EKCC Economic Revitalization 2021

ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION

The COVID-19 pandemic is negatively affecting small businesses across our state, and East King County was the first epicenter for this virus in the United States. The East King Chambers Coalition strongly encourages the Washington State Legislature to pri- oritize promoting economic recovery with policies that encourage employers to retain workforce and invest in Washington State by hiring local residents.

The East King Chambers Coalition requests the Legislature:

Protect at Risk Small Businesses

Data and science will determine when businesses and public spaces reopen, but with- out a clear timeline, many brick and mortar small business owners are struggling to survive. It is a race against time to save as many of our small businesses as possible.
• Provide short term relief for small businesses from B&O surcharge.
• Utilize federal assistance or other additional funds to offset costs and preserve
workforce development funding at current levels
• Provide gap funding for small businesses who have faced unnecessary barriers pre-
venting them from receiving federal funding
• Enact liability reform to shield businesses from COVID-19 related lawsuits

Invest in Infrastructure

Necessary and overdue upgrades to our infrastructure will create family wage jobs and lay the groundwork to support stable economic expansion into the future.
• Streamline the permitting process for wireless infrastructure to create broader cov- erage and connectivity.
• Provide additional tools for infrastructure funding through tax increment financing (or value capture financing) and enable public-private partnerships for financing of essential public facilities and infrastructure.

Support Innovation and Growth

Continued innovation in products and services will be critical to our economic recovery. We urge the Legislature to enact targeted tax incentives to create a positive business climate and family wage jobs.
• Support personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers and the biotechnology sector. Ensure availability of PPE through stockpile requirements and domestic man- ufacturing incentives.
• Re-enact a B&O tax credit for small and medium-sized businesses in the high-tech- nology and life sciences sectors for qualified R&D expenditures and a state and local sales tax deferral program for pilot-scale manufacturing facilities and purchases of qualified machinery and equipment
• Continue funding and support of Career Connect Washington to develop and finance a robust workforce development system and facilities that prepare workers for good paying jobs.
• Support the growth of our small and medium sized commercial space business by expanding the aerospace tax incentive to include them.