We’re out today with Part One of a series of special reports on manufacturing jobs in Washington state. “Rebalancing Priorities: The Case for Manufacturing Jobs, Part I” covers the role of manufacturing in Washington’s economy, and discusses Gov. Jay Inslee’s recent veto of a tax reduction for state manufacturing.

Our series on manufacturing will focus on conditions and policies that affect this important economic sector including taxation, education and job training, infrastructure, site availability, and regulatory issues. We examine the status of manufacturing statewide and in four distinctly different regions of our state. Finally, at a time of great concern about wage stagnation and the future of the middle class, we explore the unique role manufacturing can play in harmonizing competing and seemingly contradictory policy objectives, while creating good paying jobs that often do not require an advanced degree.

In this first Special Report, we consider Governor Inslee’s line-item veto of a business and occupation (B&O) tax cut for manufacturers, survey manufacturing data for Washington state, and discuss the importance of a reasonable level of taxation. Washington businesses pay more per employee in B&O taxes than the average amount of income taxes paid by firms nationally. Nearly 58 percent of all state and local taxes in Washington state are paid by businesses—the seventh highest percentage of business taxation in the U.S.

Click here to read the report.