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More regulations not the way to provide
for jobs, economic recovery
By Rep. Dan
Kristiansen
Special to the Chambers of Commerce
Recently, Washington's
chief economist said the worst of the state's recession may be over.
However, he noted "the recovery is still fragile, and fraught with
risk." Days after his remarks, the latest unemployment figures were
released showing more people unemployed in Washington than the previous
month. As one columnist noted, "a jobless recovery is no recovery at
all."
If we are truly to set
Washington back on the road to a recovery with jobs, we need to change
the way the state treats its employers. Yet even as nearly 320,000
people in Washington are unemployed and looking for work, some state
leaders seem to be looking the other way as they add more job-killing
regulations.
For example, employers
were shocked to learn their workers' compensation premiums could spike
in 2010 by as much as 20 percent -- the highest increase since 2003.
Preliminary rates were filed in June.
An employer's ability to
save and create jobs rests on its labor costs. I'm concerned a
combination of unemployment insurance premiums, business taxes and this
proposed workers' compensation premium increase could be a crushing blow
to many employers who are just barely surviving.
The Department of Labor
and Industries (L&I) is reviewing data and will propose a final rate
change before holding public hearings toward the end of October. In the
meantime, my House Republican colleagues and I have drafted a letter to
Gov. Gregoire, asking her to oppose the rate hikes.
I urge employers to watch
for the public hearing announcements on the L&I Web site at
www.lni.wa.gov and to attend and testify
at those meetings.
I'm also concerned about
actions the governor is taking that could further hurt Washington's
opportunity for a strong economic recovery. In May, she issued an
executive order to implement cap-and-trade legislation (climate change)
that failed to pass the Legislature during the 2009 session.
And although the
Legislature approved Senate Bill 5854, which incrementally seeks to
increase energy efficiency building codes with the goal of a 70 percent
reduction in energy consumption by 2031, the governor has asked the
Washington State Building Code Council to accelerate the timeline with a
30 percent reduction for buildings by July 2010. If the council adopts
this accelerated timeline, it could add huge costs to the price of new
homes, further damaging the slumping housing industry, hurting jobs, and
putting affordability out of reach for many home buyers.
In March, the governor
said she wanted her new commerce director to have "a laser focus on
keeping the companies and jobs we have, and bringing new jobs and
companies to our state." We need to keep that focus. I'm fighting
against these new heavy-handed regulations and additional costs which
jeopardize job growth during an already fragile period of economic
recovery.
What can you do? Write or call the governor
and voice your concerns:
Gov. Chris Gregoire
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Phone: (360) 902-4111
Now is not the time to be
adding new job-killing regulations. We need to get government off the
backs of employers so they can do what they do best -- provide
jobs.
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
State Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish,
represents the 39th Legislative District, and also serves as chairman of
the Washington House Republican Caucus. He can be contacted at (360)
786-7967 or from his Web site at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Kristiansen.
For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Senior Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
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