Emily Makings

GASB Proposals for Public Pension Accounting and Reporting

Earlier this summer, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) released proposed new standards for state pension accounting and financial reporting.  One of the reasons GASB has proposed these changes is the “increasing need among the users of governmental financial reports for comparable information about pensions.”  The WRC looked at public pensions in a policy brief […]

City and County Classifications in the News

If you liked our policy brief on local initiatives and referenda, you may be interested in a few stories today from around the state regarding city and county classifications.  A locality’s classification is the starting point in determining whether its residents have initiative and referendum powers. First, in a blog post in the Kitsap Caucus, […]

WA has Highest Workers' Comp Benefits per Covered Worker

Last week the National Academy of Social Insurance released its report on workers’ compensation for the year 2009.  Based on the state-specific data in the report, 2009 benefits paid per covered worker in Washington were the highest in the nation at $857.32.  The state with the second highest benefits per covered worker was West Virginia […]

New Brief: Initiatives and Referenda at the Local Level

Today we published a new brief on the local initiative and referendum process in Washington.  Washington has 281 cities and 39 counties.  Depending on the type of city or county, residents may or may not have the powers of initiative and referendum locally–in 59 cities and six counties, they do.

Workers' Compensation Reforms in Other States

Apparently Washington wasn’t the only state to make significant changes to its workers’ compensation system this year.  An article in Stateline today discusses cost-cutting measures that were enacted in several states.  The article also includes a handy sidebar with the key changes made in Montana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas, and North Carolina. Like Washington, Montana […]

Budget Gimmicks

Stateline has a handy article today on common budget gimmicks used by the states, with copious examples.  Not surprisingly, many of these will be familiar to Washington budget-watchers: Putting off payments Accelerating revenue Using temporary money for recurring expenses Counting on savings that aren't likely to materialize Counting on revenue that isn't likely to materialize […]

Policy Brief: New Reforms to Workers' Compensation

Our wrap-up of the changes made this legislative session to the workers’ compensation system is now posted.  It follows several other reports on the subject and the need for reform: Employment Cost Drivers in Washington State, The Time Has Come to Fix Workers’ Compensation, and Mainstreaming Workers’ Compensation. In these reports, we have consistently called […]

State Agency Reorganizations

Stateline has an article today about various efforts to reorganize state agencies, looking specifically at Kansas, Michigan, and Washington.   The section on Washington addresses the consolidation of certain back-office functions that passed as part of the budget this year: The proposal is expected to save the state $18 million and eliminate 95 full-time employees. Stan […]

Strassel on the Budget

The state legislature has finished work on the 2011-13 budget, but the federal government is still in budget mode.  In her column this week, Kimberley Strassel (our annual dinner speaker this year) asks who is winning the budget war:  By refusing to blink, Republicans keep forcing Democrats to acknowledge a very simple political reality: Voters […]

The 2011-13 Budget Deal

The 2011-13 budget deal announced today includes NGFS+ expenditures of $32.203 billion.  That's $237.1 million less than in the House-passed budget, and $77.0 million more than the Senate-passed budget. According to the budget documents, the proposal includes $4.1 billion in spending reductions, $459 million in transfers to the general fund, $57 million in budget driven […]