21st of March 2017
Special Report: Using Tax Policy to Promote Economic Vitality
Our latest Special Report, “Using Tax Policy to Promote Economic Vitality,” offers a comprehensive look at Washington’s system of business taxes and tax preferences. You can read the report here. Too often, tax preferences are portrayed simply as “breaks” that give certain industries and/or companies special (possibly unfair) treatment. But as our report shows, these preferences play a […]
9th of September 2016
Aerospace tax incentives could help lure startup to Seattle
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported earlier this week on some new business that may be coming Washington state's way: Spike Aerospace, a Boston startup developing an ambitious new supersonic business jet, is talking with Washington state officials and aerospace suppliers about possibly locating its new manufacturing plant in Seattle. The company's CEO, Vik Kachoria, […]
7th of June 2016
Forbes.com contributor: "Washington Lawmakers Grandstanding Against Boeing Could Cripple State's Aerospace Industry"
Writing on Forbes.com yesterday, Travis H. Brown sets his sights on "politicians in Olympia [who] have repeatedly floated the notion of clawing back the aerospace tax incentives." Earlier this year, Representative June Robinson (D-Everett) introduced a bill that put caveats on Boeing’s ability to receive the full benefits of the 2013 tax package. The legislation (House Bill […]
10th of November 2015
Aerospace tax incentives work
WRC President Lew Moore spoke to Seattle's KIRO TV yesterday about the benefits of Boeing and aerospace industry tax incentives for Washington state. In response to union criticism about 777X tax incentives originally approved in 2003 and extended by the Legislature and governor in 2013, Lew stressed that they are working: "The incentive was passed in 2003," said Moore. […]
28th of August 2015
777X plane project is cooking
On Wednesday night, State Route 526 was temporarily closed to traffic to transport a very special, very large oven to Boeing’s Composite Wing Center in Everett. The high-pressure oven, known as an autoclave, is there to “bake,” as the Seattle Times reports, the new 777X jet’s carbon fiber composite wings “to hardness.” The Boeing Company provides more […]
1st of August 2014
Seattle Times columnist writes about that mythical $8.7 billion tax break for Boeing: not a giveaway!
Erik Smith used our recent policy brief as a peg for an excellent column on tax policy in today’s Seattle Times. Though the Department of Revenue calculated it exactly as it was supposed to, a more realistic view is that the legislation costs taxpayers nothing. He summarizes, drawing on points we developed in the brief. […]
20th of May 2014
Seattle Times editorial board favors data-center tax incentives. Here's why they're right.
The Times editorial gets right to the point. When lawmakers return for business in January, they should reauthorize Washington’s server-farm tax break, and pronto. Our September 2013 report, Economic Impact of Data Centers on Central Washington (clever title, that), helps explain why. World class industries have located in Central Washington, providing stable, diversified em- ployment and expanded tax bases for […]
25th of March 2014
Seattle Times business columnist faults Legislature for failing to renew R&D incentives
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 […]
17th of March 2014
Investment slows when tax policies are uncertain
The National Association of Manufacturers recently conducted a survey of businesses. Here’s the short form. The release today of NAM/IndustryWeek Survey of Manufacturers confirms what manufacturers have long known, the expiration of the on-again and off-again investment tax incentives have companies holding off on making key purchases and thus delays the robust economic growth we […]