The 2010 political season is down to the final feverish days. The mail only general election ballots must be sent by Tuesday.

The Reporter has been publishing a series of question and answers with 47th and 5th legislative districts candidates.

Each candidate answered four questions posed by the editorial staff.

This installment features answers from the 5th District Rep. Glenn Anderson, Republican and challenger David Spring, Democrat, seeking State House Position No. 2.

Stories posted earlier include 47th District senatorial candidates Sen. Claudia Kauffman, Democrat, and challenger Republican Joe Fain

Rep. Geoff Simpson, Democrat, and Republican challenger Mark Hargrove seeking State House Position No. 1 and Rep. Pat Sullivan, Democrat, and Rodrigo Yanez, Repulican. for State House Position No. 2.

5th District House Position No. 2

Rep. Glenn Anderson and David Spring

With the mounting deficit facing the state budget, what solutions, program cuts or tax increases do you propose for the upcoming Legislative session?

• Spring: As I document in detail on my website, springforhouse.com, during the past 10 years, my opponent has voted to cut more than $5 billion in school funding. At the same time, he voted to give more than $5 billion in tax breaks to the richest corporations in the history of the world. Our current budget shortfall of $4 billion is as much due to this massive corporate welfare scheme of my opponent as it is due to the recession. To pay for this scheme, in the past two years, thousands of teachers have already been fired. In the next two years, thousands more will be fired unless we roll back these immoral tax breaks for multinational corporations. I will balance the state budget and save our public schools by rolling back all the tax breaks for billionaires passed by my opponent in the past 10 years.
• Anderson: Our state is facing a California-style budget meltdown. The first step is for Olympia to admit that the problem is real and the consequences to taxpayers are significant. Voters deserve an honest assessment of the problem so they can fairly judge what the options are to pull our wagon out of the ditch.

  Olympia needs to get serious about enabling the creation of family-wage private sector jobs. Over the last eight years the net private sector job creation in our state has been about zero. And the rate of personal income growth (bigger paychecks) has dropped significantly. Meanwhile over the same period the rate of state government spending as increased over 33 percent. It is no wonder that we are in a budget mess. Private sector jobs pay for all the quality-of-life investments we make in our families and communities. Encouraging family-wage private sector job creation must be priority one.

What realistically can the Legislature do to meet the mandate of fully funding schools? Is enough being done now by the Legislature?

• Anderson: Funding our K-12 public school system is our state’s “paramount” constitutional duty above all others. Many parents and teachers work incredibly hard to provide the children of our community with an education that will define their later success in life. Unfortunately, the Legislature has siphoned off dollars to special interests over the years and that has undermined parents and teacher commitment to our children. While children in our district are better educated overall, on average statewide children are less educated than their parents.

  My Fund Education First proposal would require a dedicated K-12 budget to be passed and funded by the legislature before it could spend tax dollars on anything else. The state courts have determined this to be the correct way for the last 30 years. This would assure that adequate funding was available and accountability was in place to assure our children get a world class basic education.

• Spring: Our State used to be 11th in the nation in school funding as a percent of income. We are currently 47th in the nation – $2,000 per child below the nation average. This is why our children are subjected to the highest class sizes in the nation. The future of one million children has been placed at risk just so a few billionaires can buy bigger boats. We can solve the school funding crisis immediately – without raising taxes on our middle class – simply by rolling back tax breaks for billionaires. This will not harm billionaires or major corporations as they can deduct their state taxes from their federal taxes. But it will save the jobs of thousands of teachers and save the future of one million children.

Is the legislative process in Olympia functioning well or badly? If badly what can be done to repair it. If your answer is it is functioning well, describe why?

• Spring: There are major problems with both political parties in Olympia. Precious tax payer dollars are being used to fund the campaigns of incumbents in both parties. I describe this scandal in detail on my website: retroreform.org. We need to elect candidates based on who has the best solutions to our problems rather than who has the most money. We need to create a level playing field for all candidates by reducing corporate corruption in our elections. I will reduce the maximum amount that any corporation can give to any single candidate and eliminate the loophole which allows unlimited contributions through the use of dozens of fake political action committees. Finally, I will insist that pubic tax payer dollars not be used to fund the campaigns of either political party.
• Anderson: The legislative process in Olympia is only as good as the people elected to serve. Our representative republican form of government is strong and unmatched by any other form of government in the world in addressing the complex issues of a diverse public. The “process” is neutral. It is what the elected majority chooses to do with it that matters.

  From my experience in the Legislature, when we all agree on something it can fly through the process in a few days. If we don’t agree, then it may take 20 years. The problem arises when the elected majority tries to force an unpopular or not clearly understood agenda down the throat of the minority which can lead to a lot of bad blood for years and makes finding solutions to other issues much harder.

  Democrats and Republicans generally agree on what the problems are, but offer different solutions.

What can the Legislature do to improve the employment outlook in this state?

• Anderson: The most important thing is to enact a “Live Within Our Means” budget. Continuing budget deficits are draining the life out of our state economy. We must do this with no new taxes and agree to those essential priorities that enable private sector job creation and the education of our children. A long term stable budget environment will encourage employers, large and small, to invest here and create jobs.

  We must reform the state’s regulatory culture. We all want a fair and safe workplace, preservation and respect for our natural environment and a just social safety net that that truly helps, but doesn’t encourage dependency. We must do so in a way that private sector jobs creation isn’t crippled and that the cost doesn’t impoverish the taxpayer.

  The state needs to energize our port districts, university research and develpment centers and advanced manufacturing sectors. “Made in Washington” should mean second to none.

• Spring: The number one thing the legislature can do to improve employment is reducing the tax burden on our middle class. I will reduce taxes on the middle class by more than 20 percent by rolling back tax breaks for billionaires and major corporations. This will give middle class families the buying power they need to to spend more at local businesses. I will also eliminate the business and occupation tax on any small business grossing less than one million dollars per year. This will allow small businesses to purchase inventory and hire more workers. Small businesses create local jobs and they deserve more support than they are currently getting.