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| Dino Rossi, Republican (Incumbent) |
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| Candidate: State Senator, District 5 |
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| Dino Rossi |
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| Age: 40 |
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| Residence: Sammamish Plateau |
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| Occupation: |
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Commercial real-estate investment broker |
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| Education: |
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B.A. in business management, Seattle University |
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| Political history: |
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State Senate, 1996-present |
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| Endorsements: |
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National Federation of Independent Businesses, King County Police Officers Guild, Public School Employees of Washington |
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| Campaign Web site: http://www.dinorossi.com |
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| Campaign theme: |
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Leadership . . . and a whole lot of action. |
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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 response |
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I-722 - Property taxes |
no response |
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I-728 - School district financing |
no response |
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I-729 - Charter schools |
no response |
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I-732 - Teacher raises |
no response |
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I-745 - Transportation funding |
no response |
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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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In light of the Supreme Court's ruling, it appears that we need to move in the direction of allowing political parties to put forth their own nominees rather than the general public at large choosing a nominee for the party. |
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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 sponsored a bill to phase out the state portion of the property tax, which is 20 percent to 25 percent of a property tax bill. This would be accomplished by using the money above the I-601 spending limit so it would not affect education spending or necessary services. |
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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. Pitting homeowners against business is a false argument because with a phase-out of the state portion of the property tax everyone benefits. |
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| 5. |
What privacy legislation would you support? Would you exempt financial institutions? Why or why not? |
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Our sensitive private information needs to be protected, but we must be aware of the consequences of our actions. There are many legitimate reasons that private companies need information, such as creditworthiness of a borrower. The real question is why proposed legislation exempts government from privacy restrictions. |
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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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We must continue finding greater efficiencies and use existing financing mechanisms such as bonding. We should also explore new options other states are using including bonds and contracting out where it makes sense. |
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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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There should be no changes and no moratorium. |
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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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Since I have never voted for a tax increase, that part of I-695 never concerned me. However, I would not want to change what our state's founders intended in our constitution. We have a representative form of government. If people are unhappy with their legislators' decisions, then they have the right to replace them. |
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