Chopping taxes on the timber industry

Our state’s timber industry has been an engine of Washington’s economy for more than a century.

The timber industry directly provides family-wage jobs with excellent health and retirement benefits to more than 45,000 people. It’s the state’s second largest manufacturing sector after aerospace, and the third largest industry overall.

But Washington’s timber industry is struggling to compete. The timber market is a global one. Asian mills can make and sell products for half of what it costs here. Big timber companies are closing down their Washington paper manufacturing holdings and paper mills, and turning to offshore operations. Washington’s forest-practice regulations are some of the most advanced and expensive on the planet. Energy costs have tripled during the past 20 years.

In 1999, the Legislature adopted the Forests and Fish Agreement, which charts a path toward improved forestry practices that will help to recovery the state's endangered salmon runs. The Legislature directed state agencies to work to obtain assurances from federal agencies implementing the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) that timber harvests conducted under these new standards would comply with the ESA. This year the state signed the historic, 50-year Habitat Conservation Plan, which will provide regulatory long-term stability for the owners of 9.3 million acres of forest land in Washington. This is the first such plan of its kind in the nation.

Senate Democrats recognize there’s more that legislators can do to help the industry. For example, when Boeing hit a rough patch after September 11, the Legislature authorized significant tax breaks to keep the manufacturing giant in the state to build the 7E7 Dreamliner. Boeing today has a record number of orders to fill, and Washington’s economy stands to gain.

Timber is the “Boeing” for many of our rural communities. These are the people and towns that are literally building the state of Washington. Our state’s timber industry is just as important economically as our aerospace industry, and deserves the same consideration.

That’s why Senate Democrats followed the model used to help the aerospace industry and gave the timber industry some needed tax breaks in the 2006 legislative session. Senate Bill 6874 reduces timber-company tax rates so they match airplane-company tax rates.

Offsetting high industry costs with a lower tax rate will help our state’s timber companies stay competitive with the rest of the world, and help keep thousands of family wage timber jobs in our state.

Our timber industry has long been a driving force in our economy. Senate Democrats are committed to making sure these companies and employees continue to play a pivotal role for centuries to come.