Sen. Phil Rockefeller of the 23rd Legislative District said in mid-January it was too early to gauge the prevalent topics of this session, but one bill that he feels will impact economic development would create the Puget Sound partnership for rebuilding habitat, which he said will affect the livability of the region as well as the recreational and tourism industries.

“Since we are all residents here, the quality of life depends on the quality of Puget Sound,” he said.

Sen. Derek Kilmer in the 26th District said some of the more significant economic development bills include legislation to expand the creation of the Local Infrastructure Financing Tool, bills to help military, and veteran-owned businesses, as well as recommended cuts to unemployment taxes for new businesses and B&O tax relief. The LIFT bill essentially expands legislation sponsored last year that created a pilot project, Kilmer said.

“The idea is that you have growth paying for growth… to capture new revenues and bond against those revenues so infrastructure can be created,” he said, using the planned Gig Harbor hospital as an example. Legislation passed last year allows the city of Gig Harbor to bond against future sales tax revenue that will be generated by providing traffic fixes in Gig Harbor North, which faced a halt to any new projects until congestion relief was provided.

“The hospital is a perfect example. If you fix the roads in Gig Harbor North, you’ll see additional development, which means new taxes coming in,” he said.

Kilmer was also working on a bill to expand the economic development strategic fund by allowing employers in the state to contribute to the fund in exchange for equal-dollar credit toward their B&O tax.

Sen. Tim Sheldon of the 35th District said health care is a continuing issue, especially health care costs to employers. He says streamlining health plans should be a priority, although no significant bills dealing with the subject had been introduced so far. “We have to allow more competition in Washington State,” he said. “We have driven a lot of companies out of state with our health care requirements.”

Sheldon said he was concerned about Gov. Christine Gregoire’s proposed budget, which is likely to impact businesses in the long term because the budget was not sustainable in the future without new taxes. He said when new social or education programs are introduced and financed with reserve funds, the public expects the programs to continue, even as the reserves dry up.

“When you (create new programs and services) with reserve funds, you build the expectation to keep them… We are setting ourselves up for big tax increase… and that generally falls on businesses,” he said.

Rep. Sherry Appleton in the 23rd District said several bills will help put more money into the economy, including a bill that would provide tax relief for seniors, and a bill reducing ferry charges. “The more affordable the ferries are, the more money flows into the economy,” she said.

Regarding the NASCAR track that has the potential to have a big impact on the local economy, the elected officials don’t appear enthusiastic.

“I don’t think it will happen. I don’t see much support in Olympia,” Sheldon said prior to the news that Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, would introduce a bill that would move the track project forward (the bill would not be site-specific). Sheldon noted he has been in the Legislature for 17 years, during both periods when the Mariners’ and the Seahawks’ facilities were built with public money, and both times the projects had huge support from the state governor. He said Gov. Gregoire is not placing a lot of emphasis on NASCAR, and without the governor’s full support, the Legislation is “likely to put it off.”

“I will never vote for giving public money to a corporation,” Appleton said.