47th District candidates for the State House of Representative, Position 2, appeared at a recent Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce at Emerald Downs to explain where they stand on some of the issues of the day. Here is what they had to say.

Incumbent: Pat Sullivan, Democrat

Pat Sullivan recalled how he and Skip Priest, former Republican state Representative, and present Federal Way mayor had co-sponsored bills together advancing vocational education and critical education reform.

For the Covington Democrat, seeking election to his fifth term in the state House, working across the political aisle makes good sense, especially in a hyper-partisan political environment, particularly if you really want to accomplish anything.

“That’s what it’s all about, working across party lines to get something done,” said Sullivan, current majority leader.

Sullivan said that if reelected, he would continue his bipartisan efforts to advance two of his top priorities — education and economic development.

“On the economic development side, we not only have to work to promote big business in Washington State … but we have to focus it here at the local level,” Sullivan said.

He noted that he had pushed for a local infrastructure financing grant to promote greater economic development in the Auburn area, including the Promenade project on South Division Street.

Sullivan said investments in transportation — notably long needed improvements to SR167 — and investments in infrastructure improvements and the work force will have the most positive impact on business growth in South King County and across the state.

“We need to focus those resources here,” Sullivan said. “This is our time. It’s time for those transportation projects that the South Chamber of Commerce Coalition has been advocating for years. I can tell you that I will fight like a dog in Olympia to make sure those projects happen right here in South King County, and that they don’t go up because of cost overruns with the Alaskan Way Viaduct. We simply cannot let that happen, and we won’t let that happen.”

Challenger: Andy Massagli, Republican

Andy Massagli has owned an ad agency in Washington and in California, a flight school and aircraft management company and is today the new vice president at EzTvSpots.com.

For a short time, Massagli served as an airline captain.

That varied background, Massagli said, taught him a lot about business and how insurance and regulations negatively affect it.

“We do need transportation and all those kinds of things, but that’s not what I hear from business people. I don’t hear ‘if only it were a little smoother in front of my business, we’d get people,’ although that’s a fact. What they really want to know is ‘how do I get more people in the door who can afford my goods or services?’ Those are the things that a business needs to grow,” Massagli said

And what the legislature needs, Massagli said, is more people like him, people schooled in business, people who understand how businesses grow.

“I think that there’s not enough business experience in the legislature,” Massagli said.

He cited what he considers two prime impediments to business growth: Labor and Industries insurance; and the business and occupation tax.

“We’re the only place in the known free world that taxes businesses on revenue and not profit, which is harsh. All the way down Auburn Avenue you’ve got car dealers carrying big ticket items for small margins,” said Massagli.

The legislature, he said, needs to be schooled on business, especially on the difference between capital and cash flow.

Regulation, he said, is killing business, he said, insisting that L&I insurance in any other form would be called racketeering.

“I have no desire to have a career in politics. I want to be there a few terms, I want to get things fixed, and then I want to get back into business. And we need more people in this room to think that way, and more people to come up from business and say ‘this is how we fix business.’ Do not allow the people with no experience whatsoever to tell you how to run your business. It’s killing us. That’s why I’m running, and that’s what I want to fix.”