EXCLUSIVE: In 2025, Starbucks sent a letter to Gov Bob Ferguson warning him that passing higher taxes would have "unintended long-term economic consequences that will disproportionately impact Washington-based businesses."
The coffee giant urged him to veto the bills because "imposing new taxes on certain elements of our staffing, IT, security, and advertising functions that are based out of our local headquarters would dramatically increase costs, putting us at a competitive disadvantage to companies based in other states."
The company warned that imposing a new B&O surcharge "will also make it more difficult for us to make vital investments in Washington."
Ferguson ignored the warning. Starbucks announced it was expanding to Nashville earlier this year, laying off employees in Washington and hiring 2,000 people in Tennessee
King County lost $2.19 billion in income as more than 68,000 tax filers moved away: report
The latest figures suggest King County may be exchanging higher-income taxpayers for lower-income newcomers
kvi.com/2026/06/01/kin…
Bob:
November 2028 is 29 months away.
In the meantime, I challenge you to a series of monthly debates, each focused on a single public policy topic relevant to Washington state.
One hour. Once a month, through November 2028. No notes. No staff. A different Washington-based journalist can moderate each debate. The journalist picks the single topic. No advanced notice to either of us.
Not just a one-and-run event. A steady, regular debate series about fixing what's broken in our state.
Let's give the people of Washington the chance to hear how two very different people approach issues that affect their lives.
Do you have the guts to accept?
I've warned for months that a @JetBlue-@SpiritAirlines merger would have led to fewer flights and higher fares.
@JusticeATR and @USDOT were right to stand up for consumers and fight against runaway airline consolidation.
This is a Biden win for flyers! apnews.com/article/jetblu…
We can’t let the alt left talking point “fuck them, leave” take hold in California like it has in Washington
After the billionaires leave, the bureaucrats turn their sights on the savings of the middle class
Congratulations to Washington Gov Bob Ferguson and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson on being named as Nashville's Realtors of the Year after successfully getting Starbucks to leave the Evergreen State
“This raises an obvious question: how much of Anthropic’s reluctance to make Mythos widely available is due to security concerns, as opposed to the more prosaic reality that Anthropic simply doesn’t have enough compute?” @stratechery@benthompson
@HarryStebbings lol what is the incremental value you create for each hour you burn out your team? are these guys just sourcing / building sourcing agents?
@LifeOfKaycee_@BritisherPaz49 Race wasnt relevant here, this was in Seattle. That guy was being a public menace and ruining the city's great public transit efforts.
A Seattle man who shot and killed an eight-month pregnant Korean-American woman and nearly killed her husband when they were driving to work has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Cordell Goosby m—rdered Elina Kwon and her unborn baby in June 2023 when they were
OpenAI is building a superapp bro. It can do everything. And Lovable can do general tasks now. It also does everything. Airtable pivoted. You can vibe code there now. I sent all my agents to my Mac Mini to fight to the death and I'll use the strongest one bro AGI is here
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Ribertarian - America First
Chair of @Montana_LP
Views are 100% my own
NO MORE WARS FOR ISRAEL
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89K Followers 2K FollowingThe Consumer Technology Association, producer of @CES, is where the people, policies and insights of innovation come together.
45K Followers 79 FollowingValue investor with some opinions.
Registered Independent.
I mock BOTH parties... especially YOURS.
My name is Mark B. Spiegel.
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