washington outlook
Benchmarking to Mark Progress
Richard S. Davis
“Benchmarks for a Better Washington,” a Washington Roundtable effort, frames the issues
faced by policymakers here. State leaders must focus on controlling business costs and
demanding better performance in education, transportation, and job creation.
State economists have told us that Washington will emerge
from the recession in better shape than most states. With the
economy recovering, we’re about to find out. It’s all too slow,
too tentative, but it now seems possible that the new normal
can be more than just an extension of the enduring awful.
an inclusive vision, easily understood and measured using
just 12 indicators.
The quality of life benchmarks emphasize the importance
of building the state’s intellectual and physical infrastructure.
They include private sector jobs, patents, high school graduation rates, math and science achievement, bachelor’s degrees,
and transportation.
Currently, we lead the nation in patent generation. In other important areas, however, we are not competitive. In the
year since the Roundtable launched “Benchmarks,” Washington dropped to 37th in high school graduation rates, fell from
9th to 12th in math achievement. Our eighth-grade students
rank 21st in science proficiency. And we’re 38th in production of bachelor’s degrees per capita.
On education measures, Washington lost ground by standing still. Our relative position eroded because other states
improved their academic performance. It’s not a static
competition.
a formula for recovery
This means that business and political leaders must seriously evaluate Washington’s competitive position among the
states trying to claw their way back to economic success.
From playing fields to production lines, superior achievement depends on knowing what’s important, measuring it,
and improving it. A dozen years ago, AWB, the Washington
Roundtable and Washington Research Council began publishing the WashACE Redbook to track critical business and
economic indicators and ranking Washington against the rest
of the nation. AWB recently added the Greenbook to assess
environmental and energy factors.
value = quality/cost
Last year, the Roundtable, executives of Washington’s major
employers, added a dynamic dimension, distilling the data to
set clear goals for policymakers. The vision: Make Washington a top 10 state for quality of life and ensure it is not one of
the 10 most expensive states in which to do business. Underpinning the group’s “Benchmarks for a Better Washington” is
a simple principle, expressed as an equation: Value = Quality/
Cost. High quality divided by low costs equals great value. It’s
52 association of washington business
Sensibly, the Benchmarks don’t promote the goal that we
become one of the cheapest states for business, just not one
of the most costly. The measures include electricity rates,
workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance costs
and business taxes. Hydropower keeps our electricity clean
and inexpensive. But the good news stops there. Our UI taxes
and workers’ compensation benefits have long been among
the nation’s highest. Last year’s reforms should help. Finally,
business taxes here consistently claim an above average share
of private sector gross state product.
We know what must be done to improve. And we’ve seen
some hard won victories in Olympia to address infrastructure, education and business costs.
High quality, low cost, great value. It’s the formula for a
strong post-recession recovery. But it’s no secret. Each of our
competitor states will be pursuing a similar strategy. What
was good enough last year won’t be good enough next year.
It’s a dynamic process requiring courage, passion and a sustained commitment to prosperity.
Come to think of it, those are pretty good benchmarks to
use in evaluating the 2012 candidates for public office.
Richard Davis is president of the Washington Research Council.