Olympia Business Watch

Supreme Court says gas-tax lawsuit can proceed without tribes

The Washington Supreme Court sided with a coalition of gas station owners Thursday, ruling that a lawsuit the group filed over compacts between the state and some American Indian tribes can move forward even though the tribes are not a party to the suit.

The coalition filed suit in Grays Harbor Superior Court in 2010, arguing that the compacts -- which require the state to refund 75 percent of taxes collected at tribe-owned gas stations -- are unconstitutional.

But state attorneys argued successfully to have the case dismissed, saying it couldn't move forward without the tribes -- and the tribes could not be named as defendants because they have sovereign immunity.

AWB filed an amicus brief last year, urging the court to take up the case. The state, the brief argued, shouldn't be allowed to hide beyond the issue of tribal sovereignty.

"As representatives of one of the most taxed and regulated communities in Washington, AWB finds offensive the notion that state officers might act contrary to the constitution or contrary to state with respect to taxpayer money, but be insulated from any judicial check on that action simply because the illegality is with a sovereign entity within the state," wrote Kris Tefft, AWB's general counsel.

The court agreed, ruling 5-4 that the case should proceed.

"Sovereign immunity is meant to be raised as a shield by the tribe, not wielded as a sword by the State," Justice Debra Stephens wrote in the majority opinion.

The Washington Policy Center, which also filed amicus brief urging the court to review the case, blogs on the decision here.

Erik Smith at the Washington State Wire called the ruling a "major blow" to the deals that Gov. Chris Gregoire struck with the state's tribes.

The Associated Press covered the decision here, and The News Tribune's Jordan Schrader blogged on it here.

AWB files brief backing I-1053 supermajority to raise taxes

The Association of Washington Business filed a friend of the court brief Monday in support of Initiative 1053, the voter-approved measure requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a vote of the people to raise taxes.

The measure is under attack from an assortment of opponents who claim it prevented lawmakers from raising taxes during the 2011 legislation session in order to fund schools.

But the brief, written by Kris Tefft, AWB's general counsel, argues that neither I-1053 nor any of the three supermajority requirements that preceded it actually prevent lawmakers from raising taxes when there is sufficient support to do so.

In fact, lawmakers raised the very tax at issue in the I-1053 legal challenge with a two-thirds vote earlier this year.  

Instead, I-1053's opponents are merely "seeking an easier political environment in which to enact tax increases," the brief argues.

Three previous legal challenges have failed to overturn the right of the people to impose a supermajority requirement on the Legislature.

The Washington Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear hear arguments next month on the latest challenge, should toss this one, as well, the brief argues.

In addition to calling out lawmakers for wanting an easier way to raise taxes, the brief highlights the tortured exchange on the House floor that was aimed at setting up the court challenge.

Opponents of I-1053 cite the failure of a specific piece of legislation, Substitute House Bill 2078, in their argument. But majority Democrats in the House were apparently more interested in orchestrating its failure than they were in making sure it passed, the brief argues.

"Rather than take actions that would have led to the passage of the measure, effort was instead invested in an elaborately choreographed set of colloquys preceding the floor vote, all evidently designed to tee up this specific legal dispute over the predestined failure of the measure," it states, adding that the website PubliCola confirmed that Democrats took the vote in order to set up the court challenge of I-1053.

"This is not a constitutional crisis," the brief states.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for Sept. 25, and it's on "expedited review," giving rise to speculation whether the court will render a decision prior to the Nov. 6 vote on Initiative 1185, whcih seeks to pick up where I-1053 left off, or prior to the start of the 2013 legislative session.

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center blogs on the AWB brief here.

To view the orchestrated colloquy, click on the video below.

Brunell: Federal health care law is a string of broken promises

Few lawmakers really knew what was in President Obama's 2,000-plus page health care law when they voted on it, but supporters made plenty of promises about how it would work.

Those have turned out to be broken promises, AWB President Don Brunell writes in latest column.

The string begins with the promise that Americans who like their current health plan and doctor can keep them.

It continues with the claim that small employers would be eligible for a tax credit to help provide insurance for their workers.

And the promise that the federal law would cover millions of uninsured by expanding Medicaid -- which is funded jointly by the federal government and states --was gutted by the Supreme Court decision that found states could not be forced to take part in it.

"Congress passed the federal health care law without knowing what was in it," Brunell writes. "Now that we do know, it will take major legislative surgery to cure what ails it."

Fiscal cliff equals recession, CBO says

There is a rather stark and scary report in Politico today about the fiscal cliff America is about to go over. 

Remember, the bipartisan super committee of a few select members of Congress, including Washington Senator Patty Murray (D), failed to reach an agreement on a plan to avoid triggering automatic spending cuts and there is no apparent effort to stop the tax reductions put in place by President George W. Bush from expiring. 

So now, the day of reckoning is coming and how Barack Obama and Mitt Romney intend to remedy the situation needs airing on the campaign trail. Those in Congress need to address the issue as well regardless of how difficult that might be.

A trip over the fiscal cliff would likely send the U.S. economy into a recession in 2013, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday, underscoring the impact that congressional gridlock will have if a deal to prevent scheduled tax hikes and spending cuts cannot be struck by the end of the year.

If Congress and the White House fail to reach a deal to prevent the tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts that comprise the fiscal cliff, average unemployment would top 9 percent in 2013 and the economy would shrink at an average rate of 0.5 percent over the year, according to CBO’s updated budget and economic projections.

Even if Congress does act to prevent the fiscal cliff, the latest CBO report does not envision a thriving economy. Preventing these policies from being implemented would lead to a deficit of $1 trillion in fiscal 2013.   The federal government is set to run a $1.1 trillion deficit in 2012, CBO projects. This would be the fourth straight year of deficits of more than $1 trillion.

Our national's fiscal crisis is real and it will take time put our house in order.  It really is the lesser of two desperate situations which both Democrats and Republicans need to address now.

Don C. Brunell, President (DonB@awb.org)

Brunell: Poland and America are heading in opposite directions

Poland and the U.S. are like two trains passing in the night, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Brunell, who recently visited Poland to attend a week-long business bootcamp for students, notes that Poland's economy was the only one in the 27-nation European Union to avoid a recession in 2009. And while most European economies continue to struggle, Poland saw a 4 percent rise in GDP this year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy remains stuck in the weakest recovery since World War II.

Most troubline, Brunell adds, is that President Obama and his allies believe more government intervention, higher taxes and more regulation will restore prosperity.

But government intrusion never works, a lesson that the Polish people know all too well from the era of Soviet domination and government control. Poland is eager to learn about the innovation and creativity of our market-based economy, but they are puzzled by the path our nation is taking.

"America's economic freedoms inspired a revolution in Poland," Brunell writes. "Now the Poles wonder if we've lost our way and are on the wrong track."

Wonder why taxpayers are upset?

In Detroit, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, despite having no horses, the water and sewerage department  employs a horseshoer.

Yet even with a department so bloated that it has a horseshoer and no horses, the local union president said it is "not possible" to eliminate positions.

Union rules have turned the department into a government jobs program, some critics say.

The horseshoer’s job description is "to shoe horses and to do general blacksmith work … and to perform related work as required." The description was last updated in 1967.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) has a large debt, rising water prices and inefficient services — using almost twice the number of employees per gallon as other cities like Chicago.

A recent independent report about the DWSD recommends that the city trim more than 80 percent of the department’s workforce. The consultant who wrote the report found 257 jobs description, including a horseshoer. Capitol Confidential sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the department for the salary, benefits and job description of the horseshoer position.

In response to the report, John Riehl, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 207, which represents many of the DWSD employees, told the Detroit Free Press that the department needs more workers.

"They don't have enough people as it is right now," Riehl said. "They are just dreaming to think they can operate that plant with less."

The city pays $29,245 in salary and about $27,000 in benefits for the horseshoer position.

 

Cut the government redtape: Streamline permitting is essential for job growth and economic prosperity

The Columbia River Economic Development Council(CREDC), a long-time Association of Washington Business (AWB) member is urging both Jay Inslee and Rob McKenna to make cutting government redtape and streamline permitting a top priority of the their administrations.

The CREDC recommendations mirror AWB and provides an additional lift to restoring progress and jobs. In its paper:  "A New Look at Washington's Business Climate." It was a subject AWB President Don C. Brunell addressed in a column released statewide in early August.

According to Wednesday's The Columbian, the CREDC paper recommends the state take several actions, including:

• re-engineering permitting channels so that the total local, state and federal process to secure a building permit takes no longer than four months when wetlands are not involved and no longer than six months when wetlands are involved.

• overhauling appeals processes, including combining various hearings boards into one and including "members who understand business."

• delaying implementation of "low-impact development" requirements

• allowing local communities to deploy "innovative approaches, incentives and strategies for environmental mitigation and enhancement."

• providing more support, through tax increment financing or other tools, for infrastructure development "that will lead to land for jobs."

"With an unemployment rate that is more than 40 percent greater than the state of Washington" -- and that's higher than the rest of the Portland area -- "Southwest Washington desperately needs these new jobs," the council's paper summarized.

Amen.

Doc's bill removes federal money for dam breachers

Washington Congressman Doc Hastings (R), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced legislation clipping federal funding from dam removal activist groups. 

Currently, some groups receive taxpayer dollars to bankroll their efforts to bring down dams and Hastings, a long-time supporter of keeping the four lower Snake River dams in place producing electricity, storing water for irrigation and providing for barge transportation between Portland and Lewiston, said it is time to call a halt to that practice.

According to reports in The Seattle Times, court and federal government records show that American Rivers, for example, would be affected because the group has litigated and it's received federal dollars,  including a $1 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant last year.

Hastings believes, that in a day when the U.S. government is running up massive deficits, that the taxpayer dollars can be spent more wisely.  "This bill would help eliminate government roadblocks and frivolous litigation that stifle development," Hastings, R-Pasco, said in a statement when he introduced it.

Hydropower accounts for about 8 percent of all electrical production nationwide. California has more hydropower facilities than any other state, while Washington leads in overall power production.

Lawsuits periodically have challenged these dam operations, directly or indirectly, and supporters of Hastings' bill say the litigation slows energy development and increases consumer costs.

Groups filing lawsuits that "if successful would result in" a reduction in hydropower generation would be covered by the federal funding cutoff, under the new bill. Attorneys for such groups likewise would be cut off. Spencer Pederson, a spokesman for the House Natural Resources Committee, said the panel didn't have a list of which organizations might be affected.

"It is a statement about the importance of hydropower and how taxpayer dollars shouldn't be used to destroy that resource," Pederson said of the bill.

Along with American Rivers, the National Wildlife Federation and Trout Unlimited are among the organizations that could be cut off from federal funding under the bill; each has been party to a suit potentially challenging hydropower generation, and each has received federal money.

Basically, in the future if Hasting's measure is enacted,  they will have to raise money on their own just as those defending keeping dams in place must do.  

 

 

 

Candidates to face off during Policy Summit

The primary is in the rearview mirror but the general election is rapidly approaching on the horizon. AWB is helping employers get up to speed on the issues and the candidates at its 23rd Annual Policy Summit, featuring three moderated conversations between candidates for lieutenant governor, secretary of state and state auditor.

Incumbent Democrat Brad Owen seems likely to face former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Finkbeiner. The lieutenant governor is the president of the Senate, and serves the state as acting governor in the absence of the governor.

Current secretary of state, Sam Reed, is not running for re-election. Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman, a Republican, will challenge former Democratic Sen. Kathleen Drew. The secretary of state is the chief elections officer, chief corporations officer, and supervisor of the state archives.

Finally, the retiring state auditor Brian Sonntag will leave an opening for one of the two candidates to fill. Republican James Watkins seems likely to run against Rep. Troy Kelley, D-University Place, once the primary ballots have been certified. The state auditor promotes accountability, fiscal integrity and openness in state and local government.   

Survey looks at causes, solutions for Recession Generation

Boomerang kids. Recession generation. Failure to launch.

The news media and Hollywood are replete with terms for today's young people and the challenges they face entering the job market, but ideas about how to address the challenges are much harder to find.

Community Forums Network, a public engagement organization that began this spring with backing from the Spady family of Dick's Drive-In Restaurants, recently released the results of a survey that asked a series of questions about how to improve young adult employment.

Respondents generally agreed that:

• The public and private sectors both need to provide funding for programs that will give youth and young adults the skills they need to get hired.
• A strong economy creates jobs for everyone, including young people.
• Public education needs to be restructured to meet workforce training needs.
• A training wage combined with a time limit is a good idea.
• Business needs to be involved in the government's current workforce training system.

More than 2,300 people took part in the survey between May 3 and June 17. Many of them were members of AWB, one of several partner organizations involved in the effort.

The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into the reasons why young adult employment rates have been in decline for more than a decade, and to discuss possible solutions.

“One Voice for Working Forests” blog finds a new home

Update your bookmarks or RSS feed: “One Voice for Working Forests,” a blog that began in 2010 as part of an online community of folks interested in the West’s working forests, has a new home on the Washington Forest Protection Association’s website.

The blog is a must-read for loggers, rural residents, educators, reporters -- anyone who depends on the working forests for timber or recreation. Recent posts look at timber payments and the forming of a coalition among government officials, timber industrialists and environmentalists.

The move was made to help consolidate resources and provide visibility to the blog.

If you aren’t familiar with One Voice, check it out and share your thoughts. Its new hosts welcome comments and intend the blog to be a gathering place to “discuss the issues of the day relevant to working forests.”

Pomeranian trade delegation coming to Washington

As part of extending Washington Business Week (WBW) to Poland, a side benefit is Polish economic development and business leaders in the Gdansk are planning a trade mission to Washington in October.  The trade mission will focus on finding business opportunities both in the Pomeranian Region (Northern Baltic coast part of Poland) and Washington.

AWB President Don C. Brunell met with Pomeranian Economic Development director Wtodzimierz Szordykowski and leaders of Invest in Pomerania to talk about the mission on Wednesday.  Invest in Pomerania, which helps to sponsor Poland Business Week, approached Brunell while he was in Poland for the Gdansk session.   The trade mission will also have stops in Silicon Valley and Chicago.

Brunell and WBW leaders also met with Teresa Szakiel, deputy director of Pomeranian education and sport, to discuss future plans for the Poland Business Week program.  As a result, the Pomeranian government and Polish business leaders will be developing a plan to present to WBW leaders. 

Currently, the Gdansk Business Week program is sponsored by the Gdansk Foundation for Enterpreneurship and has supported the program in Gdansk.  Similar organizations in Minsk, Gdynia and Boleslawowo.  Poland Business Week is also sponsored by Boeing, International Paper, Microsoft, AWB and several Polish companies.

Poland Business Week started four years ago.  Janice Jaworski and her husband, Allen, have been running coordinating and running the prgram in Poland.  Washington students, educators and business leaders work with them to put on the program.

AWB President Don C. Brunell is in Poland helping with the Poland Business Week program.