The Times/News recently submitted the following questions to all candidates for the Legislature who are in contested races in districts that represent the Highline area.

1. Why are you running for the Legislature?

2, What is your top legislative priority for the 2007 session?

3, Do you support or oppose additional state funding for a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle? Why? If you support it, where will the additional $2 billion come from?

4. What is the most important thing the Legislature can do next year to make affordable, comprehensive health coverage accessible to more state residents?

5. What is the most important thing the Legislature can do next year to improve the economic climate for small businesses?

6. Do you support or oppose Initiative 933, which would require compensation when government regulations damage the use or value of private property? Why?

There answers appear below; * denotes incumbent.

Senate

District 33

Karen Keiser (D)*

1. I am running for re-election because I want to continue my effective effort in the Legislature to expand opportunities, invest in the future and improve the health of our citizens and communities. I am especially concerned about the increasing cost of health care, and I intend to reduce the cost by adopting better prevention efforts and improving health outcomes.

2. Investing in education remains my top legislative priority. Our kids and schools need more resources, and we need to do everything possible to make excellent educational opportunities a reality for all students.

3. I support current state funding to replace the viaduct, but not additional funding for a tunnel.

4. We should increase access to affordable health care for all state residents. As taxpayers, we already pay for people who don't have health insurance, but we pay more because the uninsured end up in emergency rooms. We must also take steps to make sure all kids have health care. Sick kids don't learn well, and can spread their infections to others in the classroom. We can prevent a lot of future costs by covering all kids now.

5. We need to fund our Small Business Health Care Partnership so small businesses can voluntarily provide affordable health care for their employees. Employees who have decent health care are more productive and reduce employee turnover costs.

6. I don't want a massage parlor next to my house, even if that is what the property owner deems a better, more profitable use of his property. And I don't think my city should have to pay anyone to keep a massage parlor out of my neighborhood. I oppose Initiative 933 because it is a radical approach to property rights that would set aside zoning and cost taxpayers billions.

Karen Steele (R)

1. Our 33rd District citizens deserve more than what they are getting from Karen Keiser and this Legislature. We face out-of-control property taxes. The dynamics of the American Family have changed. Sadly, seniors are being chased out of their homes. Seniors are also moving in with their children because staying in their homes has become impossible. As a start, I want to freeze property taxes for seniors.

Small business owners are being regulated out of their livelihood and precious jobs are lost. The tax structure is totally unfair as businesses are taxed on their gross rather than their net profit. Let's change the tax structure so that it benefits all of us. Small business is the largest employer in America. In contrast to my opponent,

I believe that it is time we took our businesses seriously.

Education is begging for reform. I think that our School Principals and our teachers know our kids best. Let's put them in charge of our kid's education.

Vote for me and we will make it happen.

2. My priority is changing the business climate in Washington by protecting small businesses and making Washington more business friendly.

3. Oppose. I do not believe that the Viaduct needs replacing. It can be strategically repaired to still be a safe and necessary link from downtown Seattle to South King County. This can be done at a fraction of the cost of a tunnel.

4. Invite insurance companies back to Washington. Olympia drove insurance companies out of our state, killing market competition. Competition drives costs down.

5. The Legislature can delete or change the B&O tax to apply only to the businesses' net profit.

6. Support. Landowners have a right to full use and enjoyment of their property. When the government takes your land, they must pay you for it.

District 34

Erik Poulsen (D)*

1. I'm running for re-election to continue my leadership on solving our transportation problems, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and promoting alternative energy sources like wind and solar power.

Washington Conservation Voters, the state's largest environmental group, named me Legislator of the Year for my tireless pursuit of energy independence. I am committed to leaving a better world behind for our children.

2. As Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, I championed legislation to build a thriving biofuels industry in Washington, which will produce new high-paying jobs, help farmers, and lower gas prices. We need to take even bigger, bolder steps next session to lower our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels, which are causing climate change.

3. If the city of Seattle wants an expensive tunnel to replace the viaduct, they need to come up with the extra money on their own. The state's focus should be on how best to keep traffic moving during construction.

4. The U.S. remains the only industrialized nation to not insure all our children - this is a disgrace. The state and employers must unite to fund universal childhood healthcare, focusing on prevention, promoting cost-cutting innovations like virtual visits and secure messaging, and cracking down on price gouging by drug companies.

5. The B&O tax is regressive and unfair. It must be reformed to account for profit and losses. We must also continue finding ways to reduce the burden of escalating healthcare costs and unreasonable mandates by state agencies.

6. I-933 is yet another deceptive ballot measure crafted by special interests to make more money. In this case, taxpayers like us would be forced to pay big developers that were stopped from building wherever they want and running farmers off their land. I stand with the hundreds of family farmers who oppose I-933.

Paul Byrne (R)

Mr. Byrne did not reply.

House of Representatives

District 11

Seat 2

Bob Hasegawa (D)*

1. My long-term policy goal is progressive tax reform. It simply has to happen. We must have a system that is fair and equitable, adequate to fund our necessary programs and stable and diversified enough so we can confidently predict adequate revenues.

The WASL is an "all or nothing" test every student must pass. It appears the WASL will punitively screen out low-income children and children of color. This means the 11th District will likely be one of the hardest hit by the new WASL graduation standard, punishing our children for a failure of the education system.

I want to help build a movement toward a universal coverage single-payer health care system. Access to quality health care is a human right, not a privilege for those with enough money to afford it.

2. Tax Reform. Our current system forces the poorest to pay the most taxes, and the richest to pay the least. We need a state income tax along with reduced sales, property and B&O taxes. We also need to take a look at all the tax loopholes created for the benefit of the wealthiest and corporations, at the expense of the rest of us.

3. I oppose it because for one I am opposed to the proposed regressive taxes to pay for it. It would contribute to gentrification where regular folks can't afford to live. We need to keep the Port a working port and a tunnel would restrict that.

4. To really make health coverage affordable and accessible for everyone, we need to find new and innovative strategies to ensure everyone has health coverage.

5. We can work to reduce or eliminate the B&O tax while working towards progressive tax reform.

6. I oppose I-933 because it's a give away to developers.

John Potter (R)

Mr. Potter did not reply.

District 33

Seat 1

Shay Schual-Berke (D)*

1. My background as a physician and former member of the Highline School Board has allowed me to be an effective voice for our community for the past eight years in the Legislature, championing issues like the Patients Bill of Rights, Mental Health Parity and Simple Majority for School Levies. There is much left to do!

2. Making sure our statewide Public Health System is strong and protecting us everywhere we live and go in our state. I chair the Public Health Financing Committee and am convinced that in the 21st century and in the face of new threats like SARS, bioterrorism, an influenza pandemic and more, public health protects every citizen's safety; individual health insurance does not address these problems, and an individual cannot protect themselves by their own efforts alone.

3. I need to be open to all possible options and information but with current information I oppose the tunnel because of expense and potential building difficulties.

4. Healthcare is a right-if you can afford insurance you get it relatively easily and in a timely fashion. If you can't you may have to wait until you are really sick and get it in an expensive place like the emergency room-but eventually you get care. The answer must be a combination of simplification of processes to reduce paperwork and administrative costs; better funding of healthcare so there is a place for everyone to be covered for care; wellness promotion and disease prevention mean that the epidemic of obesity will be addressed, and the subsequent costs of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc., in the future will be reduced.

5. Change the tax structure of the state. Our B&O tax on gross income is ridiculous and harmful

6. I oppose I-933 but am hoping there will be legislation to support to address some of the problems that forced people to put this initiative on the ballot.

Mike Cook (R)

1. I am running because I want major policy changes in state government.

2. My top priority is to have 99 percent of all teens graduate from high school on time. My class 40 years ago in a working-class community did it. We had truancy laws and vocational education that kept non-academic students engaged.

3. No tunnel. Retrofit the existing viaduct structure. Spend more on earthquake and other disaster readiness. In my Website, I over-praised the job Seattle is doing on disaster readiness because I believed a press report. A new study shows Seattle gets an "F" for readiness.

4. Quit mandating items to be covered. Roll back the mandatory mental health coverage. Never give up on malpractice reform, including limits on suing everybody even peripherally involved with a malpractice claim.

5. Lower taxes. Roll back unfunded mandates. Improve transportation.

6. I support 933, which is actually the best way to combat a fourth runway.

District 34

Seat 1

Eileen Cody (D)*

1. I have enjoyed representing the people of the 34th district and want to return to Olympia to continue working on changes to our health care system.

2. Health care Reform

3. I oppose the tunnel and do not support any further state funding.

4. Implement a connector program for the individual and small group markets similar to what Massachusetts recently passed. This would allow everyone to enjoy the tax benefits employers get when purchasing health benefits. We must also take steps to prevent more employers from dropping coverage.

5. I believe that helping small businesses to be able to offer health care coverage to their employees would help them immensely.

6. I oppose. I-933 would not only damage the state's ability to manage growth and protect the environment but has the potential of bringing billions of dollars of claims against the state, hurting all of us as taxpayers.

James K. Nickerson (R)

Mr. Nickerson did not reply.

Seat 2

Joe McDermott (D)*

1. I want to continue my work on behalf of our district, particularly in education and transportation. In the last term I introduced legislation that is making the State Board of Education more accountable and responsible for student achievement.

2. I will continue to focus on student achievement. I am proud of the work I have done expanding the availability of school breakfast programs to be sure students are ready to learn. Further, we must address achievement in math, given the low pass rates on the math portion of the WASL.

3. I do not support additional state funding for a tunnel. The state should pay the cost of rebuilding the existing structure, and delivered this funding with the 9.5 cent gas tax increase that voters affirmed.

The additional funding for a tunnel option is the city of Seattle's responsibility to identify, not the state. Possible sources of additional funds include the federal transportation budget, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Port of Seattle, the RTID, and the city of Seattle itself.

4. The Legislature will continue working to make health insurance and care available to more people at a reasonable cost. In 2005, with HB 1441, we stated that all children should be covered by 2010 and took steps to reach that goal in 2005 and 2006. We must continue to meet this commitment. The Basic Health Plan, expanded by 6,500 to 106,500 in 2006, should continue to be expanded.

5. We should build on the Small Business Health Insurance Partnership (HB 2572) that was enacted this year to make affordable health insurance available to small employers and their employees.

6. I do not support Initiative 933. The initiative is far reaching and would go too far towards eliminating government's ability to engage in zoning or environmental protection.

Savun Neang (R)

1. My motivation did not change. This country gave me a second life, so I want to give back through politics, which I see as an opportunity to make change. I never give up. Whatever I can do to help this country, I do it.

2. One Term, One Mission, One Issue: "Illegal Aliens." Whether it is the $549 million we annually spend educating "illegal aliens," the $75 million we spent last year in medical care for "illegal aliens" or the $32 million we annually spend on "illegal aliens" incarcerated in prisons, the public funding of services for "illegal aliens" is a major portion of those deficits. I am not talking about immigrants. I am talking about people here illegally, whether they overstayed their visa or entered our country illegally. I will work hard in 2007 to enforce our existing immigration laws.

3. I oppose replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel. A tunnel is not safe; Seattle is sitting on an earthquake fault line, and an aging sea wall. In case of emergency, the emergency personnel can't come in and out to rescue the victims. The idea of digging a tunnel is a bad idea, and I question where is the $2 billion coming from? I should compare the tunnel idea to the Monorail idea, where the budget overruns were rejected the Seattle voters last election.

4-5. Mr. Neang did not answer these so he could add to his answers to other questions.

6. For the Initiative 933 the issue, if the voters approved it in November, I would honor their decision.

As elected representative from 34th district, my vote is not my decision; my vote is the voters' decision. As a State Representative, I will not be representing the Government, the Republican Party or Democrat Party: I am a representative of the voters of my district and my state.