Robin Pavlish, who chairs the Washington Retail Association Board of Directors, expressed concern over the possibility of new taxes and new regulations being imposed on retailers next year. Once the long 120-day legislative session starts in January, retailers expect to see proposals to fund family leave, increase unemployment taxes, and raise business & occupation taxes. The Board of Directors met for two days this month to discuss the problems that the retail industry faces. Number one on the list was the state budget shortfall and who would pay for it.
In the current campaign season, few legislators running for re-election will talk about the budget shortfall. But estimates are now that $ 2.7 billion will be needed just to keep pace with current budget needs.
"This $2.7 billion state budget shortfall is the beginning of hard times for Washington state and for retailers," said Jan Teague, President/CEO. She pointed out that the minimum wage will also go up dramatically if costs go up dramatically for the consumer. Washington state law raises the minimum wage based on the cost of living index. Retailers will have few choices but to cut jobs or raise prices even further to cover wage increases. The Board agreed that legislators will be looking at imposing new taxes and fees to keep their programs going. Retail instability is a crisis waiting to happen.
It takes very little for an industry that invests in products for consumers to find itself overstocked, overstaffed, and over budget. There was much discussion at the Board meeting on what to do to help the industry. The majority of the current Washington state elected leadership is a culture where social values are high and a healthy business climate is a very low value or at least not very well understood. The power base is the Democratic Party, which is expected to control the Legislature after the dust settles. Democrats simply do not have their ear leaning towards business.
"What is bothersome about the cost of living is how it changes shoppers' buying patterns as they look for ways to save money," said Teague. Consumers are buying less gas with prices so high, the logical response to keep costs down. They will buy less of everything as their costs continue to go up. Board members expect strong consumer reaction to a recently proposed Seattle tax on shopping bags. They also expect a general change in consumer spending.
"It's clear that the Seattle bag tax is the tip of the iceberg," said Mark Johnson, Vice President of Government Affairs. The 20-cent bag fee is really a tax even though the city calls it a fee. Once the customer sees it on their sales receipt, what will they do? The tax is expected to pass the Seattle city council next week. But even as the Board discussed customer reaction, one thing became very clear. Costs will be going up for the consumer.
Johnson pointed out that there is also a long list of new regulations that are anticipated. Reducing the criminal penalties for theft, limiting the use of technology, and increasing the educational requirements for refrigeration repair workers will all be sponsored by the same legislators who tried but failed to pass new restrictions this year.
Environmental issues are expected to be key next year with waste disposal programs for items such as paint, drugs, and light bulbs all pegged for regulation. Retailers could be caught in a growing series of confusing fees to charge the customer at the cash register.
"We will make every effort we can to demonstrate what we contribute to Washington's economy, to its basic needs, to its social and environmental needs, and to the state's basic needs for jobs in the region. Washington State relies on a strong retail industry," said Pavlish. "We know that over 195,000 people work in retail in the Puget Sound area, over 53,000 people have jobs outside the Puget Sound region in Western Washington, and we know that over 66,000 people in Eastern Washington rely on retail jobs. Food, beverage, health care, furniture, building materials, gas stations, motor vehicles, and many more critical consumer needs are available because we have retail outlets for them. We are a major employer and a major industry group that needs to be carefully protected. We don't want to see towns with vacant storefronts, or malls half empty or high unemployment for those wage earners who need jobs in our industry."
The Board has decided to publish data on the retail industry and make it available to the Legislature on a quarterly basis. The first briefing on retail data was presented at the Board meeting by Al Ralston, President of the Washington Research Council. Employment growth this year is down for retail in every category with food and beverage stores seeing the largest drop. Motor vehicles/parts stores, furniture/furnishings, electronics/appliances, building materials/garden supplies, and food & beverage have had flat to a 10.8% drop in tax revenue compared to last year. Board members agreed that non-store/online sales were increasing as consumers do more mail order shopping to save on the cost of gas. Online/mail order tax revenue growth was up 6.5% compared to last year
Misguided Seattle bag tax and foam ban closer to approval
A Seattle City Council committee has recommended that a 20-cent tax on disposable grocery bags win approval from the full council at a meeting next Monday. The utilities committee also supported a ban on foam food containers beginning in 2009, but recommended a delay until July of 2010 on banning foam trays used for meat and seafood.
While the Washington Retail Association shares Seattle's desire for a healthy and sustainable environment, we are concerned about other outcomes of the council's proposal. Mark Johnson, WRA's Vice President of Government Affairs, testified at a hearing held by the council committee on July 8.
The association supports a more-affordable recycling program and urged council members to consider our alternative in a letter this month to Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council members. Rather than charge 20 cents for shopping bags, we support increased recycling efforts and consumer education. We oppose banning meat and seafood foam trays because there are no reasonable replacements and foam trays are better at preventing the spread of disease from meat juices than corn or sugar cane-based alternatives.
WRA foresees unnecessary costs and potential health threats from the council's proposal. The tax will be a financial burden and inconvenience on many consumers and it will result in considerable and unnecessary new business costs to implement and continue the new tax. Further, there are health concerns with moving to reusable shopping bags if consumers fail to keep them clean and thereby transfer germs from previously-carried food products.
WRA President and CEO Jan Teague believes the association's stance better ensures the viability of its members while achieving the same outcomes of a healthy, clean and sustainable environment. She therefore has at minimum urged putting Seattle's proposal on hold until a thorough pilot program can be conducted to avoid the unintended consequences that concern the association.
State would lose jobs from reducing greenhouse gases, study finds
Washington state could lose up to 35,602 jobs by the year 2020 if a proposal to lower greenhouse gas emissions becomes federal law, a new study has found.
Energy costs would rise, leading to lower industrial output and lost jobs, the study by Science Applications International Corporation found. The company performed the study this year for the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Council for Capital Formation.
The study analyzes potential impacts from America's Climate Security Act of 2007, authored by U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-Connecticut) and John Warner (R-Virginia). If approved by Congress, the law aims to lower greenhouse gas emissions 63 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2050.
The study includes a state-by-state projection of economic impacts of the proposal.
According to the findings, Washington would:
Lose up to 35,602 jobs by 2020 and up to 81,891 jobs in 2030 due to impacts from the proposal. Job losses also could result from rising costs to companies from complying with required emissions cuts and greater competition from overseas manufacturers with lower energy costs. the study found.
See disposable household incomes fall by $3,512 a year by 2020 because of higher energy prices.
See gasoline prices rise by up to 151 percent by 2030, while electricity prices could rise up to 49 percent.
See manufacturing output statewide reduced up to 4.1 percent by 2020.
The poor suffer the greatest impacts from rising energy prices. Families with average incomes of $14,973 would see a gain in the percentage of income they spend on energy from 14 percent without the bill, to 18 percent after if were to go into effect.
Such impacts could put the U.S. economy at a worldwide disadvantage because developing nations such as China and India have not shown a willingness to adopt similar policies, said John Engler, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers.
The costs of such legislation may outweigh its environmental benefits, said Dr. Margo Thorning, senior vice president of chief economist of the American Council of Capital Formation.
"Policymakers would be wise to weigh the enormous costs of the proposed measures in view of any expected environmental benefits," she said.
The bill (S. 2191), has been recommended for further Senate consideration this year.
For a copy of the study findings, visit www.accf.org or www.nam.org/climatechangereport.
Source: National Association of Manufacturers
New state computer system could be waste of money, legislators warn
Legislators are worried that a computer system being designed for the state's proposed but unfunded family leave program could become the latest in the state's string of computer systems that either were canceled or plagued by cost overruns and delays.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, tried unsuccessfully to persuade the state Information Services Board not to authorize spending $3.1 million in taxpayer money to begin building the computer system for the Employment Security Department. Designs for the system are incomplete and the state's slumping economy might increase chances the Legislature will be unable to fund the family leave program, Medina argued.
During the board meeting earlier this month, Employment Security officials reviewed several risks associated with designing the system:
*The cloudy future of the family leave program could force expensive changes to the computer system. *The department is designing another computer system to handle unemployment insurance, which could make it hard to find enough people to work on a second system. The family-leave system would issue weekly paychecks of up to $250 for five weeks to new parents who wanted to take time off of work. *The computer system may be too complex to be designed in time. In 2007, the Legislature passed a law intending to start a paid family leave program in October of 2009.
Hunter, a former Microsoft manager, told The Olympian newspaper that he expected there might be more complications than ESD officials were willing to admit.
"I think the risk areas are vastly more severe than we're talking about there," Hunter told The Olympian. He termed the project's odds of success as "vanishingly small."
Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Thurston County, said she, too, was concerned about authorizing the spending of taxpayer funds for a program the Legislature has not yet funded.
Regardless, she and Hunter allowed the board to approve spending half of its allotted $6.2 million to begin planning the computer system. Board member Ed Lazowska said the board faced a legislative directive to plan the system.
An Olympian story mentioned the checkered history of state computer system. The Department of Licensing canceled a project after spending $40 million and the Department of Corrections spent $50 million on a system originally expected to cost $28 million, the newspaper reported.
Source: The Olympian
College students could trim spending on the way to class, survey finds
Cash-starved college students are expected to spend less preparing to return to classes this year, according to a new National Retail Federation survey.
Rising gasoline prices coupled with no rebate checks for students whose parents claimed them as dependents leave college students feeling a financial pinch. The result, the study found, is that college students are expecting to cut spending 7 percent overall.
The electronics industry could be hardest hit by the financial crunch on college students. The survey found that college students might spend 18 percent less on high tech gadgets as they adjust to gasoline prices that have risen about 40 percent this year.
But families with children in kindergarten through 12th grade say they expect to spend 5 percent more than last year, the survey found.
Source: Reuters news service
Southcenter remodel debuts this week
The Westfield Southcenter mall in Tukwila debuts its $240 million expansion this week.
Grand opening day to showcase new shops and restaurants is on Friday, July 25.
The Australian-based owners of Southcenter, who also own Westfield Capital mall in Olympia, unveiled a 16-screen cinema addition in Tukwila last week. The new restaurant collection is located in an outdoor promenade setting under a 90-foot glass façade offering diners views of Mount Rainier.
Source: Westfield Southcenter
Registration is now open for the Governor's Safety and Health Conference.
Thousands of workers are injured, and sadly, more than 100 Washington workers die from job-related injuries each year. Many of these injuries and losses are preventable. The conference provides resources to assist in design and maintenance of a sound safety and healthy culture at your workplace. The benefits include; reduced injuries, less time lost from work, money saved on industrial insurance premiums and an increase in profits. The comprehensive safety skills gained will benefit you far beyond the workplace.
There are two great pre-conference sessions, one dealing with wellness for commercial drivers that is a MUST SEE for any type of driver working out of their vehicle. This will take place Tuesday, September 23, 8:30am - 4:30pm at the DoubleTree Hotel, Spokane Falls Ballroom. For more information, please contact Sharon Drozdowsky at (360) 902-4622 or dros235@LNI.wa.gov . This is valuable for delivery drivers too!
The second session deals with Solutions for an Aging Workforce. Many workplaces are confronted by the demographic reality of an aging workforce. While older workers do have particular needs, solutions must take into account the needs of workers at all stages of their careers and lives. The course will examine specific issues, including workplace design for safety and health; work/life balance; maintaining health as we age; the roles of employers, employees, the larger community, and public policy in addressing this demographic change. For more information, visit http://nwcenter.washington.edu or contact Maribeth Moore, Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety, 206-543-1069 or moomoore@u.washington.edu.
Registration is now open for the Governor's 2008 Economic and Workforce Development Conference, Sept. 3-4, in Lynnwood.
Learn new strategies, applaud best practices and make important connections that will help move your workforce development organization forward.
The conference features: · An update from Gov. Chris Gregoire on The Next Washington. · Recognition of 2008 Economic and Workforce Development Award winners. · Cutting-edge workshops on industry clusters, Innovation Partnership Zones and the green economy. · Compelling breakout sessions to help your organization thrive in a global marketplace.
Register now and qualify for the early-bird registration fee of $150. After Aug. 8, it's $200. Tickets to this two-day event include continental breakfast, lunch and an evening reception.
Join us and learn new ways to keep Washington's economy and workforce moving ahead!
Washington Workforce Development News: Keep posted with the latest workforce development news in Washington state. Reply to this message if you would like to receive our brief weekly e-mail news.
The Washington Attorney General (AG) announced these upcoming free community shred events and free identity theft prevention forums providing opportunities to shred important personally identifiable documents. Bring your documents to be shredded!
Below is a list of upcoming events. You can find more information and additional shredding sites online at www.atg.wa.gov/shredathon.aspx.
OLYMPIA: Saturday, July 26, 2008, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. WSECU, 400 East Union St. Olympia. Shredding provided by Shred-It.
MOSES LAKE: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Location TBA. Guard It! identity theft forum with Attorney General Rob McKenna: Noon to 1:30 pm.Shredding donated by United Data Security.
CENTRALIA: Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Location TBA. Guard It! identity theft forum with Attorney General Rob McKenna: Noon to 1:30 pm.Shredding donated by LeMay
GOLDENDALE: Tentatively planned for Wednesday, September 10, 2008. Location TBA. In conjunction with Guard It! identity theft forum with Attorney General Rob McKenna.
TACOMA: Ongoing, Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tacoma Recycling Co., Inc., 2318 South Tacoma Way Offers free document destruction for private individuals who bring in less than 10 pounds of material during regular business hours. Consumers may witness their papers being destroyed. Businesses will be charged for this service. Info: (253) 474-9559
Washington Retail Association | 618 Quince St SE, STE A | PO Box 2227 | Olympia | WA | 98501
The Washington Retail Association, WRA, is a 501 C 6 trade association formed to advocate for Washington State’s retailers at the local, state and national level. Since 1987, the WRA has protected Washington's retailers from unreasonable taxes, fees, regulations and legislation. The efforts of the WRA benefit all Washington state retailers and help fuel statewide economic growth.
