Jesse Salomon fund-raiser - Big Success

Yesterday, DfA-Bellingham sponsored a fund-raiser dinner for State Senate Candidate Jesse Salomon - D (42nd LD). It was a huge success! Eighty-plus showed up to generously support Jesse and dine on fresh caught Barbecued salmon.

WA State Senate (42nd LD) Candidate Jesse Salomon and
42nd LD Democrats Chairperson Shannon O'brien

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Here's what Jesse had to say to the gathering:

JESSE SALOMON: Prior to running I worked as a prosecuting attorney for the Lummi Nation, focused on child welfare and hunting and fishing laws. I am a proud graduate of WWU and obtained a law degree at the UW School of law. I have been involved in public service for over a decade, getting my start working in the non profit sector with homeless youth. I also worked in Olympia on behalf of higher ed… and spent some time learning the political ropes in Washiongton DC.

I will talk about growth, Ag, HC, Education, and taxes. While I respect Mr. Brandland for the years of public service he has given to Whatcom County, we need to a change of representation in the senate. The Senate is so closely divided beween parties and common sense bill like stem cell research civil rights and medically accurate sex ed have been blocked by Sen Brandland and his republican collegues.I will discuss the ideas I have for helping Whatcom county and Washington state and how my opponent has voted on these issues.


We need to do a better job of controlling growth and preventing urban sprawl. There have been government missteps and overreaches which have hurt landowners and we must address that, but we must also continue to plan for growth. We need to do a better job of purchasing development rights so farmers are paid the value of their development rights in exchange for making sure the farmland remains as farmland and is not turned into urban sprawl. We need to infill our urban areas in a way that maintains architectural character and quality of life.


Instead of finding constructive approaches to controlling urban sprawl while ensuring that property rights are respected, my opponent took the radical step of voting to abolish the growth management hearings board which would render growth planning more confusing (See bill digest for SB 5282 and attached roll call vote showing B voted for the bill).

Clean and renewable energy provides us with an opportunity to use our farmland and open space and natural resources in a way that helps our environment and economy. Whatcom County has over 60,000 dairy cows which produce an average of 1.2 million gallons of manure per day (WCfarmfriends.com). Already, a biodigester is extracting methane energy from this local resource. We need to expand this technology so that all farmers can sell this resource for a profit. We need to make use of our abundant wind to create electricity and we can develop a biodiesel and ethanol industry in this state and help get away from high gas prices. Unfortunately, Mr. Brandland voted against the biofuels bill designed to increase local clean fuels. The time is ripe for change in our energy policy, we must be inventive and creative and not stand in the way of new ideas. We must do it for our economy, for our environment, and for energy independence.

Health care is a mess. We need to find ways to increase accessibility and affordability for everyone. 600,000 Washingtonians are uninsured including 3,000 children in Whatcom County. Prescription drug prices are increasing about 15 percent per year. Nearly three times as many families file for bankruptcy due to medical emergencies than did a decade ago.(WSLC.org) No one person has all the answers and reforming the health care system and it will require a bipartisan cooperation. Mr. Brandland will likely talk about his work to cap damages, but we can’t rely on taking a jury’s right to compensate victims of medical malpractice as the solution to our health care problems. It is too easy to blame lawyers, but it won’t solve the problem.

One positive step the legislature took last session was to make it more affordable for small businesses to provide insurance for their employees. Again, Mr. Brandland voted against this bill and voted against providing the funding mechanisms for it.

Getting back to the issue of prescription medicine, the very same drugs are often sold for less than half the U.S. price in Canada and now it is time to expand this drug purchasing pool to allow all government entities and private purchasers to join in the savings. Mr. Brandland voted in 2005 against allowing the state to purchase drugs in bulk and driving down costs. Luckily, the bill passed the Senate, but only by one vote. We must take the next step and authorizing the re-importation of less costly prescription drugs from Canada. Illinois and Minnesota have already passed such laws. Republican talking points urge legislators to say they voted against it because the drugs are not safe, but that is not true, we are talking about the same drugs we use here at home. It is time for legislators to stop cow towing to pharmaceutical and insurance lobbyists. Massachusets has passed a bill that makes HC accessible for all. We can take bold steps here at home to do the same.

Education is the number one duty of the state government according to our state’s constitution and by many measures, we are failing. Washington ranks 46th nationally on

K-12 public school funding (WSLC.org). We need to invest in early childhood learning, so that all kids get the best start in life. We need to lower the cost of tuition and also introduce better vocational education in high school, so our kids have the best options when they graduate. Mr. Brandland campaigned in 2002 on a promise to assure higher education is funded” yet he voted against the budgets the last two sessions. In fact he has not voted to fund public education one single cent since 2004.

People often say that these are good ideas, but want to know how we will fund them without raising taxes. There are currently 30 billion dollars worth of tax loopholes, which is more than the entire state budget. Last session the legislature passed a bill to audit tax loopholes so they can consider closing them if the loopholes are not producing jobs. The money collected by closing any unnecessary special interest loopholes can be put into education, health care, and economic development and reducing property taxes for people on fixed incomes. Too often people who have lived in their home for years are victimized by rising property taxes. They never plan to sell their home and thus will not profit from the housing boom, only pay for it in increased taxes. Auditing and closing special interest tax loophole is smart fiscal stewardship, and I differ from my opponent in that I would have voted for this bill.

If elected, you will find that I am a hardworking, practical minded legislator rather than a partisan one. We have important issues in Whatcom County that must be solved. I have talked to thousands of people in Whatcom County and have learned so much. I am committed to being a great Senator for Whatcom County. Thank You.