Washington’s economic strategy: drive out jobs, punish success, and then wonder why everyone’s moving out.

Washington: Where Economic Freedom Goes to Die

The 2025 Freedom Index from Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories is out, and the verdict is brutal: Washington has cemented its spot as one of the worst places in America for economic freedom — stuck at a dismal 35th in the nation for the second year in a row. While states like Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana are busy slashing taxes, cutting red tape, and actually attracting businesses, Washington’s lawmakers are perfecting their favorite hobby: inventing new ways to squeeze every last dime from residents and businesses.

The Mountain States are lowering corporate and income taxes, passing property tax relief, and trimming regulations — but in Olympia, the priority is to pile on one of the largest tax increases in state history. Higher business and occupation taxes? Check. Expanded sales tax? Check. Estate and capital gains hikes? You bet. Add in a few luxury item surcharges and the elimination of tax breaks, and you’ve got a master class in how to make a bad business climate even worse.

According to SEL, the result is a state that’s “increasingly unfavorable” to small businesses, manufacturers, and tech firms — which is polite code for “don’t even think about moving here unless you enjoy drowning in taxes and paperwork.” Other states are building economic freedom; Washington is bulldozing it, one tax hike at a time. Read more at Center Square.

Seattle’s “Economic Justice” Tax: Because Nothing Says Fairness Like Making Everything More Expensive

In an op-ed, GOP Rep. Josh Penner dismantles Seattle’s latest budget gimmick, the so-called “Seattle Shield.” Behind the feel-good branding is a $90 million tax hike that spares the tiniest businesses but wallops anyone who dared to grow—think family-owned restaurants, corner groceries, and childcare centers. Big corporations will survive. Your neighborhood burger shop? Not so much.

The City Council’s plan jacks up the B&O tax—levied on gross receipts, not profits—meaning even struggling businesses get slapped with a bigger bill. And it’s not just the owners who pay. Every vendor, supplier, and service they rely on will pass along the cost, hiking prices on everything from milk and eggs to preschool tuition and rent.

Seattle politicians claim this is about equity, but Penner calls it what it is: a regressive tax wrapped in progressive packaging. It won’t fix the city’s budget mess, it won’t improve services, and it certainly won’t make life more affordable. What it will do is send prices soaring, drive out more employers, and export bad policy across Washington. Read more at Seattle Red.

UW Professor Torches Media’s Megafire Myths

University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor Cliff Mass just handed the New York Times and Seattle Times a fact-check they won’t print. Both papers recently pushed the narrative that climate change will bring more devastating “megafires” to Western Washington. Mass calls that “blatantly false” — and he’s got peer-reviewed research to back it up.

Since 1900, only one fire — the Yacolt Burn of 1902 — meets the definition of a region-wide megafire. In the last 50 years? No upward trend in size or frequency. The reason is simple: Western Washington’s damp, lush climate isn’t megafire-friendly unless you have sustained, strong easterly winds. And under climate change models, those winds are actually expected to decrease.

Mass’s bottom line: the media’s doom-and-gloom reporting ignores historical records and meteorological reality. Instead of informing the public, they’re peddling clickbait that fuels bad policy. Read more at Seattle Red.

Washington State Fair Plays Favorites — and the First Amendment Loses

So much for “fair.” After years of welcoming the Pierce County GOP booth, the Washington State Fair suddenly decided Republicans were no longer welcome — but somehow, the Democrats’ booth was just fine. No explanation that passes the smell test, no even-handed rules, just good old-fashioned partisan gatekeeping. Apparently, if you’re on the Left, your politics are “community engagement.” If you’re on the Right, you’re a threat that must be silenced. It’s the kind of petty, cowardly censorship you’d expect from political hacks who can’t handle a little free speech — and who clearly forgot that a state fair is supposed to be about openness and community, not running interference for one party.

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