Deb in the News
CVTV Video Voters Guide
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Deb's video voter statement is now online! You can view it on the CVTV website by clicking here.
The Reflector
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Candidates of 17th legislative district focus on bipartisan success
by Brandy Slagle, Staff reporter
Bipartisan endeavors were the focus of all three leading candidates in the 17th legislative district. Leading candidates all spoke to cross-party issues after the primary election.
Votes from the Aug. 19 primary election are still being counted, but Democratic District 17 Rep. Deb Wallace has defeated Republican challenger Micheline Doan, 61 percent to 39 percent.
Wallace said she was genuinely honored by the results, which she felt were due to the work she has done on behalf of the people of the district.
"I work for the district, for the people who I represent," she said. "I'm not here to represent a political party or myself."
Wallace added that she was thrilled to see that Tim Probst has received so much support in the primary election. The two have worked together extensively on economic development issues, she said.
Probst, a Democratic Party activist who serves as chief executive officer of the Washington Workforce Association, retained a strong lead over his Republican opponent Joseph James. Probst obtained about 49.5 percent of the vote compared to political newcomer James' 31.8 percent.
Both candidates kept a strong lead over Republican Representative Jim Dunn who received 18.5 percent of the votes. Dunn served as state representative for the 17th District from 1996-2002 and again in 2004-2006. Dunn conceded to defeat in this election Aug. 22. He is asking his supporters to vote for James, who has been endorsed by 17th District committee officers.
"Joseph will continue to fight the 'spend and tax' mentality that is prevalent in Olympia and to block legislation that is not the best interest of our residents," he said.
Dunn was stripped of his committee assignments and travel reimbursement privileges for 2008 by house Republican leaders after allegedly making an inappropriate comment to a female legislative aide.
Probst said he considers himself politically moderate, similar to Wallace, focusing on middle class needs as a legislator. He earned about half of all votes in a race against two Republican opponents.
"I hope that voters are able to send a message to all politicians that bipartisanship is what they are looking for," he said. "I hope that they can send that message with me."
He said he plans to continue a strong community outreach during his campaign, which has included ringing over 11,000 doorbells to date.
Probst cited his 14-year history of working across party lines on economic issues as a strong reason for his success.
State Senator Don Benton retained an edge with 53 percent of votes over his opponent David Carrier, who brought in about 47 percent.
"Whether you consider yourself an independent, Republican or Democrat, the people of Clark County still have two things on their minds, and those are our increasingly high taxes and the economy," he said.
Benton's doorbell team have reached about 7,000 doorsteps throughout the county to encourage voters to make their concerns heard, he said. He added that he plans to coninue a vigorous campaign that will gain in momentum as the November election approaches.
He credits his success in this election to his fight to lower taxes.
"As we face this tough economy, taxpayers get a double whammy placed on them from housing costs and mortgage inflation, then a big property tax bill," he said. "It is a grave, grave concern to most of my constituents regardless of their political party."
Benton said voters recognize he has a strong working knowledge of how to navigate through the legislative process, and he thinks they are pleased with the representation they have received so far. He added that he is humbled and proud of their support.
"I added my name to the no-tax pledge, and have never voted for a tax increase," he said. "We don't need to increase them, we need to reduce them. The government needs to run more efficiently and be more responsive to the citizens."
The Columbian
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mothers and a whole lot more: Four working women credit their professional success to qualities shaped by parenthood
by Laura McVicker, Columbian Staff Writer
It’s a balancing act. A trade-off. A compromise.
These moms who work 24-hour shifts, pass laws, sentence criminals and oversee college budgets also endure nights of little sleep, long hours at PTA meetings and countless trips to and from soccer games.
But who’s complaining? Motherhood is what makes them who they are.
It’s what drives state Rep. Deb Wallace to advocate on the job for better learning opportunities for students with disabilities. Her son’s muscular dystrophy has, on occasion, stripped her time to the bare essentials: eat, sleep and work. But it also put things in perspective.
"I always look at it like this: You can laugh or you can cry,” Wallace said. “I would much rather enjoy life."
Motherhood is what makes others team players, advocates, savvy businesswomen.
The Columbian
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Chipping away at taxes
by Courtney Sherwood, Columbian Staff Writer
Vancouver-based SEH America has hired hundreds of workers, spent hundreds of millions of dollars and manufactured millions of high-tech silicon wafers since it became one of the leading U.S. manufacturers of 12-inch semiconductor disks in late 2006 — and the Japanese-owned company is still growing. The company’s rapid expansion in the past two years was kicked off by a targeted state tax cut, approved by the state legislature, that reduced SEH’s business and occupation tax rate by 57 percent.
As a result of that bill, two other Washington semiconductor businesses also saw their taxes fall — including one Vancouver firm that was cutting jobs, not growing, as it saved on taxes. Today, The Columbian looks at what Clark County and Washington state got for their money. Whether it was worth it is a matter of perspective, but it’s undeniable that Southwest Washington has benefited from SEH’s growth.
The bill
House Bill 3190 was sponsored by a bipartisan team of Clark County representatives: Democrats Deb Wallace, Bill Fromhold and Jim Moeller, and Republicans Ed Orcutt, Jim Dunn and Richard Curtis.
The bill cuts business and occupation taxes for companies involved in the manufacture of 12-inch silicon wafers, from a rate of 0.484 percent of gross income to 0.275 percent of gross income. But there’s a trigger attached — taxes only go down the month after a company has spent at least $350 million on construction, building improvements or equipment used to make these silicon wafers, which are the used in the manufacture of semiconductor microchips.
SEH spent the money on heavy equipment and building upgrades, and the bill went into effect on Dec. 1, 2006.
The Columbian
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
From the opinion page
In our view: New Website great for students, parents
Students and parents have just been provided with an excellent new source of information about the 5- to 6-year process of preparing for college.
When two high-profile groups grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of information about the planning process and the lack of awareness about accessing scholarships, they launched the Web site knowhow2gowashington.org. It’s a creative, colorful and teen-friendly online resource that answers virtually every basic question about what it takes to go to college.
It’s worth checking out, no matter how far along you might be in the process.
The first thing you’ll learn is that the first steps in the journey to college begin in middle school. But there also are key decisions to be made at the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior grade levels. Credit for the new Web site is due the College Success Foundation (a scholarship and mentoring program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) and the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
“I had no way of knowing” and “No one ever told me” just fell off the list of allowable excuses for not going to college.
The Columbian
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Web Site Points the way to cash for college
by Isolde Raftery, Columbian Staff Writer
Be a pain, push yourself and get your hands on some cash.
Those are words of wisdom from several college organizations in Washington state, which banded together recently to launch knowhow2gowashington.org, a Web site clearinghouse for information on college scholarships.
Frustrated that high school students haven’t been accessing scholarships because they don’t find out about them, the College Success Foundation and the Higher Education Coordinating Board launched the site last week. The site is flashy, easy to navigate and dotted with success stories.
The rail on the left side provides information for students from middle school to high school.
Rep. Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver, who was behind the effort, often recounts how she often meets high school students who believe that college costs prevent them from accessing higher education.
Last month, Wallace wrote to her fellow members of the Legislature when she found out that just 5,000 middle school students had signed up for the College Bound Scholarship program. College Bound provides a full ride and textbook stipend to low-income middle school students and is available to more than 50,000 Washington state students.