Legislative Update from Rep. Ruth Kagi, Putting Washington’s businesses first

The entrepreneurial spirit has always been high here in Washington, and legislators know that small, local businesses are the key to our economic recovery. So we took steps this session to protect those companies, even as it became necessary to increase revenues:

• You’ve heard about the coming increase in the tax on beer. But that increase will only apply to the large, out-of-state breweries, not our small, local ones.

• We raised the B and O tax credit for many small businesses, helping them create new jobs.

• We closed loopholes in the tax code that benefit out-of-state companies, helping to level the playing field for our home-grown businesses.

• We extended the rural county sales tax deferral program until 2020 to spur manufacturing and high-tech investment all over Washington.

Washington state is proud to be home to world-leading companies like Amazon, Boeing, Costco, Microsoft, and Starbuck’s. Independent experts all across the country rank our state as among the best places in the nation to do business:

• In 2009, U.S. News and World Report ranked our state as the No. 1 place to start a business.

• The Tax Foundation put Washington in the top 10 states for business-friendly taxes.

• Last year Forbes Magazine said Washington was the No. 3 state in the nation for business.

• Moody's has identified the top five states that will recover fastest from the global recession; they are Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

• The Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship ranked Washington as the No. 2 state in the nation.

These national assessments of our business climate provide some needed perspective on the negative claims frequently heard in our media.