Share on WeChat
https://www.powervoter.us:443/ruth_kagi
Copy the link and open WeChat to share.
 Share on WeChat
Copy the link and open WeChat to share.
 Share on WeChat
Scan QRCode using WeChat,and then click the icon at the top-right corner of your screen.
 Share on WeChat
Scan QRCode using WeChat,and then click the icon at the top-right corner of your screen.
Quick Facts
Personal Details

Education

  • MPA, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 1968
  • BA, University of Washington, 1967

Professional Experience

  • MPA, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 1968
  • BA, University of Washington, 1967
  • Owner/Manager, Commercial Real Estate, 1990-present
  • Child Care Coordinator, Office of Children's Affairs, Snohomish County
  • Former Management Intern, United States Department of Labor
  • Consultant, Kagi Consulting, 1985-1995
  • Community Facilitator, United Way of Snohomish County, 1990
  • Deputy Regional Administrator, United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 1980-1983
  • Policy Analyst, United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 1968-1980

Political Experience

  • MPA, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 1968
  • BA, University of Washington, 1967
  • Owner/Manager, Commercial Real Estate, 1990-present
  • Child Care Coordinator, Office of Children's Affairs, Snohomish County
  • Former Management Intern, United States Department of Labor
  • Consultant, Kagi Consulting, 1985-1995
  • Community Facilitator, United Way of Snohomish County, 1990
  • Deputy Regional Administrator, United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 1980-1983
  • Policy Analyst, United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 1968-1980
  • Representative, Washington State House of Representatives, District 32 Position 2, 1998-2019

Former Committees/Caucuses

Former Member, Appropriations Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Former Member, Children's Legislative Oversight Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Former Member, Child Safety for Children in Child Protective Services or Child Welfare Services Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Former Chair, Early Learning and Human Services Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Former Member, Environment Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Former Member, Health and Human Services Appropriations and Oversight Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Former Member, King County Children and Families Commission

Former Member, Lake Forest Park Human Services Commission

Former Co-Chair, Legislative-Executive Workfirst Oversight Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Former Chair, Seattle Commission on Children and Youth

Former Member, Shoreline Community College Strategic Planning Committee

Former Member, Ways and Means Committee, Washington State House of Representatives

Religious, Civic, and other Memberships

  • MPA, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 1968
  • BA, University of Washington, 1967
  • Owner/Manager, Commercial Real Estate, 1990-present
  • Child Care Coordinator, Office of Children's Affairs, Snohomish County
  • Former Management Intern, United States Department of Labor
  • Consultant, Kagi Consulting, 1985-1995
  • Community Facilitator, United Way of Snohomish County, 1990
  • Deputy Regional Administrator, United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 1980-1983
  • Policy Analyst, United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 1968-1980
  • Representative, Washington State House of Representatives, District 32 Position 2, 1998-2019
  • Member, American Association of University Women, present
  • Member, Board of Directors, Children's Justice Center, present
  • Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Thrive by Five Washington, present
  • Member, League of Women Voters of Washington, present
  • Member, National Conference of State Legislatures, present
  • Member, Shoreline Breakfast Rotary, present
  • Board Member, Shoreline Community College Foundation, present
  • Member, Sierra Club, present
  • Co-Chair, Washington State Institute for Public Policy, present
  • Former Leader, 4-H
  • Former Member, Advisory Committee, Office of the Families and Children's Ombudsman
  • Former President, Board of Directors, Center for Human Services
  • Former Member, Briarcrest Parent Teacher Association
  • Former Member, Brookside Parent Teacher Association
  • Former Co-Chair, Children's Campaign Fund
  • Former Trustee, Children's Trust Foundation
  • Former Fundraising Co-Chair, Citizens for Shoreline Schools
  • Member, Court Funding Task Force
  • Former Member, Lake Forest Park Parent Teacher Association
  • Former Co-Chair, Lauria Grace Fatality Review Team
  • Former Member, Manson Fatality Review Team
  • Former Parent Member, Shorecrest High School Site Council
  • Former Member, Shorecrest Parent Teacher Association
  • Former Board Member, Tree House
  • Former Chair, Washington Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Former Vice President, Washington League of Women Voters

Other Info

— Awards:

  • 2015:
  • June Leonard Memorial Award
  • 2014:
  • YMCA Legislative Champion
  • Boys and Girls Clubs of Washington State Legislative Champion
  • Treehouse Community Partner for Foster Youth Award
  • Foster Parents of Washington state, Legislator Award
  • 2012:
  • Champion for Children, Children's Alliance
  • Golden Crayon Award, Early Learning Action Alliance
  • Outstanding work for children with developmental disabilities, Arc of King County
  • 2011:
  • Shoreline Community College Foundation Distinguished Service Award
  • 2010:
  • Elected Official of the Year Award, Foster Parent Association of Washington State
  • 2009:
  • Champion for Children, Children's Alliance
  • Friend of Children Award, Washington State PTA
  • Washington State Parent Advocacy Award, Catalyst for Kids
  • Champion of Family Support Award, Children's Trust Foundation
  • 2008, Outstanding work for children with developmental disabilities, Arc of King County
  • 2007:
  • Lee Ann Miller Award, Children's Justice Interdisciplinary Task Force
  • Grace Cole Outstanding Volunteer Award, Center for Human Services
  • 2006:
  • Outstanding Vocational Service Award, Shoreline Rotary Club
  • Hero Award, Childhaven
  • 2002, Dorrit Pealy Award

Hobbies or Special Talents:

Hiking, gardening

  • 3

Policy Positions

Washington State Legislative Election 2006 National Political Awareness Test

Abortion

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer

2. Abortions should always be legal.
- No Answer

3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
- X

4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- No Answer

5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- X

6. Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions.
- No Answer

7. Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- Second trimester should be legal when determined medically necessary by a doctor.

Budget and Tax

State Budget: Indicate the funding levels (#1-6) you will support for the following general categories. Select one level per category.

1. Education (Higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Emergency preparedness
- Maintain Status

4. Environment
- Slightly Increase

5. Health care
- Slightly Increase

6. Law enforcement
- Maintain Status

7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Slightly Increase

8. Welfare
- Slightly Increase

9. Other or expanded categories
- Greatly increase child care and service for developmentally disabled

State Taxes: Indicate the tax levels (#1-6) you will support. Select one level per tax.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status

2. Capital gains taxes
- Slightly Increase

3. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Corporate taxes
- Slightly Increase

5. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Property taxes
- Maintain Status

7. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

8. Vehicle taxes
- Slightly Increase

9. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

10. Should the state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
- Yes

11. Should accounts such as a ?rainy day? fund be used to balance the state budget?
- No

12. Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
- No Answer

13. Other or expanded principles
- (l) depends on what fee - for example increased court fees to cover court costs makes sense.

Campaign Finance and Governmental Reform

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.

1. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Washington governors?
- No

2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Washington state senators and representatives?
- No

Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

1. Individual
- Yes

2. PAC
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Parties
- Yes

5. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes

6. Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns?
- Yes

7. Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes?
- Yes

8. Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Washington are closed?
- Yes

9. Should Washington recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Yes

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Crime

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

1. Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
- No Answer

2. Support the death penalty in Washington.
- No Answer

3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X

4. End parole for repeat violent offenders.
- No Answer

5. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- X

6. Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
- No Answer

7. Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
- No Answer

8. Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
- No Answer

9. Require that crimes based on race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation be prosecuted as hate crimes.
- No Answer

10. Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
- X

11. Strengthen sex-offender laws.
- No Answer

12. Support the restriction of the sale of products used to make methamphetamine (e.g. tablets containing pseudophedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine).
- X

13. Other or expanded principles
- (k) we already have some of the toughest sex offender laws in the country.

Education

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

1. Support national standards and testing of public school students.
- No Answer

2. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer

3. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer

4. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
- X

5. Increase funds for hiring additional teachers.
- X

6. Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
- X

7. Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools.
- No Answer

8. Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- X

9. Provide alternative ways to meet graduation requirements for students who fail the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning).
- X

10. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- X

11. Increase funding for Head Start programs.
- No Answer

12. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- X

13. Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
- X

14. Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
- No Answer

15. Other or expanded principles
- (k) head start is a federal program. I support expanding EEEAP - the state funded pre-school program.

Employment and Affirmative Action

Employment: Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.

1. Increase funding for state job-training programs that retrain displaced workers and teach skills needed in today?s job market.
- X

2. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion.
- No Answer

3. Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
- No Answer

4. Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- No Answer

5. Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- No Answer

6. Support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Washington's anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer

7. Increase the state minimum wage.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- b) some regulations are important for maintaining a sound economy and protecting our environment. Regulations should be streamlined.

Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies? decisions on:

1. Public employment
- No

2. State college and university admissions
- No Answer

3. State contracting
- No Answer

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Environment & Energy

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

1. Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
- X

2. Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, and oil).
- No Answer

3. Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
- X

4. Increase funding for improvements to Washington's power generating and transmission facilities.
- No Answer

5. Support funding for open space preservation.
- X

6. Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
- X

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Gun

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.

1. Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- X

2. Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

3. Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

4. Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
- No Answer

5. Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
- X

6. Require a license for gun possession.
- X

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Health

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.

1. Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
- X

2. Transfer current Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
- No Answer

3. Limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- No Answer

4. Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
- No Answer

5. Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
- No Answer

6. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Washington.
- No Answer

7. Continue to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- X

8. Require companies with more than 5,000 employees to spend a certain percentage of their payroll costs on health-care benefits.
- X

9. Require pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception without delay to anyone with a prescription for it.
- X

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Welfare and Poverty

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare.

1. Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
- No Answer

2. Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
- X

3. Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.
- X

4. Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations.
- No Answer

5. Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor.
- X

6. Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients.
- No Answer

7. Eliminate government-funded welfare programs.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- a) as long as necessary services (mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment,education, training and support services are provided.

Legislative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 75 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- Over the past two years, I have focused on early learning - improving the quality of child care and pre-schools in Washington, creating a Department of Early Learning, and building a strong private-public parternship. In the coming session, my major goal is to expand quality early learning opportunities for our youngest children, ages 0-5. I also hope to continue my work on legislation to improve truck safety, to reform our court system so it better addresses the needs of families, and to provide incentives for protecting our environment.

State Bills