Thursday, March 28, 2024

Adrianne Moore aims to unseat incumbent Goehner for 12th District House seat

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WINTHROP -- NCW Media interviewed the challenger to Republican Keith Goehner's 12th District state house seat last week to see how she plans to defeat him come the fall. Adrianne Moore of Winthrop is running as a Democrat and has her own ideas on various policy and procedure questions posed to her. Here is the Q&A:

NCW Media: What powers as a state representative will you have to help small businesses get back to work after COVID-19?

Adrienne Moore: Small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the workers in Washington State and form the bedrock of our North Central Washington economy. For our entire economy to recover, we have to prioritize the recovery of small businesses.

My family runs a small business, I’ve helped businesses recover following devastating wildfires, and I have spoken with dozens of small businesses over the last few months, asking what they need to quickly and fully recover. Small businesses largely agree that foremost we need united, strong, local leadership that will help our community stay safe and reduce COVID-19 cases across the region -- the quicker we recover from COVID-19, the quicker our small businesses recover. 

As COVID-19 rates decline, a state representative must use their power to help our small businesses and their employees get back to work. As a representative, I will work to improve access to straightforward loan and grant funds; reduce the tax obligations of struggling small businesses (including relief from B&O taxes); preserve and strengthen healthcare and childcare resources to reduce household spending; and build policies that protect workers so they can and will return to work without fear for their safety. The bottom line, is that it is time to ask those who have seen their profit increase during this pandemic to join in the fight to save our economy  - the net worth of 12 Washington billionaires increased by 28 percent during the first months of COVID-19, while more than a million workers lost their jobs and childcare and other safety net systems face an epic crisis of funding. We cannot ask small businesses or working-class people to give more, it’s time for everyone to pay their fair share.

NCW Media: Schools: Are you in favor of rushing to reopen schools no matter what the health issues are as far as kids following mask/social distance rules, sharing a bus, etc.?

Moore: The health of our children, families, and school personnel needs to be our highest priority. As a mom of school-aged children and former director of a community health organization, I understand the effect school shutdowns will have on our children’s educational attainment and mental wellbeing, and on parents’ ability to work. Because controlling the pandemic will be the quickest means to reopening schools, we need our leadership to have a united front against the pandemic and a clear plan to achieve a sustained reduction in cases. When we do, schools can reopen safely, parents can go back to work, and we can start down the road to a lasting economic recovery. If schools cannot reopen this fall, our representatives must be strong in their advocacy for better internet access across the district, funding so teachers can effectively implement distance learning, and social supports that ensure our most vulnerable children are not isolated or forgotten. It is the responsibility of a state representative to stand with our teachers, kids, families, community and economy, and work relentlessly on their behalf to slow the spread of COVID-19.

NCW Media: Environment: Once in Olympia, are there specific environmental policies you would like to see enacted?

Moore: Year after year, our communities have been impacted by wildfires that destroy homes, threaten our health, risk our safety, and diminish  our economy. For our future safety and wellbeing, our region needs to make the reduction of wildfire risk a top priority. Further, if we center the people who live in North Central Washington in our wildfire reduction strategies, we have a real opportunity to bring vitality to our economy.

Our skilled workforce (the next generation of which we can and should invest in) and abundant natural resources, make our region well poised to bring in good jobs through forest health initiatives and related industry, and clean energy technology and manufacturing. A representative must be a strong advocate for our region, people, and businesses, and ensure they are centered in the opportunities that come with Washington State’s efforts to mitigate the risks of fire and build climate resilience.

NCW Media: Tourism and Agriculture: are the top two income producers in the District. Will these two vital industries get any special attention from the state government?

Moore: Tourism and agriculture are cornerstones of our economy and both are being significantly impacted by COVID-19 and the growing division the pandemic is causing across our communities. In the absence of the strong, local leadership needed to unite us against the pandemic and allow us to attain health and safety, both industries are being left to fend for themselves, and workers and employers are being pitted against each other. This lose-lose situation is a result of our state and federal leadership failing to address the pandemic by providing timely and sufficient support to business owners and a strong safety net for all of us. These are first steps to immediately supporting both industries and getting us all through the crisis.

Long-term legislative support is not too dissimilar: state government can support these vital industries by investing in small business over billion-dollar corporations; incentivizing work; fixing our broken healthcare system that relies on costly and insufficient health insurance plans; and addressing the skyrocketing cost of living. These strategic investments would relieve the financial burden on businesses, increase the standard of living for all, and promote the long-term viability of tourism  and agricultural industries (as well as physical therapists, small manufacturers and others).

 

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