Business Climate
WPC's Center for Small Business focuses on improving Washington's small business climate by working closely with business owners and policymakers. The Center provides accurate information and analysis on the state's regulatory climate, tax structure, health insurance systems, and more.
Publications
Tax and Licensing Reform Bills Would Improve Our Business Climate
Introduction
This Legislative Memo provides an overview and analysis of three bills, SB 5656, SB 5688 and SB 5697. These proposals would provide relief for employers and spur job creation by simplifying business taxes and licensing. Here is a short description of each bill.
SB 5656 would require all cities to issue and renew their general business licenses through the state’s Business Licensing Service (BLS) or a city-developed portal by January 1, 2019.
Regulatory Reform Bills Would Improve Our Business Climate
Introduction
This Legislative Memo provides an overview and analysis of four bills: SB 5679, SB 5680, SB 5718 and SB 5641. Three of the bills have companion bills in the House. These proposals would significantly reform and simplify our state’s regulatory policy and improve the state’s business climate. Here is a short description of each bill.
More Costs Won't Create More Jobs
I recently spoke with a small business owner who compared the burdens of doing business in Washington state to his experience decades ago as a military recruit.
Business Tax Should Be Simplified to Flat Rate
In 1972, Washington voters considered an amendment to the state constitution to automatically end all special tax exemptions after 10 years unless they were reauthorized. That measure failed by a vote of 45 percent to 55 percent.
Seattle Employers Could Soon Face Legal Dilemma When Hiring New Workers
The Seattle Times published this column on January 30, 2013.
Seattle is often the incubator for bad business policy. In 2011, the city became one of the few in the nation to mandate paid sick leave for all workers. Now the Seattle City Council is considering an ordinance that would make Seattle one of the few to restrict employers’ ability to conduct criminal-background checks on potential employees.
Seattle Proposal Seeks to Restrict Employers' Access to Criminal Records for Background Checks
Key Findings
Workers' Comp Reforms Help, But State Monopoly Remains Unsound
The News Tribune in Tacoma published this column on October 12, 2012.
The recent announcement by the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) that average workers’ compensation taxes will not increase in 2013 is good news for businesses in today’s tough economy. Unfortunately, that good news is a temporary reprieve. The current monopoly system is failing, and a 40 percent tax hike is set to begin in 2014.
Did Your Teen Find a Summer Job?
Introduction
The problem of stubbornly high unemployment continues to dominate the policy debate both nationally and in Washington state. Holding steady at 8.5%, Washington’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average and is 14th highest in the nation.
Young workers in Washington fare even worse. Our state’s teen unemployment rate is tied for sixth highest among the fifty states at 28.7%. The national teen unemployment rate is 23.8%.
Small Businesses Need More than Bread and Circuses
May 20–26 was National Small Business Week. Around the country, government officials paid homage to the small business owners who drive innovation in our national and state economies.
The recognition is certainly well deserved, but small businesses need more than a week of ceremonial platitudes in order to create the jobs that will spur our national and state economies out of recession.
What small business desperately need is real relief — relief from over-regulation, high taxes, and burdensome labor laws — at both the federal and state levels.
