Emily Makings

Senate-passed budget would spend $15 million more than originally proposed

On Friday, the Senate approved the budget proposed by the Ways and Means chair earlier last week, by a 30-18 vote. The final product is very close to the original proposal, which we detailed in a policy brief last week. As approved, near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) appropriations for 2013-15 would total $33.349 […]

New Brief: Increasing Education Spending in 2013-15: New Taxes or Re-Prioritization?

In a new policy brief, we compare Gov. Inslee’s “budget priorities for a working Washington” to the 2013-15 budget proposal from the Senate Ways and Means Committee chair.

Policy reductions in Senate chair's budget total $422.9 million

The Senate Ways and Means Committee chair’s 2013-15 budget proposal would increase near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways spending by $2.084 billion over 2011-13. Included in that increase are $422.9 million of policy reductions. I’ve added these policy changes to the table I posted last week:   The Senate chair’s version would make net policy […]

Taxing beer and marijuana

As part of its fiscal impact statement for I-502, the Office of Financial Management estimated that excise taxes and license fees on legalized marijuana would increase state revenues by $434.2 million in FY 2015, $447.2 million in FY 2016, and $460.6 million in FY 2017. Now, as reported by the Seattle Times, Washington’s new marijuana […]

Moving day

Today is our last day at our offices in Tukwila. Beginning Monday, we will be working from our new space in downtown Seattle: 520 Pike Street, Suite 1250. You'll still be able to access our work from all the usual places: Sign up to receive notices by email of publications and blog posts (see the […]

Policy increases total $623 million in Gov. Inslee's budget proposal

Governor Inslee’s 2013-15 budget proposal would increase near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) spending over the enacted 2011-13 budget (with 2012 supplemental) by $3.184 billion. I’ve gone through the budget details to get the policy versus maintenance changes split. Gov. Inslee’s proposal assumes NGFS+ maintenance increases totaling $2.561 billion, and it would make NGFS+ […]

New Brief: Legislative Congestion Shouldn't Stall Transportation Fix

Washington hasn’t increased the gas tax in eight years, but transportation system maintenance needs and demand for new projects have grown. As the 2012 Connecting Washington Task Force report explains, Fuel tax increases in 2003 and 2005 made it possible to issue bonds to pay for 421 transportation projects throughout the state. That means the […]

Repealing tax preferences is not a cure-all

Andrew Garber reports that Governor Inslee will propose “closing some tax loopholes” to fund education. (He has yet to announce which “loopholes” he’s talking about.) On TVW this morning, the governor said, I was very clear that the way we should move forward to fund our schools and improve our education is rather than from […]

May Washington's public pension system never be this interesting . . .

“Pensions are complicated, and when they are not causing huge problems, they are boring.” I’ve mentioned that Josh Barro line before, and I probably will again, because it’s pure truth. These days, pensions are certainly not boring, as the situation in Illinois illustrates spectacularly. Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the state with securities […]

More on why state pension reforms are coming

Alicia Munnell, the director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, nicely frames the public pension problem in a blog post today: Public plans around the world cannot sustain today’s level of benefits in the face of increased life expectancy, two financial crises in a decade, and low expected investment returns.  Expensive provisions […]