Last Friday was the first major deadline or “cutoff” in Olympia for legislation to be voted out of the policy committees where they originated.  If a legislative proposal had not passed out of its policy committee as of last Friday, it is dead for the session.  This Friday, March 1 is the deadline for bills to be passed out of fiscal committees (i.e. budget, capital, tax and transportation committees) unless a bill is “necessary to implement the budget” or “NTIB” in Olympia parlance.

Three bills WTIA supports are still alive in the legislative process. HB 1472 has a public hearing today in the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee.  This bill makes AP computer science the equivalent of a third math credit, instead of an elective.  The bill also sets up a computer science professional shortage task force to help alleviate the problem of not enough Computer Science degree holders in the workforce.

Another bill WTIA favors is HB 1693.  This bill exempts the first $1 million in revenue from B&O taxation for certain types of manufacturing and technology startups.  This exemption can be taken in the first three years of a company’s existence.  There are some restrictions and reporting requirements.  This bill has a public hearing in the House Finance Committee Tuesday morning, Feb. 26 at 8 a.m.

The other bill that WTIA is supporting is SB 5605.  This bill deals with the types of health plans sold through trade associations to its members companies.  WTIA has a plan like this that is popular with our small company members.  These types of plans allow small businesses to band together to get the same type of purchasing power afforded to large companies or other large groups.  These types of plans, known as Association Health Plans or AHPs are under threats from federal regulations and from anti-small business health care advocates at the state level.

SB 5605 codifies the tests for trade associations under federal law into state law.  The bill is designed to ensure that trade associations like WTIA are treated as large groups once federal health care reform is fully phased in next year.

A bill that did not pass out of its original committee is HB 1303 which extends the tax incentives for R&D out to 2035 from 2015.  This bill had a public hearing in the House Technology and Economic Development Committee but did not come up for a vote.  The teacher’s union (WEA) opposed the bill.  The WEA is an advocate of raising taxes and eliminating tax incentives so that more money can go to K-12.

While spending more on K-12 will be needed under the McCleary decision, opposing tax incentives for R&D that helps create and keep jobs in Washington is short-sighted.  But some public sector unions don’t get it.  They don’t understand how jobs are created or what kinds of conditions are necessary for economic growth.  They just see “successful” companies and think they should pay more taxes.  They are ignorant of the global competition that Washington tech companies face or of the pressures of building and running a business.

Washington’s R&D intensive industries need an incentive to grow and hire in our state.  The tax incentives for R&D do that and have helped Washington become one of the premier technology states.  We cannot let the business climate worsen.  The IT industry grew 25,000 jobs between 2005-11, even during a difficult recession and pays billions in state taxes.  Let’s not risk long-term prosperity for short-term patches.

WTIA is following a wide range of legislation across several topic areas, including K-12, higher education, economic development, taxes and technology regulation.  If you have any questions, please contact WTIA for more information.