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Home / Washington Business - January 2006 / Chair's Corner: A United Business Community Has a Powerful Voice |
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Chair's Corner: A United Business Community Has a Powerful Voice |
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Written On: January 2006 |
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Written By: by Creigh H. Agnew - Chair, Board of Directors |
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Creigh H. Agnew, a Weyerhaeuser employee since 1985, was appointed Weyerhaeuser’s vice president of government affairs and corporate contributions in April 1996. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Washington and is currently AWB’s board chair.
With January’s arrival, it’s a good time to remind ourselves of how important the Legislature’s actions are to those doing business in Washington. The decisions made by our elected officials in Olympia impact all of us to some extent, and they are not always to our advantage.
In past years, the business community has succeeded when it stuck together and offered a common agenda. At AWB, we have worked hard to forge partnerships to achieve policies which encourage people to invest in our state and to create jobs.
That strategy was particularly effective in 2003 when a united employer lobby worked in unison to pass key reforms to our state’s unemployment compensation system and to pass a state budget with no new general taxes. Considering the Legislature faced a $2.7 billion shortfall in revenues necessary to meet expenditures, that was quite an accomplishment and helped to fuel the economic recovery we enjoy today.
The 2003 session was a landmark. The Priorities and Price of Government (POG) was introduced and, for the first time in recent memory, the governor and Legislature developed a set of priorities for state programs and funded them with the revenues available.
In 2006, it will be critical for all of us to rally behind a common strategy again. The state coffers are flush with $1.4 billion in unexpected revenue. Gov. Christine Gregoire is right to insist that legislators save the money for the next budget cycle starting in 2007 and to direct a portion toward making our pension system actuarially sound.
Along with budget and spending, the governor and lawmakers need to focus on competitive issues as well. For example, it is in everyone’s best interests to reduce the unemployment insurance system costs and to provide those unemployed, through no fault of their own, with timely and fair benefits during their layoff periods.
But none of us should lose sight of the fact that our state’s unemployment system is out of kilter. As of the third quarter of 2004, the latest data which the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy (WashACE) reports, Washington’s average cost per employee for unemployment is $854. Oregon, the second highest, is $729 and the national average is $288.
It is clear that the unemployment insurance program needs to be reformed. That is why it is vital that AWB continue to enhance its efforts with the Washington Roundtable and the Washington Research Council to advocate for increased competitiveness through WashACE.
The targeted public policy changes which WashACE identified six years ago form an invaluable road map to a prosperous Washington. Our elected officials recognized these shortcomings and have made some important progress. However, we still have a long way to go.
The Coalition of Washington Business Organizations (COWBO), which AWB helped form a few years ago, is an amalgamation of more than a dozen business organizations lobbying in Olympia. It has succeeded at the state capitol when it has had a unified and common business agenda.
The employer community must be united to help shape competitiveness issues. There will always be differences over approaches, content and strategies, and that is okay. However, we cannot let those differences prevent us from working for a more prosperous state in which all of our businesses will thrive.
We cannot lose sight of one basic fact: The decisions of the Legislature and government impact our daily lives and our ability to compete. Whether they are positive or negative depends upon how well we pull together.
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