Cost of Living and Housing

Marcia knows that rising taxes hit retirees and working people particularly hard. Without significantly reducing those, the legislature has been piling on increased business and occupation taxes and new income taxes that are driving job creators and revenue out of the state. Marcia will work for tax relief and to ensure that an income tax, should it be sustained, is not extended to medium-income earners.

Marcia knows to many retirees that fear they will not be able to stay in their homes due to rising real estate and insurance costs, and too many young people that have no hope of ever buying a home due to low inventory, housing costs, and low wages. She will work to address these issues in multiple ways. Our legislature needs to create a regulatory framework that encourages rather than discourages home building, with an emphasis on starter homes of all types, including revising the Growth Management Act and energy codes. A business-friendly regulatory and tax structure is needed to spur business growth and living-wage job creation in the state at large and on the Olympic Peninsula specifically. Business growth also leads to higher tax revenue, without increasing business and occupation tax rates or burdening individuals.

Our local governments also struggle financially, and are faced with many unfunded mandates that have been imposed by the legislature on our counties. Marcia believes that is wrong and will work to reduce unfunded mandates and to keep the state government focused on core functions. To do otherwise means local governments are forced to add to real estate and sales tax burdens in order to meet their obligations.

Education

Education is paramount, and Marcia believes that the state funds many aspects of that well. But she has observed that the state needs to better fund the replacement or retrofitting of aging facilities and special education services. In return the state also needs to better ensure educational performance that is to date not what it should be.

Balanced approach to Environment

Marcia recognizes that regulations and laws that protect our environment and climate are important. But she also knows that they must be balanced so that obstacles are not erected that have little positive effect yet increase the costs of living, strip jobs from the Peninsula, and make it costly to build. The Climate Commitment Act is an example of well-intended legislation that has not accomplished meaningful climate change abatement but has increased the costs of fuel, electricity, and retail goods including building materials. That act should at least be modified. We should instead focus on tax incentives, rather than penalties, to encourage change, as well as foster technology, innovation, and practices to meaningfully protect our environment and climate while enabling people to still build and earn a living.

Homelessness

Our state and local governments spend mightily on well-intentioned attempts to address problems of homelessness yet we see little progress. Marcia believes we can better serve our communities by ensuring that law enforcement is empowered to help us and by prioritizing treatment for substance abuse and mental health.