washington business
In Their Words
Richard “Doc” Hastings recently retired after serving 20 years
in the U.S. Congress. He grew up in Pasco where he joined his
father’s business, Columbia Basin Paper and Supply, in 1967. In
1978, he was elected to the state Legislature where he served
eight years. He eventually took over the business before selling
it to his younger brother when he was elected to Congress in
the 1994 Republican Revolution. In Congress, Hastings rose to
become chairman of both the Natural Resources Committee
and the House Ethics Committee. He retired at the end of 2014,
saying it was “just time to leave.” Hastings received AWB’s
C. David Gordon Award at the Spring Meeting, recognizing
his contribution to the state. Washington Business Executive
Editor Jason Hagey caught up with him earlier this year to
reflect on his career.
Before you started your life in elected
office, you were a small-business
owner in Pasco. Can you tell me a
little about the business and how
you got into it?
“I had kind of a unique experience serving in a tie,
majority and minority. And I can tell you serving on the
majority is much better from a partisan standpoint.”
— Doc Hastings, on his time in the Washington State Legislature
The business that my dad started in 1947
is Columbia Basin Paper and Supply and
it’s a paper and janitorial supply business. I joined the
business in 1967 and when I got elected to the Congress
I sold it to my brother who still has it. The business will
be celebrating — well it’s been a business for 68 years in
Pasco. It’s a very successful small business.
How did your experience as a small-business owner
help you in elected office?
The most obvious one is you can’t stay in business if you
spend more money than you’re taking in. That’s just the
very basic principle. You can’t stay in business unless you
have a profit. Now, I’m not suggesting that government
should run profits. But when government cannot live
within its means then it’s always seeking to get more
revenue through taxation.
18 association of washington business
Doc Hastings
Why did you decide to run for the state Legislature?
In 1976, I was a delegate, a Ronald Reagan delegate, to the
National Convention and so from that involvement you
meet people and I got encouraged to run in 1978. I was there
for eight years. When I was elected to the House, that was
the first 49-49 tie in the Washington Legislature. Of course,
under our Washington Constitution, you can’t pass any
legislation unless you have 50 votes. So what that instance
showed me was when there’s a will to get something done,
it gets done. And then I served two years in the majority,
my second term in the Washington Legislature. My last
two terms we were the minority. I had kind of a unique
experience serving in a tie, majority and minority. And I
can tell you serving in the majority is much better from a
partisan standpoint.