State needs lawmakers with private-sector experience

Who in their right mind would ever want to run for public office? With the state of the economy and the public scrutiny paid to a candidate, who would want to run?

But I would challenge each of us to consider running for public office, especially those with private-sector skills.

We live in a world economy where competition in the global marketplace is fierce. Washington state is uniquely positioned in the world market, given our geographic location. The success stories in our business community are many, from building world-class airplanes and inventing technology that is now part of our daily lives to making one darn good cup of coffee, creating fine wines or growing some of the freshest produce in the world.

We have an amazing private workforce that is the foundation of our state’s success. In fact, our business community is the pulse of our state’s health. Without it, we would not be the envy of the world and likely most of us would not call Washington state home.

However, looking inside the general community you see a melting pot of people, from all walks of life, personalities, experiences and political loyalties. But I bet that if you asked any of them to name something that influences their daily lives, they would likely say their job.

A job is a good thing, especially in today’s uncertain times. While jobs come from two other important sectors – nonprofit and the public or government sectors – both of those rely on a strong and vibrant private sector to make their sustainability possible.

We are fortunate to live in a democracy where people have the privilege of voting and selecting their leaders. While much of the media focus on the national political scene, I would encourage each of us to think more locally, to share our experiences and knowledge that we have gained in the private sector by running for public office.

This is a year for many opportunities to serve in local office – on school boards; on water, fire or hospital district governing bodies; on city or county councils. In 2010, elections will be held for state legislative positions.

While ours is only a part-time Legislature, most legislators view this job as full time, 365 days a year. These citizen legislators pour through thousands of bills each legislative session, expected to make good decisions for our state that will have short-term and long-term implications.

We assume that these legislators arrive in Olympia with skill sets and experience that will help guide them to ask the tough questions in their committee hearings so that they can make good decisions for the health of our economy and the state of the private sector. Some do, but many are shortsighted and simply lack the private-sector experience to help them recognize what fuels our economy: a healthy business community.

In fact, a survey by Enterprise Washington uncovered the fact that only 23 percent of legislators in our state have a business background. The vast majority come from the nonprofit or public sectors and have no idea what is needed for a healthy and flourishing private sector.

With our economic uncertainty, our state’s growing deficit and large companies like Boeing repeatedly asking for a more business-friendly climate, we need leaders from the private sector who are willing to put their experience where it counts.

Regardless of party affiliation (or lack of it), we have an opportunity to develop a strong coalition of citizen legislators who can offer their expertise in reading a balance sheet, writing a business plan and thinking strategically about the implications of legislation.

These days, too many in politics don’t have any idea how to energize the private sector with solid public policy strategies to help turn around our economy. And we stand at the brink of economic disaster if we lose Boeing, Weyerhaeuser and other major economic drivers from this state’s economic engine.

Erin McCallum is president of Enterprise Washington and its Business Institute, which help companies and employees better understand how elected officials establish public policy and to become more involved in the political process.