Huckleberries Online

Idaho Looms Large On Olympia Radar

Posted by DFO

March 10, 2009 12:12 p.m. • 17 comments

Across the border in Washington, former state Rep. John Ahern was famous for floor speeches trotting out the specter of unhappy Washington businesses decamping en masse for Idaho. “That great sucking sound you hear,” he’d warn, as Democrats rolled their eyes, “is business heading for Idaho.” Ahern’s now gone, ousted by a Democratic challenger in November. Yet the issue clearly isn’t. “Democrat bills send clear message to employers: Go to Idaho!” said a recent press release from Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake. She blasted several bills that she said would “rip the welcome mat away from our employers”/Rich Roesler, Eye On Olympia. More here.

Question: Does Idaho have a better business climate than Washington? Or are Washington lawmakers simply over-reacting to perceived business competition from Idaho?

17 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

JeanieSpokane on March 10 at 12:39 p.m.
Most people in Olympia think Spokane is in Idaho already. The sucking sound they hear is business moving to Spokane and they just think it’s in Idaho. I think we should secede.
cantyoureadthesigns on March 10 at 2:15 p.m.
Well, we’re really talking here about comparing Spokane and CdA, both of which rank pretty well in Forbes surveys of business climates.

CdA ranks 21st out of 179 “Best Small Places For Business And Careers”.

Spokane ranks 9th out of 200 “Best Metro Areas for Business and Careers.” Olympia ranks 8th, and Boise, 2nd.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/19/best-business-cities-biz-bestplaces08-cx_kb_0319places_land.html
Digger on March 10 at 6:57 p.m.
My biggest beef with Washington is the incessent need to raise the minimum wage and penalize those employers who would like to offer their employees a better wage but are unable to do so becuase the mimimum wage is already so high.

I would love to hire and retain employees at an average of $9.00 per hour - but where is the incentive to pay the extra money when the employee can find a minimum wage job elsewhere and only be making 45 cents less an hour.
mia on March 10 at 7:44 p.m.
As a former business owner, with stores in Idaho, and one in Washington, I certainly found Idaho to be more business friendly in a number of ways.
hmoffsuite on March 10 at 7:57 p.m.
I also have had businesses in both States and, without questiion, Idaho is a better State to conduct business in. Washington is ruining the business climate and they are seeing the results. When Boeing left, it was a slap in the face of Washington State and they didn’t even get it. Tonight I read that Washington wants to unionize daycare people. Imagine how that will negatively impact struggling mothers when labor costs skyrocket. I know many business owners that have moved out of the State because of over bearing regulations and beauracratic burdens.
Phaedrus on March 10 at 9:11 p.m.
I don’t know many business owners in either state but according to a Forbes magazine ranking published last July, Washington was ranked 3rd and Idaho 7th.
cantyoureadthesigns on March 11 at 1:02 a.m.
“Digger on March 10 at 6:57 p.m.

My biggest beef with Washington is the incessent need to raise the minimum wage and penalize those employers who would like to offer their employees a better wage but are unable to do so becuase the mimimum wage is already so high.

I would love to hire and retain employees at an average of $9.00 per hour - but where is the incentive to pay the extra money when the employee can find a minimum wage job elsewhere and only be making 45 cents less an hour.”

Wow, where to start?

“Incessant need to raise the minimum wage”?

You mean the initiative that THE PEOPLE voted to approve, many of whom earn far above the minimum wage, as I’m sure you do, to index the WA minimum wage to the rate of inflation, so such workers would not BE EVEN POORER, year by year?

Rates of unemployment do not vary significantly between Idaho, and WA, although median wages paid are higher in WA.

So you’d love to pay $9.00 and hour, eh? Gee, isn’t that special?

Employers are being penalized? Yeah, right. Cry me a river.
idawa on March 11 at 9:05 a.m.
eh, another republican empty talking point. Conservative like to expound on the ability of conservative economics to promote small business, but it just isn’t so. Despite Idaho lax regs and b/o practices, entrepreneurship rates lag behind us commies here in Washington and California. In 2007, the US ranked 16th in small business creation among the 42 richest nations (we weren’t even in the top 10 and were behind many of those socialist European nations - according to the gem consortium) despite 30 years of conservative economics. Hopefully Washington Legislator don’t start shadow boxing at an opponent that really isn’t.
Arch_Druid on March 11 at 10:26 a.m.
A little matter that might have been lost in the discussion that tends to refute digger’s claims about how more business friendly Idaho is. A recent article in the CDA Press concerning Buck Knives now based in Post Falls but that had OUTSOURCED MOST OF ITS PRODUCTION to foreign nations. Buck Knives will now close its foreign operations and proceed to start hiring locally by the summer. Idaho as more business friendly, lags behind Washington state as to minimum wage requirements and Buck Knives feels the need to outsource its operations regardless.

If anything could change the owner of Buck Knives mind re hiring Americans, it is because his profit margins probably shrunk from the lack of an American base of customers. So, what do Washington state’s anti-biz regs have to do with anything?

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.