Economic approach creates wide divide between 24th Dist. candidates

PORT ANGELES — Candidates for the 24th Legislative District told of their widely divergent views on how to manage the state and on state funding.

Incumbent Steve Tharinger, a Sequim Democrat, advocated a community-based approach to solving the state’s economic difficulties, while challenger Thomas Greisamer, a Moclips Republican, argued for decreased oversight on business and smaller government in the noon forum at the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

The 24th District covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.

Ballots for the Nov. 4 general election are to be mailed to registered voters on Oct. 15.

Candidates drew questions from about 100 people attending the meeting.

“It’s been a cordial campaign. That’s good,” Tharinger, 65, who is seeking a third two-year term, said to open the forum.

However cordial the campaign, the candidates found little common ground.

Tharinger — a former small business contractor and 12-year Clallam County commissioner — said that in his office in Olympia he has a picture on his wall of an Amish barn-raising to illustrate the concept of working together toward a solution.

“We need to look at our tax structure. In 1995, Washington residents paid 7.3 percent of our income to government services. Now it is 3.5 percent,” he said.

Taxes

He recommended expanding the state’s business and occupation tax to service industries, flatten the rate, and add a capital gains tax on the top 1 to 2 percent of earners to fund the state’s needs.

Greisamer, 73, is a retired forensic psychiatrist for the state Department of Corrections, with additional background in agriculture, aviation, quality assurance, and finance.

He came out strongly as an economic conservative, advocating removing a large portion of state government administration and eliminating regulations that he said strangle business.

“If you look back at U.S. history, we didn’t rely on our government to solve our problems. We should go back to that,” he said.

Medicaid

Greisamer said he believes many of the people who are receiving Medicaid after applying for health care through the state insurance exchange have had their incomes incorrectly applied and said that many are taking advantage of the system.

“They put people into mental health who shouldn’t be there. It’s easier to get disability for bipolar than for an amputated foot,” Greisamer said.

He questioned the current system, which requires a psychiatric evaluation from a treatment center.

The system encourages diagnoses that could lead to unnecessary treatment for the person examined, as it brings funding into the treatment center, he said.

Tharinger pointed to the legislation he has worked on that increased funding to critical access hospitals, such as Forks Community Hospital and Jefferson Healthcare.

Having a good health care system is a critical pillar in the community, and businesses find it more difficult to recruit new employees to the area if that pillar crumbles, he said.

In regards to mental health services, the state needs 144 new beds to meet existing needs, and the employees to go with them, Tharinger said, adding that there is no funding for the beds under the current budget.

Minimum wage

Neither candidate supports an increase of state minimum wage to $15 per hour, they said in answer to a question about an idea under discussion by some groups.

But they disagreed on the general concept.

Tharinger said he thought that an increase from the present $9.32 per hours to $12.50 per hour would help support economic growth.

He added that states which have increased their minimum wage have not seen their economies adversely affected by those increases.

“The data is pretty strong on this,” he said.

Greisamer said minimum wage should be abolished, with employees and their employers negotiating individually for pay.

“Employees should be paid for what they produce,” he said.

Greisamer said he believes that the number of people living entirely on minimum wage employment is very small.

He said that the majority of minimum wage workers are those working while living with their parents or other family, or who are members of a family where another adult in the family earns a better wage.

One of the few things the candidates agreed on is that the current Discover Pass for entry to State Parks is not ideal, and another way is needed to fund the state parks system

Tharinger said the $30 million the passes currently bring in for the park system constitutes most of the $40 million state park budget but isn’t the ideal solution.

There have been several changes to the Discover Pass system to improve it for guests of the parks, he said, but no proposal has been made to replace it.

At one time, state parks were funded at $90 million annually, Tharinger said.

After state budget cuts during the Great Recession, that was reduced to $10 million, he added.

Greisamer said the system simply doesn’t work, as visitors simply drive past broken vending machines that sell the passes, and questioned the $30 million number for the income generated by the Discover Pass.

“$30 million seems like an awful lot of money,” he said.

He advocated ending the fee system altogether.

“There should be no pass. The parks should be open to anyone who wants to go there,” he said.

Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.