Rep. Gloria Mendoza: Ferry contract award to Florida shipbuilder should serve as wake-up call about Washington’s struggling business economy
Few people in Eastern Washington pay attention to Washington State Ferries, simply because most of the ferries operate on the west side of the Cascades in Puget Sound. However, here’s a story that should grab your attention, no matter where you live in Washington.
For the first time in more than half a century, new ferries for Washington will be constructed outside of our state. Gov. Bob Ferguson has awarded a $714.5 million hybrid-electric ferry construction contract to a Florida-based shipbuilder. Even with a 13% in-state preference, a long-established Washington shipbuilding company was unable to offer a competitive bid, coming in $350 million higher than the winning bid.
This is not a reflection on the Whidbey Island company, which has built many of our ferry superstructures. It’s a reflection on the state Legislature itself and the policies put into place by majority Democrats in recent years that have created a bloated government bureaucracy, resulting in an anti-business climate in Washington state.
As Rep. Andrew Barkis, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, aptly noted: “It’s an indictment of the crushing taxes, regulations, wage mandates, and costly compliance burdens our state has layered onto local employers.”
Why should we care about a ferry contract in Western Washington? It’s not about the ferries. It’s about the policies from Olympia that have made it expensive to do business in Washington and created a chokehold against our employers.
In 2017, CNBC listed the Evergreen State as No. 1 among states to do business. No longer. CNBC now ranks Washington 39th in cost of living, down to 41st in business-friendliness, and 48th overall in cost of doing business.
The 2025 legislative session was terrible for businesses and families. Majority Democrats enacted the largest tax increases in state history, including significant property tax increases and punitive increases in B&O taxes, which will be passed directly to consumers through higher prices and job losses. They also expanded sales taxes to critical services, implemented steep increases in the death tax, and increased the capital gains tax. I voted against these tax increases, including the six-cent-per-gallon hike in the state’s gas tax, because I knew they would be devastating to our families.
These tax increases translate into higher rents, more expensive groceries, and tighter family budgets. They also make it more costly to do business and create an anti-competitive business climate. An Association of Washington Business survey indicates that as many as 12% of Washington employers are considering relocating, primarily due to high taxes. A new report from the Office of Financial Management also indicates that Washington’s population growth is slowing, as people move to states with lower taxes and lower costs.
Combined with the highest minimum wage in the nation and a constantly evolving regulatory landscape, it should be no surprise that a Washington company couldn’t compete with a Florida bid for the new ferries. But it is very disappointing. That’s hundreds of Washington union jobs and millions of dollars lost to another state’s economy.
These indicators should serve as a wake-up call to lawmakers in Olympia. Our state is sinking under government-imposed burdens and tax increases. If we don’t reverse course, it won’t be contracts leaving Washington; it will be people as well. It will be workers, businesses, jobs, and families.
Quite frankly, we need to fix Washington.
My House Republican colleagues and I are committed to restoring affordability by offering better and less burdensome policy solutions. That includes budget reforms, tax reductions, and regulatory changes that foster rather than smother business in our state. It means empowering families and small businesses, not government bureaucracies, and recognizing that it is time to make substantive changes that welcome employers and the jobs they provide, rather than sending them to other states.
I invite you to join me. Together, we can create a better Washington to live, work, and raise our families.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Rep. Gloria Mendoza, R-Grandview, is a member of the House Transportation Committee and serves the 14th Legislative District.
