For two days, our state’s community leaders, policymakers and concerned citizens came together at our state’s premier policy conference, Washington Policy Center’s annual Solutions Summit.  Audiences in Bellevue and Spokane walked away with deeper understandings of how Washington can keep its tax policies competitive and improve state policy in education, the environment, agriculture, and labor.

Highlights included a presentation from Illinois state worker Mark Janus, whose courageous refusal to acquiesce to involuntary union membership fees being deducted from his paycheck led to Janus v. ASFSCME, a case soon to be decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. If Janus receives a favorable decision, it would mean all public employees will have the freedom to choose whether they want to join a union.  Audiences were also captivated by the research of Corey DeAngelis of the CATO Institute, who revealed how charter schools were helping struggling students both academically and socially with increased academic achievement and lower incarceration and teen pregnancy rates linked to charter school attendance. 

On the environment, author and strategist John Bernard observed how private businesses generally have one measure of accountability, while government policies have many vague goals, which undermines accountability and the effectiveness of environmental policy.  WPC’s Center for the Environment Director Todd Myers gave hope to attendees that real solutions could be found that coupled environmental improvement with human freedom.  He pointed out that cell phone technology is creating new and exciting ways for people to improve the environment and doing so in ways that are more effective than government mandates.  To learn more, see Todd’s TedX Talk on cell phone environmentalism .  Our Spokane audience enjoyed an in-depth look at agriculture policy, subsidies, and the 2018 Farm Bill.

The Seattle jobs tax (aka “head tax”) and the Seattle income tax were discussed in the context of the revenue growth Seattle has already collected and what messages these tax efforts convey to the innovators that are bringing high tech, high paying jobs to the area.  WPC board member Matt McIlwain explained how start-ups he works with were re-thinking Seattle due to the city’s anti-growth positions.

Hundreds of people in Bellevue and Spokane, left the 2018 Solutions Summit infused with hope and information toward a better path forward for Washington state.