On Monday of this week there was a public hearing held on the state budget. Marty Brown, director, Office of Financial Management, hosted the event.

The entire hearing is available on TVW. I’ve embedded the video to start on the comment from the non-partisan group called State Budget Solutions that is working across the nation supporting the state budget crisis. They have developed five recommendations for our state and they identify the impact on businesses when it comes to new taxes. Their comment is about two minutes long.

Marty Brown is also accepting ideas to help balance the budget. Here is the link to that site where you can submit your ideas: http://transformwabudget.ideascale.com/

ImmigrationWorks is planning a Northwest Employer Summit in Seattle on August 12. The meeting will bring together employers who rely on immigrant workers and grasp the urgent need for immigration reform for a packed day of speeches, panels and strategy sessions.

High-tech entrepreneur and scholar, Vivek Wadhwa, will give the lunch keynote, and there will be remarks by Washington Sen. Patty Murray. Other speakers will include pro-immigration business advocates from across the country and a panel of employers who rely on immigrant workers – small business owners who know and can explain better than anyone how immigrant workers keep U.S. businesses running and contributing to a dynamic, competitive economy.

ImmigrationWorks USA is a national federation of small business owners advocating immigration reform. The organization links 25 state-based, pro-immigration business coalitions: employers and trade associations from Florida to Oregon and from every sector of the economy that relies on immigrant workers. IW coordinates and supports these groups as they fight for better immigration law in Washington and in the states.

Click HERE to register or to find out more about the Northwest Summit.

The Association has released an official position on initiative 1100. Our member comprised government affairs committee made strong decision to support the initiative that would privatize liquor sales. The following is a portion the Association’s release:

Restaurants in Washington are Hopeful for a Free-Market System for Spirit Sales

The Washington Restaurant Association today announced their strong support of liquor privatization initiative 1100. The initiative would create a more competitive free-market system for the sale and distribution of spirits, beer and wine which will provide more choices for consumers and businesses. If passed, the initiative would allow the private sector, including retailers and existing beer and wine distributors, the opportunity to sell spirits.

Read the full release to find out what other harmful initiatives are out there and what this means to the restaurant industry>>>

Yes, Styrofoam is on its way out and protecting our environment is as important as ever. This is not a new thought.

In fact, I recently was rummaging through some gardening books that my mother-in-law passed down to me. The oldest one was from 1961, and it featured an article on organic gardening tips. There were several others that spanned to 1972 and they all had the same focus: how to garden in a way that was safe for our environment. Fast forward to 2010 and today we are still discussing this issue nationwide, how to do things in a way that is safe for our environment.

Now I come from a background in financial products ranging from commercial loans and mutual funds to home loans and checking accounts. I can tell you that environment was never at the forefront. Conversely, I have been working for the restaurant industry for the past four years and restaurants have been leading the way in this arena.

Our restaurants have been partnering with thought leaders like Conserve, the University of Washington and Cedar Grove Composting to help the efforts in our region. I couldn’t be more impressed by the amount of time our small business owners commit to moving the industry forward in a positive way.

Today, as they should, the Everett Herald reported on the proposed restaurant-ban on using Styrofoam material in packaging take-out orders, leftovers and beverages. This is a trend in many cities. On July 1 Seattle’s phased in ban moves forward a notch.

However, I think it is important for our communities to know that it did not take a ban to move the restaurants in this direction. They have been thinking about and working on this for years and this is not a new for us.

We are tremendously disappointmented in Gov. Gregoire’s decision to veto the Legislature’s repeal of the August 2009 liquor price increase. Her decision further destabilizes the restaurant industry’s already grim employment outlook. Since February 2008, restaurants in Washington have shed more than 18,000 jobs.

Restaurants in Washington state have endured double digit increases in unemployment insurance taxes, increases in state and local health department fees and increases in state workers’ compensation premiums during a period when consumers are cutting back, jobs are scarce and increasing prices is not an option.

By vetoing the repeal, the governor is risking jobs and economic activity in businesses that are entirely dependent on the state for their supply of spirits. The WRA enthusiastically supported Gov. Gregoire’s assertion earlier this year that “jobs are the way out of this recession” and accordingly is surprised by today’s decision.