Immigration / Refugees
- Patty Murray – Murray supports comprehensive immigration reform and believes that it is the right thing to do for families, businesses and future generations. Immigration reform must “include a path for immigrants to become citizens and realize the American dream” and “protect the rights of victims and refugees,” she says.
- Dino Rossi – “America’s political leadership has lacked the will to control our borders, making it too easy to get here illegally. At the same time, they have made it much too hard for many high skilled workers and graduates of our universities to stay here and contribute to our economy and our society.” Rossi would like to oppose amnesty, finish the border fence, use technology to more effectively patrol the border, expand the use of employment verification technologies to reduce the employment magnet, and permit more high skilled workers and students to legally enter or remain in America.
Public Safety
- Patty Murray – Murray supports policies to combat violence, crime and gangs and has priorities to fund law enforcement needs, focus federal law enforcement presence in Washington state, support comprehensive anti-drug efforts and partner with law enforcement and community efforts to fight gangs in our communities.
- Dino Rossi – No information found.
Economy / Small Businesses
- Patty Murray – For years, Murray says she has fought to improve workforce development in our country. She works to ensure that financial markets are properly regulated to prevent market manipulation and encourage stability and investment. To put people back to work and get the economy back on track, she will invest in providing relief to struggling families and businesses while cutting taxes to stimulate consumer spending.
- Dino Rossi – “What we have to do is, we have to start bringing back and living within our means. For businesses to flourish, and I’m talking about especially small businesses, over 60 percent of our job growth since 1992 has come from small businesses, for them to flourish, we need to have low tax rates and predictable regulation.” Rossi believes that we have to stop spending and start controlling the spending. “It’s going to kill all our jobs. But, if you let the small businesses flourish, jobs will come back.”
Education
- Patty Murray – As a long-time proponent of increasing education efforts, this candidate has promoted education and development programs to help reduce drop-out and unemployment rates and open the doors for children to new careers and opportunities. Murray wants to make sure that students are provided with the skills and education needed to succeed in today’s workforce.
- Dino Rossi – No information found.
Transportation
- Patty Murray – Being one of her highest priorities, Murray knows that transporation projects create jobs as well as build the efficient and enhanced infrastructure Washington needs for future economic growth. She has helped in funding to support highway systems, improve airports, expand public transit and invest in transportation safety projects.
- Dino Rossi – This candidate has many goals for transportation: replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel, build an eight-lane bridge over Lake Washington, and widen Interstate 405, among other high-cost projects. And he says he’ll do it without raising taxes. According to the Seattle Times, two-thirds of the money for his plan would come from sales taxes that currently go into the state general fund, which pays for education, health care and other services.
Endorsers
- Patty Murray – UFCW Local 141 (United Staff Nurses Union) | Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council, AFL-CIO | Metropolitan Democratic Club of Seattle | National Women’s Political Caucus | AFSCME, Washington Federation of State Employees, Council 28
- Dino Rossi – Gun Owner’s Action League of Washington | Family Research Council PAC | FreedomWorks PAC