Olympia Business Watch

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.

Tax incentives boost state economy, drive innovation lawmakers are told

Eliminating state tax incentives for manufacturing businesses will hurt companies, and ultimately hurt the state’s economy.

That was the message delivered Wednesday to members of the state House Committee on Community Development & Housing by representatives from Greater Spokane, Inc. and the Association of Washington Business.

Tax incentives, sometimes referred to as “loopholes” by critics, are coming under intense scrutiny this year as lawmakers attempt to deal with a huge budget shortfall.

Before they make any decisions about them, however, lawmakers received an overview of Washington’s tax current incentives, including a look at the different types and how they help boost the state’s manufacturing sector in particular.

Amber Carter, AWB’s government affairs director for tax policy, noted two of the most successful tax incentives: The manufacturing and equipment sales and use tax exemption, which AWB helped establish in 1995, and the research and development incentive.

A recent study of the M&E exemption found it led to the creation of 58,000 new jobs in Washington, an additional $27.5 billion to the state's economy, and additional revenue to local governments, Carter said. “All of these things happened earlier that what was initially predicted,” she said.

Dorn told AWB audience he supports eliminating elected schools chief position

A comment from then-candidate Randy Dorn during his 2008 debate with Terry Bergeson at AWB's Policy Summit found its way back into the news yesterday after Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed doing away with an elected state schools superintendent.

Dorn, who went on to defeat Bergeson, issued a strongly worded press release shortly after the governor's announcement saying he opposed the idea.

But The News Tribune's Peter Callaghan - one of the moderators for the AWB debate at Semiahmoo - recalled Dorn's comments and blogged on them. Jerry Cornfield at the Everett Herald also posted on the subject this morning.

Dorn's communications manager released a statement explaining Dorn's change of position, which prompted a follow-up post from Callaghan.

The comments about an elected versus appointed schools chief came near the end of the hour-plus-long debate, in response to a question from Callaghan. Dorn said he would support a constitutional amendment changing the position.

“When you run for office, it’s political," he said. "So I’d like to remove that from education.”

The video below is cued up to the start of the approximately five-minute exchange.

 

AP legislative preview offers glimpse of the challenge facing lawmakers

Are taxes really off the table? And what does government reform really mean?

The leaders of the state's legislative caucuses answered questions from the state's press corps this morning during the annual Associated Press legislative preview, and their comments helped illustrate the challenges that lie ahead for them during the 2011 session.

The bipartisan panel seemed to agree that government reform is essential if lawmakers hope to address the estimated $4.6 billion shortfall in the 2011-13 budget, but they showed a reluctance to address some major elements of the budget.

When asked whether state employees should give up more and whether lawmakers should discuss doing away with collective bargaining, Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said that wouldn't solve the problem. "Collective bargaining is not the fundamental cause for the situation we're in," Brown said.

Regarding the Basic Health and Disability Lifeline, the social service program formerly known as General Assistance - Unemployable, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, strongly defended the programs, saying thousands of people are depending on them.

On the Republican side, Walla Walla Sen. Mike Hewitt and Chehalis Rep. Richard DeBolt spoke up for levy equalization, which helps less affluent school districts. "This is one we know we will fight to the death on," DeBolt said.

Voters send strong anti-tax message: I-1098 income tax defeated; I-1107 tax repeal victorious

It's still early, but media outlets have already declared Initiative 1098, the income tax proposal, defeated, and Initiative 1107, repealing soda, candy and bottled water taxes, passed.

The Seattle Times didn't need much time to declare the income tax dead: It called the election at 8:36 p.m., barely a half hour after polls closed, with the headline, "Income tax initiative-1098 loses big."

By 9 p.m., the Times and the Associated Press were both calling I-1107 passed.

Both results were good news for AWB, which opposed 1098 and endorsed 1107.

The other big tax measure, Initiative 1053, is off to a strong start, too. As of 9:08 p.m., it was leading by a margin of nearly 66 percent to 34 percent statewide.

Think the mud-slinging ends Tuesday? Think again

The election-year rancor and mudslinging won't come to an end Nov. 2, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column.

That's because Congress slipped out of Washington, D.C. without passing a budget, guaranteeing the House and Senate will be back in session for a lame-duck session that could cripple the economy for years to come.

Newly-elected House and Senate members won't be seated until January, and those who are turned of office on Tuesday are free to raise taxes and vote for unpopular programs such as card-check and cap-and-trade.

Congress and President Obama could restore confidence by reducing the federal deficit, telling the unions to take a hike on card check, dropping cap-and-trade and restoring the Bush tax cuts, Brunell writes.

"Unfortunately, what should happen in the lame-duck session probably won't," he says. "That will mean another round of mudslinging, which will further cripple our economy."

TVW program shows strong support for I-1053

The folks who called into TVW's live town hall/polling program last night strongly favor Initiative 1053, mirroring some of the other polling we've seen on the initiative.

The interactive program, which also looked at initiatives 1107 (repealing soda, bottled water and candy taxes) and 1098 (imposing a state income tax) included live polling of a random sample of nearly 500 Washington voters by longtime pollster Stuart Elway. Host Jessica Gao moderated discussion on the measures with in-studio commentary from Paul Guppy of the Washington Policy Center and Gerald Reilly of the Eldercare Alliance.

When asked whether they were inclined to vote for or against I-1053, 55 percent of the sample audience said they were definitely or probably for the initiative.

Support for the measure was even higher later in the program, after the audience listened to arguments for and against it. When asked how they would vote if they had to vote right now, 59 percent said they would vote for it and just 41 percent said they would vote against it.

End the tax tug-of-war: Vote Yes on 1053

The basic idea behind Inititaive 1053 - to require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to raise taxes - is certainly not a new one.

Voters have previously approved of it on three separate occasions, only to watch elected lawmakers overturn it each time.

It's back on the ballot this year in the form of Initiative 1053, and it's timing couldn't be more critical: The economic recovery is fragile, at best. Unemployment remains high. And families and taxpayers are just begnning to absorb the $770 million tax hike that lawmakers approved earlier this year.

Amid this backdrop, lawmakers will encounter an estimated $4.5 billion state budget shortfall when they convene this January in Olympia. If they choose to follow this year's near-record tax hike with another big boost in taxes, it could have a disastrous impact on struggling businesses.

And yet without the protection of I-1053, that's exactly what The Seattle Times predicts will happen.

"If I-1053 fails, taxes will go up within six months," the newspaper said.

Business leaders rally at L&I headquarters in support of I-1082

With less than two weeks until Election Day, backers of an initiative that would end Washington's government monopoly on workers' compensation insurance took their case to the doorstep of the state agency that oversees the monopoly.

Several dozen supporters of Initiative 1082 rallied Wednesday in front of the Department of Labor & Industries headquarters in Tumwater to call attention to I-1082, which seeks to open up Washington's workers' comp insurance market to private competition.

State Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake, addressed the crowd, saying that Washington's workers and employers deserve to have a choice about where to buy industrial insurance.

"Let's vote in I-1082," Holmquist said. "Let's send the message that we deserve better."

"Monopoly," the star of several YouTube videos put out by the campaign supporting I-1082, even made an appearance.