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POSTED: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008

Morris challenged by Green Party candidate in House race

State Rep. Jeff Morris says the modernization of public education will be one of his top priorities if 40th District voters give him another term.

Morris, a Mount Vernon Democrat, was first elected to the district's Position 2 seat in 1996. Opposing him on the Nov. 4 general election ballot is Green Party candidate Howard Pellett, a retired IRS agent and former Bothell City Council member who lives in Anacortes.

Pellet is traveling much of this month and has been unavailable for interviews.

Morris said the state needs to do more to help local school districts pay for the staff and equipment they need to upgrade math and computer skills education. That means an upgrade to state education funding formulas that haven't been revisited since the 1970s.

"The state funds are stuck in the 1970s," Morris said. "School districts like Bellingham and Mount Baker are trying to pay for those things out of local levy funds."

Morris plans to continue his focus on energy issues. Among other things, he said the Legislature may need to take another look at a voter-approved law that mandates state electric utilities get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020. Morris is all for green power, but he notes that California and other states have adopted similar renewable power mandates, and the demand may exceed supply.

He fears that California utilities might bid up the price of renewable power, forcing this state's utilities to pay more and giving Washington households a nasty rate shock. California law allows that state's utilities to seek renewable power anywhere, while Washington's law restricts power utilities to the Bonneville Power Administration's Northwest service area, Morris said. That might need to be changed, and the deadline for renewable power goals may need to be pushed back to give power generating companies enough time to run the regulatory gauntlet and get new green power sources online, he said.

Morris also noted that budget problems are going to dominate the next legislative session and will make it difficult for lawmakers to find money to invest in new initiatives, no matter how badly they are needed.

"I think the biggest challenge we're going to face is to continue to make investments in our economy," Morris said.

As he sees it, the state could undermine its own economic prospects if it cuts back too far on investment in education and transportation systems, which he sees as vital to prosperity here.

Morris said he'll follow a three-pronged approach in balancing the budget:

-- Look for new ways to improve government efficiency.

-- Cut funding to programs that don't have much impact on a problem.

-- Revisit the cost of voter-approved initiatives.

He cited state funding for adult medical care programs as an area where cuts could be considered. Morris said the state should keep its pledge to fund a generous medical care program for children, but health care for adults is an issue that needs a federal solution.

He suggested that costly voter-approved laws could be resubmitted to voters with a price tag and new taxes attached, "to see if people actually want to pay for the projects they pass."

Examples he cited: initiatives that have increased teachers' pay, added to the state prison population, and cut state income, such as the car tab initiative.

Though Pellet has been unavailable for interviews, in his campaign literature he pledges to do what he can to block the proposed sale of Puget Sound Energy to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners and work for public ownership of Puget's dams and transmission system.

He also attacks Democrats for not acting to end the Iraq war.

He also says he will "work courageously" for universal health care, abortion rights, alternative energy and farmland protection.

ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

JEFF MORRIS

Age: 44

Family: Wife, Jenny; 14 month-old daughter; three children from previous marriage.

Education: Bachelor's degree, Central Washington University.

Employment: CEO of Energy Horizon LLC, energy planning.

Experience: incumbent 40th District State Representative since 1997; staffer to former U.S. Rep. Al Swift.

Campaign e-mail: jeff@morriscampaign.com

Campaign contributions: $108,000.

Expenditures: $89,000.

HOWARD PELLETT

Age: 69

Family: Wife, Carol, five children.

Education: bachelor’s degree in business administration, Los Angeles State College.

Employment: retired IRS agent, Green Party activist.

Experience: six years on Bothell City Planning Commission, four years on Bothell City Council.

Campaign e-mail: cpellett@cablerocket.com

Campaign contributions and expenditures: less than $3,500.