Legislative District 10, positions 1 and 2

Legislative District 10, positions 1 & 2

Someone asked me at a candidates’ night how it is that we are voting for 2 positions in the legislature. Just in case you didn’t realize it, each legislative district is allotted one senator and two representatives in the legislature. Which is why you will find ‘position 1’ and ‘position 2’ below.

I have now done extensive research on the voting records of the 2 legislative incumbents. To put it succinctly: appalling. Their voting records are very similar and they’re not good. Both vote in favor of guns and against any form of gun control, although Norma cleverly is not available when some of the more contentious issues are voted. Its hard to summarize years of votes on a broad range of issues, but when it comes to favoring fossil fuels both Dave Hayes and Norma are right there. When it comes to alternatives to fossil fuels, not so much.

Neither of them has much of any use for women’s rights or autonomy, based on their anti-contraceptive, anti-abortion votes. Norma also voted anti-gay and anti-paid sick leave.

Both Dave Hayes and Norma hedge about whether they believe climate change is real or not, but both of them oppose I-1631, the one chance Washington has of controlling fossil fuels and CO2 emissions in the state. Norma claims we’ve got it all covered, no problem. Dave Hayes, by contrast, insists that its just another gas tax boondoggle. I have to conclude that neither of them has read either the initiative as a whole or even a reasonable summary. Their claims simply don’t hold water.

Norma is a bit internally inconsistent, voting on the one hand to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen oil transport safety. But then she voted against a bill to tighten greenhouse gas emission regulations, against increasing the gas tax, against energy efficiency improvement bonds, and against an oil importation fee to fund stormwater pollution cleanup.

All four candidates were asked whether or not they supported exempting the legislature from the Public Records Act. Turns out both Norma and Dave Hayes voted in favor of such an exemption but did not own up to it at the event. Both Scott McMullen and Dave Paul voiced very strong opinions that no public business should be done behind closed doors. Dave Paul pointed out that in his position at Skagit Valley College he is subject to the Public Records Act and has had no problem living with that. While Dave Hayes and Norma insisted that some information was just too sensitive, Dave Paul said that the exceptions currently in the law cover that. It should be pointed out that Dave Hayes sponsored legislation to impose fees on public records. That legislation passed and has made life difficult for people researching the public’s business.

On just about every issue Norma talks a good line but can’t be trusted to follow through with good action.
 
Position #1

Norma Smith, R, incumbent    http://normasmith.houserepublicans.wa.gov/
https://www.facebook.com/normasmithpage/
office@votenormasmith.com

She has no campaign website. Her Facebook page is pretty silent on her positions, so I’ve had to go to her voting record.
voted against automatic voter registration
voted against requiring health insurance to cover contraceptives and abortion
voted against a prohibition on ‘conversion therapy’ of juveniles
chose not to vote on banning bump stocks
chose not to vote on exempting the legislature from public disclosure
voted against amending greenhouse gas emission targets downward
co-sponsored a bill (which passed) to charge fees for public records
voted to authorize charter schools
voted against requiring paid sick leave
in her favor, she did vote in favor of net neutrality.

She’s rated 100% by the American Conservative Union and Associated General Contractors of Washington, a mere 93% by the NRA. She’s rated 0% by NARAL. She’s endorsed by Builders Association of Washington, NRA, and Washington Farm Bureau. She has links to the Northwest Policy Center, a right-wing think tank.

Norma comes across as friendly, outgoing, concerned. Good front. When we try to talk to her about specifics, like how the Forest Practices Act allows wholesale logging of wetlands and steep slopes, she slides off into her favorite topic, rare earths. No matter what subject you bring up, she talks about rare earths. After a while you just don’t bother any more, which I think is the whole point. Pretty clearly, whatever she says, her voting record speaks for itself and it is not pretty.

A really important point is that we have now lost the US Supreme Court, and are likely to lose Roe v Wade. As mentioned below, it will fall to the states to legislate a woman’s autonomy. Norma has demonstrated with her vote that she will NOT support a woman’s right to control her own body. To me this is a drop-dead issue.

Scott McMullen, D    https://www.scottmcmullen.org/
info@scottmcmullen.org
Scott is very much a political novice in spite of his 8 years on the Mt Vernon city council and it shows. He has been scrambling to put together a viable campaign. His day job is as a firefighter, and he’s used up all his personal leave days, which is pinching his ability to campaign.

Here are the priorities he has listed on his website:
~ education: fully fund k-12 education, no-debt school, safe schools, apprenticeship programs
~ transportation: fully fund transportation programs, invest in infrastructure, safe & efficient ferries
~ public safety: support first responders, common sense measures to protect students in schools & curb gun violence
~ quality of life/environment: protect native fisheries & natural bounty of Salish Sea, GMA is vital, climate change is real, need to prepare for effects and mitigate further damage, invest in clean energy to create jobs; public/private partnerships to end affordable housing crisis.

These statements come from the various candidates’ events:
~ He supports I-1631 and wants to replace oil jobs with green jobs.
~ He wants to see the many tax loopholes for large corporation (mostly B&O & sales tax exemptions) tied to the actual promises of jobs made when the exemptions were passed. He sees this as a major source of funding. He would like to look into a capital gains tax.
~ He opposes dark money in elections.
~ He is against allowing assault/military weapons in the civilian population. He pointed out that his son was doing poorly in classes because he was busy figuring out how to evacuate the school.

I’ve been watching Scott at the various candidate events and he is still not the most polished, but he is showing his colors and I like what I see.

I’ll be voting for Scott McMullen.


Position #2

Dave Hayes, R, incumbent    http://www.electdavehayes.com/
electdavehayes@gmail.com

sits on these legislative committees:
Public Safety (Assistant Ranking Republican)
Education
Transportation
Joint Committee on Veterans’ and Military Affairs
Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB)

At the candidate events Dave Hayes said that traffic safety was his specialty, and that he would focus on that, along with law’n order.

Issues:
~ Affordable Housing – he will solve that by reducing government regulation, although he doesn’t say which regulations or how that will reduce housing costs. At candidate events he made it clear that he intended to reduce housing costs by removing all those annoying regulations, like zoning.
~ Opioid & Heroin Addiction – sponsored legislation to fund a Snohomish County Diversion Center to provide services to homeless people suffering from mental illness and addiction. Co-sponsored proposals to provide prevention and treatment resources statewide. Working toward increased enforcement against suppliers/dealers. Note that this conflates homelessness with mental illness and addiction.
~ Fiscal Responsibility – he is bent at having to fully fund education. He calls a capital gains tax “irresponsible and must be defeated.” He has made clear that he thinks there’s money in the budget which could be shifted to education. He’s not so clear what other programs would be shorted by such a transfer. He rails against “unfunded mandates”, which is to say any requirement for which the legislature does not appropriate funds. But he doesn’t want to appropriate funds.
~ Transportation – he is opposed to any mileage tax, claiming it disproportionately punishes rural districts. Reforming the permitting process for roads & bridges will reduce costs. Funding is needed for maintenance and preservation.
This seems to me a really narrow definition of transportation. In fact, at candidate events he said he wanted to drop regulatory/environmental review of all work within a highway right of way – including repair of failing bridges. Really? This one scares me. There is a reason why we have environmental review of road projects – as those of us dealing with the mountains of asphalt left behind by the repaving of Hwy 525/20 know only to well. And the idea of passing on review of plans to rebuild bridges seems a recipe for disaster.
Safe Communities – he wants more funding for local cops and more cops in schools. He will “continue to stand for first responders” and “ensure those who have committed crimes are held accountable.”

He’s got a strong anti-woman bias. He voted against equal pay for equal work. He voted against contraceptive and abortion coverage. He voted against a women’s commission at the state level.

He actively opposes I-1631, claiming “its just another carbon tax” and that it won’t serve the intended purpose but will make life more difficult for poor people. It was pretty obvious he had no clue what 1631 is actually about. He just knows he doesn’t like it.

He actively opposes 940, the police training initiative. He went so far as to sponsor an alternative, HB 3003, which passed and was signed into law. Only 3003 contained language, and Dave Hayes says he wrote the bill, which makes 3003 go away as soon as 940 goes on the ballot. He now argues we don't need 940 because we have 3003. But of course we don't. It went away as soon as 940 was approved. There is something smelly about this. Why is a cop so afraid of a measure to train cops?




My all time favorite quote came at the 10-2-18 candidate’s night when he opened with “one man’s assault rifle is another man’s hunting rifle.” The room broke up in laughter. This is a man out of touch with the majority of his constituency.

And here’s his voting record:
voted to promote renewable natural gas
voted against gender pay equality
voted against automatic voter registration
voted against protecting students from for-profit schools
voted against creating a Marbled murrelet habitat reporting system
voted against allowing municipalities to bank at credit unions
voted against establishing a Washington State Women’s Commission
voted against a tax increase for public transit funding
voted against restrictions on ‘conversion therapy’ of gay teens
voted against increased reporting requirements on campaign contributions
voted against requiring health insurance to cover contraception and abortion
voted against protecting ag workers and communities from pesticides
voted against the Washington voting rights act
voted against extending the voter registration period
voted against banning bump stocks, stating “I don’t think that banning accessories on a firearm is going to make safer communities.”



Dave Paul, D    http://www.votedavepaul.com/
dave@votedavepaul.com

Dave is an administrator at Skagit Valley College. He has an obvious and particular interest in education. From his website: Dave facilitated expanded outreach of financial aid to community groups, including instituting College Goal Washington events on both the Mount Vernon and Whidbey Island campuses. He has also led the expansion of student support for Latino students, the addition of bilingual staff members, and dedicated financial assistance for DREAMers.

Here are a few other of his focus points:
* Our property tax system in broken.  Instead of fully funding our schools, state legislators have raised property taxes, resulting in greater funding inequities across our state.  A more balanced approach should include decreasing unnecessary tax give-aways to big oil, and removing sales tax exemption for out-of-state residents.

* Climate change affects quality of life and important local industries.  He will work to significantly reduce carbon fuel dependencies and promote the renewable energy industry.

* Farmland and agrarian economies are critical to our district.  Pressures from population growth can be mitigated with common-sense solutions, such as public-private partnerships that purchase development rights, and agriculture-friendly entrepreneurial zones.

* A diverse economy is a healthy economy.  We have established employers and industries, as well as fishing, agriculture, timber, tourism, and hospitality.  More can be done to help diversify and strengthen our economy, and thus provide living wage jobs.

I spent a productive evening posing questions for Dave Paul at a candidate event. He’s better than his campaign literature suggests. One of the issues raised was the fact that certain elected officials go to lengths to avoid facing their constituents. Dave committed to regular town hall events.

I asked about the state’s regressive tax structure and the possibility of an income tax. Dave is enough of a realist to agree that even whispering about an income tax is political suicide in Washington. Instead, he proposes to educate taxpayers, and to institute a comprehensive program addressing the many tax loopholes and giveaways in the current code. He wants to avoid double taxing ordinary working people but says he has seen as many as 700 business tax exemptions, some of which support the fossil fuel industry. He favors a carbon tax (think Initiative 1631) and a Capital Gains tax, among others. Someone pointed out that millions of $$ of our taxes go to support the Washington Military Alliance, a private non-profit supporting the military, and questioned why our taxes pay for that but not for a Peace Alliance. Dave was not aware of this organization but reasoned that it was most likely all about jobs. And Dave proposed that we use such funds to promote peaceful jobs, such as in solar and wind, jobs which improve our communities.

At a candidate event the question was posed: what incentives would you provide for affordable housing? While Dave Hayes went on about loosening regulations, cutting red tape, Dave Paul said he didn’t want to loosen the regulations, which are in place for a reason. He wants to encourage infill development in urban areas which already have that expensive infrastructure in place.
 
Dave is enough of an environmentalist to understand the connection between the 4 Snake River dams and starving Orcas. He supports removal of the dams, which will open thousands of miles of stream habitat for salmon, which will then provide a food source for our painfully diminished Orcas. Good on him. And he supports 1631, which is important to me. Sort of a litmus test.

Everything I have seen and heard leads me to believe that he has the right ideas and the administrative/bureaucratic background to understand how the legislative system works.
Given Dave Hayes’ legislative record, I would likely support even a less qualified candidate. Luckily Dave Paul is highly qualified and will represent my views in the legislature.

I will be voting for Dave Paul.