TULALIP – If the audience at the Marysville-Tulalip Chamber breakfast Friday is any indication, Initiative 1631 is going down.

Arguments against the measure received much more support than those supporting it.

For the Candidates Forum portion of the program, both challengers held their own.

For 38th District senator, Savio Pham showed he’s not afraid to take on longtime local leader John McCoy.

And for the 44th District representative, Jered Mead showed he wouldn’t back down to incumbent Mark Harmsworth.

McCoy

He said his top issues are the environment, education and access to the internet. Pollution on the Everett waterfront and at the former Asaro plant concern him. McCleary helped school funding, but there are some inequities that need to be worked out. And there are areas in Everett and rural areas that still don’t have internet.

McCoy said the legislature needs to work on affordable housing so people don’t have to work in Seattle and live in Marysville, Arlington or Darrington and clog up roads during commutes. Cities need to work with the state to attract businesses. He said there is no truth to a rumor he would not stay in office the entire time if elected. He also said stories about his staff not reporting some financial information on time was because of a health issue, which also had been reported, making it a non-issue.

Pham

Pham said he has lived the American Dream, coming to the states from Vietnam when he was 18, not knowing any English. But he said the American Dream is not just about your own success, it’s about helping others achieve their dreams. He said his top issues are affordable living, not just housing but also jobs and quality time with family; opioid use; and family wage jobs. Regarding school funding, he said society needs to stop the monopoly of the public school system that has failed to deliver. He said if you don’t believe in charter schools than you have to cut Running Start, which is like a charter school for community colleges as it diverts money from the public school system. He said financial aid also need fixing. A student should not have to include parent finances if they are not going to help pay for school.

Pham said too many regulations hurt small business. He said business should receive help to start up, and also if they hire local, rather than hiring out.

Mead

He said growth has not been managed well in 25 years, pointing out gridlock on Highway 9 and the Everett trestle. He also said when he graduated from Jackson High School 10 years ago, there were three portables there. Now there are 30.

Mead said the state needs to give businesses incentives to change work hours to reduce congestion. He also wants to see more local mental health facilities. And he said he has the ability to work with others to create more lanes to reduce congestion.

As for McCleary, he said it’s a simple fix. Instead of saying “up to” $1.50 valuation or $2,500 per student, change it to “whichever is more.” Marysville, for example, could then charge more than $1.50 per $1,000 valuation to reach the $2,500 per student other districts are getting.

He said he would work hard to keep Boeing here, as it supplies jobs for other companies, too. He also said with Sea-Tac airport overcrowded, there are more possibilities here for Paine Field. Finally, Mead said he can work with both parties, while Harmsworth has a reputation for being difficult to work with. Harmsworth denied that, and said his name isn’t always at the top of a bill because he’s more interested in policy than credit.

Harmsworth

He said transportation is the No. 1 issue because “people can’t get to work right now.” His other top issues are education and economic development. He said he’s against any toll on the trestle and against November’s ballot initiatives that would hurt small business.

As for McCleary, he said the goal was to relieve local property taxes so he wants that cap to stay in place. He also said special education needs more fixing.

Harmsworth said transportation is key for economic development. It needs to be looked at holistically. He said regulations, like the business and occupation tax, need to change for small businesses. That would create more jobs. He then brought up that Mead had said he was for tolls. Mead denied that. But he also told his opponent that, “A candidate can’t say no to everything. That’s not helpful. You need to think of solutions.”

Pro-1631

Julia Sanders said the measure would improve efficiencies in utilities, but it would cost oil companies money so the opposition has been loud. She said the fee has to be used to reduce carbon emissions. It’s not a tax that can be used elsewhere. “In the end everybody wins – except the oil companies,” she said.

Sanders said there would be some job losses, but there would be others created by new, cleaner energy. She admitted there are some large polluters, such as a coal-fired plant, that are exempt from the law, but it is closing by 2025 anyway. She said there are measurements, goals and limitations in the law.

Sanders said if the money is spent, emissions would be reduced, but they can’t predict by how much because this hasn’t been done before. She said if we invest in solutions that will guarantee results.

Con-1631

Randy Pepple said while everyone would like to see emissions decrease, this is not the way. He said it gives all the power to a 15-member non-elected board to spend billions of dollars any way it likes. There is no accountability. He said eight of the top 12 polluters in the state are exempt. He said gas prices will increase 15 cents a gallon right away. The law would tax those who can least afford it and reduce manufacturing jobs. “We can do better,” he said.

He continued to criticize the board, as it only reports to itself. “If we got to grade our own tests I would really get good grades,” he said, adding the tax will go up if the program isn’t successful. “They get rewarded for failure.” He said the measure only targets the oil industry. “If reducing emissions truly is the goal, this is the wrong way to go,” he said.