Published February 2002

Let’s put Competitiveness Council’s report to work

By Don C. Brunell
Guest Editorial

The Washington Competitiveness Council’s final report is hot off the press. For some, it may be too hot to handle. It’s not the average run-of-the-mill government report that should be placed on a shelf to gather dust.

This also must be a living, working document.

Gov. Gary Locke was on target convening the council. It developed some bold recommendations that are long overdue if we are to keep our economy growing and providing jobs.

Many of the recommendations make people uncomfortable. That’s great because folks need to know that our state is in a precarious position. The Boeing headquarters move to Chicago, our state’s slumping economy and the events of Sept. 11 ought to shake us all and shake us into immediate action.

When Gov. Locke announced the results of the council’s work in December, he focused on transportation.

Transportation is a big problem throughout Washington, whether it be traffic jams in Seattle or killer highways like State Route 270 between Pullman and Moscow. We need a plan, funding formula and action this year — the sooner the better.

None of us are going to like the remedy to fix our roads and highways, because the bottom line is we will have to pay more to drive or ride a bus.

How we pay and ensure that our money goes to road projects that we really need is being debated in Olympia. We all ought to make sure the Department of Transportation, governor and legislature spend our money wisely and get projects built on time and on budget.

While transportation is a key competitive issue, it cannot overshadow other important problems — problems like fixing our broken and costly unemployment insurance system, overhauling the way government treats the people they regulate, holding down taxes and fees, ensuring a high-quality education and worker training system, and building new water and energy projects.

The danger is that those who don’t like the recommendations will pressure lawmakers and the governor to just put the council’s report on the shelf and let it gather dust.

As the mechanic in the television ad hawking oil filters says: “You can pay me now or pay me later!”

Why take the chance? Develop an action plan to implement the recommendations. Work on them now because if they are relegated to the back of a file cabinet, we may not have an economic engine in Washington to rebuild.

Don C. Brunell is President of the Association of Washington Business.

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