Marci asked: Who is your biggest campaign contributor?
Marr: The Senate Democratic Caucus Committee has given me $5000. The Senate Republican Caucus Committee has given my opponent, I think around $60,000. Beyond that the people who have maxed out early: The State Hospital Assn, the Associated General Contractors, Boeing. The ironic thing is I have been criticized by my opponent for not scoring high enough on the business score cards and yet I have financial contributions from businesses. Business can show their support by giving a high score card rating – I don’t pander to score cards – or they can step in and say we can work with this guy so we’re going to support him. I have a lot of organizations and individuals who have given the maximum amount of $1600. I have turned down tobacco money.
Marr: The Senate Democratic Caucus Committee has given me $5000. The Senate Republican Caucus Committee has given my opponent, I think around $60,000. Beyond that the people who have maxed out early: The State Hospital Assn, the Associated General Contractors, Boeing. The ironic thing is I have been criticized by my opponent for not scoring high enough on the business score cards and yet I have financial contributions from businesses. Business can show their support by giving a high score card rating – I don’t pander to score cards – or they can step in and say we can work with this guy so we’re going to support him. I have a lot of organizations and individuals who have given the maximum amount of $1600. I have turned down tobacco money.
I have 1500 contributors as of a week ago who have contributed an average of $287. You can find this out online.
Anonymous asked: What is your solution to the high dropout rate in Spokane High Schools?
Marr: I think we have ed reform wrong. As a policy maker you think the best answers can be forced down from above. We have to look at what’s happened to education over the last 10 or 20 years. First we haven’t funded it. It used to be about 50% of our general fund now it’s about 40%, so we know it’s a resource issue. The second thing we’ve done is try to force mandates and our idea of reform down from the top. Legislators love to go to Olympia and pass laws to insure those in the classroom are doing what we think they should be doing. Yet we don’t make sure those dollars get to the classroom, either a, because we don’t provide enough money to education to begin with or b, we’ve provided it for the wrong reasons. Some of these are very well meaning but if you provide mandates around nutrition and all these other requirements does that necessarily get to the classroom?
I’ve become more of a proponent of putting the educators in charge of education. I think education has become test fixated and too focused on things outside the classroom. I think teachers struggle, I don’t buy into this whole notion of blame the educator or this idea that educator’s pay should be linked to test scores.
(for the sake of shortening this blog I am editing out Marr’s talk about the documentary “Waiting for Superman”)
We shouldn’t play blame the teacher any more than we should play blame the parent. But if you really want to blame somebody I think the responsibility starts with abdication of parental responsibility. Who’s responsible for sending their kid to school clothed and fed? Who is responsible to make sure Johnny is in by ten or that Suzy does her homework? It’s the parents. I think we are in a society that wants someone else to do their work for them. I believe that about the whole education process. And for us to blame teachers as a general group, is a wrong headed approach. It is a circular thing to get involved in blame the parent because it doesn’t help the kid any more than blame the teacher does.
At the end of the day the more we can do to put resources in the classroom and assure success for kids not necessarily based on whether or not they get a 4 year college degree. For some reason we’re fixated on this notion that every child’s definition of success should be walking away with a Masters or a PHD. I have a Master’s, I was a regent at Washington State University. I know all this elitism around higher education. Education was designed to provide the best possible outcome for each child based on his or her abilities. We do not do that now. What we do is say, about the kids who drop out, maybe if we could excite them about going on to a 4 year college degree we’ll solve the education problem. What about finding out what makes that kid a success? Is it a technical career, is it a certificate program, is it learning how to function in the outside world? Kids aren’t widgets. The problem with ed reform is that it is driven by the business roundtable and these folks at the top. They know how to run businesses. I’m not convinced that we know how to run education. What’s sad to me is when I sit with teachers and we talk about reform at the end many are turning to me asking what should we do to fix education? I said, you’re asking me? I came from the business world. I would ask my employees who are closest to the customers. So I ask you, what should we do to fix education and the answer is more resources, let the teachers be mentors. I’m here because I was raised by a single working mom. I had a junior high school teacher that was my mentor. He taught me a lot about social responsibility, civic engagement. He had the opportunity to be a mentor and a life shaper. We do not know the damage we are doing to the social fabric of this country by making teachers test givers and absentee parents. I think we will learn at some point unless we wake up and decide that education is about a willing mind and a committed teacher. Yes, there are bad teachers, we need to get rid of them but to damn the whole process and say they have enough , they have enough support, they have enough money all they need to do is get rid of the bad ones and do their job is a total over simplification. It really riles me as you can tell.
Bob asked: How would you change the state tax structure? Would you be in favor of state income tax?
Marr: I’ve come out as a state income tax. My opponent has said let’s change the B & O tax system to a Corporate income tax. I think there is a better way. The fact of the matter is that they are going to have to move an income tax down scale into other incomes. We need to have an honest discussion about that. Here is what I see. This state has 567 tax loopholes, preferences, exemptions, whatever you want to call it. Anything there is a tax charge on, sales tax, B&O tax, property tax, certain industries get let off that or pay a lower rate. Many of these go back to our agrarian based economy. That’s why so many of our tax exemptions are handed out to agriculture. Once tax exemptions are handed out they become an entitlement. Business and Industry defend it vigorously. Republicans have said if you try to take one away it is a tax hike and you can’t do that. Okay, let’s ask ourselves are they significant? Yes, $54 billion a biennium, in state tax revenues, $42 billion a biennium in local tax revenues. What does this consist of? It consists of some things that I think are justified. I like the aerospace B&O tax preference rate. I go by the airport and see there are a lot of aerospace and aviation jobs that are going to be good jobs in the future. On the other hand do I think the $53,000 we pay the Mariners every year to maintain Mariner Stadium is a good investment? No. Do I think the $73,000 they get for Quest Field for maintance is a good investment? No, I think it’s a bad investment. Do I think we should be paying $180,000 a year for bedding material for chickens? No, I don’t. Those examples don’t amount to a lot but what about heating assistance for poultry farms, $1.8 million. I’d rather spend $1.8 million to help school districts to heat schools. That’s my idea.
Marr: I’ve come out as a state income tax. My opponent has said let’s change the B & O tax system to a Corporate income tax. I think there is a better way. The fact of the matter is that they are going to have to move an income tax down scale into other incomes. We need to have an honest discussion about that. Here is what I see. This state has 567 tax loopholes, preferences, exemptions, whatever you want to call it. Anything there is a tax charge on, sales tax, B&O tax, property tax, certain industries get let off that or pay a lower rate. Many of these go back to our agrarian based economy. That’s why so many of our tax exemptions are handed out to agriculture. Once tax exemptions are handed out they become an entitlement. Business and Industry defend it vigorously. Republicans have said if you try to take one away it is a tax hike and you can’t do that. Okay, let’s ask ourselves are they significant? Yes, $54 billion a biennium, in state tax revenues, $42 billion a biennium in local tax revenues. What does this consist of? It consists of some things that I think are justified. I like the aerospace B&O tax preference rate. I go by the airport and see there are a lot of aerospace and aviation jobs that are going to be good jobs in the future. On the other hand do I think the $53,000 we pay the Mariners every year to maintain Mariner Stadium is a good investment? No. Do I think the $73,000 they get for Quest Field for maintance is a good investment? No, I think it’s a bad investment. Do I think we should be paying $180,000 a year for bedding material for chickens? No, I don’t. Those examples don’t amount to a lot but what about heating assistance for poultry farms, $1.8 million. I’d rather spend $1.8 million to help school districts to heat schools. That’s my idea.
There is a middle ground here and that is putting integrity back in our tax structure, having a darn good reason when we let one industry or individual off the hook. We need to stop handing them out like they’re candy, have a 5 year sunset on every one of them and if you don’t keep your end of the deal we should get our money back. I think there is a solution that hasn’t been talked about. Will some call it a tax increase? Yes. As far as I’m concerned it’s the tax payer’s money and they have to decide the best use for it. We shouldn’t have handouts.
Debbie asked: Should the State get out of the liquor business?
Marr: I think it’s a fair question to ask if it’s a core function of government. There is a public safety element that I think justifies that in the case of hard liquor. We have a tremendous amount of alcoholism out there right now. In other states, we know that compliance with liquor laws is much higher in control states than in non control states. A lot of people are laboring under the impression that these people who work in state liquor stores make $60,000 a year. They make about $28,000 a year. That still doesn’t make it right if it’s not a core function of government. I do think that control of hard liquor is a legitimate state function. I am willing to have the discussion about beer and wine because we don’t control that now. Here’s the bottom line, by various estimates, $120 to $160 million a year in state revenues go away and no one has come up with a solution for that. I am worried about the impact on the state budget at a time when we can’t afford it without any savings. This is being sold to the public on the basis of savings. There are no savings, there are costs. If we can raise per capita consumption of hard liquor in the state to a high enough level we will make money. Is that a good policy choice? I don’t think so. I think there are other places we can get the state out of business.
Marr: I think it’s a fair question to ask if it’s a core function of government. There is a public safety element that I think justifies that in the case of hard liquor. We have a tremendous amount of alcoholism out there right now. In other states, we know that compliance with liquor laws is much higher in control states than in non control states. A lot of people are laboring under the impression that these people who work in state liquor stores make $60,000 a year. They make about $28,000 a year. That still doesn’t make it right if it’s not a core function of government. I do think that control of hard liquor is a legitimate state function. I am willing to have the discussion about beer and wine because we don’t control that now. Here’s the bottom line, by various estimates, $120 to $160 million a year in state revenues go away and no one has come up with a solution for that. I am worried about the impact on the state budget at a time when we can’t afford it without any savings. This is being sold to the public on the basis of savings. There are no savings, there are costs. If we can raise per capita consumption of hard liquor in the state to a high enough level we will make money. Is that a good policy choice? I don’t think so. I think there are other places we can get the state out of business.
Debbie: Anything you want the voters to know that you haven't been asked yet.
Marr: A lot of people ask about this particular election, the nature of politics especially coming down to the last 3 weeks of the campaign and why it’s so negative. The difference in lack of journalism coverage compared to 4 years ago is astounding. I had stories starting in December the year before my campaign. This year it’s very late. There really isn’t any research by the newspaper publications- very little. People are very responsive to a fear based message now because it’s a fearful time. That’s why you see a lot of negative stuff being put out there so I think it’s up to people to decide for themselves. People have to do more work. Democracy is worth that. I often think about these 70 year old vets that say I gave my life for democracy and then see this stuff they get in their mailbox and they say: I risked my life for this? We need to be more thoughtful and value democracy enough to say maybe I should do more work. Instead we want to blame the people who put it out there. Yes, they are to blame too but why do they put it out there? Because we make ourselves susceptible. Why do we knock on doors? I’ve knocked on about 9500, because for some people that is the only involvement in this process. That’s it. They make their judgment, I’d like to think on my knowledge of the issues but so few of them do. It’s based on: he came to my door and I saw him smile. I think you should do whatever you can to encourage people to go beyond that and ask questions, that’s why I think town halls are good, the Spokesman has put raw footage online where you can compare. I think that’s much more valuable for folks. People need to go out and do that.
Marr: A lot of people ask about this particular election, the nature of politics especially coming down to the last 3 weeks of the campaign and why it’s so negative. The difference in lack of journalism coverage compared to 4 years ago is astounding. I had stories starting in December the year before my campaign. This year it’s very late. There really isn’t any research by the newspaper publications- very little. People are very responsive to a fear based message now because it’s a fearful time. That’s why you see a lot of negative stuff being put out there so I think it’s up to people to decide for themselves. People have to do more work. Democracy is worth that. I often think about these 70 year old vets that say I gave my life for democracy and then see this stuff they get in their mailbox and they say: I risked my life for this? We need to be more thoughtful and value democracy enough to say maybe I should do more work. Instead we want to blame the people who put it out there. Yes, they are to blame too but why do they put it out there? Because we make ourselves susceptible. Why do we knock on doors? I’ve knocked on about 9500, because for some people that is the only involvement in this process. That’s it. They make their judgment, I’d like to think on my knowledge of the issues but so few of them do. It’s based on: he came to my door and I saw him smile. I think you should do whatever you can to encourage people to go beyond that and ask questions, that’s why I think town halls are good, the Spokesman has put raw footage online where you can compare. I think that’s much more valuable for folks. People need to go out and do that.
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