Seattle business community must own its narrative

This article originally appeared in the Puget Sound Business Journal on February 16, 2020.

Last spring, Washington approved new business taxes via the Washington Education Investment Act (E2SHB 2158), which included a massive tax increase for technology firms like Amazon and Microsoft, as well as increases for a range of other service professions. Now Councilwoman Kshama Sawant is taking another shot with a tax on jobs to hit her favorite boogeymen, Washington state businesses.

As a community, we need a clear understanding of what led us here and the steps we can take to get us out of this divisive cycle of reactive policymaking.

This is a good opportunity for the business community to return transparency to local elections, to be proactive in sharing our vision, and to better tell our story to the public, what I call “Loud and Proud.”

For decades, our progressive business community in Seattle has been an effective stakeholder for the city, helping to design and pass groundbreaking policies and ensure funding for vital programs. In 2020, we should heed the lessons from 2019 and, once again, deliver a vision for the community that everyone can rally around.

Looking at the city’s most recent elections, it is obvious that voters understood, maybe for the first time in a local election, that the names on the ballot weren’t necessarily who was running. Amazon’s donations created distraction and diversion, taking away credibility from other business leaders who strive to build coalitions. Many of us have supported elections via contributions that build enthusiasm for a cause by demonstrating a broader coalition of support.

The question that voters asked in 2019 lingers. What are we offering and how does the business community go from reactive to proactive?

In 2014, we worked proactively on the $15 minimum wage. We were able to build broad consensus across many sectors to establish inclusive, progressive solutions phased in over three to seven years. However, in 2019, it was hard to pin down what its corporate support stood for and what it was offering voters.

We have an opportunity to provide voters with a vision for the future now that connects our policy agenda to their lives. Let’s build a new and innovative platform instead of sitting on our hands. Then we can focus on proactively creating progressive policies.

The next step toward turning the conversation requires us to speak proudly of our contributions to the city and region.

Our businesses contribute greatly to the economy of our region, providing the vast majority of the more than 2.3 million non-farm jobs in the Seattle metro area, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Across Washington state, businesses generated $4.15 billion for the state’s general fund from business and occupation taxes, making up 20 percent of the state’s general fund in FY2018.

From social policies, leadership in homelessness initiatives, affordable housing starts, support of free arts programs, we have a lot for which to be proud. We’re often laying the financial groundwork for levy campaigns to support social services, parks, education and transit.

Moreover, our endorsement of the phased-in $15 minimum wage helped convince other cities around the country to follow our example.

Now we need to figure out what our agenda is and work to advance those solutions. We need to be proactive.

The truth is that most of our region is a healthy and thriving place. We have no shortage of great opportunities and innovative companies.

Voters want a progressive vision for the future that builds on our great region, not detracts from it. If the business community is to have a role in that, we need to be smarter about how we get there.

We need to step up to better tell our story.