Moses Lake business leaders talk priorities with Association of Washington Business

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake and state business leaders met Wednesday at the Chamber of Commerce to decide which industry issues to focus on during the 2013 legislative session.

Association of Washington Business staff were in Moses Lake as part of their statewide conversation on issues affecting the business world in areas such as taxes and health care.

According to Kris Tefft, of AWB, the association meets each year to draft their legislative priorities and positions. Regional meetings are then held to give members around the state a chance to view the association's draft position papers, and give their input on what priorities for the next year should be.

AWB members will be on the road gathering input until Sept. 6. Legislative objectives for 2013 will then be handed over to the association's Board of Directors during their annual meeting on Sept. 13, he said.

According to Donna Steward, of AWB, the organization wants to work on policies where tax simplification and streamlining take place.

"There are a number of different areas within our current tax code where the business community can benefit," she said. Doing things more effectively, and efficiently, when it comes to collecting taxes from businesses could have a huge affect on businesses statewide.

Steward also said the association wants to prevent the state from cutting back on funding for economic development opportunities to improve the number of jobs and the economy.

"We've had over the past couple of years several attempts to take away tax incentives and economic development incentives from industry sectors," she said. "People don't understand the impact of giving what they would consider a tax preference to a particular industry."

Steward said there is immense value in development incentives not only to the specific industry, but in the overall state economy. This issue was significant during the last legislative session she said, and there are still legislators who want to eliminate these tax incentives.

As Washington moves toward implementing the requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act, Steward said AWB is working on health care policy to protect businesses who will eventually become purchasers of health insurance.

Under the Affordable Care Act, states must be operating a health insurance exchange by January 2014, or implementation will fall to the government. Individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase qualified health insurance through the exchange. Some 40,000 Washington residents would be served in the exchange, according to state figures.

Steward said action toward creating the state exchange is also creating action that will eventually dismantle the private market and dramatically increase the cost of health care in Washington. In 2014, she said, employers will be looking at a narrow batch of health plans that are available to them.

"With the state-based exchange, we're actually seeing the impact of that have a detrimental focus and impact on the credit market," said Steward. AWB wants to preserve policies that allow a flexibility for employers when it comes to choosing health plans.

AWB works on health care policy for the benefit of the purchasers, not the providers, the infrastructure or the insurers, she said.

"We really support small businesses and large businesses and their ability to provide health care coverage for their employees," Steward said. "Our approach to health care reform is to bring forward solutions that will protect the private market and restore affordability for health care coverage."

AWB also discussed policies on education, transportation and climate change during the meeting. Local business representatives moved to have the policies they discussed brought to the AWB board for final approval.