Kraken CEO warns that Washington state business leaders are eyeing exits

Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Kraken NHL team and one of the key figures pushing to return the SuperSonics NBA franchise to Seattle, dished some economic words of warning for state lawmakers on Thursday.

Leiweke’s beef isn’t with the new income tax on millionaire earners that’s been in the spotlight. He said he’s on track to pay the tax and isn’t necessarily bothered by that. 

Troubling him is how majority Democrats in Olympia are managing the state’s finances and what he described as a souring mood among business leaders, who are questioning if Washington is where they want to be.

“In my time, I have not felt as much fear in the business community as I feel today,” Leiweke said.

“This isn’t about the millionaire tax. This is about an insatiable appetite of spending beyond your means,” Leiweke added. “I’ve been a lifelong Democrat. I’m telling the Democratic Party: ‘It is time to wake up.’ We can be a blue state that has a fiscal plan. Today, we’re a blue state without a fiscal plan.”

The remarks came during a panel discussion at the daylong Economic Future Solutions Summit, hosted by the Association of Washington Business Institute and the Washington Roundtable in Seattle. Joining Leiweke on the panel were Denise Moriguchi, president and CEO of Uwajimaya, and Kerri Schroeder, a managing director with JPMorgan Chase.

Leiweke flagged recent credit rating agency reports that said Washington’s financial outlook is trending negative, and he voiced concerns about Democrats’ decision this year to tap an overfunded pension plan to help shore up other parts of the state budget. 

“The average taxpayer is not getting their money’s worth,” Leiweke said.

He also said he’s “shocked” by how many businesspeople he knows who are looking to exit the state and pointed to Starbucks’ recent decision to expand in Nashville. “That was a company born here,” he said. “There’s other companies, right now as we speak, talking about it and probably meeting about relocating out of the state. We’ve got to reverse this trend.”