Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Kraken NHL team and one of the key figures pushing to return the SuperSonics NBA franchise to Seattle, dished up some economic words of warning for state lawmakers on July 16.

Leiweke’s beef isn’t with the new income tax on millionaire earners. He said he’s on track to pay the tax and isn’t necessarily bothered by that. Troubling him: how majority Democrats in Olympia are managing the state’s finances and a souring mood among business leaders 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,” he added during an Association of Washington Business event. “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.”

This story is republished from the Washington State Standard, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government and politics.