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November 9, 2007 |
Contact: John Barnes |
Small Business Owners Offer Solutions to Improve Business Climate
Seattle - Small business owners, legislators and policymakers from all over Washington gathered for the 2007 Statewide Small Business Conference Thursday at the SeaTac Hilton to discuss Washington state's business climate.During several breakout sessions covering issues such as access to affordable health insurance, workers' compensation, transportation, tax reform and paid family leave, business owners were able to suggest and discuss solutions to improve the climate for small businesses in Washington.
The result is a list of priority solutions, selected by small business owners, for solving the major problems with the state's small business climate. The top recommendations from each breakout session are below.
Health Care
- Legalize the sale of basic, core-benefits health insurance
- Open competition and allow consumers to purchase insurance plans from other states
Streamlined Sales Tax
- Businesses should not be required to pay B&O taxes or obtain business licenses in localities where there is no nexus
- Consolidate B&O filings for businesses that have to file in multiple jurisdictions
Transportation
- Make fixing traffic choke points the top priority
- Link spending to congestion relief
Property Rights / Eminent Domain
- Return property to owners if not used as claimed (by government)
- Return profits of sale to original owner
Tax Reform
- Repeal the Estate Tax
- Restore Initiative 601 and Initiative 747
Workers' Comp / Unemployment Insurance
- Legalize private industrial insurance
- Allow compromise and relief
Paid Family Leave
- Repeal
- Allow an opt-out
High-Tech / Data Security
- Increase public outreach and education efforts on data privacy
"The breakout sessions provide a place for small-business owners to provide recommendations on several policy issues that affect their business, and enables them to report these directly to policymakers and state agencies," said WPC president Dann Mead Smith. He added, "Our state has the 3rd-highest business failure rate in the nation, and yesterday business owners were very clear about their needs and concerns. Now, it's up to policymakers to do their part to improve our state's business climate and make sure businesses that start here do not fail because of a broken transportation system and a burdensome and even punitive tax and regulatory system."
Washington Policy Center will publish a detailed analysis of Conference results in a report prior to the 2008 Legislative Session.