Moderator: Welcome to Capitol Chat. I'm your moderator, Statehouse Reporter Adam Wilson. Today's guest is Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis. Tell us a little about yourself.

Rep. DeBolt: I was leader last year and it was a really a rewarding experience. I view it as a great life opportunity. As the elections go we didn't do as well as some would like and I was replaced by someone some thought would do a better job.

Moderator: Was there an ideological shift?

Rep. DeBolt: Everyone has their own strengths, I had an open style. When you're open, it drives you away from control. I think they felt the new leader was more in-control. I'm still active and it's not been a big issue. Politics is one of those things that if you can't stand the heat you shouldn't be in it.

Bob, Carnation: What is being done to ensure that state business operations and technology projects are not sent offshore?

Rep. DeBolt: You know, the main thing I'm focusing on this year is not so much outsourcing as outforcing. What are we dong to keep businesses in our state and not forcing them out through regulatory burdens? Take timber for example. We still cut the same amount of Washington timber, but send it offshore to mill it. One of the bills I'm working on would help us mill timber in our state.

Meaghan, Olympia: What is your opinion of reforming social secrity and making it into private accounts?

Rep. DeBolt: This would be one to write Congressman Baird about — it's a federal issue. I want retirement accounts, but I understand we have to pay current benefits.

Jan, Rochester: What is your position on simple majorities for school levies?

Rep. DeBolt: I support simple majorities for maintenance operation, but for bonding I think it should still be supermajority. The elections need to be held in the general election cycle. The last two years I've supported a bill to keep these levies in the regular election cycle, but those amendments didn't pass.

John, Olympia: What would your opinion be on an no-deduction income tax, with rates of 2.5 percent for those making over $250,000, 5 percent for those making over $500,000, and 12 percent on those making over $1 million?

Rep. DeBolt: I don't support an income tax, period.

Kevin, Tumwater: HB1455 (limiting noise from off-road vehicles) seeks to make it illegal to ride an ORV within 600 feet of your property line and Sen. Fraser is seeking to take 1.6 million dollars from the ORV fund to close the Thurston Co. ORV Park, which is enjoyed by a huge volume of teenagers and young adults.

Rep. DeBolt: I enjoy ATV-ing myself. My children and I both ride on private property. I think the way the bill is written it doesn't make much sense, because with fire resticters, it makes them louder but cuts the sparks. There's a bill in the House, 1003, and it allows ATVs to be ridden on logging roads on D&R property, and I"m in support of those.

Rep. DeBolt: Since we've been riding, we've found seven meth labs and then used GPS to locate them and send it to the sheriff.

Mike, Lacey: My wife is a Washington State employee classified "Seasonal-Intermittent" and has worked for the same department and facility for 12 years. She gets very limited benefits and generally averages 9 months on-duty each year. How can the state ask her to pay taxes to provide for someone else's medical plan and not provide medical coverage to her? Better yet, how can you tell private sector companies they HAVE to provide medical plans to their employees yet the state fails to provide medical coverage to its own employees?

Rep. DeBolt: How can we mandate private companies to provide insurance and not public ones? (State Workers) have a contract up this year that may address this issue. I actually have a bill I've come up with on cutting health care process. I've been negotiating it for so many years, and I think it would make both sides happy and make health care more affordable. It's being drafted now.

Helena, Tumwater: What is your opinion of the right-wing religious group that thinks SpongeBob SquarePants is a threat to children, such as my 8-year-old daughter?

Rep. DeBolt: I think that everybody has the right to their opinion on what people watch. You have the option to turn the dial if you don't like the programming. I, in particular, find SpongeBob SquarePants humorous.

Duane, Lacey: Would you support an increase in state funding to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to get people with disabilities jobs?

Rep. DeBolt: I supported funding for this for many years. ... I think it's the job of the government to help those who need it the most, and I don't write the budget on this one, but if I did, this would be an important issue.

Brianna, Centralia: As I have read in the local newspapers you are a father of two children, and yet you have time to volunteer in the United Way of Lewis County. I have been impressed with this organization for many reasons, however I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on the organization, and the reason you have chosen it as your charity of choice.

Rep. DeBolt: Managing your time and being part of your community are one in the same. The more you put into your community, the easier it is to do it. The United Way serves a lot of agencies, and I've found it to be one of the few agencies that has an overview of the community as a whole and looks at it more as a causal situation than a systemic one.

David, Olympia: Do you think economically comfortable Washingtonians will sacrifice equally in the upcoming budget? What will you do to help spread the sacrifice equally?

Rep. DeBolt: I think right now in Washington state we have several focuses, and one needs to be those who need the most help. The goverment's job is education, health care and those who can't care for themselves. If you want to help the budget in Washington state, putting people back to work is the best thing you can do, because it lessens dependency, helps revenue, there's more money for education in local districts and it helps with health care. So to me, what's best for everyone is getting everyone back to work. It seems we focus in the Leg on the haves in King and Pierce counties, and I would like to focus on getting people back to work all around the state.

Joel, Thurston County: Considering the hidden costs to taxpayers when large corporations fail to supply affordable health benefits to their employees, would you propose or support legislation requiring large companies to provide real health care benefits?

Rep. DeBolt: One of the things we need to do in this state is be more competitive. Our employers need to be more competitive to keep employees. Employee turnover is a huge expense. Providing health insurance benefits will help retain employees. I don't support the concept of "pay to play" because you are making a disinsentive for busnesses to go to Washington state, but I do encourage employees to push harder to get coverage from their employers. I do have the bill I mentioned earlier that we are drafting right now and will introduce later.

Moderator: You recently met with Gov. Gregoire to discuss your health care proposals. What were those proposals and how did she react?

Rep. DeBolt: The gist of my discussion with the governor was about economic development. It's going to be called the plus-15. We have 48 mandates on health care right now in the state. That goes from acupuncture to catastrophic care that are required to be on a health care plan beefore you can purhcase it. This is one of the factors we've heard from the insurance companies about why prices are rising. We used to have 20 companies in our market; now we have four. This plan would say to you, "buy a base health care plan with 15 mandates from the 48, and whatever extras you want you split with your employer. You choose them and use them. So acupuncture, for example would be $12, $6 from individual and $6 from employer. It's been well received on the floor. I would also like it if the employee, if on all 48 mandates, would get money back if they let go of some of the mandates. So it's kind of a cafeteria, pick and choose type of thing. It's a long answer because it's a complicated question.

Rep. DeBolt: Gregoire said that she was interested in seeing the proposal. I am working with Rep. Tom Campbell to get it drafted.

Mike, Lacey: Why did you vote against House Bill 1069, which would take a hard look at the 500 tax exemptions and tax preferences in this state? These tax breaks are costing the treasury millions of dollars.

Rep. DeBolt: I don't think the legislature should abdicate it's responsiblity to the people to get rid of the loopholes in the tax law. If we want to get rid of the loopholes, vote on it now, don't appoint a panel to hide behind. If you have the guts, do it now. I'm tired of people hiding.

Moderator: That's all the time we have today. Thank you to Rep. DeBolt for his time today. Join us next Tuesday at 3 p.m. as we chat with Secretary of State Sam Reed, and then again at noon on Wednesday for a chat with Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia.