Revitalizing the Economy
Seattle has long been a hub for new and innovative technologies that better the planet and humanity in general. Recently though, the city has economically stagnated, in part due to the Trump tariffs, and residents have struggled to keep their heads above water. Roughly 55% of Seattle residents live paycheck to paycheck. To alleviate this, the city has implemented bold progressive taxes to provide new social programs. This has prompted many companies to relocate to save themselves money. As a result, Seattle is facing a budget deficit of $250 million. To fix this, while preserving social programs and Seattle values, Cooper proposes the following:
Incentivize Business
Growth:
We must continue our economic growth in a way that is as prosperous as possible for the residents of Seattle. The best way to do this is to offer businesses opportunities other cities don’t. Seattle is already in an enviable location and one of the best cities in the world, but some companies see economic disadvantages to being here. To overcome this, and in tandem with Cooper’s other proposed policies, Seattle should offer companies the ability to contract with college departments for decreased rates, develop an energy surplus to provide more cost-efficient utilities, among other resources, and we should continue to make the city increasingly inclusive and welcoming for all people. The value proposition we offer must be better than whatever marginal tax increases companies may experience by moving here.
Improve
Wages:
Seattle’s minimum wage is $20.76 and yet a majority of residents are still struggling to make ends meet. While we must continue to raise the minimum wage from time to time, we need something more. The cost of living is increasing faster than the wages. Companies that choose to pay their employees more should get more in return. Controlling for factors including industry averages for different occupations, corporate profit rates, and company size, companies that pay their employees better wages should receive corporate tax credits and or other benefits. This would incentivize and increase the number of livable wage jobs in the city, lowering the burden on our social safety nets and our city’s treasury whilst encouraging growth in the companies that represent Seattle values.
Invest in Self-Sustainability:
Currently Seattle is reliant on a very volatile outside world. While we can’t and shouldn’t isolate from this, becoming more self-sustainable always presents benefits and options. Developing more city resources, such as our own energy generation, is an important step, but there are others we can take too. Seattle should work to manufacture and develop our own pharmaceuticals and food, at least in some capacity. With global uncertainty in international relations, we rely on imports for the vast majority of pharmaceuticals we take every day. In the same way, we rely on other parts of the country and often times other countries entirely for our food production. While this would be a process, it is one Seattle should start by incentivizing more jobs and businesses in these industries to come to Seattle – or even starting production ourselves with city resources and distributing them out from there.