Candidate Profile: Cyndy Jacobsen For District 25

SEATTLE — The 2020 election is heating up in Washington and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office. Eyes are primarily focused on the presidential election, but voters will also decide the occupants of several state representative and senate seats.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Cyndy Jacobsen, a Puyallup, WA resident is running for State Representative District 25 Position 2.

Age: 60
Party affiliation: Republican Party
Family: My husband Doug and I have been married 38 years. We raised 7 children in Puyallup and now have 8 grandchildren.
Occupation: Puyallup City Council 2.5 years, math teacher Pierce College 10 years, self employed accountant, real estate entrepreneur, and homeschool mom for many years.
Previous elected experience: Puyallup City Council member
Family members in government: No
Campaign website: https://www.cyndyjacobsen.com

The single most pressing issue facing our state is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Right now, we are facing the devastating results of the COVID-19 response in this state. We have a 4 billion dollar budget shortfall. We missed the opportunity to call a special session to hold the line of spending increases that went into effect in July. In January, we are going to have to make strategic cuts to keep the budget balanced and avoid the temptation to raise taxes.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post

There is a clear difference between my opponent and myself. I would not raise taxes as a solution to the budget crisis.
I fully support our law enforcement professionals and would work to defend them and not defund them. My opponent opposes qualified immunity for law enforcement.
I am strongly against the Comprehensive Sex Ed bill that the majority party passed last legislative session and I worked to get signatures so that R-90 could get on the ballot and the voters could reject comprehensive sex ed.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I am a fiscal conservative serving on the Puyallup City Council. I work on the council in a bi-partisan manner.

What steps should state government take to bolster economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic for local businesses?

We need to make sure that we open safely but as quickly as possible. This shut down has been a heavy burden for our businesses. We could possibly consider B&O tax forgiveness for the hardest hit businesses. We need to take a look at the experience rating for unemployment to make sure that businesses who have been hardest hit by closures do not have their businesses devastated again by unemployment tax increases.

How will you address the calls for racial justice and police reform?

We need to continuously improve our police departments, not defund them. We can always work for improvement and provide needed training. We can consider embedded mental health professionals to handle crisis situations and de-escalation training as appropriate. we need to be kind to one another and encourage private sector solutions to prevent racism. I love what NetFlix did in depositing a portion of their money with banks owned by people of color.
What we do not need is Seattle style solutions down here in the south end.

How do you think Washington should address the threat posed by climate change?

We need to support evidence based solutions to promote a healthy environment. Where environmental harms are external to the market, we need to use our tax policy to influence behavior. An area to look at is effective forest management. Lack of good management practices can cause bad frost fire seasons like we just experienced. A bad forest fire season can release as much carbon into the atmosphere as the entire transportation industry does in a year.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

I believe that politicians should listen to the will of the voters. $30 car tabs are an example of this. The voters voted for this by 71% in the 25th district. The majority party had every chance to enact this last legislative session and they failed to do so. We have had one party rule in this state for decades. It is time to bring the balance back to the table in Olympia.
I believe that we need to revamp our mental health laws in this state. It is not compassionate to allow those who are mentally ill to remain homeless. We need to steer homeless individuals who also suffer from mental illness and addiction to the treatment that they need.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am a big advocate for the families of the 25th district. Families deserve excellent schools and all families deserve school choice. Families are taxed enough already and they want their leaders to fund the priorities of the state without raising taxes. Every morning, there is a mass exodus from Pierce County as folks commute to jobs in Seattle and the Eastside. We need to remove bureaucratic impediments to jobs in the south end so folks can get out of traffic and home to their families. We need balance to the one party rule in Olympia.