Republican Al Rutledge has taken on a tenured legislator in his challenge for a seat in the Legislature.
He’s trying to unseat Democratic state Rep. Ruth Kagi, who was first elected to the District 32 seat in 1999. The district includes parts of King and Snohomish counties, including Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline and part of Edmonds.
Rutledge said one of the reasons he decided to run is his belief that no one should run unopposed. “My name comes up because no one puts their hat in the ring,” he said. Yet even he admits, “I’m a long shot to get in.”
Rutledge said the solution to the crisis over providing more funding for public education, spurred by a state Supreme Court decision, is “we’d have to make cuts all the way across the board.”
He said Kagi and other legislators have said that’s already been done and they don’t know where further cuts can be made. But Rutledge said the situation is similar to someone who gets laid off from a job. “You have to sit down at the table and do a complete budget,” he said.
Kagi said that the solution to public education funding is raising revenue. “We cannot do it by cutting more human services or higher education,” she said. Lawmakers cut well over $10 billion during the recession, she said. “Many social services are failing.”
Exactly where the money should come from is still under discussion, she said. She said she would support a state capital gains tax on stock and bond earnings and has previously supported legislation to close tax exemptions. “We’ve given away a lot of our tax base in the last 20 years,” she said.
Rutledge said that if elected, he would submit a bill to redefine basic education as the skills needed to meet the state’s high school graduation requirements. Pre-primary, or kindergarten and early childhood education, would be separated out to make it easy to understand and debate school funding mandates spelled out in the state constitution, he said.
Kagi noted that the state Supreme Court ruling calling for more funding for public education cites data saying that less than half of children arrive at kindergarten with the basic skills needed to make them ready to learn. These are basic skills children should get in child care or preschool, she said.
“Closing the opportunity gap starts in kindergarten,” she said. Learning gaps that start in early childhood continue to grow as students progress through school, she said.
Kagi said she would fight hard to see that early learning is a critical component of the push to improve student outcomes.
Kagi said she been a supporter of packages that would pay for major transportation improvements across the state. Snohomish County has been greatly affected by cuts in transit due to dependence on sales tax for funding, she said.
Rather than a statewide gas tax increase, she said, local governments might have to put the issue to voters to raise money for transit improvements.
Rutledge agreed that Snohomish County transit funding is a problem. Any move to increase the gas tax for transportation improvements should be approved by voters, he said. “You’ve got people in need who can’t afford it.” As a volunteer at a local food bank, Rutledge said, he regularly sees people who need fuel vouchers just to get to the food bank.
On Initiative 594, which would require backgrounds checks for purchasing firearms sold at gun shows or online, Rutledge said, he fears the information could be used by people to determine if you have a gun in your house.
Kagi said she supports the initiative. “I think it’s really, really important for public safety that everyone who buys a gun must have a background check,” she said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
The candidates
Name: Ruth Kagi
Age: 69
Party: Democratic
Job: Legislator; owns commercial property in Lynnwood.
Website: ruthkagi.org
Name: Al Rutledge
Age: 74
Party: Republican
Job: Retired; ran home delivery business
Website: None
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