The Washington State Legislature convenes January 12, for a
regular session scheduled to end April 27.
No one is betting they’ll make that date given the $2 billion budget
shortfall currently forecast as well as the burden of an additional $2 billion
to meet the class size demands of I-1351 recently passed by voters.
Nonetheless, legislators will grapple with many issues
addressing needs of all constituents.
The Chamber is prepared, thanks to the work of its members who volunteer
for the Government Affairs Committee, as an active advocate for local
businesses. Here is our Agenda for 2015:
2015 Legislative Agenda
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The Legislature should strive for the
creation and retention of private sector jobs by adopting a sustainable budget
that prioritizes spending and implements spending controls and reforms that
will provide long-term financial stability, while at the same time adopting
legislation that will streamline regulatory policies that positively impacts
the economy, promotes job growth, enhances the business climate and closes our education
and workforce gaps in the globally
competitive environment.
GOAL - GROW BUSINESSES AND CREATE JOBS
Improve the business
climate and increase the number of jobs in Pierce County.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Chamber supports the following principles:
Legislation that positively impacts the economy, promotes
job growth and enhances the business climate so that all Pierce County
businesses can continue to be successful and globally competitive.
Support Military-Community compatible land use proposals to
support the military mission of defense installations identified in such
documentation of the 2005 BRAC Report and the upcoming JBLM Joint Land Use Study
(JLUS). In continuing support for the
Washington Military Alliance, the Chamber supports continued funding for the
Department of Commerce’s Military Sector Lead and policies that recognize
military bases as economic and service centers within our region.
Permitting and Regulations - Regulatory reform efforts that
decrease duplication, increase predictability and decrease the cost of
permitting and regulations.
I-937 – Reasonable changes to I-937 that support Pierce
County businesses and/or utilities and their previous investments made to
comply with the Initiative. Support policies that incentivize and further the
safe, reliable and efficient use of electricity and natural gas transportation
in Washington State to ensure that these alternative fuels are taxed in parity
with traditional transportation fuels.
TRANSPORTATION
Pass a transportation funding and expenditure package, together
with reforms, that will complete Pierce County transportation projects that
have already been pledged, are currently in design or scheduled for
construction and projects that improve freight mobility and system reliability.
Top Priority Project
SR 167 – Full funding to complete construction of SR 167.
Other Priority Projects
- Local roads, arterials and transit – Support local transportation infrastructure investments in Pierce County that improve freight mobility and systems reliability for workers.
- JBLM – I-5 Corridor, SR 512/I-5, Cross-Base Highway (I-704). East Pierce – SR 162/410 Corridor Study
- Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) – Support legislation that encourages the use of multimodal commutes including the continuation of the CTR credit for businesses that provide benefits to their employees to ease traffic congestion.
HEALTHCARE
Washington has been a leader in delivering effective medical
care. We are home to provider organizations that have developed innovations
that have improved life expectancy and the quality of life worldwide. As
implementation of the Affordable Care Act continues, the legislature should make
every effort to build on those strengths while expanding options for consumers
and avoid all efforts that would impose duplicative governing structures or
mandates and restrictions on the ability of providers to care for their
patients, regardless of their income status.
Support policy that will encourage or expand medical
services, especially in rural areas of the state so that specialty services not
readily available in the region, like telemedicine, and preserve Association
Health Plans (AHPs) as a viable market option.
WORKFORCE TRAINING
& EDUCATION
Support policies and investments that maintain and enhance jobs in Pierce
County and that directly support local flexibility in workforce development and
job training programs through entities including workforce development
councils, school districts, community-based institutions, community and
technical colleges, UWT, the other
four-year colleges and apprenticeship programs.
Boost student success and employability by legislation that
promotes, expands and emphasizes job training in high demand fields -
especially science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curricula.
Veterans - Support policies that facilitate the employment for and transitioning of military personnel, veterans and military spouses and their children into a civilian environment by: the adoption of policies including, but not limited to, those that grant college credits for previous military work, training or experience; making it less cumbersome to obtain professional certificates and/or licensure for demonstrated equivalent ability or competencies, and encouraging skills translation portals; and supporting positive military child education initiatives.
Education
Support policies that encourage innovative learning models, like
Charter Schools, and provide the greatest student achievement and
performance-based management policies for teachers and principals. Funding
investments should be made in programs that have demonstrated an ability to
enhance student learning that are coupled with clear expectations of outcomes
and performance measures. Expand science, technology, engineering and math
(STEM) programs at all levels of K-12 education.
Support the state constitutional requirement for provision of
basic education for all children so that an appropriate allocation of resources
and any corresponding expectations that come with such funding - such as local
control by the principal, performance reviews, higher pay for positions of
higher demand, etc. to comply with the Supreme Court’s McCleary decisions.
Support Capital and Operational funding and expenditures that
increase economic development opportunity and training capacity in secondary
and post-secondary education and the connectivity between them and that create
jobs in Pierce County.
PRIORITIES OF GOVERNMENT
Wage and Hour Reform / Mandatory Paid Time Off
Wage and Hour Reform / Mandatory Paid Time Off
Support reforms to the minimum wage laws,
like adoption of a training wage, that promote job growth and benefit business
in Pierce County – especially reforms to the automatic minimum wage accelerator.
Encourage the greatest possible consistency between state
and federal wage laws - limit more restrictive state-based standards. Oppose
localized minimum wage laws and mandatory paid leave proposals and support
appropriate state-wide reforms in such areas that encourage the growth of
current and the location of new businesses in Pierce County.
Washington’s share of the world’s GHG emissions is less than
three-tenths of one percent (.003), causing a negligible impact on climate
change. State policy makers should not be more aggressive than their
counterparts in other states by adopting climate change-related policies,
especially in the land-use and transportation areas, that will adversely impact
the construction industry and our transportation infrastructure. Enactment of
any such additional policies to directly or indirectly regulate GHG emissions
threatens investments, especially capital investments, in Washington’s economy.
Support policies that improve and
incentivize use of alternative fuels and the infrastructure necessary to supply
those fuels in Washington. Efforts to impose GHG policies that go beyond those
required by the Clean Air Act, like carbon tax schemes and other GHG pricing mechanisms, will be opposed Environmental
Regulatory Reform. State government land use and environmental review processes
should be streamlined to the fullest extent possible to eliminate unnecessary
delay, duplication, and expense. Policies should place greater emphasis on
providing technical assistance to the regulated community to increase voluntary
compliance with existing regulations without increasing reliance on
jurisdictional or enforcement authority.
Support efforts that expand upon Washington’s current innovation
sectors; encourage, incentivize and support research and development for new
and emerging technologies that reduce GHG and create jobs in Washington.
Government Efficiency
Workers’ Compensation - L&I efficiencies
Allow for the
“right-sizing” of Washington’s broad statutory definition and coverage of
“occupation disease” by:
·
restoring the original intent of the law that
the system cover work-related exposures and conditions;
·
expand the use and administrative simplicity of
the claims resolution settlement option;
·
enhance
appropriate claims management authority for retrospective ratings groups and
self-insured employers:
·
address the high incidence and cost of
occupation disease claims and the extremely complex process for calculating
benefit levels
Support objective and independent hearing reviews and
appeals without agency intervention wherein all agency hearings and appeals
will be addressed by an administrative law judge assigned through the Office of
Administrative Hearings or a separate independent state agency and not within
the agency being reviewed.
Unemployment Insurance - Preserve previously adopted
legislative changes and oppose
increasing unemployment insurance rates, encourage the adoption of cost
controls within the unemployment insurance system, avoid benefit enhancements
and eligibility standards and support the maintaining of reasonable reserves
and like efforts to reduce the cost to business.
Oppose fund transfers from dedicated funds and accounts to
the general fund or unrelated programs and purposes.
Tax and Fiscal Policy
Support efforts to achieve a
balanced state budget while promoting economic development opportunities, job
growth and strengthened competitiveness
Reduce and Simplify the Tax Code
Support tax code
administrative simplification that reduces administrative costs and tax burdens
to Pierce County’s businesses. Require cities with license requirements to
participate in the master business license application and reduce regulatory
red tape and paperwork burdens that face businesses
Taxes and Fees
Retain, extend and expand tax incentives
that benefit the economy and support job growth in Pierce County and support legislation that positively impacts the
economy, job growth and Pierce County businesses like permanently extending the
expiring (12/31/14) high technology research and development B&O and
sales/use tax incentives, making tax-increment-financing an available economic
development tool while preserving property tax principles and proposals that
would allow entity-owned recreational boats from out of state the same
privileges as boats from out-of-state owned in an individual capacity.
Update: Jan. 16, 2015
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