SPOKANE, Wash. — Candidates for Washington governor took the stage for their second debate in Spokane on Wednesday evening.
Bob Ferguson (D) and Dave Reichert (R) debated for an hour at the Fox Theater on topics such as child care, education, housing and small business.
The debate was put on by Nonstop Local KHQ, Nonstop Local KNDU/KNDO, The Association of Washington Business and Greater Spokane Inc.
When posed questions about Washington’s tax system for individuals and businesses, Ferguson made a point to mention how expensive child care can be.
“We have a Fair Start for Kids Act here in Washington State. That’s a good start by our legislature. We need to invest more in that so working people across our state can get child care that’s affordable and still work in our public sectors and private sectors and help fuel our economy,” said Ferguson.
The Fair Start for Kids Act is a bill that aims to make childcare more affordable in Washington.
Reichert said he would work across the aisle to help families handle the rising cost of living.
“Let’s not tax baby food. Let’s not tax diapers. Let’s not tax baby essentials. I’m going to work with the House Democrats and the Senate Democrats t put together a bill that actually helps middle income families raise their children without paying taxes on baby sanctions,” said Reichert.
Both candidates also discussed how they would address Washington’s challenging business climate.
During the debate, the moderator noted that Spokane’s Zona Blanca restaurant plans to close at the end of September due to crime and drug use, and that many other local businesses struggle with the same issues.
In response, Reichert expressed his support for the police.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to enforce the law. And people smile when I say that’s obvious, but we’re not allowing cops to enforce the law. We have to enforce the law. We have to support our police officers. We have to elect officials that support our police officers,” he said.
Ferguson responded with points about his office holding big pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid crisis.
“We’ve received a billion dollars, and I’ve insisted all that money be used for treatment, and that will help address situations we are seeing and first responders as well,” he said.
With respect to cost of living and affordable housing, Ferguson said, if elected governor, he would make sure there was more housing to help drive our economy and workforce.
Reichert said he would advocate for pausing the state’s gas tax in order to make necessities more affordable.
After the debate, Reichert stayed for an interview with 4 News Now. We asked you, Washington voters, what you wanted the candidates to discuss. You said the mental health and and homelessness crisis. We asked Reichert how he’d address that.
“Surrounding our homeless people with drug rehab, for example, mental health professionals, job, therapy, counseling and all of those things and requiring that they abide by rules within the houses or homes or buildings that they’re staying at,” said Reichert.
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