MOSES LAKE - Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna visited Moses Lake Saturday to speak with supporters and elaborate on a possible run for governor in 2012.

"I am in this process of exploration, of exploring the idea of running for governor in 2012 instead of running for another term as AG," said McKenna. "What I thought I would do is talk to you about what I think we need to do in this state, if I were to run."

McKenna said he would emphasize three main issues if he were to run for governor: economic growth/job creation, education reform and controlling the size of state government.

"We're not going to be creating the jobs," McKenna said. "It's the business owners, the managers, the entrepreneurs, the capitalists. They're the ones who are creating the jobs, taking the risks, who are innovating. That's where job growth comes from."

The state government either needed to help entrepreneurs or get out of the way, he said. Business owners are concerned about the state's high worker's compensation costs, unemployment insurance costs, the cost of regulation and how those regulations discourage employers from growing their employee base, he said.

McKenna emphasized the importance of funding public education, saying it provided a good return on investment. But he said reforms were needed to the current Washington state public education system.

"I think investing in our kids is a good investment," said McKenna. "But are we getting the results, are we getting the outcomes that we want? I'm not sure that we are."

60 percent of kids in the state are not reading at the proficient level we need them at in the fourth grade, he said, while one-third of the kids that start high school don't finish or don't graduate on time.

McKenna said having a reputation of quality education would attract employers to the state not just because of the skilled workers the schools would produce, but because people would move here so their own children would receive a quality education.

McKenna said the quality of education could be improved by changing how personnel decisions are made for teachers, increasing competition between state schools and giving more authority to school principals rather than administrators.

"Everything gets better with competition," he said. "Competition drives in innovation and drives out cost. ... In public education, we have a monopoly today."

McKenna suggested competition could be increased by introducing charter schools and by giving parents more control over where their children attend school. He used the Marysville School District as an example; parents in that district can send their child to any school within the district, he said.

"The schools in Marysville have to compete for the students," he said. "It's brilliant. It works extremely well."

McKenna also offered ideas about reducing the size of state government.

"I'm one that believes that we need to have a state government that delivers services people want at a reasonable cost. The problem is the costs haven't been too reasonable lately," he said. 

Increased responsibilities are one reason state government has grown, McKenna said

"Health care spending by the state has doubled," he said. "We simply made more promises than we can afford."

State government can run more efficiently with less employees, McKenna said. He used his own office as an example.

"In my office, we have downsized. We have become more efficient. We have fewer people working there now than when I became attorney general in January of 2005."

One way to identify ways to streamline state government and to make it more efficient is to ask state public employees for their suggestions, McKenna said. 

"When the ways and means chair and the Republican ranking member asked state employees for ideas on saving money, they received 7,500 suggestions from state workers. ... State employees aren't the problem, they're part of the solution. But you have to empower them and we all have to be accountable."

Alan Odermann and Ann Mix, co-leaders of the Moses Lake Grant County Tea Party Coalition, both attended to back McKenna.

"We are here to show support for Rob McKenna, particularly for his fighting Obama-care and to encourage him to run for governor and let him know that we're fully behind him and will support him in that candidacy if he chooses to run," said Odermann.

"Stops like this bring people face-to-face with him and you can see how he communicates and really wants to know what people are thinking," said Betty Hanes, Chairwoman for the Adams County Tea Party.