Housing Advocate and Long-Time Spokane Area Community Member Isaiah Paine Announces Campaign to Succeed Mike Volz for State Representative in Spokane’s Sixth District
Spokane, WA – Isaiah Paine, a housing advocate and long-time Spokane area community member officially announced his campaign to represent the Sixth Legislative District in Olympia.
“I’m running because our region needs someone in Olympia who will fight for the values of Eastern Washington,” said Paine. “Our communities deserve attainable housing, safe neighborhoods, and relief from rising costs. Instead our state government has driven up housing costs, failed to adequately address public safety, and levied the largest tax increase in state history.”
Paine currently works for the Spokane Home Builders Association where he represents over 750 member businesses on local and state housing policy. According to data from the National Association of Home Builders, less than 19% of Spokane area residents can afford to purchase a new median price home.
“I talk to people who find it more and more difficult to afford to purchase a home,” said Paine. “As I look at housing policy, there are many ways to reduce that burden. Unfortunately, those in Olympia don’t understand what everyday people experience in the housing market. I want to change that.”
Paine has a background in business consulting and campaigns and has even worked on behalf of the Sixth District in Olympia before, as a Legislative Aide. Prior to his current role Paine worked for both a Fortune 300 company and a local church.
“I’ve seen how bad policy affects businesses of all sizes,” said Paine. “What was passed this year is really detrimental to the economic climate in Washington State. Ultimately, these increases affect the price of everything, it affects our families. Instead of adding 15 billion dollars to fund projects they knew were unsustainable, legislators should have done what any of us would have to do in that position and reign in spending.”
Paine also cites the dismantled initiative process as instrumental in his decision to run for office. After massive public support, the legislature approved the Parental Bill of Rights initiative last year. Then this year a bill was written that changed significant portions of the initiative. In addition, recent judicial interventions have tossed out initiatives by the City of Spokane to prohibit camping near children in parks, schools, and playgrounds and the immensely popular statewide energy choice Initiative 2066. This past legislative session also saw various efforts to make the initiative process itself more cumbersome to engage.
“As a father of four kids, I see families being undermined by this legislature,” said Paine. “It’s really dishonest to ratify an initiative one year and then make massive changes the next. Parents shouldn’t have to co-parent with the government. And more than that, the initiative process represents one of the purest forms of representative democracy and instead the clear will of the people is left in the dust.”
“We deserve more. The days of one-size-fits-all policy that ignores the unique needs of Eastern Washington need to be put behind us. We need someone who will tirelessly fight to make sure our voices are heard, and that’s what I bring to the table,” said Paine.
Isaiah lives in Mead with his wife and four children.