In case you haven’t noticed, Washington lawmakers aren’t happy about the Boeing Co.’s decision to break up with the state last fall.
Washington lawmakers threw $3.2 billion in tax incentives at Boeing back in 2003 to land the first 787 final assembly line but lost out to Charleston, S.C., for the second line in 2009. Boeing’s decision to go to South Carolina marks the first time the company will put together commercial jets elsewhere.
House Bill 3107, which could be introduced Monday, would eliminate those tax incentives for Boeing and for “air plane manufacturers transferring substantial manufacturing operations to other states.”
The bill defines “substantial” as “more than 50 percent.” When Boeing ramps up production on its delayed 787, the majority of final assembly will remain here in Everett. Boeing has said it plans to produce monthly 7 787s in Everett and 3 in South Carolina.
As written, Boeing would still get its tax incentives here, and could get the nearly $1 billion in tax breaks forked over by South Carolina.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon. Morris, who is the House Pro Tem, isn’t the only Democrat to introduce legislation this year aimed at Boeing and the tax breaks it receives.
Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia,
introduced HB 2833
The Herald’s politics reporter, Jerry Cornfield, may have more on Morris’s bill later on his blog.
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