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2022 Election: Q&A with Mike Chapman and Sue Forde by Staff The Leader, October 27, 2022

State Representative | District 24, Position 1

Mike Chapman, a Democrat, is seeking re-election to the state House and is being challenged by Republican Sue Forde for State Representative, District 24, Position 1.

Mike Chapman

Your opponent, Sue Forde, has voiced support for keeping the Lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington intact. What do you believe should be done with the dams considering their negative impact on salmon populations?

"I support the Biden Administration's approach to working with Tribal and State leaders, farmers, commercial fishing interests, members of Congress, and local stakeholders to develop a plan of action and mitigation measures leading to the removal of the lower Snake River dams.

Considering inflation and the current state of the American economy, what can the Legislature do to lessen the impact on Washingtonians?

"Last year we passed a $16 billion transportation package without raising the gas tax! We also balanced our regressive tax code by passing a progressive capital gains tax while cutting small business taxes and expanding the bipartisan Working Families (sales) Tax Credit. This delivered tax relief while we expanded funding for healthcare services, infrastructure investments, and workforce training. We also increased funding to allow more students to receive a college education without student loan debt and capped student loan interest rates."

According to a Seattle Times poll, abortion is one of the most important issues for voters in Washington state. As a pro-choice candidate, how do you plan to protect reproductive rights for Washington citizens?

"I disagree with the Supreme Court's decision to take away a woman's right to choose and in my 3 terms in the legislature I have consistently supported legislation to protect and fund those rights. I will support a State Constitutional amendment to guarantee a woman's right to choose and protect those rights from legislative and judicial attacks. Additionally, we must fund and expand access to all reproductive healthcare services for anyone who seeks such care in our state. I have been endorsed by Pro-Choice Washington.

An FBI hate crimes report indicated an increase in crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people in recent years. What can be done at the state level to address this issue?

"We must strengthen laws that protect all citizens from hate crimes of any type. We should fund additional training and public outreach to protect all vulnerable citizens. We can also increase funding for special investigative law enforcement units to prioritize investigation and prosecution of such crimes. And we can educate the public on how best to recognize and report hate crimes to law enforcement."

Considering the accelerating impact of climate change on Washington state residents, what policy(s) do you plan to put forward or support to counter the impacts of climate change on our state?

"The Legislature passed two incredibly important pieces of legislation, the Climate Commitment Act in 2021 and Moving Washington Forward this year. These two pieces of legislation will make Washington a leader in significantly reducing and ultimately eliminating our carbon footprint. The next Legislature will be tasked with ensuring these two major legislative acts will be properly implemented to achieve the stated goals of carbon reduction and address mitigation measures like funding tribal communities relocation projects. I will work to continue to support and fully implement climate change legislation. I believe future generations will look back on the 2021-2022 State Legislature and say this was the moment when Washington made a definitive commitment and put policies in place to significantly reduce and meaningfully fight the negative impacts of climate change."

In your opinion, what issues should Washington state citizens care about most, and how would you address those issues if reelected?

"In Washington, we have seen significant legislation enacted aimed at reducing gun violence. We must consider reasonable reforms to keep weapons away from those who might engage in mass shootings. Finally, society must decide whether military grade, assault style weapons are appropriate for civilian ownership without a valid purpose and license. Until we make that decision, I'm afraid we are one moment away from the next mass shooting at one of our schools, places of worship, public spaces, or anywhere a crowd of people have congregated. As a former law enforcement officer, I personally don't believe weapons capable of firing dozens of bullets into a crowd in a matter of seconds have any business being allowed without a valid purpose and license and registration requirements."

In 2023, the minimum wage in Washington will increase to $15.74 an hour. Are you in favor, opposed to this change, or think it should be higher, and why?

"I support this increase to Washington's minimum wage. I was glad to see Social Security will receive a significant increase next year and I think the increase in minimum wage is equally as important. Income equality will not be reduced by cutting social security benefits nor by eliminating the voter approved minimum wage increases. Both social security benefits and the minimum wage must be raised to keep up with the rate of inflation. Otherwise we will have an economy that only works for the wealthy."

In Jefferson County lack of affordable housing is one of, if not, the most important issues to citizens on the Peninsula. What can the state Legislature do to bring more affordable housing to Jefferson County?

"The Legislature has allocated more money for new affordable housing and low income housing projects in the current budget. We need to work with our local Government partners to make sure they have the tools and funding they need to approve and provide the needed infrastructure for more affordable housing. And we have and will continue to provide the education and job skills training to make sure we have the workforce needed to meet the housing demand, both today and into the future."

Sue Forde

You have voiced support for keeping the Lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington intact while many state Democrats have advocated for the removal of the dams due to their negative effect on the salmon populations. Why are you in favor of keeping the dams up?

"The Snake River dams provide approximately 8% of the electricity for our State. At a time when electric vehicles are being mandated 8 years from now, we will need all the electricity we can get. Even that might not be enough, considering California's and Nevada's call to "not" charge EVs due to possible brownouts.

The dams provide clean energy to over 800,000 homes in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. Barge traffic supplies 10% of the entire country's wheat crop. Removing them would force thousands of large semi-trucks onto already crowded roadways.

Returns to date have been double the levels of 2021 and are above the 10-year average. The Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook run ended on August 17 and, for the second year in a row, the size of the return increased, with a 17 percent increase from 2020 and 50 percent more than in 2019."

Considering inflation and the current state of the American economy, what can the Legislature do to lessen the impact on Washingtonians?

"Reduce taxes, starting with the gas tax, which is due to increase by another 46 cents, conveniently, after this election, due to the cap and trade bill passed by Chapman and the majority party with approximately $1.00 more starting in January thanks to the current legislators' policies.

I will vote to exempt $250,000 of value from state property tax calculations, making houses more affordable. I've spoken to many who fear losing their homes due to the increases over the past few years.

I will work to streamline government to reduce costs and regulations in housing, and amend the Growth Management Act to help provide more affordable housing. We also need to reduce fees and regulations on small businesses to make it easier for more to stay open and new ones to start up, creating more jobs. This election matters: vote wisely."

According to a Seattle Times poll, abortion is one of the most important issues for voters in Washington state. As a pro-life candidate, what are your priorities regarding reproductive rights?

"As I've doorbelled our District, I've learned the most important issues to most people in our District are the economy, gas prices, crime, and education. I am very concerned about the people's well-being in our rural communities. Prices continue to rise as truckers have higher costs to deliver food and necessities.

Crime is rising in our rural towns and it is alarming. We need to restore the ability of law enforcement to protect us, our lives, and our property. I am pro-life, and pro quality of life, with freedom to earn a good living, start a business, and enjoy the fruits of our labor. The proper function of government is to do for the people only that which must be done, and cannot be done as well by individuals. This includes areas like maintaining infrastructure - roads, hospitals, schools, etc. The most effective government is the government closest to the people."

An FBI hate crimes report indicated an increase in crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people in recent years. What can be done at the state level to address this issue?

"We need law and order to protect all citizens and their property. We already have laws in place like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect every individual citizen from discrimination. Over the past couple of legislative sessions, laws were passed and policies put in place that restrict our law enforcement from doing their job in protecting citizens and property. We've seen a rise in crime across the board as a result. Every one of us can be targeted in a crime. Some of these bad policies were corrected in the last legislative session, but not all. I will vote to restore the ability for law enforcement to do their jobs to protect us and our property, and to make hard drugs illegal again."

Considering the accelerating impact of climate change on Washington state residents, what policy(s) do you plan to put forward or support to counter the impacts of climate change on our state?

"We need to balance the needs of the people with the environment and prepare for any challenges we might face, including forest fires (thinning the forests can greatly alleviate that possibility), tsunamis, or other natural occurrences. This is one of the purposes of our state rainy day fund, which, by a majority vote of the people, required a three-fifths legislative vote to use so it didn't get spent frivolously.

During Covid, under 'emergency powers,' Mike Chapman and his majority party voted, in a "simple majority" vote, to transfer $1.9 BILLION from the rainy day fund into the general fund, where it could be easily spent, and subsequently moved $1 BILLION into a new "unrestricted" shadow account, instead of returning it to the constitutionally protected rainy day fund. The rainy day fund has a few million left in it, not enough to cover a disaster. We need to fix that!"

In your opinion, what issues should Washington state citizens care about most, and how would you address those issues if elected?

"I listen to the citizens and will work to address their concerns. I am responsible for working 'for the people,' not the other way around. Major issues I'm hearing from citizens are concerns about the economy, crime, and education. I will work for and vote for bills to address those issues.

With failing test scores and other issues, I'm hearing grave concerns from parents about their children's education. I will vote for school choice, where the money follows the child for their best education. This is a very popular idea that is working in other states. Choice opens so many positive avenues of learning that best suits each child, like charter schools, private or vo-tech schools, trade schools, or homeschooling. We can bring excellence in education for our kids, in accordance with our State Constitution. I will vote for school choice for our District and Washington State."

In 2023, the minimum wage in Washington will increase to $15.74 an hour. Are you in favor, opposed to this change, or think it should be higher, and why?

As a small business owner working with other small businesses (many of which went out of business due to the Governor picking "winners" and "losers" during the covid shutdown), I see taxes, fees, and government regulations continuing to grow. For instance LNI will increase by 4.8% next year; employees will pay 58 cents per $100 starting after the election. Employers pay 9 different taxes and fees, and spend time serving as tax collector/reporters for sales tax collected. Employees pay a number of taxes and fees as well. Taxes and fees should be reduced, so employees have more take-home pay, and employers can stay in business. That, along with lowering the cost of gas, housing, and other expenses, will help balance and reduce the cost of living. My responsibility is to the people of our district, and I will work hard to be a voice for them."

In Jefferson County lack of affordable housing is one of, if not, the most important issues to citizens on the Peninsula. What can the state legislature do to bring more affordable housing to Jefferson County?

"Amend the Growth Management Act (GMA) to allow for more diverse use of property, and expand into areas currently restricted from building more than one home. According to the analysis by Staley and Gilroy, on average, 26 percent of housing price increases can be attributed to planning under GMA.

Reduce or remove restrictions to make it easier to "move" older homes onto a lot, when an owner wants to replace it with a new one.

Reduce the approximate 24 percent in fees and regulations on new housing.

Repeal the requirement to go "all electric" in buildings, which is estimated to raise the cost of new homes by more than $24,000.

Simplify the building codes and streamline the permitting process. These are for starters. I am open to listening to all ideas about attainable and affordable homes."