New Policy Brief: Great Recession and Not So Great Recovery–Job Losses and Gains by Sector
The Research Council has posted a new Policy Brief “Great Recession and Not So Great Recovery: Job Losses and Gains by Sector.” The brief can be downloaded here.
October 01 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
Camden, New Jersey Disbands Unionized Police Department
The front page of the Saturday New York Times had an interesting article on Camden, New Jersey’s plan to shut down its police force: The police acknowledge that they have all but ceded these streets to crime, with murders on track to break records this year. And now, in a desperate move to regain control, […]
September 11 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
August 11 to September 10 general fund-state revenue collections were $1.1 million less than anticipated
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council issued its monthly Economic and Revenue Update today. For the August 11 to September period, general fund-state collections were a scant $1.1 million less than anticipated in the most recent official forecast, which was issued in June. For the last three months combined, revenues exceeded the forecast by $20.1 […]
September 06 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
How school funding affects state average scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress
In this post I present some charts relating education outcomes to per-student funding for public schools at the state level. The outcome measures I use are statewide average scores on various tests taken by students as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP is a program of the U.S. Department of Education’s […]
August 23 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
New Policy Brief: COST Study on Business Tax Burden
We have posted a policy brief on the 2012 edition of Ernst & Young’s annual study of state and local business tax burdens, which is published by the Council on State Taxation (COST). In fiscal year 2011, businesses paid a total of $16.3 billion in state and local taxes in Washington, representing 5.5 percent of […]
August 06 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
OFM Budget Outlook for 2013-15 and 2015-17
The state Office of Financial Management (OFM) has prepared a new “Four-Year Outlook” projecting the paths of state revenue and spending out through the end of the 2015-17 biennium assuming that the policies embedded in the 2012 supplemental state budget are maintained. Under this assumption, OFM projects NGFS+ spending (i.e. spending from the general fund–state, […]
July 11 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
Monthly state revenue collections beat forecast by $66.5 million
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’s monthly Economic & Revenue Update is out today, and the results were quite good for a change. For the June 11 to July 10 month, general fund–state revenue collections were $66.5 million greater than the forecast, which was revised just 3 weeks ago. The economic outlook remains clouded, however, […]
June 22 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
State Tax Notes: Washington State Falls Short on Transparency
Our Policy Brief Five Keys to Evaluating a Tax System highlights transparency’s importance. A recent article by Cara Griffith in State Tax Notes (“Washington State Falls Short on Transparency,” June 18, 2012) calls out the Department of Revenue for a lack of transparency. By insisting on keeping the contents of its letter rulings and most […]
June 15 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
Adam Smith's four maxims regarding taxation
As a follow-up to the Policy Brief we posted yesterday (Five Key’s to Evaluating a Tax System), here is the full quotation of Adam Smith’s four maxims on taxation:
June 14 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
New Policy Brief: Five Keys to Evaluating a Tax System
We have posted a Policy Brief, Five Keys to Evaluating a Tax System, that explains the principles the Research Council uses when evaluating tax policies.