Bill Bryant in 2016 WA Governor's race
On Energy & Oil:
I believe in climate change, but focus elsewhere
Q: According to Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations: "Climate change is the most emblematic challenge in this age of globalization. For the sake of our grandchildren, we cannot refuse that challenge." (The Case For True
Leadership on Climate Change--Kofi Annan Foundation, 30 Nov 2015) What is your opinion of this quotation?Bill Bryant: I believe in climate change, but I believe think the biggest challenge confronting Washington state is our inequitable and
antiquated education system. Washington's achievement gap has widened more than any other state and we still fail to graduate about a quarter of our ninth-graders.
Education is in our constitution as the state's paramount duty. Gov. Inslee has failed at our state's paramount responsibility and that means he has failed as governor. It's time for new leadership.
Source: LWV's Vote411.org on 2016 Washington Gubernatorial Race
Sep 19, 2016
On Free Trade:
Expand trade and tourism; that creates jobs
Foreign trade creates many of Washington's jobs. Solid family-wage jobs are leaving Washington, not because of trade, but because of a culture of "no" among regulatory agencies and because we do not have the workforce employers need.
That is why as a port commissioner I worked to expand trade and tourism and also worked to ensure we had the workforce development programs and pre-apprenticeship programs that are needed to ensure we keep employers in WA.
Source: LWV's Vote411.org on 2016 Washington Gubernatorial Race
Sep 19, 2016
On Technology:
Refocus Transportation Dept. on reducing traffic congestion
Q: What would be your top three issues of concern in your "State of the State" address in January?Bill Bryant: Giving every kid an equal chance to get ahead through education.
Freeing jobs to grow by ending regulatory uncertainty and justifying or eliminating the regulations we already have. Refocusing the Department of Transportation on reducing traffic congestion.
Source: LWV's Vote411.org on 2016 Washington Gubernatorial Race
Sep 19, 2016
On Energy & Oil:
Supported leasing oil drilling port for jobs benefit
In 2015, Royal Dutch Shell Oil proposed leasing then-empty Terminal 5 as home port for its controversial Arctic offshore drilling fleet. Bryant, who said he personally opposed Arctic drilling, backed the proposal for job-creation reasons.The proposal
drew a fierce backlash, with activists ultimately descending on Seattle's Port to block Shell's vessels. The oil giant ultimately suspended its Arctic pursuits and pulled out of Seattle. Amid the furor, Port commissioners at one point voted to ask
Shell to delay arrival of its fleet, with only Bryant voting against that resolution.
Bryant defends his support of the lease. Hosting the fleet had no adverse environmental impact and could have meant hundreds of jobs to the region, he said; blocking
the lease for political reasons would have been symbolic, but wouldn't have stopped Shell from finding another port. "I don't think we want to take an action that's symbolic if it jeopardizes middle-class jobs," Bryant said.
Source: Seattle Times on 2016 Washington Gubernatorial debate
Aug 12, 2016
On Health Care:
The ACA made employers hire fewer full-time employees
Bryant claimed the reason employers were hiring fewer full-time employees was "related to the Affordable Care Act." In March 2016, responding to an attendee's claim that 80 percent of new jobs created were part-time minimum wage jobs because employers
don't want to hire full-time workers and pay health benefits, Bryant said, "That is largely a federal problem. It's a federal problem. It's related to the Affordable Care Act." [Camano Island Republican Women's Club, 3/29/16]
Source: Washington State Democrats on 2016 Washington governor race
May 17, 2016
On Education:
Act aggressively to support charter schools
Many of Washington's charter schools were left without funding following a 2012 law. Lawmakers responded by passing a bill that would allow funding. [Governor] Inslee opted to allow the bill to become law without his signature. Bryant called the move
another example of the governor unwilling to articulate a vision for the state. "It's odd that he would choose not to do anything at all when over the last three years he's repeatedly called our education system a crisis."
Source: MyNorthwest.com on 2016 Washington gubernatorial race
Apr 4, 2016
On Abortion:
I don't want the government telling me how to live my life
Beyond his ideas on capital punishment, Bryant says he also the same belief when it comes to abortion. "I do not want the government telling me how to live my life,"
he said. "I'm Catholic, I have my own views, but I know that any government that can force my religion on somebody else is a government that can force somebody else's religion on me."
Source: MyNorthwest.com on 2016 Washington governor race
Mar 10, 2016
On Gun Control:
I support the second amendment
"I think there's a real misunderstanding in the public about what
guns we're talking about," he said. "I support the second amendment."
Source: MyNorthwest.com on 2016 Washington governor race
Jan 21, 2016
On Environment:
OpEd: Claims conservationism, but enabled Arctic drilling
The Port of Seattle is enabling arctic drilling by berthing Shell's Alaska drilling equipment. The electorate is extremely sensitive to preserving the astounding beauty of Puget Sound, the body of water on which the Port's facilities are located.
The commissioners are elected officials and had to be environmentalists if they wanted to win.So why would they support Shell's arctic aspirations? Money, of course. The five commissioners all were recipients of gifts from oil companies or the
company handling Shell's port in Seattle.
One can argue that all supporters of a port commissioner's campaign would naturally be the port's customers. But in hyper-green Seattle, all won their elections to some degree on their pro-environmental
positions. Topping the list of hypocrites, Bill Bryant ran on the claim that "I am a committed conservationist."
He's also running for governor, so he needs the cash. And I guess he figures the electorate has short memories.
Source: Huffington Post on 2016 Washington gubernatorial race
Jun 24, 2015
On Energy & Oil:
Allow oil rigs through Port of Seattle for Arctic drilling
Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant launched a bid for governor, saying he's running to improve education, create "solid family-wage jobs" and avoid putting "any more tax burden on middle-class families." His ambitions for higher office come amid
a major controversy at his current job--the legal and political fight over Shell oil rigs docking along Seattle's waterfront in preparation for drilling off Alaska's North Slope.This week, Bryant was the only port commissioner to vote against asking
Shell to delay the arrival of its vessels. Even as Bryant's campaign went live, the Polar Pioneer, the first of those oil rigs, arrived in Elliott Bay, greeted by protesters in kayaks.
Despite approval by the Obama administration of the
Arctic drilling, environmentalists argue Seattle should not be complicit in oil extraction that will worsen global climate change. They have hotly opposed the port's Terminal lease. Bryant avoided the controversy in his announcement video.
Source: Seattle Times on 2016 Washington gubernatorial race
May 14, 2015
On Civil Rights:
Supports repeal of right to transgender bathroom choice
Bill Bryant moved late last fall to a series of informal, drop-by "Beers with Bill" events at brew pubs in Western Washington population centers. (The Inslee campaign keeps its fundraising events pricey and private.)
Bryant is being pulled to the right. He sent the right-wing Family Policy Institute of Washington a statement supporting repeal of a state Human Rights Commission policy which gives transgender persons the right to use their bathroom of choice.
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer on 2016 Washington governor race
Feb 12, 2015
On Tax Reform:
As port commissioner, his lean budget led to tax relief
Bill Bryant is convinced this his "fiscally conservative, socially libertarian" message could resonate around the state, as he makes political rounds in Washington and seriously considers a bid for the governorship. He also argues that he helped craft a
leaner port budget that helped relieve pressure on taxes. "I put together a pretty conservative budget." Bryant declined to wade into social issues or hot-button topics like ObamaCare, which he'd likely confront as a gubernatorial candidate.
Source: N.W. Daily Marker on 2016 Washington gubernatorial race
Feb 12, 2015
On Principles & Values:
Good Catholic but for separation of church & state
Bryant has twice spent extended periods of time living under dictatorships, in a military-governed Brazil and China at a time "everybody wore green, blue or gray." The experiences helped instill a deep belief in personal autonomy. "I try to be a good
Catholic," he said, alluding to the church's moral teachings. "But a government that can impose my religion on anybody else would also have the power to impose its religion on me."
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer on 2016 Washington governor race
Feb 5, 2015
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2021