Republican groups have dug into the legislative archives to accuse Democratic congressional candidate Denny Heck of voting to raise state taxes and of supporting a state income tax — a charge he denies — in the early 1980s while he was serving in the Legislature.
A TV ad paid for by the National Republican Congressional Campaign that began airing Friday paints Heck as a leisure suit-wearing, tax-and-spend liberal from the 1970s. It declares that he “cast the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in state history” and “even fought for an income tax.” Heck’s Republican opponent, state Rep. Jaime Herrera, approved the message.
Heck does plead guilty to wearing leisure suits. “I’ve never claimed to be a fashion plate,” he said.
A mailer paid for by the Washington Republican Party that went out to residents of the 3rd District over the weekend attempts to link Heck to Democratic leaders in Washington, D.C., warning that “the tax-and-spend economic policies imposed by President Obama and Speaker Pelosi have destroyed millions of jobs” and that “Denny Heck helped them do it.” The piece fails to mention that nearly a quarter-century has elapsed since Heck served as a state legislator.
The mailer contends that Heck “voted to raise the sales tax, taxes on small businesses, and taxes on food,” citing the 1981-82 Legislative Digest. It also contends that Heck “voted for the largest tax increase in state history,” without giving specifics.
Heck represented the 17th District, which then included portions of Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties, from 1977 until January 1985, when he resigned to become chief clerk of the House. He served on the House Appropriations Committee for eight years and as House majority leader in 1983 and 1984.
Democrats controlled the House in Heck’s first term. In 1979 and 1980 the House was split 49-49 and under joint party leadership. Republicans held a slim majority in 1981 and 1982, before Democrats regained control in 1983.
In the early 1980s, the state weathered a deep recession that forced steep budget cuts.
“In the late 1970s, we had a healthy economy,” Heck recalled in an interview. “In 1980 to 1982 we hit the skids.”
Republican Gov. John Spellman, a one-term governor elected in 1980, did propose an income tax early on, Heck said, to deal with a looming budget deficit of close to $1 billion. But Heck said he did not vote for it and the bill never emerged from the House Appropriations Committee.
While Republicans controlled the Legislature, they enacted a series of sales tax increases to help cope with the recession’s effect on state revenue.
Heck voted against the 1981-83 budget, an $11.6 billion budget that represented a 12 percent cut in spending.
“I’m voting against this budget because it doesn’t fund basic education,” Heck told The Columbian at the time. He said the budget shortchanged school districts by $211 million, and called that a “radical departure” from the state’s tradition of providing enough money to fund quality education.
He voted against increases in the gasoline tax and against big hikes in college tuition, according to The Columbian’s news archives.
In an interview Tuesday, Heck said he supported more than 40 tax and fee reductions during his time in the Legislature. He said he also voted in 1983 to get rid of the notorious “25th-month strategy,” a tactic used while Republican Dan Evans was governor, from 1965 to 1977, which allowed the Legislature to borrow from revenue collected in the following fiscal year to balance its 24-month budget.
“As a result of eliminating that tactic, our bond rating went up,” he said.
“If this is a discussion about fiscal bona-fides,” Heck said, “my vote helped create second-tier pension plans” — plans for public employees, teachers, school employees, and law enforcement officers and firefighters — that reduced pension benefits for public employees. “Most of my Democratic colleagues didn’t vote for that, but I did,” he said.
Heck questioned the tactics of his opponents in trying to smear him for his record in the Legislature.
“To go back 27 or 28 years and cherry-pick an isolated bill or vote is an effort at distraction,” he said. “It doesn’t include a look at the broad issues.”
He said he’d rather be judged by his positions on issues that will face him if he wins election to Congress.
“The tax policy positions I want to be held accountable for when I am in the House are continuing sales tax deductibility and continuing the business tax credit for research and development,” he said. “I want people to hold us accountable for the tax deductibility of shipping jobs overseas.”
