Now that the state Senate has voted to legalize same-sex marriage, maybe lawmakers will turn their attention to balancing the budget.
That's clearly the hope of Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, who began his remarks Thursday at AWB's Lobby Lunch meeting by welcoming everyone "to the first day of session!"
In fact, lawmakers are now four weeks into the session -- seven weeks if you count last year's second special session -- and there has been "very little movement on the budget whatsoever," Hewitt said.
Other issues, he said, have "totally taken time away from what we need to do in a short, 60-day session."
The lunch meeting not only followed the Senate vote on same-sex marriage, but it also coincided with the release of the House Republican caucus's education budget.
Rep. Richard DeBolt, who joined Hewitt and Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, at the meeting, said that after years of proposing a separate, stand-alone education budget and getting nowhere, he's pleased to see it finally get a hearing in committee.
The fallout from Tuesday's State of the Union address continues. Tom Dononhue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told the Fox Business channel it was a political speech "full of taxes and taxes, regulations and regulations, stimulus and stimulus. It doesn't address the two fundamental questions at hand and that is how do we drive growth into the United States to the extent that, number two, it creates jobs?"
"I heard a lot about how we were going to regulate things, how we were going to constrain things, how we were going to tax issues. But I didn't hear anybody say 'and here's what we're going to do to move forward, to liberate the free enterprise system in this country to put people back to work.' It was all about what government was going to do and what the president was going to do with the arm of government to see what he could do to put people back to work. But that's not gonna help," Donohue concluded.
Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, responded: "The President deserves credit for highlighting manufacturing on a national stage, but presidential leadership requires more than speeches. President Obama had a chance to set a bold manufacturing agenda in motion, and he missed it."
"On regulations, for example, the President touted his Administration’s efforts to rein in some regulatory excesses and costs—$10 billion in savings over the next five years. But, Boiler MACT, Utility MACT, Cement MACT and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, to name just a few of this Administration’s rules, would impose costs that dwarf the savings highlighted by the President.
"And on labor, the President never mentioned the aggressive actions that the National Labor Relations Board took in the past year. If President Obama wants manufacturing to lead the economy, federal agencies cannot swoop in and tell manufacturers where they can do business."
Timmons concluded: "It’s 20 percent more expensive to manufacture in the United States than it is among our major trading partners — even after excluding the cost of labor. The best way to create an environment to increase manufacturing employment in America is to lower the cost of doing business through pro-growth tax rates, sensible legal policy, reasonable regulations and affordable and secure energy supplies."
The Association of Washington Business is Washington's state chamber of commerce and manufacturing and technology association as recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers, respectively.
A bill is coming soon, perhaps as early as Wednesday, that could fix some of the flaws in the energy law approved by voters in Initiative 937.
Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, chairman of the Senate's Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Wates Committee, made the announcement Tuesday during an energy panel at AWB's annual Legislative Day in Olympia.
But Ranker, who prefaced his comments by restating his support for the underlying goals of the initiative -- developing more renewable energy resources in Washington, and reducing the state's use of non-renewable energy -- cautioned observers not to expect radical changes.
"I have no intention of gutting 937 and turning it on its head," he said.
Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, likewise stated his support for the initiative, and pleaded with the business community to display patience on the issue. "We won't be able to address everyone's concerns this year," he said.
A main concern of the business community is that, unless something changes, I-937 will lead to big increases in the cost of electricity in Washington. Low-cost power has been one of the state's main competitive advantages for years, but that's in jeopardy because of mandates on the state's utilities to increase the amount of power they use from renewable sources.
President Obama's decision to order the EPA to delay implementing new industrial ozone emission standards is a temporary reprieve that will save U.S. businesses as much as $90 billion per year, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.
The price tag is that high because, as the EPA admits, the technology to comply with its proposed rules doesn't exist yet. Industry would have been forced to invent it within the next few years, or shut down.
But critics charge that the EPA has shown a pattern of inflating the projected environmental and economic benefits of its proposed regulations, and failing to back up the claims with scientific evidence.
"Federal regulations add hundreds of billions of dollars each year to the cost of doing business," Brunell writes. "Federal law says agencies can add to that burden only when they clearly justify the need and show there is no workable alternative. There is a disturbing pattern that the EPA is ignoring that requirement."
More efficient diesel engines. Scanners that check cars at the U.S.-Canada border for nuclear material. And eventually, a smarter electric grid.
Those are a few of the ways that research from Richland-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is contributing to the community, Mike Kluse, the lab director, told AWB members Wednesday during the annual Policy Summit.
The lab, one of just 10 national labs in the country, is working on groundbreaking research on everything from national security to energy. It's important for the business community to work with researchers to make sure their discoveries make it into the marketplace, Kluse said.
"Having a national lab in your backyard is a rare and valuable advantage," he said. "We want to help you."
The lab is a unique public-private partnership. It's been run by Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle since 1965 under a contract from the federal government. It employs more than, 4,900 people, and it's been growing fast in recent years, adding staff and buildings to its Richland campus.
Kluse offered AWB members a glimpse into the kind of research being done at the lab to develop a smarter electric grid and better batteries for electric vehicles. The goal, he said, is to develop game-changing science that is linked to the marketplace.
"Partner with us," he implored the audience. "Help commercialize our technology. Bring jobs to all corners of Washington. We clearly are a resource for every one of you."
Like other speakers at the Policy Summit, Kluse was bullish about Washington.
"This state is well-positioned for the future," he said. "The question is whether we have the collective will to make it happen."
Could rolling brownouts be part of America's future? What about laws that limit how much electricity you use, and homes equipped with sensors that allow regulators to remotely turn off your energy-hungry appliances?
Scenarios like this might not be as far-fetched as they seem, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.
Over the years, legislators and regulators have steadily reduced the the supply of affordable energy in the U.S. while the population and demand for energy has continued to grow.
Crude oil has become a pariah. Coal, which provides half the electricity in the U.S. and the world, is a perennial target. Here in Washington, activists want to breach the four dams on the lower Snake River, cutting back on clean, renewable hydropower. Natural gas, once touted by coal opponents as the cleanest fossil fuel, is now under attack. Alternative energy sources such as solar and wind may not provide more than 10 percent of total power supply.
"So we have some tough choices to make," Brunell writes. "Politicians and ideologues should step aside and let the scientists and engineers develop innovative solutions that provide for the future of our nation -- or it could be 'lights out.'"
Everyone agrees that Puget Sound is worth saving. The economy depends on it. Recreation depends on it. It's what makes the region unique.
But figuring out how to imrpove the health of Puget Sound is fraught with challenges and tension, points that were underscored Tuesday by a four-member panel that discussed work underway to update the Puget Sound Partnership's original action agenda. The document was developed in 2008.
The panel consisted of Martha Konsgaard, chairwoman of the Puget Sound Partnership's Leadership Council; Gerry O'Keefe, the partnership's executive director; Sam Anderson, executive officer of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties; and Sandy Mackie, a land use attorney at Perkins Coie and chairman of AWB's Land Use Committee.
Part of the problem, Konsgaard said, is raising awareness of the issue. "People want to save Puget Sound," she said. "But the challenge is they say, 'Is there a problem?' Many people don't know there is a problem."
The source of the problem isn't what it used to be, either. "The era of the bad guy and one chimney stack is over," she said. "It's really how we're living on the land."
Partisan wrangling has brought gridlock to Congress, but federal bureaucrats are finding ways to implement President Obama's programs without congressional approval, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.
One example is the National Labor Relations Board, which is carrying out organized labor's agenda after Congress failed to approve union-backed "card check legislation.
Another example is the Environmental Protection Agency, which is systematically implementing its own version of cap-and-trade after the Senate rejected the president's plan.
The end-run around Congress by federal bureaucrats is costing taxpayers and employers trillions of dollars and adding to the national debt, which now stands at $14.3 trillion.
Congress needs to wake up, and regardless of party affiliation, take back control of the legislative branch of government, Brunell writes. "Congress sets policy and federal agencies enforce it -- at least that's how our separation of powers is supposed to work."
If not for the extensive series of dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers, the Northwest would be experiencing the same massive flooding that's occurring along the Mississippi River, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.
The historic flooding could end up resulting in the highest flooding since since the $16 billion claims following Hurricane Katrina, Brunell writes.
In 1948, before the dams along the Columbia and Snake were completed, a levee broke on the flood-swollen Columbia, killing 16 people and wiping away the city of Vanport in what is now North Portland.
"Those who want to remove the dams from the lower Columbia and Snake rivers don't talk about how those dams prevent widespread devastation," he writes. "But we should all remember that without those flood busters, we'd be in a world of hurt."
Denis Stevens, consul general of Canada in Seattle, made it clear Tuesday that Canada is ready and willing to partner with Washington businesses.
Stevens touted a long list of Canada's economic selling points during his address at AWB's Spring Meeting, including everything from low business taxes and a tech-savvy workforce to numerous free-trade agreements and an economy that weathered the recession relatively well.
"We've emerged in better shape than nearly every other economy around the world," Stevens said.
His message was aimed at strengthening what are already strong business ties between Canada and Washington state. Some statistics:
In 2009, Washington exports to Canada totaled $5.3 billion, and imports from Canada totaled $11.8 billion.
Canada was the state's second-largest export market after China, purchasing 13 percent of Washington's worldwide shipments. (Watch for the next issue of Washington Business for more on this topic -- due out next week.)
Some 174,000 Washington jobs depend on trade between the two countries.
Stevens highlighted three points during his speech at Spokane's Davenport Hotel: Canada's business investment potential, the work that Canada and the U.S. are undertaking to improve perimeter security without hampering the flow of legitimate travelers and North America energy partnerships.
