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| Joyce McDonald, Republican |
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| Candidate: State Senator, District 25 |
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| Joyce McDonald |
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| Age: 47 |
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| Residence: Puyallup |
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| Occupation: |
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State representative |
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| Education: |
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Attended Pierce College |
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| Political history: |
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State representative, 1996-present |
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| Endorsements: |
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Washington State Council of Police and Sheriffs, Puyallup Firefighters Association, Pierce County Sportsmen's Council |
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| Campaign Web site: http://www.joycemcdonald.com |
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| Campaign theme: No response. |
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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 |
no |
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I-729 - Charter schools |
yes |
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I-732 - Teacher raises |
no |
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I-745 - Transportation funding |
yes |
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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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We should follow the pattern set for the presidential primary. Each voter receives a primary ballot, based on their party preference. This should satisfy the U.S. Supreme Court ruling while still allowing freedom for each voter to vote for any party candidate in the general election. |
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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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I support elimination of the state portion of the property tax. This will return money to all taxpayers _ homeowners and businesses. |
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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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No. The writers of the state Constitution were wise when they required equality in taxation. If this provision is removed, then we set up a division between our citizens, which may only prove to be destructive to our state in the long run. |
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| 5. |
What privacy legislation would you support? Would you exempt financial institutions? Why or why not? |
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I co-sponsored privacy legislation from the Attorney General's Task Force on Privacy. The study was designed to protect individual rights but also ensure that worthy projects such as cancer research would not be hampered. We must make a clear distinction between everyday information and personal information. |
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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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I support taking the sales tax from automobiles and auto-related products and dedicating it to the transportation budget to maintain and build new roads. |
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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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I support the death penalty when necessary and would not support a moratorium. I believe we need to limit the number of appeals the state must pay for to defend a convicted, aggravated-first-degree murderer. |
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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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I would support an amendment that would require a public vote on tax increases if they were more than the rate of inflation. I believe that inflationary increases should be allowed without a vote of the people. |
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