By Ed Hildreth, Owner Sound Janitorial Supply WRA Small Business Committee Chair January 2008 Newsletter
As the 2008 Legislature convenes I am hoping the governor and legislators remember the small business owners of Washington state. The WRA membership is reflective of the overwhelming percentage of small businesses that call Washington home. Of all registered businesses in Washington state over 90 percent have fewer than 50 employees.Over the next sixty days our elected leaders will have hundreds of bills to consider that directly impact small business owners.
One issue in particular is the streamlined sales tax small businesses relief measure that will be introduced to try and increase the amount of funding to assist small business owners to comply with the destination based sourcing requirements. These requirements go into effect July 1, 2008. Only businesses that do deliveries will be impacted by this change. Also up for consideration is increasing the threshold of gross income in order to qualify for the assistance.
Also up for consideration this session will be several bills which will attempt to provide more affordable health care coverage for small businesses. This is an important issue for small business owners as health care costs continue to rise. The legislators have to be cautious in their approach to ensure that they don’t limit choices for employers and employees and inadvertently increase the overall system costs. This is one of the WRA’s top priorities.
Already the state minimum wage is the highest in the nation at $8.07 an hour, and workers’ compensation rates and unemployment insurance taxes continue to burden small business owners. In order for small business to grow and hire more people the state needs to recognize their importance and provide the relief they need. One thing the legislature could do that would have a significant impact on small business owner’s bottom line would be to enact a sales tax allowance. Washington state needs to recognize the identified costs that small businesses incur when collecting and remitting the sales tax. A majority of sales tax states in the country already allow a sales tax allowance.
Together, making the right decisions, we can ensure that Washington state becomes a good place to start and run an existing small business.
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.