Two Bills Stalled In Committee Would Boost Nascent Space Industry

The Washington State legislature seems to be willing to let two bills that would boost the state's nascent space industry die in committee.

GeekWire reports that there were two bills filed this year in the state house of representatives. One would have created a space exploration center, and the other would have provided tax incentives to spacecraft manufacturers. The former is stuck in the House Appropriations Committee, and the latter died in the House Finance Committee.

The tax bill, HB2226, could have been helpful to Amazon.com and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, who is developing the BE-4 engine at a facility in Kent, WA. Blue Origin general counsel Robert Millman told GeekWire that the fate of the bill would be a "crucial" factor in the decision about where to actually build the rocket, which is intended replace the Russian RD-180 currently used by United Launch Alliance. The Kent facility would rapidly run out of capacity given the expected aggressive production schedule, said Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson, and the company will be deciding in the next year or two where it will build a new engine manufacturing plant. Millman said sites in several states are under consideration.

But the state is also under pressure to reduce spending, and Rep. Jeff Morris (D) told GeekWire that if the tax incentives were to be extended to all companies involved in the space industry, it would have an $11 million impact on the state's budget. “It would just be another $11 million they would have to cut,” Morris said. He said that the state is having "such a tough time with the budget" that bills like HB2226 were likely to fall by the wayside this year.

Morris said that he has not given up completely on either the tax incentives or the space exploration center. "I'm going to come back and hit this hard next session," he said.

(Image provided by Blue Origin)

FMI: http://leg.wa.gov