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| Barry Sehlin, Republican |
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| Candidate: State Representative, |
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| Barry Sehlin |
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District 10, Position 1 |
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| Age: 57 |
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| Residence: Oak Harbor |
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| Occupation: |
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U.S. Navy, retired |
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| Education: |
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M.A., political science, Western Washington University |
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| Political history: |
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State representative, 1992-98; chairman of House Capital Budget Committee for last two terms |
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| Endorsements: No response |
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| Campaign Web site: http://www.barrysehlin.com |
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| Campaign theme: Proven leadership. |
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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 |
no |
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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 |
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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A revised primary system should continue to give Washington voters as much flexibility as possible. An open primary allowing the voter to select a different party for each election, and requiring no registration by party, will best offer flexibility while meeting constitutional requirements. |
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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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One of the most unfair taxes in Washington is the business and occupation tax. I would support reducing the B&O and restructuring it to place less burden on new and small business with low profit margins. |
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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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Property taxes should continue to be levied fairly based upon the value of the property. We should be reducing everyone's property taxes rather than focusing on favored groups. Giving breaks to favored constituencies is guaranteed to lead to increasingly unfair taxes. |
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| 5. |
What privacy legislation would you support? Would you exempt financial institutions? Why or why not? |
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Personal and private information must be protected so that only the individual can authorize its disclosure or use. Only the minimum legitimate financial data necessary to verify eligibility should be available to lending institutions. |
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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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Everything must be on the table if we hope to solve the traffic nightmare now facing Washington state. With existing funds coming from a combination of the gas tax, special levies, sales taxes, property taxes and other state and local taxes, there are few options for additional sources. |
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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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With growing evidence of innocent people having been convicted and sentenced to death in some states I could support a moratorium if factual data were presented showing Washington's legal processes, and appeal avenues, had actually allowed the execution of innocent people. |
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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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Requiring each adjustment of every small fee or tax to be placed on the ballot will completely overwhelm our election process, require hours and hours for each voter to become informed and undermine our system of representative democracy. The founding fathers drafted our constitution wisely. |
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