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Home / Washington Business - September/October 2003 / Introduction |
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Introduction |
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Written On: September/October |
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The 2003 legislative session began with an enormous revenue shortfall in Washington state of over $2.3 billion. The Association of Washington Business (AWB) and the business community were nervous about tax increases similar to those instituted in 1993.
Our economy continues to face some difficult challenges over the next few years. With the national economy waning, AWB and our members must continue the fight to remain competitive. The national recession shows no signs of a quick and painless recovery. We need to continue to persuade our state officials to continuously look at how legislation affects our economy and the business community.
AWB started working with other associations across the state last fall and formed our own Coalition of Washington Business Organizations (COWBO), a group of associations united with one voice in order to successfully avoid tax increases. With the efforts of AWB and COWBO, 2003 was our greatest success for Washington state businesses to date. We not only finished this year’s session without any major tax increases, but we also amplified the benefits to businesses across our state. With issues like municipal tax fairness, the transportation package, unemployment insurance, water resources, and the obvious budget shortfall being resolved this year, we are putting a check in the win column for AWB and its members.
Municipal tax issues were something we have struggled against for the last six years. With the tremendous effort of our governmental affairs staff, the municipal tax fairness issue was resolved. This new law stops the cities of Washington from double taxing local businesses. AWB will be monitoring this new law for the next few years to make sure all of the cities in Washington comply.
We also made the Legislature realize the problems concerning the new use tax. The new tax did not allow exemptions for businesses located in Washington state as it was intended. Thanks to AWB, they fixed the problem and implemented exceptions for local businesses.
The transportation problem in Washington was another issue weighing heavily on the business community. We have urged the Legislature to address this problem for many years, and with the support of AWB our state government has finally responded. A five-cent increase on gas will go towards repairing the congestion problem in Washington state. The new tax goes towards fixing transportation issues like permit streamlining, performance audits of the Department of Transportation (DOT), and massive improvements to our major roadways.
DOT is planning to spend over $4 billion to repair our transportation system with the supervision of Transportation Permit Efficiency and Accountability Committee (TPEAC). TPEAC is designed to keep the transportation improvements in check, and we will follow closely along with TPEAC to ensure the money is spent correctly. Several major transportation improvements are already underway, and several others are still to come. The new transportation package also provides a reduction in costs for freight, and will allow alternate means to reduce the amount of trucks on our highways.
We also needed to reform the unemployment insurance program. Our third highest unemployment premiums almost led to Boeing’s disappearance from Washington. After a special session of the state Legislature, we were finally successful in the first stages of reform. We have convinced the Legislature to place more restrictions on who qualifies for unemployment, and increased the number of rate classes so employers can reduce the cost per employee. The new unemployment plan is a good start towards reform, but we still need to push for further reform of the law to remain competitive.
We were also able to direct the Legislature into providing adequate water resources for all the businesses in our state. The old law did not include the ample amount of water needed for the growth of our business community. Water resources play a very important role in our success and competitiveness as a state. AWB and our members benefited greatly when the water issue was resolved this year.
This year also had great successes in regulatory reform. New rulemaking procedures and the new Office of Regulatory Assistance create better and easier ways to inform businesses of the rules they have to comply with. The Office of Regulatory Assistance is to create a user friendly website, and the new rulemaking procedures force administrative agencies to provide businesses with proper notice regarding the changing of old rules, or the addition of new ones. These new rules make doing business in Washington a lot easier.
AWB supported and lobbied for Gov. Locke’s implementation of his "Priorities of Government" (POG) policy. This policy limited government spending and current revenues without major tax increases to the business community. At first, the Governor’s budget plan needed some drastic changes for the business community to remain competitive. Through the hard work of our governmental affairs staff, we were able to advocate the changes required to satisfy the needs of AWB and our members. AWB has fought all year to improve the business climate, and the POG policy was the key to many of our major successes.
Right now we are in fierce competition with several other states. We need to ensure our Legislature fights for Washington, so we can obtain a competitive advantage. With the help of Gov. Locke and numerous legislators, we will be able to lead our state to a stable and successful economy. A better economy will attract more business and revenue to the state of Washington.
Even though AWB and our members have shared success this year, we cannot lose sight of the future. We will continue to lobby for further legislation that benefits Washington’s business community, and to keep our state at a level of competitiveness that will promote growth and success.
2003 saw enormous success for AWB, but not all of our goals were attained. Workers’ comp needs further reform. Charter schools legislation, while passing the Senate, was killed in the House because leadership would not allow the bill to come up to the floor for a vote. (For more information on charter schools, see page 22). In 2004, AWB will work hard in support of these issues and others that affect Washington’s competitiveness.
Through the support of our members and other organizations across the state, we will work to bring about more changes in Washington state’s business policies. We at AWB will continue to fight for our members and business. The success of our organization depends upon the success of our members. We would like to thank you for your continuous support in the struggle for fair treatment of Washington’s businesses.
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