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April 24, 2009 |
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Friday, April 24, 2009
Do we suck? Snohomish, Spokane EDCs disagree
While Boeing, corporate lobbying groups and
politicians in both parties continue to bash Washington's "business
friendliness"
in the context of seeking tax breaks and other legislative
goodies in Olympia, an Economic Development Council in Spokane is touting
what objective national observers say: Washington is "The
#1 State to Start a Business."
Read more.
► In today's Seattle Times -- Now's not the time to raise payroll taxes (editorial) -- EDITOR'S NOTE: Twice now in two weeks the Times has urged legislators to strip all benefit improvements from SSB 5963. Today, the Times claims that the $224 million in unemployment insurance TAX CUTS that businesses will get if SSB 5963 passes the Senate as approved by the House will actually "raises payroll taxes!" Apparently, failing to pass an even bigger tax cut (without the benefit changes) is the same as raising taxes. Astoundingly, today's editorial doesn't even mention that the bill cuts U.I. taxes. Way to inform your readers, Times! Learn more.
► At TheNewsTribune.com -- Consultant report: State Labor Council will leave Washington by 2020 (to keep Boeing company) -- You'll just have to follow this link if you want an explanation.
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This 2009 regular session's final WSLC Legislative Update will be published early next week and will report the fates of the U.I. bill, the state budget and other working-family legislation still in play. Our 2009 Legislative Report and Voting Record will be published in May/June. |
Legislative news:
► Today from AP -- Budget slices billions, spreads pain -- Education, health programs and human services will share the pain of deep spending cuts in a budget that does not count on general tax increases. More than half of the hole is filled with federal money and other one-time fixes, such as raids on construction accounts and skipped pension payments. As many as 8,000 government layoffs are expected, while about $830 million is left in reserves in case of further economic woes.
► In today's Seattle Times -- State income tax, sales tax increase won't go to voters -- Senate Democrats won't send voters a proposal for an income tax that targets people making more than $250,000. Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-Seattle), sponsor of the temporary sales-tax increase, says he only has about 25 votes, half of what is needed for the measure to pass the House.
► In today's Everett Herald -- New taxes shot down in House -- Tonight's vote will be close. Though House Democrats hold 62 seats, a large enough majority to approve it without Republican votes, there are disheartened members who may not support its passage. "There will be 52 votes for the budget," says Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish).
► At SeattlePI.com -- Legislative Democrats let Washington down (Joel Connelly column) -- The BIAW spent more than $7.5 million in 2008 to defeat Gregoire, taking the low road from start to finish. Still, the furthest right of the state's lobbies has had its way with a Legislature dominated by Democrats. The House Rules Committee has just killed legislation to reform the cash cow that the BIAW milks to get its campaign money.
► At TheOlympian.com -- The coming dramatic change in child welfare -- Rep. Ruth Kagi's HB 2106 will allow a "test" of private child welfare agencies to handle about 20-40% of the state caseload. A final report on the test isn’t due until 2015. Sen. Jim Hargrove has been demanding even more privatization. The WFSE fought the bill and is considering asking Gregoire for a veto.
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following controversy WIN
A FREE LUNCH with WSLC Reports Today's entire staff! |
Local news:
► In today's Seattle Times -- 158 Issaquah teachers notified of possible layoffs -- The school district sends notices to 158 teachers that they could be laid off under a "worst-case" state budget scenario. But the actual number who may lose their jobs is likely much smaller.
National news:
► In the Wall St. Journal -- Employers make cuts despite belief upturn is near -- A new Hewitt Associates survey of 518 large U.S. companies found that 54% believe the economic upturn will begin at the end of 2009 or early 2010. Nonetheless, a large percentage have plans for further layoffs, salary reductions, medical-benefit cuts and changes in 401(k) matches.
► In today's LA Times -- Retired auto workers' benefits in peril -- As the Obama administration prepares to send Chrysler and possible GM into Bankruptcy Court, one of the biggest losers may be the automakers' current and future retirees, a group of nearly 1 million people whose pensions and healthcare funds could be slashed by tens of billions of dollars.
► In today's NY Times -- Plight of carmakers could upset all pension plans -- Pension experts predict that a government takeover of the plans at GM and Chrysler would spur other auto companies and all types of manufacturers to abandon such benefits for competitive reasons.
► In today's NY Times -- U.S. trade chief says Obama will push ahead on pacts -- New U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk says he will work to revive global trade talks and complete three bilateral accords as part of an aggressive trade agenda. Rejecting fears of a turn to protectionism or a softening of support for free trade, Kirk says: “Now is not the time to turn inward. Now is not the time to be timid. Now is the time to revive global trade.”
► In today's NY Times -- To save money, states turn to furloughs -- Government services remain in even greater demand in a weak economy. Furloughs often mean fewer workers handling a larger load. For instance, there are already signs of disability claims piling up in seven states.
"Last Throes" update:
► From AP -- More than 80 killed yesterday, 60 killed today in Iraq bombings -- Back-to-back suicide bombings killed 60 people Friday outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad, a day after the country was rocked by its most deadly violence in more than a year
►
4,276
U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003,
3,815 of them since Saddam's capture. Between 91,500 to 99,900 Iraqi
civilians have been killed so far in the ensuing violence. And more than
seven years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still at large.
►
In
2006, WSLC's affiliated unions called for an end to the U.S. occupation of
Iraq
FRIDAY,
APRIL 24, 2009
Do we suck? Snohomish, Spokane EDCs disagree
Business-climate assessments depend
on goal: Attracting jobs... or tax cuts
---------------------------------------------
By DAVID GROVES
WSLC Publications Director
---------------------------------------------
This
is an ad that appeared in the February 2009 edition of Alaska Airlines
Magazines, paid for by Greater
Spokane Inc., which is "the Region’s
only Regional Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council."
In touting Washington as "The #1 State to Start a Business," they
have a very different take on this state's "competitiveness" than
do their
compatriots in Snohomish County. The Snohomish
EDC is one of the groups championing the cause of cutting benefits for
laid-off and injured workers in Washington state in order to keep Boeing
from leaving the state.
The "We Suck" crowd, a bandwagon built by former Boeing boss Alan Mulally back in 2003 and now populated by business lobbying groups and politicians in both parties, continues to bash our "business friendliness" in the context of seeking tax breaks and other legislative goodies in Olympia. And their Washington-hatin' rhetoric is swallowed whole by just about every newspaper editorial board in the state.
But their message is in direct conflict with what objective out-of-state assessments of our state's business climate have found. As quoted in the Greater Spokane Inc. ad above, a January 2009 report in the U.S. News and World Report said, "Washington ranks first in the U.S. in pursuing alternative-energy sources. It also has a highly productive manufacturing sector, signaling high wages and a tech-intensive economy. Washington has very low taxes, reducing your costs of growing a business. It does not have personal income or capital-gains taxes."
Here's some other news from outside our state's "We Suck" echo chamber: (For more information, see the WSLC's Legislative Position Paper on our state's business climate.)
Washington state is ranked the 3rd best place in Forbes magazine's "best states to do business" ranking for 2008, and was the only state in the top five in the labor, regulatory environment and growth categories. (www.forbes.com)
Washington is ranked 12th best in the nation for 2009 in terms of "business friendliness" by the Tax Foundation, a conservative Washington D.C.-based think tank. Its annual report compares the states’ tax environments by measuring their sales and gross receipts taxes, unemployment insurance taxes, corporate and individual income taxes, and something called the "Fiscal Balance Index." (www.taxfoundation.org/sbtci.html)
Washington ranks 5th best in the nation in the 2008 Small Business Survival Index of the Small Business & Entrepreneur Council, a business lobbying group that advocates for tax relief and regulatory reform that benefits small businesses. Washington’s West Coast competitors, Oregon ranked 32nd and California ranked 49th. (www.sbecouncil.org)
So why do people still insist "we suck" and prescribe slashing the safety nets for workers who have the misfortune of getting laid off or injured on the job? The explanation hasn't changed since the staff of WSLC Reports Today wrote the following back in October 2004:
Here's a newsflash: This state will NEVER be "business friendly" enough for Corporate Washington and the lawmakers they sponsor. There will always be another business tax to exempt, a work safety regulation that needs repealing, an expensive environmental permit that should be junked. Always. Forever and ever. And this is true for corporate lobbyists throughout the land -- in every state.Take Kansas, for example (please). It is a so-called Right-to-Work (anti-union) state with unemployment insurance taxes about one-third of what employers pay here and a state minimum wage of $2.65 an hour. And yet, amidst Boeing's acceptance of government incentive "bids" for its 7E7 work, Boeing's Mulally was there reciting an all-too familiar refrain: "We want to (keep jobs) in Wichita -- as long as we can be competitive." Meanwhile, the hand-wringing commercial press lamented, "How can Wichita compete?"
(Update: Boeing is now selling it's Wichita factory, despite Kansas putting up $500 million in state-backed bonds as part of its bid for 7E7 nose and cockpit work. So look for panicked Kansas legislators to approve The Job-Creating Indentured Servitude Act of 2005.)
And speaking of our aerospace competitors in Kansas, that state just approved legislation to nearly TRIPLE its minimum wage!
"Job
killers! JOB KILLERS!"
Copyright © 2009 -- Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO