State Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland) and Republican challenger Kevin Haistings promise to focus on the economy if elected – but their plans differ sharply.

“There really is only one priority right now,” Haistings said by phone Thursday. “Reversing the economy.”

Haistings believes work must be done to “jump start” business and encourage business owners to reinvest in the private sector. He said businesses are uncertain right now, and regulatory burdens such as the B&O tax and unemployment insurance must be reduced to spur hiring. Private businesses, he said, “exist to make profits, and when they make profits they hire employees.”

Haistings said he would work to “create a business climate that encourages businesses to relocate or start in Washington.”

Goodman noted that “the bottom fell out of the economy. I’m out there in the neighborhoods every day. There’s a lot of people losing their homes, people unemployed.” His biggest concern is what this means for the younger generation trying to find careers in the current environment.

“A lot of kids are moving back in with mom and dad,” he said by phone Tuesday. “I’m worried about a lost generation here.”

“We were positioned well to be buffered from the current economic storm,” said Goodman, referring to Washington’s “vibrant port” and “dense tech employment.

His campaign Web site states that Washington must focus on “what it does best” to create jobs – including aerospace, technology and small-business development – and that government investment has an important role to play.

“The public sector can create jobs,” he said.

Both candidates said the state must improve education to stay competitive. Goodman would invest in early-childhood development as well as community and technical colleges, while Haistings would focus more on K-12 education.

“My priority is early learning,” Goodman said. “It’s the cheapest investment with the biggest return.”

He’s been working long-term on improving early-childhood education and developing the preschool system statewide, he said. Preschool is essential to developing social and learning skills that stay with children for the rest of their lives, he added.

Goodman also said he’s been working with community and technical colleges to prepare workers quickly for jobs that are available now.

Haistings said he would prefer to invest in K-12 education to help students take the path of their choosing. Principals and teachers should be more involved with their students, he said, to prepare them for the rest of their lives. The state must work to ensure better quality outcomes in education investment, Haistings continued. He would support a framework for more innovative schools in Washington, such as charter schools, according to his Web site.

“We need to make sure our children are competitive going into college,” he said.

The state’s budget deficit is something both candidates agree is an important issue.

Goodman said he has a history of legislating in a cost-effective manner.

“All my bills have either cost nothing or saved the state money,” he said.

His focus has been on paying attention to what items the state shouldn’t cut as it deals with historic deficits, he said. Washington must continue to invest in what will get a return. He said education and public safety, including preventing domestic violence and drunk driving, are major concerns of his and things that need to continue.

Haistings said that he would go to Olympia and create a “sustainable budget for a sustainable future.”

If elected, he said he would “steer government where I believe it should be going. I don’t believe we’re going there right now.”

Washington should follow the recommendations of the state auditor’s report, he said; this would create around $3.6 billion in savings through increased efficiencies.

Suggestions in this report include privatizing state services such as the state print shop and taking the state out of the liquor-selling business, Haistings said. He supports Initiative 1100, which would privatize liquor sales in a more free-market approach than what is proposed by I-1105, he added.

“I don’t think the state should be in the business of selling or distributing liquor,” he said.

Haistings served as a police officer for 25 years, and he said he had no problems regulating pharmaceutical drugs and handguns, even though those are sold privately. He said he doesn’t believe privatized liquor sales will cause any danger to public safety or make it easier for minors to find liquor.

Goodman said that controlled states like Washington experience a lot less “mayhem” than states with more lenient liquor laws. He said that increasing the number of stores selling alcohol would make it easier for minors to get.

“When you make alcohol more available,” he said, “you increase the negative effects of alcohol.”

Shane Clyburn is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.