Strong economy,
strong Washington

Along with its many landmark accomplishments in the areas of education; medical liability; civil rights; water and energy policy, and community protection, the 2006 legislative session was also a great year for the business community.

State coffers collected $1.6 billion in higher-than-expected revenue since Senate Democrats wrote the budget during the 2005 session. 94,000 jobs have been added in the span, a growth of 3.4 percent. We knew we had the benefit of a hot economy going into the session, and a top priority for our caucus was to preserve and perpetuate that growth.

Senate Democrats successfully joined with the governor and our colleagues in the House of Representative to pass a raft of proposals aimed at job creation and economic growth, including:

• Saving nearly $1 billion to pay for upcoming costs in our education, health care and pensions systems, and avoid tax increases in the next biennium (SB 6386 and SB 6896);
   
• Providing $46 million in total tax incentives for:
   
  • the timber and wood products industry (SB 6874);
  • the aluminum industry (HB 2348);
  • the restaurant industry (SB 6533);
  • dairy, seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables manufacturers (HB 3159);
  • non-manufacturing aerospace businesses (HB 2466);
  • business that enter into work force training agreements with colleges in the state (SB 6326);
  • professional employer organizations (SB 6671);
  • the semiconductor industry (HB 3190);
  • farmers’ fuel and equipment (HB 2424, HB 2457);
  • seed conditioners (HB 1523);
  • biotechnology product manufacturing (HB 2640); and
  • the motion picture industry (SB 6558).
     
• Increasing the personal property tax exemption from $3,000 to $15,000 (HB 3164 and HJR 4223 – requires voter approval);
   
• Moving the due date for business who pay monthly excise tax back to the 25th of the month and eliminated the automatic 5 percent penalty (HB 2671);
   
• Major Unemployment Insurance changes designed to reduce rates for businesses and restore benefits to workers between jobs (SB 6885);
   
• A new partnership plan making health care more affordable for owners of small businesses (HB 2572);
   
• Enacting historic reforms to the medical malpractice insurance market and civil liability system (HB 2292);
   
• Setting a minimum blend for all diesel and gasoline in the state to promote Washington-based refineries and farm crops (SB 6508);
   
• Protecting in-state breweries’ and wineries’ ability to self-distribute (SB 6823);
   
• Allowing employers to assist workers in filing industrial insurance claims (HB 2537);
   
• Modernizing Washington's business development law to promote job creation and encourage investment (SB 6168);
   
• Reforming employee wage repayment requirements (HB 3185);
   
• Providing modernization assistance to small and mid-size manufacturers (HB 2726);
   
• Establishing a new e-waste recycling program to safely dispose end-of-life electronic products (SB 6428);
   
• Reaching a landmark agreement for water management strategies in the Columbia River Basin (HB 2860);
   
• Creating a competitive grant program to assist communities with an industry cluster-based strategy for economic development (HB 2498);
   
• Creating the Local Infrastructure Financing Tool (LIFT) to help local governments build infrastructure for economic development and job growth (HB 2673);
   
• The capital budget (SB 6384), which:
   
  • Invests $23 million in jump starting the state’s biodiesel industry;
  • Authorizes a $10 million finance plan for construction of the WSU Biotech/Life Sciences Building;
  • Authorizes $200 million in bonds over 10 years reservoir construction on the Columbia River Basin; and
  • Invests $4.5 million to improve the University of Washington’s nanotechnology lab.
     
• The transportation budget (SB 6241), which:
   
  • maximizes the efficiency and economy of the highway, bridge and intersection, ferry, rail, bus, and park and ride projects funded in
     
    • 2003’s $4.1 billion Nickel Transportation Package, and
    • 2005’s $8.6 billion Transportation Partnership Package.
       
• The operating budget (SB 6386), which provides:
   
  • Nearly 500 new high-demand enrollments in higher education;
  • $4.1 million for new work force education opportunity grants;
  • $3.2 million for more work force training opportunities; and
  • $14 million for the housing trust fund.
     

We believe these many accomplishments will continue to stimulate our state’s growing economy. We look forward to keeping this positive momentum alive in the 2007 session.