January was a busy month of advocacy for WTIA. Our refreshed Advocacy page will be your one-stop shop for WTIA position statements and letters to public officials.

State Legislature Gets to Work: WTIA Chief Executive Michael Schutzler and I spent a great deal of time in Olympia getting to know legislators and tracking key legislation. While we are watching a wide range of policy areas, we are focused on the extension of the Research and Development tax credit and B&O deferral incentive, as well as privacy issues, crowd funding, and investments in education to increase the number of students earning computer science degrees.

On the extension of the R&D tax credit and B&O deferral, various bills are moving through the legislative process. As you probably know, the current incentives for the industry expire on Jan. 1st, 2015. Currently, we support two bills, House Bill 2685, introduced by Rep. Pettigrew, and its companion Senate Bill 6430, sponsored by Sen. Lilas.

Congressional Briefing: In January, The WTIA hosted Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN), who chairs the U.S. House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, for a roundtable discussion on a range of federal policy issues. We talked with Rep. Rokita about the importance of immigration reform and STEM education investments to Washington state employers. We hope to offer other opportunities for our members to discuss public policies at the city, state and federal levels. Please let me know if you are interested in being on the distribution list for these gatherings.

Seattle News: The WTIA and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce co-wrote a letter opposing caps on the number of rideshare drivers in the city.  While we agree that new entrants to ridesharing providers need to maintain safety and insurance levels required in the industry, we do not agree that a cap on the number of drivers is helpful when it comes to addressing the need for transportation alternatives in Seattle. If you are able to take a few minutes and register your opposition to the pending language to impose limits on the rideshare programs please do so here.

Finally, to continue strengthening the voice of the technology industry in Olympia we have reignited TechPAC for 2014. If you are interested in PAC- related fundraising or contribution allocation decisions please let me know.
Regards,

Patti Brooke
VP, Government Affairs and Member Programs
pbrooke@washingtontechnology.org