AG candidate Dunn visits Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE - Washington State Attorney General candidate Reagan Dunn shared his views on crime, jobs, the economy and government regulations at the Ag Water & Power Users of Eastern Washington's dinner.
Dunn, a Republican, is a current King County Council member and former federal prosecutor.
He is running in the 2012 race against Democrat Bob Ferguson, a fellow King County Council member.
Dunn is endorsed by current attorney general Rob McKenna, Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee and Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones, Dunn said.
Other supporters include 28 elected sheriffs and prosecutors from both political parties.
On Thursday night, Dunn told the audience of 45 people he was running because he is "deeply concerned about the overall direction of Washington state government."
He cited his background in law, with experience in private practice, as an asset to the attorney general's post.
Dunn represented small and mid-sized businesses, including people working in the agriculture and wine industries in Eastern Washington.
Dunn served as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Florida handling large-scale narcotics manufacturing cases.
He has experience both working in and managing large law firms, he said.
For the past seven years, he served on the King County Council in Rob McKenna's former council position.
Dunn said he wants to focus on the criminal justice system. The governor may approve the release of 12,000 out of 17,000 criminals on supervised release by the state Department of Corrections.
If this happens, Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee has more crime to deal with because of the chance of recidivism. The percentage of reoffending can be as high as 90 percent.
Dunn said he "will be fighting hard to protect consumers from fraudulent businesses and shady telemarketers."
Another goal is ensuring that he does what he can to make government as efficient as possible by managing its risk and preventing lawsuits.
Washington state is four times higher in litigation payouts, as compared to a similarly-sized state like Massachusetts, he said.
Many of the lawsuits are frivolous in nature, he explained.
Another major issue is the concept of regulatory overhead seen in all industries, including agriculture.
State agencies expanded their scope of jurisdiction and added new regulatory frameworks, making it almost impossible for businesses to comply, Dunn said.
"How many of you have had any kind of run in with Fish and Wildlife or the DOE (Department of Ecology)?" he asked the audience.
He told them to think of the issues from an economics and jobs perspective because that's what people care about now.
The economy is like a sailboat cutting through the water and regulations are like barnacles, slowing down the boat and dragging down the economy, he said.
He plans to form the Attorney General's Task Force on Regulatory Reform to determine what's slowing down state businesses and agriculture.
Dunn wants to continue Hanford litigation.
The government walked away from using Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a place to store waste, representing a $12 billion taxpayer investment, he said.
Yucca Mountain is a geographically stable place to store waste and the plan was approved by Congress to do so. The administration walked away from the plan, he said.
The decision affects Washington state because 40 percent of the containment structures at Hanford are leaking radioactive waste, he said.
"I'll be fighting for that; that's an important part of my environmental agenda moving forward," Dunn said.
Other issues he is concerned about are water and property rights.
Dunn cited Washington state's five-year water relinquishment law, requiring water right holders to "use it or lose it."
He has a friend who waters his dirt to avoid losing his water rights.
"How does this help conservation?" Dunn asked.
Dunn wants to find a way to protect and preserve water rights without wasting water at the same time.
Private property rights are a constant struggle landowners have with Olympia, through setbacks and easements.
A policy in King County stated if a landowner owned more than five acres of land, the landowner couldn't touch 65 percent of their land.
A landowner couldn't even put gravel down, but the rule was changed to allow for grass.
"Policies like this come close to regulatory taking," he said.
Hydropower is far more efficient than other types of renewable power, he said.
"Let's use this incredible resource we have," he said. "Let's use water and find additional storage for it."
Dunn said the attorney general proposed a gang law, but it was blocked for political reasons. Additional tools need to be given to prosecutors and sheriffs to prosecute gang activity.
Over the years, through good law enforcement activities in the U.S., many labs were moved south of the border to Mexico.
It is a victory, but meth remains in the U.S.
Meth is related to the issue of immigration and border enforcement, as criminals smuggle 97 percent of their product across the border without getting caught.
The U.S. needs to do a better job at securing its borders, but needs a seasonal workforce. Young people in the U.S. aren't wanting to take jobs picking crops. The U.S. needs to make it easier for the seasonal workforce to enter the country.
Dunn said he will advocate for sensible immigration policies.
Pat Boss, of the Ag Water and Power Users group, asked Dunn how he would respond to "frivolous lawsuits by environmental think tanks," wanting to take people's property and water rights.
Dunn said people can work around some regulations if they're not changing all the time. He wants to advocate for consistency in government.
Tools he can use include helping promote certain studies and writing attorney general's opinions on certain issues.
Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee asked about Obamacare.
Dunn said his opponent said he would drop the lawsuit as soon as he enters office.
"I will continue to test the constitutionality of the individual mandate portion of the healthcare law," Dun explained. "It's pretty clear Congress exceeded its authority under the Interstate Commerce Clause."
Many Federal courts agreed with Dunn's view, including the Eleventh Circuit Court.
"We all want affordable healthcare and have to deal with controlling costs," Dunn said. "We can't do it at the expense of sacrificing the Constitution."
Grant PUD commissioner Tom Flint asked Dunn how he expected to bring the DOE under control.
Dunn said he will bring in his own team, but acknowledged the challenge presented in dealing with the bureaucracy.
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