Economic Security

Governor Chris Gregoire is committed to helping working families by expanding opportunities for family-wage jobs and promoting business growth. She believes this can be accomplished while maintaining the environment that makes Washington a unique and wonderful place to live.

Governor Gregoire believes that our economic future is grounded upon on a skilled work force, strategic investments in infrastructure, a strong commitment to research and development, and a robust business climate. To compete in the global economy, she understands that we must think of ourselves not as a state but as a small nation. After all, Washington is the most trade-dependent state in the country.

Educating Our Work Force

Governor Gregoire believes education is a lifetime commitment. Providing a good education for all of our citizens is the single greatest contribution we can make to the future of our economy. This is the focus of Governor Gregoire’s education reform efforts.

Today, Washington’s youngest workers are benefiting from expanded apprenticeship programs that require at least 15 percent of construction workers to be apprentices on large state projects. Students in high school are also able to participate in “Running Start for the Trades,” pre-apprenticeship programs that provide opportunities for high school students to jump-start into a good-paying career.

Investing in the Right Infrastructure

Governor Gregoire believes that state government can lay the foundation for private sector success with strategic investments in our infrastructure: roads, water, telecommunications and energy. Under her leadership, new gas tax funds are addressing critical safety and congestion problems in the transportation system, helping to improve the movement of people to work and goods to market.

Water is a basic need and Eastern Washington cannot continue to flourish without storing more of it. Governor Gregoire negotiated an end to a 25-year stalemate and set Eastern Washington on a solid path to secure water for agriculture, cities and fish. Two-thirds of the newly stored water will be available for new out-of-stream water uses, such as farming, industry and municipal growth.

Putting Washington to Work

Governor Gregoire knows our economy is built one job at a time. She uses innovative strategies to bring companies to Washington, help local employers expand and keep Washington jobs from moving out of state or overseas:

• When Governor Gregoire learned Premera Blue Cross might move some operations out of state, she provided incentives to keep jobs in Spokane, build a new office complex and expand operations with 250 new jobs.

• When Renewable Energy Corporation decided to expand solar grade silicon manufacturing, Governor Gregoire helped bring those 90 new jobs to Moses Lake.

• When Kirkland-based HouseValues.com started looking across the country for a new call center, Governor Gregoire led the successful effort to bring those 350 new jobs to Yakima.

• When Weyerhaeuser announced it would lay off 342 workers by closing its pulp mill in Cosmopolis and sawmill in Aberdeen, Governor Gregoire launched the Grays Harbor Action Team. She held a community forum, got the company to agree to sell the mill, provided funds for a feasibility study and helped the community to find a buyer to reopen the mill.

Governor Gregoire realizes small businesses are an integral part of our community and economy. One-quarter of Washington’s 2.8 million workers share their workplace with fewer than 20 other employees, and two-thirds work in organizations with fewer than 250 employees. During her administration, the governor has encouraged small business growth by reducing insurance costs, improving training opportunities and launching her Small Business Roundtable series.

The governor has also encouraged state agencies to invest in opportunities that build small business. In 2008, she helped celebrate the completion of the first two phases of the Yakima Downtown Futures Initiative. The state invested more than $8 million to help restore Yakima’s downtown core to its old glory. The funding helped to repair sidewalks, add street lights and improve walking areas and curb appeal. As a result, downtown Yakima is now a prime spot for small business. And in response, businesses have invested another $50 million to improve downtown Yakima, and have added another 200 jobs.

Keeping Washington Open for Business

Washington’s economy has grown by more than 250,000 new jobs since Governor Gregoire took office. Growth of this magnitude moves the entire state forward by putting more money in the hands of our hard workers, who then re-invest it in their communities.

Governor Gregoire is committed to attracting new and growing existing businesses. When businesses are ready to compete in the local and global markets, Governor Gregoire wants government to clear the path and stand aside. She knows that a fair tax system is central to this goal. That’s why she has made sure that there are no new taxes for business.

Doing Business in Washington, a comprehensive online business service center, is being developed under Governor Gregoire’s leadership. It meets the governor’s goal that all regulatory agencies make it easier for individuals and companies to conduct business in Washington. This online portal consolidates business licensing, tax payment and permitting functions into one central location.

In 2006, Governor Gregoire negotiated an agreement that restored balance, stability and equity in our unemployment insurance system. This gave working families a benefit increase when they need it most and reduced taxes for some employers.

Governor Gregoire has reduced the regulatory burden on small businesses by moving back the monthly date for excise tax payments. This helps small businesses avoid cash flow problems by giving them time to collect payments from their customers before they pay sales tax. She also eliminated penalties for businesses that make every effort to comply with tax laws when they make a reporting error. Every Washington business will be helped, too, by the Plain Talk Initiative. This program makes it easier for businesses to understand regulations and complete forms.

Small businesses are the foundation of our state’s economy and Governor Gregoire is encouraging more Washington families to build businesses by doubling the Linked Deposit Program that makes low-interest loans available to women- and minority-owned businesses.

Targeting Investments in Entrepreneurship

Governor Gregoire believes that new growth created by entrepreneurs will help keep Washington’s economy robust. She has targeted investments to maintain Washington’s competitive edge and to support 21st century industries.

Governor Gregoire’s $1 billion Life Sciences Discovery Fund will attract new companies to Washington and support local entrepreneurs as they grow new businesses. The Fund will build on our state’s strong university research institutions and our international success in research and development. This industry will offer many Washingtonians family-wage jobs while finding cures for some of the world’s most dreaded diseases.

Rising energy costs make it tough for Washington families and businesses to thrive. That’s why Governor Gregoire proposed and won passage of an energy initiative to develop a state biofuels industry to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create a new cash crop for Washington farmers. Her initiative requires fuel sellers in Washington to gradually increase the percentage of biofuels in diesel fuel and gasoline. It also promotes private investment in the growing industry with Energy Freedom loans.

Governor Gregoire expanded two aerospace tax incentives to include small- and medium-sized companies engaged in research, design and engineering. She also supported the phased-in restoration of the business and occupation tax credit for research and development by high technology businesses. The B&O credit will help increase high-wage jobs in software programming, biotechnology and environmental technology.

Competing in the Global Economy

Governor Gregoire convened the Global Competitiveness Council to help state government identify opportunities to help Washington farmers and companies compete internationally. Based on these recommendations, her experiences on trade missions and her discussions with citizens across the state during town hall meetings, Governor Gregoire crafted her Next Washington plan to grow jobs and income in our state.

On trade missions to Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, she has promoted Washington products and recruited new companies to locate here. She has welcomed Chinese President Hu Jintao and Mexican President Vicente Fox to Washington and took advantage of those unique opportunities to strengthen our economic future.

Strengthening Our Rural Economies

Agriculture is the leading employer in our state. More than 160,000 Washingtonians work to provide safe, high-quality food for our dinner tables and for export around the world. Our growers market more than 300 products, including traditional favorites such as apples, potatoes and wheat. They also supply the rapidly expanding market for premium wines, shellfish and certified organic foods.

Governor Gregoire is committed to supporting agriculture by promoting our world-class foods to export partners overseas. She is equally committed to highlighting the freshness and value of our products to home state consumers through the From the Heart of Washington campaign. To protect the public’s health, she has asked the state to step up inspection and surveillance efforts that ensure the safety of our food supply.

As farmers and ranchers struggled with higher fuel prices and other costs of doing business, Governor Gregoire was proud to provide targeted tax relief for farming families.

The forest products industry is also a key economic driver in Washington, particularly in rural counties. Governor Gregoire supports the Forest and Fish Accord because it provides much-needed regulatory certainty along with environmental protections. She also signed legislation that reduced the tax burden on the forest sector, recognizing the need for our companies and forest landowners to remain competitive in today’s global timber and wood products marketplaces.

Moving Washington Forward

Governor Gregoire is working hard to build the Washington economy so that every citizen benefits, whether that person is a CEO of one of our largest companies, an owner of a small business or a worker who picks our crops. Her leadership is providing a strong base for Washington to strengthen its leading role in agriculture, trade and innovation. The Washington tradition of hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit is thriving.

Economic Security: Building Washington’s Future

The backbone of Washington’s economy is its working individuals and families. Governor Chris Gregoire is committed to promoting practices and programs that protect workers, expand job opportunities and encourage innovation.

The Governor and state leaders have introduced an economic development strategy known as The Next Washington. This 10-year business plan for the state calls for growing the economy by investing in the skills that employees need to succeed today and building a foundation for success by investing in infrastructure across the state. At its crux is developing an “Open for Business” approach to government to make Washington an affordable and efficient place to do business.

The Next Washington calls for making a series of targeted investments in areas where the state can lead the world — global health, alternative energy, tourism and our ports.

In the 2007–09 budget, the state increased its investment in tourism by boosting funds and partnering with the private sector. The state took steps to help small businesses prosper by investing in the federal network of small business development centers and supporting local economic development councils for the first time in 16 years. The state also saved business owners and workers more than $315 million through a six-month holiday from workers compensation insurance. Lower unemployment insurance premiums will save small businesses another $10 million annually.

Governor Gregoire called a special session in November 2007 to enact property tax limits overwhelmingly approved by voters but overturned by the state Supreme Court. In that session, the Governor also proposed and the Legislature passed legislation to allow property tax deferrals that will help prevent working families from being priced out of their homes by rising property taxes.

The Governor’s actions have resulted in a steady increase in the number of employed Washingtonians. Since she took office, more than 221,000 jobs have been added in Washington. In 2007, the unemployment rate reached a historic low. Personal income growth is among the best in the nation.

Actions taken under Governor Gregoire’s leadership have led to national recognition. Among the kudos:

• Washington is the 5th best state to do business and is “the biggest mover, rising from 12th to 5th,” Forbes magazine.

• Washington is admired for its sustained employment growth and diversification, our well-educated work force, above-average wealth and income indicators, increasing revenues and disciplined approach to financial management, Standard & Poor’s.

• Washington has been a consistent leader in results-based governance. It was ahead of nearly all other states in controlling spending by keeping track of where investments were and were not paying off. Under Governor Chris Gregoire, Washington’s government has, if anything, moved further ahead on this front, Governing magazine.