District 15: Newhouse's steady hand needed again

Dan Newhouse is seeking his fourth term in the state House of Representatives, and looking back over the first three we see a candidate who continues to be a respected, effective legislator.

That said, we recommend re-election of the Republican farmer from Sunnyside to the Position 2 seat. He's a good fit for the district and represents it well.

A legislator earns $42,106 per year.

Newhouse's opponent is White Salmon Democrat Tao Berman, a pleasant surprise in this year's local political scene. Trying to unseat a three-term incumbent is always tough, but Berman brings good ideas about economic recovery to the campaign dialogue. He proposes incentives to bring more businesses to the district to fill empty stores and boost the area economy. That's certainly an option that should be explored in Olympia as lawmakers seek to help get the state's economic house in order in trying times.

If Newhouse wins the election, as expected, we'd like to see Berman stay involved in district issues, perhaps even as a member of appropriate state-level boards or task forces.

Bottom line, though, is that Newhouse's experience and know-how are needed at a time in an upcoming legislative session in which major issues and needs will clash with an economic downturn in the state. When a 2009-11 state budget is written by legislators in January amid talks of multibillion-dollar "deficits," we need his thoughtful, relatively moderate involvement.

In fact, as Republican floor leader in the House, he's in a leadership position that will make him a key player in handling legislation. He can work within the legislative process, which requires the ability to negotiate and compromise.

We continue to be impressed by Newhouse's pragmatic views. At a time when local government is struggling to match revenue with needed services, both he and his Republican district seatmate, state Rep. Bruce Chandler of Granger, point to the failure of the Legislature to live up to a promise made years ago. That was shortly after legislative enactment of $30 license tabs in 2000 after the state Supreme Court ruled Tim Eyman's Initiative 695 unconstitutional.

The Legislature promised to replace some of the money lost to local governments with the elimination of the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, but after a couple of payments that promise has long since gone unfulfilled. As a result, local governments find themselves strapped for money and making tough policy decisions on whether they can keep such quality of life services as parks. "That's wrong," Newhouse said.

Along that line, he "applauds" the efforts of Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser in seeking out ways to stretch dollars by pooling some services. Still, we would expect both Chandler and Newhouse to continue to remind their colleagues in Olympia that the promise is still unkept.

When we endorsed Newhouse's re-election two years ago, we mentioned that when good legislators come along, whether Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative, it's a good idea to keep them around as long as they're doing the job they're elected to do. We put Dan Newhouse squarely in that category.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.

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