Jon Talton, business columnist for the Seattle Times, skipped subtlety and got right to the point in writing about the effects of some Legislative inaction in the recently completed session. Noting that it’s not correct to say lawmakers did nothing, he writes,

In fact, legislators delivered a sledgehammer to state competitiveness by killing the nearly 20-year-old research and development incentives that have helped Washington keep up with rivals worldwide.

He points our the ROI on the R&D incentives.

Indeed, $74 million in state incentives over the past nine years resulted in $443 million in outside money, along with billions more in research grants for life sciences.

He adds that the failure to fund a transportation plan also represents a amor competitiveness blow. There’s more, all well worth your time.

For more on the R&D credits, see here, here, and here.