Emily Makings

Two opposing views on Washington’s long-term care program

The Forefront blog of Health Affairs has published two counter-takes on WA Cares, Washington’s delayed long-term care program. One considers WA Cares a failure, and the other (while acknowledging some problems) considers WA Cares a model. I wanted to add some context for both. (Technically, WA Cares is the long-term services and supports trust [LTSST] […]

Based on actual long-term care program opt-out data, the payroll tax rate will need to rise by an estimated 0.036%–0.061% to maintain solvency

As we noted in our 2021 report on the state’s long-term care program, it looks like the 0.58% payroll tax rate for the program will not be high enough to maintain actuarial solvency. By statute, the premium rate for the long-terms services and supports trust (LTSST) program (also known as WA Cares) cannot exceed 0.58%. […]

Medicaid savings and Washington’s long-term care program

Since our report last year on Washington’s now-delayed long-term care program, the Office of the State Actuary has published new information on Medicaid savings and private opt-outs. (I’ll write about the opt-outs in another post). The long-term care program is technically called the long-term services and supports trust (LTSST) program, but it is commonly known […]

Happy Fiscal New Year!

Today is the first day of state fiscal year 2023, which is the second year of the 2021–23 biennium. Earlier this calendar year, the Legislature enacted a historically large 2022 supplemental operating budget. With the supplemental, appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) are 24.3% higher in 2021–23 than in 2019–21. Legislators had a […]

Court of Appeals: Seattle’s payroll expense tax is “a valid exercise of the City’s taxing authority”

Today the Court of Appeals upheld Seattle’s payroll expense tax. According to the opinion, the tax “applies to the privilege of engaging in business, not an employee’s right to earn a living by working for wages.” Thus, “it is a valid exercise of the City’s taxing authority.” Seattle collected $248.1 million from the payroll expense […]

Seattle’s operating deficit is the result of unsustainable budgeting, not a “revenue shortfall”

A story in the Seattle Times about Seattle’s projected operating deficits states, “the city must find a sustained new revenue source.” (The headline: ‘“No obvious way out’: Seattle facing $117 million revenue shortfall in 2023.”) Although it’s true that the city is projecting general fund operating deficits over the next several years, it is not […]

Average annual wage in Washington grew 7.5% in 2021

The state average annual wage was $82,508 in 2021—7.5% higher than 2020’s average wage. In 2020, the average wage had increased by 10.1%, which is the largest increase ever. The increase in 2021 is the second largest, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD). (ESD emailed this information out this morning but the news release […]

Caseload forecast shows that utilization of some state services will increase, but there’s still no K–12 enrollment bounce-back

The Caseload Forecast Council (CFC) presented the June caseload forecast today. (The charts in this post are from the forecast.) The new forecast for common schools enrollment is essentially the same as the February forecast, with two additional years. Notably, school enrollment is still not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels. SY 2021–22 appears to […]

Enrollment declines in Washington’s colleges and universities this year are the fourth largest in the country

Postsecondary enrollment in Washington dropped by 7.2% in spring 2022, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Nationally, enrollment dropped by 4.1%. Washington’s decline since spring 2021 is the nation’s fourth largest. Washington’s biggest enrollment declines occurred in public two-year colleges, where enrollment dropped by 11.8% from 2021 to 2022. (See […]

New data on how Washington’s governments are using federal relief funds

Last month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the first quarterly report on the use of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) through Dec. 2021. Only entities that received more than $10 million or have population over 250,000 are required to report quarterly. (In Washington, that includes the state, 21 counties, and […]