Washington spent a billion in tax breaks to help tech dominate. Was it worth it?

Three decades ago, a promising young industry was taking hold in Washington.

The technology sector was robust and growing fast. Microsoft had made the Pacific Northwest home, while newer companies flocked steadily to the region.

State lawmakers wanted to keep them coming. So in 1994, the Washington Legislature passed a pair of tax breaks specifically for tech, designed to stimulate the sector.

In a State of the State address that year, Gov. Mike Lowry said the breaks would “ensure this state continues to produce cutting-edge technologies and products” and “produce high-quality, family-wage jobs.”

But what began as a modest incentive meant to foster economic development in a nascent field became a billion-dollar windfall of questionable effectiveness. The tax breaks are now expired, but