This Washington
State Sen. Tom: "The State Should Get Out of the Marriage Business."
Earlier this week, Republican state candidate Gregg Bennett told us he supports gay marriage. Bennett is an Eastside investor who's running against incumbent Democratic state Sen. Rodney Tom (D-48, Medina).
Today, we asked Tom where he was on gay marriage. He told us, "the state should get out of the marriage business. A lot of countries in Europe do this. I have no issue with gay marriage. I think straight couples or gay and lesbian coupls should all be treated equal and should get civil unions. Marriage should be between individuals and their church."
[Editorializing here, or at least Erica (who overheard the interview) is editorializing here: "That's the coolest thing I've ever heard a legislator say."]
I also asked Sen. Tom about his flip flop on the two-thirds majority rule. During the legislative session, Tom, the ways and means chair, voted to overturn I-960, the voter-approved mandate that the legislature cannot raise taxes without a two-thirds majority. (You can hear his floor speech in support of suspending 960 here ... it's at the 1:38:14 mark). On the campaign trail now, Tom says he supports I-1053, the son of I-960, which would reinstate the rule.
Huh?
Tom explains that once the legislature overturned 960, budget reforms that he also wanted to do—like liquor privatization and closing McNeil Island to save millions of dollars he says, "were taken off the table."
The Democrats' "problem" he says (Tom used to be a Republican, but switched parties in 2006), "is that once we got that revenue, we didn't look at other things to save us money." Tom says he now wants the two-thirds rule back in place to force the legislature to deal with deeper budget issues. (This is actually the Republican line: It's a spending problem in Olympia, not a revenue problem.)
Most liberals disagree, arguing that the state doesn't have an adequate revenue system (a sales tax) to keep up with the annual increased cost of maintaining current services.
Today, we asked Tom where he was on gay marriage. He told us, "the state should get out of the marriage business. A lot of countries in Europe do this. I have no issue with gay marriage. I think straight couples or gay and lesbian coupls should all be treated equal and should get civil unions. Marriage should be between individuals and their church."
[Editorializing here, or at least Erica (who overheard the interview) is editorializing here: "That's the coolest thing I've ever heard a legislator say."]
I also asked Sen. Tom about his flip flop on the two-thirds majority rule. During the legislative session, Tom, the ways and means chair, voted to overturn I-960, the voter-approved mandate that the legislature cannot raise taxes without a two-thirds majority. (You can hear his floor speech in support of suspending 960 here ... it's at the 1:38:14 mark). On the campaign trail now, Tom says he supports I-1053, the son of I-960, which would reinstate the rule.
Huh?
Tom explains that once the legislature overturned 960, budget reforms that he also wanted to do—like liquor privatization and closing McNeil Island to save millions of dollars he says, "were taken off the table."
The Democrats' "problem" he says (Tom used to be a Republican, but switched parties in 2006), "is that once we got that revenue, we didn't look at other things to save us money." Tom says he now wants the two-thirds rule back in place to force the legislature to deal with deeper budget issues. (This is actually the Republican line: It's a spending problem in Olympia, not a revenue problem.)
Most liberals disagree, arguing that the state doesn't have an adequate revenue system (a sales tax) to keep up with the annual increased cost of maintaining current services.
