Connie Lord, a Republican Poulsbo City Council member and current deputy mayor, is challenging Sen. Phil Rockefeller for his seat in the 23rd Legislative District races. Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island, is running for his second Senate term and previously served six years in the House.
Lord said she decided to run because she doesn’t believe there is fiscal responsibility in Olympia, and she’s not satisfied with how the money is being spent. She also feels Rockefeller hasn’t fully represented the interests of his district. “He thwarted a lot of the constituents’ wishes, and is not representing the values of the 23rd District,” she said.
As examples, she brings up the global warming bill Rockefeller sponsored. She said the bill is punitive in nature, instead of giving incentives. “There are other ways to approach it,” she said, adding that people generally want to be good stewards of the planet but there are better ways to regulate that than doing it in a way “like scolding kids.” “The ‘cap and trade’ program creates a huge bureaucracy. It will take huge taxes to support it,” she said. She also said the new jobs touted by some of the environmental bills are for regulatory or enforcement positions, not sustainable jobs that reach out into the private sector.
Rockefeller disagrees with the assessment of disconnect. “I would reject that out of hand,” he said. “I think I’ve been very responsive to my district, and the fact that I’ve been reelected to the House and elected for Senate speaks to that.”
Rockefeller said if elected, he expects to continue to chair the Water, Energy and Telecommunications Committee and will continue to focus on environmental and education priorities. Named the Washington Conservation Voters Legislator of the Year in 2007, he has been recognized for his work to create the Puget Sound Partnership and other efforts to clean Puget Sound. He is ranked high by education, labor, family and environmental interest groups, but extremely low with business interests.
He said working on climate change and Puget Sound issues are still on top of his agenda, and expects a debate next year on reducing the carbon footprint of the state. Other unfinished business includes expanding the baccalaureate degree options at Olympic College and education issues in general, he said.
Rockefeller sponsored a bill last year that allowed eighth-graders to receive state-paid college tuition , and he said 1,700 students signed up. “We’re removing the barriers to students to continue education after high school,” he said.
Lord, too, includes education in her priorities. She said the education system is broken, with a third of high school students dropping out, and a large number of incoming freshmen needing remediation. She said the WASL needs streamlining, and the education funding system reviewed.
Lord, whose background includes eight years on the Poulsbo City Council and being a business owner, said her other priorities include the ferry system and reducing taxes. “I’m appalled that the three representatives for my district have not made that a top issue at the beginning of the last session,” she said.
Lord said there are ways to cut expenses in many areas, as proven by recent audits conducted by State Auditor Brian Sontag’s office. The audit identified $50 million in savings in the ferry system alone, and a total of $3 billion in savings total in the audits conducted so far in several agencies. She said the Legislature is “dragging its feet” in funding the rest of the audits as well as implementing the recommendations. “There are ways to cut, absolutely, if the Legislature is willing,” she said. “I think that’s the key, an attitude shift. We do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.”
