Working with others crucial to legislative success, Dent says

MOSES LAKE — Rep. Tom Dent said effectiveness in the Washington Legislature starts with working with people on other sides of the issue, whatever the issue might be.

Dent, R-Moses Lake, is running for a fourth term in the Washington House of Representatives. He has been in the legislature since winning election in 2014. He’s being challenged in this election by Eduardo Castaneda-Diaz, a Quincy Democrat, and John Malan, Quincy, listed as a Classical Democrat, according to the Washington Secretary of State.

“If you’re not willing to reach across the aisle, you’ll never be very successful, even if you’re in the majority. If you can’t reach over to the Republicans, you’re not going to work with your caucus either. And if you can’t reach over to the Democrats you’re not going to work with your caucus,” Dent said.

People who approach an issue from different directions can still work together. “We still have more in common than we don’t,” he said. “And with that, we can build a relationship, and if we build that relationship, build on trust and respect, then we can sit down and we can find solutions. We can find common ground, and we can find things that work.”

And legislators not only have to work with the opposite party, they must work with the opposite chamber. In Dent’s case that means working with the Washington state senate. “There are 147 legislators. It’s good to have relationships with 130 of them. Some kind of relationship,” he said.

Another lesson from six years in the legislature is the value of experience, “whatever that experience may be,” he said. Prior to running for the legislature he owned his own aerial pesticide application business, a trucking business before that, and ran a cattle ranch throughout.

“You learn so much about the issues, and how different pieces of legislation and newly crafted laws can affect people, good or bad,” he said.

Experience teaches that it’s important to check the details, and that while 80 percent of a proposed bill might sound like a good idea, it’s important to look at the other 20 percent. “You learn how to question those things,” he said.

“I understood the process really well when I was first elected, because I had worked so much in politics prior to that,” he said. He was chair of the Grant County Republicans for a decade. “In my industry, I always gravitated toward the legislative liaison position, to represent my industry.

“I understood the value of relationships, I understood the value of shoe leather — just staying to it. I mean, it’s not an 8-to-5 job,” Dent said.

Even with an understanding of the job, he still had to find creative ways to meet some of his goals in his early years, he said. “I’ll tell you, the first term, you’re watched. I did some good stuff in my first term. But my standing in the legislature — when I went back for the second term and we were sworn in, everything was different. Because some of those things had happened and I proved myself, and I was able to accomplish some legislation.”

After six years in the legislature, Dent has been appointed to committees dealing with early childhood education and youth mental health, transportation, and agriculture and rural development. The legislature hasn’t been called into session during the COVID-19 outbreak, but its members are still working.

Rules established for farmworkers have caused some controversy. Castaneda-Diaz has criticized Dent for a letter he worked on and signed with 24 other legislators, asking for a change to the original rules established for temporary farmworker housing.

Dent said the issue originates in the need to find workers for some sectors of the agriculture industry. The letter involved the tree fruit industry.

The local labor force is inadequate, Dent said, so growers have turned to the federal H-2A visa program, which allows workers to come to the U.S. temporarily to work. Growers and farmers who use the H-2A program are required to provide accommodations.

In March and April, state officials set up emergency housing rules for farmworkers. “When they came out with the emergency rules, they cut the number of people in half who could live in this housing. Which means we were going to cut our labor force in half, which means we were going to pick half our fruit,” he said.

“The letter basically requested a variance to the rules, and we gave some arguments on why we thought it would work. The basis for our arguments was the Centers for Disease Control guidelines we had at that time, the knowledge they had for the coronavirus,” he said.

State officials granted the variance, which was challenged in court. “This rule was upheld,” Dent said.

Growers know the value of their workforce, he said. “They are so important, they are so important to the success of that grower, that producer, to our economy, that they are treated very well,” Dent said.

“I’ve said that since I’ve been elected, because it comes up all the time. Farmworkers are so important to what these people do; we can’t do it without them,” he said.

He has visited orchards during harvest and has been impressed by the mutual respect workers and growers have for each other.

“I have a leadership role on that committee for my caucus, and I’m expected to do some things,” he said. The legislator’s role changes as he or she moves into leadership positions, Dent said.

“Sure, I represent the 13th District, but I begin to represent more than the 13th District. And people outside the district will be reaching out to me on a regular basis as well, because I’m in that position that I can help make a difference,” he said.

Dent said he didn’t have to get involved in the issue of emergency housing rules, but he did because it’s his job to represent the people and address their concerns.