Hailey running for state House Hailey running for state House

A Mesa agribusiness owner will try a second time to win a seat in the state House of Representatives.

Steve Hailey, owner of Hailey Company Inc., a family farming and cattle operation, said Tuesday he’ll run for the position that is opening up with the retirement of Rep. Don Cox, R-Colfax.

Hailey, 62, said he has the experience in farming and business to serve a district that includes much of the Palouse, “and the ability to explain things to our friends on the West Side.”

He would like to see some reductions in the state’s business and occupation tax, particularly in counties that border Idaho and Oregon, which don’t levy that tax. Although trimming the tax would reduce money to the state’s general fund, Hailey noted the state was projecting a $1.67 billion surplus for this two-year budget cycle, “so obviously they’re taking in too much money.”

He also wants to push for more agriculture research at Washington State University, reminding legislators from elsewhere that WSU is a land grant school.

A Vietnam veteran who has served on the local fire commission and the Franklin County Planning Commission, Hailey is a member of several farm organizations.

He ran for a House seat in 2004, finishing third in a five-way Republican primary.

This time, Hailey says he is starting earlier and making contacts in the district’s more heavily populated areas of Whitman and southern Spokane counties.

Cox mentioned Hailey as a possible replacement in announcing his retirement last week. Tedd Nealey, a Cheney farmer and substitute teacher, is also considering a campaign.