds when she finally quit talking.
I supported Nick Petrish when
he ran 4 years ago. I was aware of his love of guns, but thought he was the
best option. This time, I am appalled at his position on guns, which has
expanded, and even more by his embrace of nuclear power. Been there, done that,
got 100,000 years of toxic nuclear garbage to show for it, don’t want to do
that again.
And then, of course, there’s my friend Angie Homola. In years past I have described her as a
hummingbird. She zooms at top speed, but then drills down to get at the
smallest detail. She would make an incredibly good state senator. She’ll be
completely overworked because she has a lot of trouble saying no when asked to
take on another project or issue. I watched her go through her Masters’ degree
program. She could have skated any number of times and gotten by. Not Angie. Instead of skating she dug deeply into each
assignment and did far more than was expected of her. That’s what I want to see
in the State Senate. I will vote proudly for Angie Homola and I hope you do too.
education: architect, University of Vermont MA in
environmental law & policy.
Full disclosure: Angie is a personal friend. I know her to
be intensely bright, a complete workaholic who can’t let an issue go until she
has learned all about it. She is very detail oriented – which made her a great
architect and plans checker. Also a great County Commissioner.
Priorities: fully funding public education. Genuine land use
planning and resource preservation. Public safety – including dealing with
racial disparities in enforcement, dealing with mental illness. Transportation
– maintaining a fair share of transportation funding for the 10th
district. Jobs – “buy Washington”, tax
reform to shift burden off small businesses, vocational training. Equitable pay
– raising the wages of women to parity with men’s pay. Military – respect those
who serve while working with military reps to assure that they do not adversely
impact the communities where they are based.
There is much that her website does not say, including her
ardent support for environmental protection and renewable energy, among others.
She’s endorsed by a whole lot of elected officials and a lot
of organizations, for good reason. Endorsed by Washington Conservation Voters.
Endorsed by FUSE Progressive Voters.
education: BA in political science
He’s worked mostly in blue collar jobs. He does not like
bullies. Most of his positions are ones with which I wholeheartedly agree – and
then he goes off the deep end.
Issues: Veterans – house, educate, and employ. Jobs –
protect & increase rural transit funding, infrastructure repair, & new
construction. Education – fully fund public schools and land grant
universities. Privacy – protect women’s reproductive rights. But then he goes
on to: Freedom – protect gun rights, responsible ownership, safety education
& training. Energy – develop geothermal and publicly owned thorium nuclear
power plants.
I appreciate his support for a state bank as one solution to
how to fund education. Where I get off is his insistence on unlimited access to
guns and the very idea of yet another generation of nuclear power.
Washington Conservation Voters
lifetime score: 20%
I attended a League of Women Voters (bless them) candidate’s
night with these 3. Here are some of their answers to the questions (with my
comments).
Q - What are your
personal priorities and how do you intend to accomplish them?
Nick Petrish –
support veterans; improve transportation infrastructure; reform banking;
protect internet privacy; protect women’s health care; protect 2nd
amendment rights and responsibilities by teaching gun safety in schools;
protect our quality of life.
Barbara Bailey – affordable
college by lowering tuition; jobs, by protecting the economy; funding k-12
education; balance the budget; no new taxes.
Angie Homola –
funding education; expanded education; infrastructure; environment, by
supporting alternative energy; accountability, via campaign finance reform;
fair wages; help the vulnerable, especially veterans.
Q - How do you
propose to fund meeting the McCleary case mandate to fully fund education, and
how will this affect local school levies?
Barbara Bailey –
we’ve already made giant steps. Education will be fully funded by 2018. The
majority coalition has finally put money into education. Revenues are currently
exceeding forecasts. Schools are too dependent on levies. Our committee is
looking for solutions. The claim that there are not sufficient funds to meet
the McCleary mandate and that we need a tax increase is untrue. She claims that
the budget shortfalls Angie mentions have already been restored, and offers to
send Angie the information later. She says they are careful not to harm people.
She responds to Nick Petrish by saying they don’t have to raise taxes, they’ll
be increasing teacher salaries without doing so. Its better to protect the
economy to keep people working. Taxes depress the economy.
Angie Homola –
There is no choice but to meet the mandate. Start by closing the tax loopholes
which are depriving the state of necessary funds. Institute tax reform to
balance the burden away from the middle class and poor back onto the wealthy
and corporations. She disagrees that we are ‘doing well.’ The state had to cut
the budget by $2 billion in 2008. The only way to repair that is with serious
tax reform. The levy situation is critical. The 2013-2015 budget cut $596
million from the school fund and borrowed $296 million. That caused a whole lot
of cuts in services. She asks how Bailey intends to bring those back.
Nick Petrish –
Institute a public banking system. End corporate welfare and punish the
corporations which have been taking advantage of the system and paying no
taxes. Institute an income tax to fix the state’s regressive property tax.
Teachers are underpaid and we need to increase taxes to pay them fairly. He
challenges Bailey.
Q - Would you
favor or oppose a ban on assault weapons?
Angie Homola – We
need to reinstitute the ban. We need universal background checks. No criminals
or mentally ill people should be allowed to own guns.
Nick Petrish –
Does not support a ban on any weapons. The solution is education, training in
how to use weapons responsibly. Require training with purchase of a weapon.
Barbara Bailey –
You can’t buy assault weapons in Washington anyway. We already have tight laws.
Better to enforce existing laws than to enact new ones. We don’t need any more
laws.
Q - Would you
support background checks for gun purchasers?
Nick Petrish –
Yes, I support background checks. With rights come responsibilities. The
mentally ill have access to guns because Ronald Reagan shut down mental health
support. Those people are now out in the population. We need to protect society
from those who cannot handle the responsibility of owning a gun.
Barbara Bailey –
No, I do not support background checks. We already have a background check
system. Most crimes are committed with stolen guns. Adding more process will
not change that and will result in less safety. Instead, look for opportunities
to put bad people in prison. She says she never opposed background checks, but
she had just said that she did not support them.
Angie Homola – I
support background checks. An initiative to require them passed overwhelmingly
in 2014. Barbara Bailey takes campaign contributions from the NRA, which might
color her attitude. People are dying out there because criminals and the mentally
ill have ready access to guns. She clarifies that it was not Bailey herself who
opposed background checks, but the NRA whose money she accepts.
Q - How would you
change the tax structure?
Barbara Bailey –
A lot of people have looked at that question. We have sales tax, B&O tax,
and others. As long as the economy is good and people have jobs, we’re fine. A
lot of people want a state income tax, but that would oppress the economy. The
economy is doing well now. We have what we need. There is no reason to change.
Angie Homola –
No, the economy is not working. Washington has one of the most regressive tax
systems in the country. Eyman’s I-601 limited overall revenue increases to 1%
/year, which is much less than inflation. The result is that jurisdictions are
struggling with less and less each year. This is not working. People are going
to jail when they need to be in the hospital because they can’t afford basic
care.
Nick Petrish –
People die for lack of health care. We need an income tax to support education,
personal support, health care, and public infrastructure. People are thinking
too small. I want FDR type thinking. We need a public banking system.
Q - Could you be
more specific about a system of more equitable and secure taxes?
Angie – We need
to institute a capital gains tax. We need all taxes to be able to increase
consistent with inflation. We need to inform the public of how the tax
structure works and how we can fix it.
Nick Petrish – We
need a proportional tax, based on a percentage of income rather than a flat
figure. Everybody needs to pay their fair share, always.
Barbara Bailey –
I would not change the tax structure but would help people be more productive.
Capital gains are very volatile and a tax on them would not work for small
businesses.
Q - Nick Petrish challenges Bailey – Is
anyone in the Senate willing to commit to universal health care?
Barbara Bailey –
responds that it is wrong to assign motive. Everyone is willing to help. We
have a health care system which is in flux. We need to look at the local,
state, and federal level. I can’t address all these issues in so short a time.
Q - Angie Homola challenges Bailey – You claim the tax
situation is improving in relation to the current spending Ponzi scheme. In
fact the economy is terribly volatile. What do you intend to do when this next
bubble bursts?
Barbara Bailey
- disagrees. The sales tax always
applies. Even poor people go to the grocery store (she appears to be under the
impression that food is taxed). She hasn’t heard of anyone offering to dissolve
other taxes in favor of an income tax. The current system is working and she
does not understand the objections to it.
Q - How do you
propose to address homelessness and a broken criminal justice system?
Nick Petrish –
start by ending the drug war. Legalize all drugs and treat people as patients
rather than as criminals. Fund the program via the public bank, an income tax,
and a single payer medical system. Yes, we have the resources. We just need to
do it.
Barbara Bailey –
agrees that we have the resources. The problem is that those who need help are
not asking for it. There is a mental illness crisis. She’s looking for ways to
end homelessness. The money is already there.
Angie Homola –
this is an enormous problem. At the county level she created a fee to support
homeless veterans. Barbara Bailey voted against a tax exemption for the poor.
She voted to exclude mental health services from funding.
Q - Is climate
change real and how do you propose to deal with it?
Barbara Bailey –
yes, its happening. We don’t really know the cause. We just don’t have the
science on that yet. (at this point the crowd emitted a burst of snickers).
We’re not ignoring it. We’re working on carbon emissions, and regulations for
clean energy and water.
Angie Homola –
absolutely. No question. We have problems everywhere and we have to act. We
need to get off fossil fuels. We need to increase multi-modal transportation to
get people out of cars. We need to encourage and support alternative energy.
Nick Petrish –
back in the 1980s Exxon ran a series of “chicken little” ads about climate
change and problems with fossil fuels. Now the connection has been proven. Its
real. I’m an industrial electrician and I trust my instruments. I accept climate
change as a fact.
Q - And what
steps will you take if elected?
Angie Homola –
dump the I-601 1% tax limit so we can meet the inflation rate; institute a fair
tax structure; provide incentives to get off fossil fuels.
Nick Petrish –
begin construction on a publicly owned thorium power generation plant and on
geothermal power; institute a public bank to support necessary infrastructure
work; start huge projects to revitalize the economy.
Barbara Bailey –
work for more mass transit, clean high-speed rail. We’re running out of
pavement. We’re already taking steps to get off fossil fuels. This needs to be
a much bigger conversation. We don’t want to shift the burden for our clean
ways to other countries by dumping our fossil fuel castoffs on them.
closing statements:
Nick Petrish –
he’s a Bernie delegate, wants to get big $ out of politics; wants universal
education; public transit systems; public banks; privacy; guns; reproductive
rights; universal health care; support for veterans; build a robust sustainable
economy; money is not the only resource.
Barbara Bailey –
will continue to advocate for the 10th district; water issues; class
size issues; no tax increases; transportation; jobs; building another ferry;
grow the economy; transparency in government; timely, efficient government
services.
Angie Homola –
will work for accountability; close tax loopholes; fund education; a strong
community creates a strong economy; deal with transportation issues; protect
the environment.
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