COMMENTARY

October 24, 2003

Washington's business climate: "We suck."

Bob Williams | Evergreen Freedom Foundation
Alan Mulally knows how to choose his words. As Commercial Airlines Chief for Boeing, Mulally recently described Washington’s business climate for 450 Seattle Rotary Club members: “I think we suck.”

The bad news is he’s right, and this bodes ill for the thousands of potential jobs hanging in the balance as Washington competes with other states to host Boeing’s planned 7E7 jetliner construction.

The good news is Mulally doesn’t have to be right, and no doubt would rather not be.

The news we’re all waiting for is whether or not the governor and other state leaders will do more to prove him wrong.

Before Mulally made his comments in Seattle, Governor Locke had issued a press release announcing his intentions to reconvene his Competitiveness Council. “We’ve made great progress in making our state more competitive,” he said, “but we can’t rest on our laurels.”

Rest on our laurels? If our recent “progress” earns a critique like Mulally’s, we’re going to need to put our efforts into overdrive.

Governor Locke’s Competitiveness Council has already issued recommendations—many of them quite good. Rather than hold another meeting, why not simply implement the previous recommendations? Legislators have tried in many cases, only to be met with foot-dragging and vetoes.

Consider suggested reforms to the state’s unemployment insurance system. Important steps were taken, but the governor vetoed a provision requiring claimants to provide proof of their identity. More than twelve percent of the benefits paid by the state are currently overpayments to individuals who are not eligible for the money. Vetoing this important reform only makes the problem worse, and business owners know it.

The Council recommended delaying the onerous ergonomics rule adopted by the state’s Department of Labor and Industries until that agency’s claims of employee injuries and related remedies can be scientifically validated. Governor Locke took steps to act on this recommendation by postponing implementation of the rule, but he should go further and repeal it altogether. Businesses cannot make long-term employment decisions based on short-term political promises.

Another Council recommendation: Extend school days and the school year to ensure children receive an excellent education. Such reform will require strong and decisive leadership. Locke’s unwillingness to use his bully pulpit to help end the Marysville teacher strike does not give us confidence in his leadership skills. Besides, both he and the legislature have spent the past decade approving legislation that shrinks the number of days students actually receive instruction.

Action in these areas is needed now, and we don’t need more meetings and reports to move forward productively. No matter how much progress has already been made, it’s clear many in the business community still feel it is not enough to make Washington a healthy place to operate.

It may “suck” to offend the powerful lobbyists and unions opposed to taking the necessary steps to reform the state’s business climate, but the sucking sound of jobs leaving our state is worse.

Bob Williams is president of the Olympia-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit public policy research organization dedicated to individual liberty, free enterprise and accountable government.

Contact: Jason Mercier | Budget Analyst | 360.956.3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org