Olympia Business Watch

McKenna, fresh from campaign kickoff, shares his 'New Direction' with AWB

On Tuesday, Rob McKenna reportedly served up "some familiar Association of Washington Business-style bromides" regarding government regulation.

That's how the Seattle P-I.com described part of the attorney general's breakfast speech kicking off his 2012 gubernatorial campaign, anyway.

On Wednesday, McKenna stopped by AWB's office in Olympia for a lunchtime visit with some of the state's business leaders, and he took aim at the remark.

"I just have to point out that people who write things like that have never been in a position to deal with the regulations that we're talking about here, as all of you have, as I have been as private legal counsel to small businesses and large companies," McKenna said. "This is not an abstract or hypothetical or idealogical issue. It is real and it has to be addressed in a real fashion."

McKenna makes it clear how he would address the problem in one of three white papers that lay the foundation for his campaign. The first of the papers, A New Direction for Job Creation in Washington State, offers a detailed list of proposals aimed at reducing unemployment.

They include an examination of regulatory policy, as well as competitive tax reform, ending the state monopoly on workers' compensation and liability reform.

But just as he did Tueday in his kick-off speech, McKenna spent much of his time Wednesday talking about education issues.

Brunell: The reality of world competition for America's factory owners

The story of FormFactor, a one-time California company that moved to Singapore in order to survive, illustrates the challenges facing businesses in today's cut-throat global competition.

The company founder didn't want to move his operation out of America, where he made his fortune, but he found himself competing with a Korean company that copied his device and started making it cheaper, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

When Singapore's Economic Development Board offered tax holidays, free property for a plant and headquarters and substantial grants for equipment and materials, he had little choice but to accept the deal.

His company was rapidly headed toward extinction and U.S. officials brushed him off his request for assistance.

As U.S. officials look for ways to restore jobs, they need to consider the reality of today's global economy, Brunell writes. And they need to make decisions carefully, based on economics not politics.

 

Rasmussen: America is in the midst of major change

Americans are deeply frustrated with their government and they're driving the country slowly but surely toward fundamental change.

That was the message Scott Rasmussen, founder and president of Rasmussen Reports, delivered Wednesday during AWB's annual Policy Summit.

It's unclear where things will end up. And it's unsettling, Rasmussen admitted. But he believes it's also a healthy part of American democracy.

Rasmussen, who is one of the nation's leading pollsters, has earned a reputation as someone who knows where the country is heading because he gauges the mood of average Americans rather than the so-called political class.

Americans today are frustrated with the economy and no longer view the downturn as a normal business cycle, he said. Rather they see it as a sign that something has gone fundamentally wrong.

In fact, they distrust the whole economic and political system to the extent that his polling shows most Americans not only think Congress is corrupt, but their own congressman or congresswoman is corrupt, he said.

Gregoire: Now more than ever, we must work together

Gov. Chris Gregoire blasted Congress for "failing to do what needed to be done in August," and she called on Washingtonians to work together to solve the state's budget problems during her luncheon address Wednesday to AWB members.

"Now more than ever, we can only get through the challenges ahead if we work together," Gregoire said during AWB's annual Policy Summit.

Her comments came after last week's news that state revenue projection dropped another $1.4 billion, raising the estimated budget shortfall to nearly $2 billion.

The forecast brought immediate talk of a possible special session of the Legislature, but Gregoire said she doesn't intend to call lawmakers to Olympia before the next forecast in November. Later in the afternoon came confirmation that Gregoire will call lawmakers back to Olympia in November for a 30-day special session.

"It's not a small, supplemental budget where you tinker, it is a new budget," she said.

I-1053 legal challenge could make voters ask 'What's the use in voting?'

Voters could not have been more clear last fall on Initiative 1053, The Columbian editorial board wrote yesterday in response to the legal challenge brought this week against the measure.

In Clark County, home of Rep. Jim Moeller -- one of the dozen Democratic lawmakers who signed on as plaintiffs -- the initiative passed with a 71.3 percent approval, the paper writes.

The Columbian brings up the statistic after noting that Moeller's Web page includes this statement: "A big part of my job -- by the far most important part -- is listening to what Vancouver and othe Clark County folks have to say regarding the issues before us."

On I-1053, the people have spoken. Loud and clear. And with respect to a supermajority vote of legislators to raise taxes, they have spoken several times.

Is Moeller listening selectively, the paper asks?

Every time lawmakers overturn the will of the people, they risk alienating them -- possibly to the point that voters give up.

The paper concludes with this warning: "Legislators who disagree certainly have their right to pursue a legal remedy, but that doesn't make them right. And they do so at their own peril, as voters justifiably ask: 'What's the use in voting, if our voice will just be ignored?'"

 

Brunell: Taxpayers should cut up Uncle Sam's credit cards

Candidates for political office generally have to pay vendors up front for campaign material. No cash, no campaign ad.

It's too bad the same principle doesn't apply once they're elected, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

Once they're in Congress or the Oval Office, the allure of Uncle Sam's credit card -- and the pressure to "bring home the bacon" to constituents -- leads to a debt binge.

National debt isn't new, Brunell notes. But what is new is that we're not repaying our public debts; we're simply getting new credit cards to pay off the old ones.

Elected officials will have no choice but to drastically cut spending even if they do raise taxes. With an election looming next year, that's likely to result in the least productive Congress since President Truman's "do-nothing Congress" of 1948.

Living with a balanced budget means making tought choices, Brunell writes. But it's better in the long run because U.S. citizens -- and their children and grandchildren -- won't be saddled with a mountain of crushing debt.

Rewind: Video from Sen. Murray's and Rep. Hunter's AWB visit

As promised, here are some video outtakes of state Sen. Ed Murray's and Rep. Ross Hunter's remarks at Thursday's AWB Lobby Lunch meeting, beginning with Hunter's overview of the budget process.

Hunter, D-Medina, describes the challenges facing lawmakers, explains why a budget will never be unveiled on a Friday, and predicts that nobody will be happy with it when the budget is eventually released. It will, he said, "require acceptance in stages." When asked whether the budget will be unveiled this coming Monday, he replies: "A Monday ... or perhaps a Tuesday."

Murray, D-Seattle, confirmed that the Senate is waiting for the House to introduce a budget proposal first this year. The Senate will follow about a week later with its own spending plan, he says. Murray also describes the "high-wire" act that he and Republican Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, are engaged in, and he says he's pleased with the committment from even the liberal members of his party to a bipartisan approach.

There's more after the jump, including a defense of title-only bills, a prediction that lawmakers will end up voting on 20 or 30 fee-related bills, and why there's not much that lawmakers can do to prevent the sweeping of funds from accounts to shore up the general fund.

Top budget writers offer glimpse inside Legislature

State Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, and Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, didn't shed much light on the big questions these days in Olympia -- when lawmakers will introduce a proposed 2011-13 state budget and what it might look like when they do -- but they did offer business leaders some insight Thursday into what's happening behind the scenes.

Among the highlights from their AWB Lobby Lunch address Thursday:

• The House plans to unveil its budget proposal first, and the Senate will follow about a week later.
• Don't expect the House to release its budget on a Friday - more like a Monday or Tuesday. (But probably not this coming Monday or Tuesday.)
• Look for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 fee-related bills.
• The likelihood of lawmakers sending a referendum to voters seeking to repeal tax "loopholes" is slim, and in any case it won't make a difference for budget writers.
• Title-only bills are here to stay.
• There isn't much that can be done short of a Constitutional amendment to guarantee that lawmakers won't "sweep" fees from dedicated accounts to shore up the general fund.

Murray, chairman of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, led off the meeting by confirming that the Senate will let the House go first this year with a budget proposal. "When that happens, we'll come out with ours probably a week later."

Gov. Gregoire's Keynote Remarks at AWB's 2011 Legislative Day

(Recorded: Feb. 03, 2011) Gov. Chris Gregoire’s keynote remarks at AWB's annual Legislative Day luncheon. Topics include unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, state employee pensions and education.

AWB raises concerns over campaign disclosure reform bill

Passing a law requiring political action committees to include the name of the entity that created it is cumbersome for a group with a name as long as the Association of Washington Business, AWB's Kris Tefft said Thursday.

That was one of the red flags that Tefft raised during testimony on Senate Bill 5021, a bill sparked by the Moxie Media scandal this summer that's aimed at making it easier for people to determine who is funding a political campaign.

AWB isn't particularly for or against the bill, Tefft said, just concerned about some of the language in the first draft. Two other areas of concern: A proposal to ban political committees from receiving contributions from other political committees; and language that would make it harder for a person or entity to create more than two political committees.

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, the prime sponsor and chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections, said he heard similar comments from others and he welcomed a chance to make some changes to the bill that he admitted was more rushed than he would like.