Dan Newhouse: Looking down the road

Dan Newhouse has spent a lot of time at the point where government and agriculture intersect. He's a third-generation farmer from the Yakima Valley, working the family farm near Sunnyside. In addition to that, Newhouse has also served as a representative in the Washington State legislature from 2003 to 2009. When his term ended, Newhouse served as Director of Washington State's Department of Agriculture until 2013. He jokes that he's served in two branches of the government, and now all he needs to do is be appointed to the state Supreme Court. Although, he points out, it sort of helps to be an attorney rather than a farmer. Instead, Newhouse has a BS degree in Agricultural Economics from Washington State University and is a graduate of the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Leadership Program. He was born in the Yakima Valley and has raised his family there as well.

One of the biggest issues facing Washington farmers, Newhouse says, is water.

"There are several areas of the district where water is a huge issue," he says.  "Here in central Washington, without water, we're in big, big trouble. Enhancement and continued improvement of the Columbia Basin Project will be a high priority of mine: making sure that we have the water and the resources that we need in the future."

Newhouse co-sponsored the Columbia River Bill in 2006, which allowed farmers to get more water out of the Columbia. That bill is beginning to show some effects in places like the Odessa subarea.

"Back in the 70s, farmers were told 'Go ahead and pump out of the wells, because the water is coming.' Well, it's been 40 years now and they're kind of late in delivering on that promise."

On immigration, Newhouse stresses that he's not in favor of a blanket amnesty, but that our system desperately needs to be overhauled. Currently, he says, we have a system where people sneak across the border through the services of a "coyote," which costs them a lot of money and may or may not get them here alive.  At the same time, we have a multi-billion-dollar industry that relies on those people to keep it functioning. And, he points out, it's not just agriculture that uses migrant workers; they're integral to the hospitality, landscaping, forestry and fishing industries as well.

"These people are not taking jobs away from Americans," he says.  Still, "our borders are no longer secure, and we've certainly seen the consequences of insecure borders. We need to make sure the bad guys can't get in, while allowing those who want to come and contribute to the American Dream in their own way the ability to do that legally."

Instead of amnesty, Newhouse favors requiring the workers who are currently in the United States to pay a fine and learn English, and allowing them to work toward legal status. 

"We need to get them out of the shadows," he says. "A lot of them come here seeking work, and their families are back there. I think a lot of them would opt to go home." Other countries have been able to figure out how to allow guest workers to come and go without breaking the law, he says, and there's no reason why we can't.

Another thing Newhouse wants to address in Congress is a balanced budget amendment. "We're on a path that is unsustainable," he says. "We have to get the government to do what you and I have to do: get spending under control and live within our means. Otherwise, we're jeopardizing the future of our country."

On the Affordable Care Act, Newhouse says that while we admittedly have a health-care crisis in this country, Obamacare is not a viable solution. He favors a market-oriented system that puts consumers in more control of their health-care, including purchasing insurance across state lines and portability of insurance from one job to another.

Newhouse is determined that any policies that are enacted today need to look farther down the road than the next election. He says that a generation or two ago we had very forward-looking people, and we need to continue to look toward a sustainable future. His son has recently taken over on the family farm and his daughter is studying Plant Pathology at the Washington State University Extension Center in Prosser.

Editor's note: We invited all the contenders for the 4th District Congressional seat to submit a guest editorial or, alternatively, be interviewed on their positions. These articles are for introductory purposes only. The BBJ does not endorse any candidate. Any candidate who wants to be included in the July edition (which is the last before the Washington primary) should contact us here at the Journal.