Jason Allen vs Sharon Unger

Oct. 11, 2006

As part of the continuing series of political interviews for the November 2006 election, Senator Jason Allen faces off with challenger Sharon Unger, a former social worker from Antrim County.
No one will dispute that Senator Jason Allen has received more media coverage than any other area politician in the recent past, but it hasn’t proved the adage, “All publicity is good publicity.” He was widely considered the frontrunner for majority leader, but his chances diminished after the Traverse City Record-Eagle ran several articles on controversial campaign contributions (see Senator Allen’s response below).
Allen is a lifelong resident of Traverse City, and attended NMC and the Miami University of Ohio, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and a minor in fashion merchandising. He is vice president of sales at Captain’s Quarters, a family-owned business. He previously served as a state representative before his election as senator four years ago.
Sharon Unger is a lifelong Democrat, but was never involved in politics until now. She graduated from Michigan State University and took graduate courses in social work at Eastern Michigan University. She taught for several years and then worked as a social worker for a decade, mainly to help abused and neglected children. “After being shot at and beaten up,” she left the job in 1988 and qualified for disability. Since then, she has earned a Realtor’s license, served as a mediator, and volunteered at Antrim Probate Court, where her husband served as judge for 24 years.
John “Jack” Unger admitted that he himself felt the heat of the Traverse City Record-Eagle when he was probate judge -- for spending excessive amounts to help troubled children: “I know what it’s like to be in the cross-hairs of the Record Eagle,” he said.
The following questions were emailed to each candidate. Here are their responses.

NE: What possessed you to get into politics?

ALLEN: I was raised in a family that felt that public service is an honorable career path. Holding elected office has allowed me work for a better future for the state and fight for northern Michigan’s fair share.
UNGER: In two words: Jason Allen. When I read about his involvement in the parking deck fiasco, I decided it was time to do something about the depths to which politics had descended.

NE: What were your greatest accomplishments in the last term?

ALLEN: During my first term in the Senate my office responded to over 20,000 written correspondences from my constituents. I have had 41 bills signed into law and consider them all to be accomplishments. Included in this group is the CORE package of bills which was the only major bill package to come out of the Land Use Leadership Council Report; legislation to create tool and die recovery zones to help struggling manufacturers; bills which prevented a Lansing take-over of the Mackinac Bridge; a package to allow educational freedom to state scholarship recipients; and many others. Whether large or small, each policy change
has been a positive step to help move
Michigan forward.

NE: What’s the key issue that keeps you awake at night?
ALLEN: My daughters – Amanda is teething right now! Actually, Michigan is hemorrhaging jobs at an alarming rate, especially in the manufacturing sector. While the national economy is recovering, Michigan continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation. In light of the fact that one in six Michigan tax dollars comes from the Big Three automakers and their supply chains, their long-term viability is a concern.
UNGER: The economy. Michigan was the center of the manufacturing universe. Also, the center of the organized labor universe. The world economy has disrupted our economic equilibrium by inducing major companies to outsource labor and manufacturing to third world countries with the cheapest labor. 
What keeps me awake is that to solve this enormous loss of economic well-being, Republicans and Democrats, business and labor, haves and have nots will have to cooperate, not just snipe at one another.  I think I can contribute to that process.

NE: Do you think the state’s job problem has more to do with bloated SUV inventories and Third World wages or do we blame the government? What’s the solution?

ALLEN: I believe that consumer buying patterns have changed over time. In large part, consumers are only concerned about price and no longer care where a product is manufactured, which has an impact on the Michigan manufacturing market. In order to create jobs in Michigan, we need to establish a better business climate by restructuring business taxes, enhancing our downtown areas and improving education.
UNGER: Blame won’t help. We in Michigan simply kept betting on a horse that got old and slow. The short-term solution is to encourage high tech industry with tax incentives; to actively promote education through student grants for those willing to commit to remaining in Michigan for at least five years; to grow the medical economy in Michigan; and to aggressively promote tourism in Michigan. Long term, assuming we don’t squander it, we have the greatest freshwater resource in the world. Within 20 years, when Florida, Texas and California are dry, people will return to Michigan in huge numbers.

NE: Some free market purists, like the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, believe that tax breaks for specific businesses create an unfair playing field for companies who receive nothing, upsets free market forces, and increases everyone’s tax burden. How do you stand on it?

ALLEN: Michigan needs to continue to provide tax incentive packages to businesses as long as other states continue with similar programs. Without these types of programs, we will be putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage with the states that we compete with for jobs on a daily basis.
UNGER: Where do these purists live?  Probably not in Michigan. Ever since the 19th century, government has tried (with varying success) to alter free markets.  Anti-trust legislation was one method.  Progressive income tax was another.  Tax breaks can create an unfair playing field, but it is not inherently evil for a government to attempt to gain a competitive advantage via tax policy.  Southern states have done it for years and prospered at our expense.  We have to think of protecting Michigan, its jobs and its people.  With that in mind we should shape our policy to the greatest good for the greatest number of Michigan citizens.

NE: Is it responsible to cut the admittedly horrible single business without first figuring out how to replace the $2 billion in lost revenues?

ALLEN: This same argument was made in the early 1990s when the legislature eliminated the funding stream for K-12 education before the creation of Proposal A. As we learned then, often an immediate deadline is needed in order to make sweeping changes. I am confident that the same will hold true for changing Michigan’s business tax structure. The SBT should be replaced with a new business tax that is more equitable and less of a deterrent to investment in Michigan. The replacement tax should make compliance simpler for businesses and should not be an undue burden on new start-up businesses who are struggling to get by. Any new business tax should not penalize businesses for providing health care to their workers, making capitol improvements or creating more jobs.
UNGER: Of course not.  It is precisely that kind of thinking that makes citizens cynical about their government. Virtually no one liked the single business tax, myself included, but I would like to think I would have been a voice for responsibility had I been a senator.

NE: Why don’t Canadians dump trash in their own country instead of Michigan?  They certainly have enough room.

ALLEN: I cannot speak to the motives of a constituency which I do not represent, but I imagine there is a combination of factors including regulatory issues and cost. In light of the fact that the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have ruled that trash is an item of commerce, its interstate shipment is protected under the Constitution. I certainly have and would support efforts to restrict or ban Canadian trash; however most previous efforts by the state Legislature have been found unconstitutional. Additionally, the ability of the U.S. to impose tariffs on trash was limited when President Clinton signed NAFTA. Therefore, action must first take place at the federal level to grant states the authority to regulate out-of-state waste.
UNGER: I would not blame the Canadians. Michigan’s tipping fee is 21 cents per ton. Surrounding states range from $3 to over $7.  When raising the tipping fee was introduced in the legislature, it was defeated with the aid of Jason Allen’s vote. Due to treaties with Canada and federal laws, we in Michigan can’t just outlaw foreign trash.  We can only control the price. I would vote to increase the tipping fee.

NE: Do you think global warming is a state issue?

ALLEN: Any environmental issue which impacts Michigan is a state issue and we must remain vigilant with state environmental policy. However, public policy initiatives to address global issues such as climate change would be best addressed at the national and international levels.
UNGER: Global warming is an issue for every place and person on earth. Long after the unpopular war in Iraq is only a legend, the effects of global warming will be the most important and worst Bush legacy.

NE: What do you say to people who charge that Senator Allen’s actions were influenced by tobacco and restaurant money? (Specifically, in 2004 Senator Allen chaired a Commerce and Labor Committee and refused to hold a vote on a bill to outlaw smoking in restaurants. A tobacco company donated $2,000 to the senator’s account—inaccessible to public view—within a month of Record-Eagle stories reporting his stance on the bill. The Michigan Restaurant Association gave $2,500 to the senator’s account—also nonpublic—just 10 days before a committee hearing on the bill, according to a Record-Eagle story. The bill died in committee in 2004.)

ALLEN: I have never and will never accept a campaign contribution to influence my position on an issue.  I opposed SB 186 when it was in my committee because I am not in favor of additional government regulations on private businesses in areas where the market can regulate itself, a philosophical position I have consistently and publicly held throughout my time in elected office. The number of smoke-free institutions has dramatically increased as the market responds to the wishes of the consumer, without government intervention. Additionally, many local governments, such as Emmet and Charlevoix counties, have voted to regulate smoking in restaurants. The Commerce and Labor committee held a public hearing on this legislation on June 22, 2004. As Chair of the Committee, I did not move to vote on the bill simply because I did not support the bill. However, the other members of the Committee, both Republicans and Democrats, made no motion to bring a vote on this bill either, which they were able to do. Furthermore, Senate rules allow a bill to be discharged from committee to the full Senate by a majority vote of the Senators, however, to my knowledge, no discharge motion was ever made on this bill.
UNGER: I think Allen’s action was definitely connected to the money.

NE: The unfair funding for schools is driving teachers in Northern Michigan crazy, yet it’s hard to take money away from rich districts.* How do you fix it, especially in light of getting rid of the SBT tax?

ALLEN: Currently the SBT does not provide any support to the school aid fund (SAF), so changes to the SBT will have little impact on the SAF. Nearly one-third of all state spending goes towards education; over $13 billion this year. Since I have taken office in the Senate, minimum per pupil funding has increased from $6,500 to $7,085. I have been a proponent of closing the funding gap with a bottom up approach, and this year I supported an additional $23 per pupil for the lowest funded districts. Education has been and will continue to be a top priority.
UNGER: No one can say a student from Bellaire is inherently worth less than one from Bloomfield Hills. Yet state education funds are distributed as though that is the case. Righting the wrong through legislation simply will not happen because the haves will not allow the have-nots to prevail.  The disparity persists because of a compromise needed to pass Proposition A. We need a new compromise that will equalize the per-student funding formula over a period of several years in equal increments.  I would work toward such a compromise, hopefully to be completed within the eight years I could serve as a senator. One of my skills is digging very, very deep into an issue and coming up with a solution.

NE: Have you been surprised by the controversy over campaign contributions given to Senator Allen? Has it been unfair?

ALLEN: I have conducted my fundraising entirely within the letter and spirit of Michigan campaign finance laws. In fact, I have disclosed considerably more information than the law requires, to anyone who has asked. To say that I have been secretive about my campaign accounts is simply inaccurate and I resent reporting by innuendo. I have never and will never accept a campaign contribution to influence my position on an issue.
Individuals and organizations that donate to my campaign funds do so because they believe in the same ideals that I do and support the work I have done in Lansing on behalf of the citizens of Northern Michigan. In the newspaper coverage, multiple hints or suggestions were made about campaign contributions affecting my stance on an issue, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Some contributions alluded to were money from tobacco companies, trash haulers and gambling interests.  However, I have voted to raise the cigarette tax, continued to support constitutional methods to curbing out-of-state waste, and have opposed the expansion of gambling in this state.
UNGER: It is important for voters to recognize that what has happened is not just “politics as usual.” Nearly all political candidates and incumbents receive PAC money.  Although abuses can occur, the First Amendment protects the right of people to “speak” through PACs. 
What distinguishes contributions received by Senator Allen is that individuals have given him huge contributions --$10,000, $20,000, even $40,000—to intervene in government affairs on their behalf. 
The Parking Deck is a perfect example. Allen got $20,000, then intervened in a city affair to introduce and vouch for his benefactor, and to discourage another developer from submitting his lower bid.
Allen got $20,000 from the president of a company that makes plastic bottles for beverages. The bottle bill (to include water, tea, etc. as returnables) has been bottled up by Republicans since 2005.
He also took $40,000 from an officer of a road striping contractor with millions of dollars in state contracts.
By the time the public found out about these donations, Allen had already delivered his favors. If I am elected I will introduce legislation that requires information about all contributions made accessible to the public within one week of their receipt.

NE: In November, South Dakota voters will decide whether to ban abortion, potentially setting up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade. If abortion reverts to state control, will you work to ban legal abortion or to reduce the number of abortions? Have you worked proactively to do either?

ALLEN: I believe that life begins at conception and that life should be protected regardless of the age of the human being. Currently there are no cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, which currently protects legal abortions in the United States. However, I have supported legislation aimed at reducing abortions, such as the ban on partial birth abortions, and requiring a physician to give a woman seeking an abortion the opportunity to view an ultrasound image of her fetus.
UNGER: I think the entire issue is between a woman and her doctor.  I will work proactively to assure that right is not diminished.

NE: On a lighter note, your favorite TV show?

ALLEN: Whatever show my daughters are interested in, which lately has been “Arthur.”
UNGER: “The Office.”

NE: Your favorite saying?

ALLEN: “There’s more than hicks and sticks north of Highway 46.” -Former Speaker of the House Rick Johnson commenting on the daily battles northern legislators face when discussing policy issues with downstate officials.
UNGER: “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” - Radio personality Delaila.

*In 2005, for example, the state gave the very richest school districts tens of millions of dollars beyond the $6,700 base per-pupil amount. Bloomfield Hills received $31 million (an extra $5,166 per student); Birmingham and Farmington each received $41 million more. TCAPs got nothing above the base amount.