Candidates seeking Heck’s House seat support COVID-19 economic stimulus bill

Nearly all of the candidates vying to succeed U.S. Rep. Denny Heck said Friday they would have voted yes on the $2 trillion stimulus bill that the House approved and President Donald Trump signed into law.

Several of the candidates in the 10th Congressional District race said more work needs to be done in response to the new coronavirus pandemic. The district covers nearly all of Thurston County, most of Pierce County and part of Mason County. Heck announced late last year that he would not seek re-election, which opened the door to a hotly-contested race that has drawn 11 candidates.

Democrat Phil Gardner, for example, said Congress needs to approve more funding for direct payments to Americans.

The new law authorizes $1,200 payments to millions with incomes of less than $99,000.

“The first (payment) is good, but I wish we were able to provide some certainty by saying that it would have been two or three or four, so American families can plan better. It’s still a divided Washington, and so House Democrats are not going to get everything they want,” said Gardner, a former district director for Heck.

The new federal law is the third in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and discussion about a fourth is under way.

“There’s a need and there’s an emergency and we have to take care of the people here at home as soon as possible. We needed immediate action,” former Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat, said in support of the bill.

The bill includes $250 billion for unemployment insurance, providing $600 per week for four months for laid-off workers. That amount is in addition to payments that states provide.

“Investing in our workers and doing what we can to help them is really the best way to help an economy recover,” she said.

State Rep. Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, said she was glad the law gives contractors and gig employees access to unemployment insurance.

“I think a lot of time those are the folks who are the most living paycheck-to-paycheck. I hope that is something we can continue beyond this crisis,” she said.

Doglio also said she was encouraged that loans to small businesses were included in the law, which gives firms access to nearly $400 billion in loans.

Republican Nancy Dailey Slotnick said Congress reacted to an emergency that isn’t of anyone’s making.

“This isn’t because of something the corporations did or something that people did. We have this unprecedented pandemic for our lifetime. You cringe at the $2 trillion. There’s no question that I’m cringing at that addition to our national debt, but at the same time what is the alternative?

“The alternative is total devastation for everybody,” added Slotnick, who lives near Midland and owns a business that advises companies on security issues.

Slotnick said she is disappointed the bill did not become law sooner, blaming Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for delaying it by a week.

Former state Rep. Kristine Reeves, a Federal Way Democrat, said she would have voted for the bill but with a note of caution.

“Where is the millions of dollars to make sure that the folks on the front line right now are getting the support that they need? Where are the masks and the ventilators and the tests? Why are we struggling with that as a country?”

Reeves referred to the need to “flatten the curve,” the goal of stay-at-home orders and business closures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“In order to flatten the curve, you got to know where (the coronavirus) is and who it’s happening to. If we’re not doing enough tests, and then if we’re finding where it is and we’re not protecting the doctors and the front-line nurses, you just end up exposing more people,” Reeves said.

Republican Ryan Tate said with new unemployment claims soaring to 3.3 million last week, including 133,464 in Washington, the federal government had to take action.

Tate, a Tacoma resident and software engineer, said he’s worried the nation is heading for a recession or even a depression.

Democrat Joshua Collins, a socialist running as a Democrat, said he would have voted yes on the bill but “only after pushing for more.”

Collins said he would have supported more than $1,200 for millions of Americans, pressed for undocumented immigrants to also get the payments, and called for a suspension of rental housing payments for those impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

“People aren’t working and it’s not their fault. People are either being entirely laid off or have had hours cut – and it shouldn’t mean that you are going to owe thousands and thousands of dollars after this crisis,” he said.

Dan E. Gordon, a Republican candidate who lives in Lakewood, said he supported aid to large businesses, in addition to the help provided to individuals and small firms. The new law provides $25 billion in grants and $25 billion in loans to passenger airlines, as well as $17 billion in loans to industries considered critical to “national security” — a provision aimed at helping Boeing, The Washington Post reported.

“What’s going to happen when this thing is over? The airlines are bankrupt? Then what we do? If the government can help, the government should help. It’s a government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” Gordon said.

Republican Donald Hewett said he probably would have voted in favor of the bill.

“I’m really irritated with the pork that’s in the bill,” said Hewett, a Lacey resident who referred to the $25 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Two other candidates in the 10th Congressional District race could not be reached for comment or didn’t return messages seeking comment.

This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 5:45 AM.