Last May, the Senate formed the bipartisan Special Committee on Economic Recovery “to address the state’s long-term economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.” After four meetings last year, the committee released its recommendations this week.

There is a lot here, and some recommendations are more specific than others. They are grouped in five categories. Some notable recommendations are below, by category.

Focus on People at Risk of an Immediate Housing, Food, Childcare or Job Crisis

The report notes, “Hundreds of thousands of working Washingtonians are excluded from existing safety net programs. At the same time, the legislature recognizes that it will need to continue to offer relief and economic assistance to families and businesses as the economy recovers, while also leveraging federal dollars to benefit Washingtonians.” The Committee also recommends:

• Restoring “a solvent unemployment insurance system while mitigating new burdens to employers adversely impacted by the pandemic.”
• Assisting “local school districts with the supports necessary . . . to re-open as soon as safely possible to reduce emotional and financial hardships on students and families.”
• Making “long term investments in educational opportunity, healthcare, and infrastructure.”
• Reducing “barriers to widely available and affordable childcare.”
• Targeting “specific industries and categories of workers who have been displaced e.g. workers in the hospitality and aerospace sector.”

Relief for Small Businesses & Supporting Hospitality & Leisure

First, the Committee recommends that the state “mitigate burdens of unemployment insurance rate increases.” (We wrote about the unemployment insurance tax increases in a policy brief this week.) The Committee recommends that the state provide businesses with financial support and waive license fees. Additionally, the state should “examine liability protections for businesses and minimize the need for new rulemaking that would inhibit economic recovery.”

Second, the Committee recommends that the state “increase funding of the programs to encourage entrepreneurship,” including a commercial landlord resiliency fund. It also suggests that the state “examine taxes and fees paid by businesses to help those businesses across Washington that have been disproportionality impacted by the pandemic” and “identify regulations and permitting at the state and local level that can be modified in order to spur small business investment and entrepreneurship.”

Third, the Committee recommends that the state “strengthen the economic development ecosystem” by expanding business recruitment and retention programs, investing more in the public works trust fund, and funding more tourism marketing. (Sen. Frockt told the Seattle Times, “We need to be more aggressive in business recruitment. . . . When was the last time we heard about a company being recruited to move here?”)

Aerospace and Manufacturing

The Committee recommends that Washington “diversify our aerospace manufacturing sector” to focus more on the space industry. At the same time, the Committee recommends “competing for any new airplane Boeing pursues.” Additionally, Washington should “invest in the Industry Sector Development Program to target acceleration of high growth sectors across the state” and “provide incentives for developers to create industry parks that benefit businesses by forming economic clusters.” The state should also expand export assistance and “provide manufacturer tax incentives.”

Healthcare

The Committee recommends expanding “policies that ensure continuity of coverage regardless of employment status,” including expanding subsidies for insurance purchased through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. It also recommends encouraging telehealth and reinvesting “in public health locally and statewide to modernize our public health system.”

Expanding Internet Access

“The Committee agrees that the state must aggressively expand broadband and high-speed internet access to every part of the state, rural and urban, rich and poor, to once and for all, bridge the digital divide.” Some of the recommendations include continuing state mapping of broadband availability and speeds, expanding the state broadband office, investing “significant capital dollars . . . to achieve expansion,” and pursuing “policies that are technology neutral.”