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| Brian Van Beek, Republican |
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| Candidate: State Representative, |
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| Brian Van Beek |
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District 11, Position 1 |
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| Age: 38 |
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| Residence: Renton |
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| Occupation: |
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Self-employed specialty contractor |
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| Education: |
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B.A. in cinema-television, University of Southern California |
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| Political history: |
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Precinct committee officer, 11th Legislative District; platform committee, King County |
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| Endorsements: |
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Human Life of Washington |
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| Campaign Web site: |
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http://members.aol.com/brivanbeek/campaign.html |
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| Campaign theme: |
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Empower the people with choice in schools, health care and traffic solutions. |
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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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I believe that the political parties should determine what type of primary election best suits them. I would recommend that the Republicans allow independents to vote in their primary. |
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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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Businesses pass the high taxes they pay onto their customers. We pay these taxes, not business. Small businesses are overregulated and overtaxed by the government. Our neighbors and family members run these businesses, and they should not be inhibited from providing family-wage jobs by high taxes. |
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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 do not believe in an "us vs. them" mentality that would pit one group of Washingtonians against another -- the homeowner and the business owner. If the government spent less, taxes would go down for all. We need performance audits and competitive bidding to save money and keep government efficient. |
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| 5. |
What privacy legislation would you support? Would you exempt financial institutions? Why or why not? |
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People should be in control of the information that pertains to them, and it should be used only if they agree that it may. In certain circumstances, they may agree to this, so legislation would have to allow for this. |
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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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The taxing mechanism is not so important as the fact that the money is not being used efficiently or is not funding common-sense projects. Again, performance audits, competitive bidding, privatization, and voiding unnecessary regulation would make millions of dollars available, as has been proven in other states. |
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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 believe in the classic definition that justice is that one receives what is due him. I believe in free will, and that rights carry responsibilities. I support the death penalty when appropriate. Where abuses of the appeals process exist, justice would be served by rectifying this abuse. |
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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 another initiative or law that required a public vote on tax and fee increases. This was the will of the people as demonstrated by their vote. |
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