For a generation, Debra Long was part of the elected team that guided the Central Valley School District. She's looking to become an elected official again, this time as a state legislator in Olympia.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Debra Long: I'm running on the premise that I'm tired of the gas taxes. I'm honest. I go to Idaho at the Maverik right there and I save a dollar a gallon. I'm not alone. East Valley went there during the whole month of May and it was about a buck and a quarter and they saved over a hundred grand.
We have to do what we can. I'm not making minimum wage, but I still care about the almighty dollar and I've got kids that work for us at Rockwood, where I've been for 30 years. They're watching every penny. They're with me. They're going to cross the line to get the gas.
As Senator (Leonard) Christian would say, they've lost like over two million dollars in fuel taxes. They're way down, not what they thought, and I thought wake up. Look at the revenue. You are losing by all of us going across the line. So I'm running on the gas tax.
I'm running on that wonderful income tax because when all the millionaires leave where are they gonna get the money. It's gonna come from you and I. There's no end cap of where they're gonna go. So I'm okay if they want to put an income tax. Well, not really, but put an end cap on it, so it doesn't hurt each and every citizen in Washington state.
DN: Are you worried that, as many have made the case, it's a tax for millionaires now, but it's gonna be a tax for everybody in the future. Do you believe that?
DL: I believe that wholeheartedly. When our governor says, when you elect me, there will be no new taxes and this is the first one out of the boat. You're thinking what the heck. You promised no new taxes and then we have more gas taxes and it went up again. It (the increase) was only a penny on July 1, but still, if you're watching your pennies, every penny counts and that's horrible.
I want accountability. I'm an accountant at Rockwood Retirement community. I'm fiscally responsible and had to be fiscally responsible for our children when I was a school board director and I'm fiscally responsible to my residents who live at Rockwood. I'm a bean counter and I watch every penny that we spend and make sure it does the right thing. When I was in school, is it for the kids? Is it gonna enhance their lives? Is it gonna make a difference at Rockwood? Is it gonna help my residents because we're a nonprofit. We don't kick them out. They stay with me forever. We fundraise every year for the resident assistance fund so that I can take care of you when you run out of money.
DN: As a school board member, how did you view our district's relationship with the state? Did you feel like the state did a good job of making sure that districts like yours were well cared for, well funded?
DL: No, they didn't.
I was also the Washington state president of the school board. It's called WSSDA (Washington State School Directors Association).
It is the paramount duty. It's in our Washington state constitution. It is a paramount duty to educate our children. If you don't want to educate and don't want to give me money, take that baby out. But it's there, so do the right thing.
I can remember when the lottery was passed. It's gonna fund education. Where's that money go now? It goes to the general fund. It doesn't go to education. How about the marijuana? Yeah, it's supposed to rehab and help. It's still going to the general fund.
So what are they gonna do with the income tax? Is that going to the general fund or is that gonna help you and I?
DN: Do you feel like the state spends enough money on education and is just not well spent? Or do you feel like the state needs to spend more money because there are more needs that it need to be taken care of?
DL: There are truly a lot more needs than anyone realizes. If you have a special education child, you're entitled to all the benefits and, unfortunately, physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy are very expensive and that hurts the 85% that are what we consider the average student. They say I need to enhance those who are taking AP classes, the true brilliant children that they are. And then I need to take care of my special needs children. But that comes at a cost. So if our expenses are really, really high for a special needs child, we have to cut somewhere. So no, they don't fund it appropriately.
DN: Do you believe as a former school board member that the state threshold needed to pass a bond issue, which is now 60% in Washington, 66% in Idaho, is too high or is that appropriate?
DL: We put a bill in and advocated to get it to 50%. It's never passed the legislature. I would say 55% is sufficient. 60% is sometimes a real struggle, If you pass it at 60% and it doesn't have enough votes, it doesn't count. So you really need not only the voters, but you also need that 60% and so I think it's a struggle for many schools.
I know at one point we had 59.9%. That's just so disheartening. It's like oh, what do we do? And then the next time we went out it was like 45%. So we lost a lot of momentum and it's tough to pass a bond. You've got school districts in the state of Washington that can't even pass that bond.
DN: So if you go to Olympia, what kind of influence do you want to have? Where are the areas that you want to have the most influence?
DL: I'd like to have a release on some of the mandates. Let's work together. I don't care if you're Democrat, Republican or an independent. I believe that 80% of us agree on what should be a mandate and what should not.
Government does best when they do least and they should be there to govern us, but not mandate us. I'd like to wipe the slate clean with mandates and start over. How about the Growth Management Act? We have sewers, we have water and we need land. You can't build unless you're a part of the Growth Management Act and that's hurting our people.
DN: It would be a hard one to get rid of.
DL: Yeah, it will. But you know, what century are we in? Not everybody can have 20 acre lots.
DN: How would the experience you had as a school board member benefit you as a state legislator, in terms of leadership skills that sort of thing?
DL: I think it makes a difference because I've been there and I've tried hard to make a difference with our kids. Funding has to be appropriate. Fine arts in any school district is woefully underfunded and we need those kids. Spokane Valley Tech was the best thing we ever did because it gave our students opportunities.
They can try to be a cosmetologist. Mmm, I guess I don't really like that. I want to be a welder and I get to work at American Alloy. Mmm, I'm not sure. I like that. I have the opportunity to try and find a vocation that I want. I don't know about you, but a plumber is over a hundred bucks an hour and we need plumbers. We need builders. We need electricians. We need people that enjoy what they're gonna do because you can do it for the next 40 years. That's what's gonna make a difference and I think providing kids avenues is going to help and I think that this millionaire tax where we don't lose all of our business is hurting us.
