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| Eric Marrs, Republican |
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| Candidate: State Representative, |
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| Eric Marrs |
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District 1, Position 1 |
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| Age: 39 |
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| Residence: Kirkland |
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| Occupation: |
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Hotel management |
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| Education: |
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Studied political science, University of Washington; biblical literature and Greek, Northwest College |
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| Political history: No response |
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| Endorsements: |
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Human Life of Washington |
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| Campaign Web site: http://www.olympiasolutions.net |
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| Campaign theme: |
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Excellence, transportation solutions, family values. |
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| 1. |
What is your position on the initiatives proposed on this year's November ballot? |
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I-713 - Animal trapping |
no |
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I-722 - Property taxes |
yes |
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I-728 - School district financing |
yes |
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I-729 - Charter schools |
yes |
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I-732 - Teacher raises |
yes |
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I-745 - Transportation funding |
no |
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| 2. |
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declared blanket primary elections like Washington's violate political parties' constitutional rights, what form of new primary election system would you propose adopting? |
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Political parties should be allowed to choose between nominating conventions, or whatever method they would like to use on their own, or use "open" primaries where voters would select ballots segregated by party affiliation. |
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| 3. |
Would you continue the trend of recent years and support tax cuts for businesses? Which ones specifically? If not, why? |
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Yes, we need to support businesses as much as we possibly can in our free-market economy. Ideally we should eliminate business and occupation taxes, but realistically it depends on how successful we are in streamlining the rest of the budget process. |
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| 4. |
Would you support a Constitutional amendment that would allow tax breaks for homeowners but not for business or commercial property? Why or why not? |
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I don't see a need for a constitutional amendment on this topic. Traditionally we have not maintained a separation between homeowners and business _ we are all part of the same community. |
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| 5. |
What privacy legislation would you support? Would you exempt financial institutions? Why or why not? |
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The rapid advances in technology mean we must stay vigilant in the quest to protect our privacy. I believe this has been addressed recently, but the Attorney General's Office should continue to emphasize privacy rights. |
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| 6. |
A commission studying transportation funding says a new financing mechanism is needed to keep Washington transportation projects on track. How would you propose financing future transportation projects? |
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It's not the mechanism that is the issue. We simply need to fund road projects with a higher percentage of our transportation budget. I'm not sure that "90 percent" (I-745) is the correct number, but that's the direction we need to go. |
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| 7. |
With some states reconsidering the death penalty, what is your position and what changes, if any, do you think are needed in Washington's law? Under what circumstances would you support a moratorium? |
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The death penalty is justified because we must value the lives and rights of victims at least as much as we value the lives and rights of criminals. I would only support a temporary moratorium if we had conclusive evidence of racial stereotyping, or some other systemic bias like that. |
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| 8. |
A judge struck down Initiative 695's provision that would have required a public vote for all tax and fee increases. Would you support a Constitutional amendment that would require the public vote? Why or why not? |
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We don't need a constitutional amendment on this topic. The people can pass another initiative requiring public approval for tax increases that is not bundled with other issues. Hopefully we will have a more effective Legislature so that the people will not need to resort to this! |
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