State Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, faced off against two political newcomers, Scott Dalesandro and Anson Service, as she defended her 49th District seat Thursday afternoon before The Columbian’s editorial board.
The biggest decision facing lawmakers in the upcoming session will likely be how to fulfill the state Supreme Court’s mandate to fully fund the state’s public school systems.
The answer, Wylie said, is to lobby the federal government to tax Internet sales. Wylie said the state is “hemorrhaging” money and the federal government needs to take the action “they have been on the verge of taking” for years.
Wylie also said it’s time for the state to take a harder look at its tax preferences.
Service, a Republican, clinic director and doctor of clinical psychology, said he believes the state needs to first look at increasing fees on park service permits, fishing and hunting licenses and texting-while-driving fines. If that doesn’t raise the approximate $3 billion that is believed to be needed, Service said programs would have to be cut or taxes raised.
Dalesandro, a manager with Columbia River logistics who is running as an independent, said it’s possible the state would have to raise taxes a bit, but lawmakers also should look at reforms.
The “future is too important,” Dalesandro said, advocating that some type of agreement must be struck.
The candidates also differ on where they stand on the oil-by-rail transfer terminal being proposed in Vancouver. If forced to cast a vote Thursday, Service said he’s a proponent of the idea but would have to vote against the plan because there’s not enough information. Both Wylie and Dalesandro were more vehemently opposed to the project.
Gov. Jay Inslee told The Columbian’s editorial board recently he would urge lawmakers to consider raising the state’s minimum wage. Dalesandro said he’s opposed to that idea, while Service and Wylie were amenable to boosting the wage.
Service said his 17-year-old son has a minimum wage job, and he couldn’t imagine a single mother living on what his son makes.
“As long as it’s not drastic and as long as it makes sense,” Service said he would support the idea.
