Washington Business Spring 2015 | Page 18

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.