Round Two: Gregoire and Rossi debate state's business environment
Gregoire and Rossi get another chance to engage in word-to-word combat tonight at their second debate, taking place in Blaine and sponsored by the Association of Washington Business. Tonight's topic, business, promises that a lot of facts and figures will be thrown around. With the following information, I hope to insulate you against the tendency of candidates to stretch and shrink numbers to suit their purposes.
Rossi is seen as the stronger of the two candidates on tonight's topic, but other than vague campaign rhetoric, he has a slim record to stand behind. The governor has some distortion-proof facts on her side but she is not above a little number tugging herself.
The claim: Rossi's main talking point will be that Gregoire has made Washington a difficult state for small businesses to succeed in, with one of the country's highest worker's compensation and unemployment insurance rates.
The facts: In April 2008, the non-profit and non-partisan Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, representing over 50,000 small businesses, ranked our state as having the fourth best state tax system for small businesses and entrepreneurship in the country.
When she took office, Gregoire inherited very high unemployment insurance and worker's comp rates, but in 2007 she cut both, with the largest savings, about $48 million, going to small businesses.
The claim: Rossi--Washington's current unemployment rate is higher than it was when Gregoire took office.
Gregoire--"I inherited the highest unemployment rate in the country."
The facts: When Gregoire took office in 2005, the national unemployment rate was 5.2%, while Washington's stood at 5.8%, giving the state a 10% higher rate than the country's. Today our unemployment rate has followed the national trend by rising to 6.0%, while the national rate has risen a bit higher, to 6.1%.
Basically, Washington's unemployment rate has gone from being much higher than the national rate to being slightly lower than the national rate since Gregoire took office.
In addition, while the 5.8% unemployment rate when Gregoire took office was one of the highest in the country at that time, it was one of the top six highest rates and not the highest as stated. As my dad likes to say, close, but no cigar.
The claim: In the candidates' first debate last Saturday, the governor stated that Washington has created over 250,000 new jobs since she entered office.
The facts: On her own website, Gregoire states that over 200,000 new jobs were created during her tenure. That is a very safe estimate with the real number probably somewhere between 210,00 and 230,000.
Ready for one more?
The claim: Rossi stated during the first debate that Washington has "one of the highest small business failure rates in America."
The facts: The truth is, Washington has a lot of entrepreneurs. Our state has the third highest rate of business openings a year, but it also has the third highest rate of business failures per year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. It looks like we are about average when it comes to the small business success rate in our state, but we are clearly not failing. More could be done to help these businesses survive and thrive.
The bottom line: Gregoire has raised taxes but she hasn't raised them on businesses, instead she has cut many business taxes.
The high cost of healthcare is consistently cited as being the number one concern of small businesses and increasing citizen's access to healthcare is one of the governor's priorities. She and the legislature are working to give all children health insurance by 2010, lessening the burden on the small business owner.
Gregoire is also investing in areas that are crucial to business growth: education, health and transportation. She focuses on strengthening children and families which can sometimes run against short term business interests, but in the long run, a healthy, well-educated labor force is essential to business success.
Now you're armed with the facts.
********
Watch the debate Sunday night on TVW at 6 and 8 p.m.
Rossi is seen as the stronger of the two candidates on tonight's topic, but other than vague campaign rhetoric, he has a slim record to stand behind. The governor has some distortion-proof facts on her side but she is not above a little number tugging herself.
The claim: Rossi's main talking point will be that Gregoire has made Washington a difficult state for small businesses to succeed in, with one of the country's highest worker's compensation and unemployment insurance rates.
The facts: In April 2008, the non-profit and non-partisan Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, representing over 50,000 small businesses, ranked our state as having the fourth best state tax system for small businesses and entrepreneurship in the country.
When she took office, Gregoire inherited very high unemployment insurance and worker's comp rates, but in 2007 she cut both, with the largest savings, about $48 million, going to small businesses.
The claim: Rossi--Washington's current unemployment rate is higher than it was when Gregoire took office.
Gregoire--"I inherited the highest unemployment rate in the country."
The facts: When Gregoire took office in 2005, the national unemployment rate was 5.2%, while Washington's stood at 5.8%, giving the state a 10% higher rate than the country's. Today our unemployment rate has followed the national trend by rising to 6.0%, while the national rate has risen a bit higher, to 6.1%.
Basically, Washington's unemployment rate has gone from being much higher than the national rate to being slightly lower than the national rate since Gregoire took office.
In addition, while the 5.8% unemployment rate when Gregoire took office was one of the highest in the country at that time, it was one of the top six highest rates and not the highest as stated. As my dad likes to say, close, but no cigar.
The claim: In the candidates' first debate last Saturday, the governor stated that Washington has created over 250,000 new jobs since she entered office.
The facts: On her own website, Gregoire states that over 200,000 new jobs were created during her tenure. That is a very safe estimate with the real number probably somewhere between 210,00 and 230,000.
Ready for one more?
The claim: Rossi stated during the first debate that Washington has "one of the highest small business failure rates in America."
The facts: The truth is, Washington has a lot of entrepreneurs. Our state has the third highest rate of business openings a year, but it also has the third highest rate of business failures per year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. It looks like we are about average when it comes to the small business success rate in our state, but we are clearly not failing. More could be done to help these businesses survive and thrive.
The bottom line: Gregoire has raised taxes but she hasn't raised them on businesses, instead she has cut many business taxes.
The high cost of healthcare is consistently cited as being the number one concern of small businesses and increasing citizen's access to healthcare is one of the governor's priorities. She and the legislature are working to give all children health insurance by 2010, lessening the burden on the small business owner.
Gregoire is also investing in areas that are crucial to business growth: education, health and transportation. She focuses on strengthening children and families which can sometimes run against short term business interests, but in the long run, a healthy, well-educated labor force is essential to business success.
Now you're armed with the facts.
********
Watch the debate Sunday night on TVW at 6 and 8 p.m.
# Posted by Kathleen : 10:44 AM
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