Meet Jay Inslee: Candidate for Governor

Editor's note: Patch has submitted candidate questionnaires to gubernatorial candidates Jay Inslee, Democrat, and Rob McKenna, Republican. Rob McKenna's questionnaire is available here.

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NAME: Jay Inslee 

OFFICE SOUGHT: Governor

PARTY AFFILIATION: Democratic Party

TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Bainbridge Island

CURRENT OCCUPATION: Candidate for Governor

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND: Former attorney; Former Congressman of the 1st Congressional District and 4th Congressional District

WEBSITE: www.jayinslee.com

WHAT IS THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE FACING VOTERS IN WASHINGTON: 

With nearly 300,000 people still out of work in Washington, job creation is my number one priority. Everything we do is dependent on a strong economy – from investing in our schools and colleges to protecting essential safety net services for seniors and those with disabilities.

IF ELECTED, WHAT WILL YOU DO IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS IN OFFICE TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE? 

I have a comprehensive jobs plan with dozens of ideas to create jobs in Washington’s key industries – life sciences, agriculture, maritime, life sciences, IT, clean tech and aerospace. These are industries where we have enormous potential to create jobs on both sides of the state and we know if these industries thrive, so does our entire economy. For example, I want to loosen restrictions that prevent our research universities from more quickly commercializing their research & development, a move that will help spur billions of dollars in new economic activity over the next few years. We can provide start-up tech companies with a tradable tax credit that helps them generate much-needed capital for R&D. And we need to enact lean management reforms to streamline how businesses and taxpayers interact with the government and reduce processing time for permitting and licensing activities.

DO YOU SUPPORT/OPPOSE REFERENDUM 74: SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL IN WASHINGTON? BRIEFLY, WHY? 

Yes, I support R-74. I don’t believe any politician should be able to tell an individual who they can or can’t marry.

DO YOU SUPPORT/OPPOSE, INITIATIVE 502 TO MAKE SMALL AMOUNTS OF MARIJUANA LEGAL TO PEOPLE 21 AND OLDER? BRIEFLY, WHY? 

I will be voting no. I am sensitive to the challenges of implementing a law that runs contrary to federal law, as I’ve seen in my work to increase legal access to medical marijuana. I do, however, support ensuring our law enforcement resources are more effectively focused on other priorities.