But now it's a conversation in our state, too.

Yeah, absolutely.

And as you mentioned, Austin, small business owners are in the same boat as homeowners are, any residential tenant.

We're at the end of the line.

We aren't usually big enough to be able to negotiate deals with utility providers.

So we get stuck at the retail end of things.

And like every homeowner, I think most residents in Washington can attest, We've seen huge increases in energy and electricity costs.

But what would you say the NFIB membership's relationship, your relationship with the administration and with the legislature looks like these days around these topics?

So how long do you think before we have a full understanding of what these taxes will do to some of these small businesses?

I think that we will start to see some effects six to 12 months out.

In fact, it's interesting you mentioned that.

There was a report that came out from Intuit QuickBooks at the end of 2024 that pointed out that small businesses in Washington state are hemorrhaging jobs already.

We lost nearly 4,000 jobs at small businesses in, I believe it was 2023.

And in the three-year period prior to that, we lost more than 14,000 jobs at small businesses.

So Main Street is still trying desperately to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, inavailability of sufficient workforce, and adding a nine and a half billion dollar tax burden on top of an already difficult situation is just going to make it worse and you're right there will be small businesses that will pull up stakes and move elsewhere or simply close the doors and stop offering those products and services and jobs in their communities

are you seeing business flight to other states that are deemed more business friendly