Gov. Ferguson Admits ""Unintended Consequences" But Signs Budget

To fill what Democrats erroniously call a $16 billion-dollar shortfall in the budget, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed off on a budget full of new hard-hitting taxes on WA state businesses. But, the taxes brought a warning response from none other than Microsoft.

Ferguson makes 'pledge' to reassess effects of taxes in next session in January

Tuesday Ferguson signed the budget which includes at least four new major taxes. One of the taxes raises the state's B & O (Business and Occupation) tax and slaps a new surcharge on companies who have more than $250 million in taxable income. Another expands the state's retail tax to digital and what are called professional services including ad agencies, software developers and IT support providers.

They also slapped an increased "advanced computer surcharge" on large firms such as Microsoft and Amazon.

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According to Geekwire, the CEO of the WA Association of Business, Kris Johnson, said these taxes will put WA firms at a competitive disadvantage with out-of-state competitors. He said:

“The budget signed into law today doesn’t help make Washington more affordable. It makes Washington more expensive.”

According to House and Senate Republicans, the so-called $16 million-dollar budget shortfall is not accurate, it's actually well below $3-4 billion. The enlarged deficit is from Democrat-proposed programs that require tax raises to fund them. It's not truly reflective of the money needed to maintain existing programs as they are.

Meanwhile, Microsoft President Brad Smith issued warnings toward the state, saying government has taken the tech sector growth and health for granted. Speaking at the Technology Alliance State of Technology on Tuesday, he made some of his most pointed comments about where state government is headed:

“For the last 12 years, we have not had economic development on the agenda in Olympia. It has disappeared. We better wake up."

Whether he was urging his fellow tech and digital business associates to 'wake up' and consider potentially moving business away from the state is not known. But the pressure from the tech sector has grown significantly in the last year, in light of runaway government spending.