Republican Joel McEntire is challenging incumbent Brian Blake (D-Aberdeen) for 19th District Representative. The Daily World sent the following questions to all of the candidates for state representative. Here’s McEntire’s response.
Please briefly describe your professional or personal qualifications for the job:
Politically active most of my life with the Republican Party. Have no special-interest ties to Olympia.
Your occupation: Middle school science teacher in Wahkiakum County. Recently promoted to staff sergeant with the Marine Corps Reserves.
Some rural school districts say the funding mechanism that provided money for teacher raises will leave less money for districts to pay for the same programs they have had in the past. What, if anything, should the Legislature do about that?
The Legislature has the responsibility to ensure that funding for public education is fairly distributed across the state. Rural communities are unfairly treated by the recent changes to school funding and it is the Legislature’s duty to fix this inequality.
Homelessness has become a universal problem and solutions seem beyond local communities. What should the state do to address homelessness?
Every large community in our state and nation has issues with homelessness. It appears to be something that cannot be completely resolved, but I am sure that the Legislature has been more careless with homeless funds than local charities. Olympia blows millions of dollars that are intended to address homelessness on consultants and studies, while locales use money wisely to feed and bed our homeless. Perhaps the Legislature should just transfer funds away from state programs to local programs that actually show results.
Rural communities struggle with a shortage of doctors. What can the state do to narrow the gap between rural and urban-area health care?
Reduce regulation and red tape that makes healthcare difficult to operate in Washington State. We can’t force others to become doctors and serve in rural areas, but we can cut away some of the red tape that makes establishing treatment centers difficult.
