Rossi addresses Grant County real estate agents

MOSES LAKE — Dino Rossi recommends blocking out the voices of the naysayers.

The former gubernatorial candidate spoke before the Moses Lake-Othello Association of Realtors Thursday afternoon as the president of the Forward Washington Foundation.

Rossi noted he faced many people who told him he would not be able to go to college, not be able to run for the state senate and not be able to win in his bid for governor.

"'You will never get elected governor,'" Rossi recalled people saying to him. "We did that twice."

Association President Mary Thorn said Rossi was invited to inform small business owners of what's happening in Olympia.

"Realtors are small business owners," she noted. "I hope each and every one of them is more informed about what's happening in government."

As part as the association's monthly meetings, Thorn said, the organization tries to bring in a speaker who helps its members, which in turn helps members deal with their clients, their clients' property, government, laws, rules and regulations.

"We all need to be able to pass the information on to our clients within our system," Thorn said.

Rossi said he wanted to address improving the business climate of the state for smaller and medium-sized businesses.

"A lot of folks in Olympia think if Boeing and Microsoft are doing well, then the business climate is just fine," he said. "My goal is to point out we have one of the highest small business failure rates in America, and what do we need to do to change that? There are other states which have a high start-up rate for small businesses, but have a low failure rate, like Colorado."

Rossi said the foundation is putting forward several ideas for anyone in the Legislature, Democrat or Republican, to take and run with.

Since 2005, Rossi said there has been record income into the state's coffers, but also record unsustainable spending. He pointed to dramatic increases in the spending growth rate, which is twice the revenue growth rate.

"We started out with the biggest surplus the state of Washington has ever seen, $2.1 billion," he said. "The budget which was just signed is turning into almost a billion dollar deficit. That means you blew through the surplus and then some."

For the year 2007 and beyond, Rossi called for solutions which included funding education reform, repealing the estate tax, mandating a rainy day fund, restoring state spending limits and focusing on the state's ability to compete economically.

"All the things I've talked about here today were all created by human beings," Rossi said. "They can be undone in a way which is very business-friendly for all of us to have opportunities. Just don't listen to the naysayers."

Rossi also briefly spoke about his foundation's Washington Idea Bank, in which he travels to cities.

"We're not going to the major metropolitan areas, because quite frankly they've all been represented quite well in Olympia for quite some time," he said. "We're going to some of the more rural settings and getting good crowds and some great ideas."

Citizens offer their solutions for some of the state's problems, and can submit them online or rate other ideas at www.washingtonideabank.com.

"The point of it is, people in Olympia really think they've got all the ideas," he said. "I served seven years in the Senate, and I know they don't. We always have the 'Thou shalts' from above, and this is more of a grassroots sort of (movement), where regular people can have their say, and we'll produce an agenda anyone could take."

If someone thinks their idea might not be a "grandiose" one, Rossi urges them to present it anyway.

"We're finding a little idea in Wenatchee is going to be coupled up with a little idea in Moses Lake, which is going to be coupled up with a little idea in Hoquiam, and it's going to turn into a great idea," he said.

Rossi said it is possible an idea bank session may come to Moses Lake, maybe in September.

As for another bid for governor, Rossi told the Columbia Basin Herald a decision will be made by the end of the year.

"We have four children between the ages of 6 and 16, and we've got to make sure it's right for our family first," he said. "Then beyond that, we'll make a decision about if it makes sense to run."

Such a decision won't be forthcoming until after family vacation and the children are back in school, Rossi added.

"Then we'll start worrying about that," he said.