New bill targets Boeing bank account rather than tax breaks

An Everett lawmaker in Olympia wants to make the Boeing Co. pay $2,500 per year for each job lost in Washington since the company secured an extension of tax incentives from the state in 2013.

Rep. June Robinson, D-Everett, said Thursday she will introduce legislation requiring the company to make annual payments to a state fund used to pay for education programs.

Robinson’s announcement came at a press conference attended by 15 Democratic lawmakers.

Her bill would begin with a baseline of 83,295 jobs, the size of Boeing’s workforce in Washington when lawmakers agreed to extend a suite of tax breaks to the entire aerospace industry. That decision helped convince Boeing to launch the 777X program in Everett and could save the company several billion dollars in tax payments through 2040.

Under Robinson’s bill, the company would pay $2,500 per job below the baseline. As of January, that tabwould have been around $12.675 million because there were 5,070 fewer Boeing jobs in Washington than in late 2013, according to a company report.

“We want to hold Boeing accountable,” Robinson said at a press conference Thursday.

This is Robinson’s second attempt this legislative session to tighten the strings around the tax incentives received by the company. She had a bill to reduce, and even eliminate, the entire incentive if job levels sunk too far. It died in the House Finance Committee.

House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan wouldn’t commit Thursday to even allowing the new bill to receive a hearing or a vote. He said it would be a decision for the entire Democratic caucus.

Boeing spokeswoman Deborah Feldman said she had not seen the bill and could not comment until she did.

Earlier this month, Feldman issued a statement after the House Finance Committee action.

“Legislators have considered these incentives in 2013, 2015 and now 2016,” she said. “Each time the result has been the same – maintaining incentives that allow Boeing to run its business, anchor Washington’s aerospace industry and significantly enhance the state’s broader economy.”