Mary Strow

I-5 congestion relief at JBLM

The News Tribune reported this weekend on the massive changes coming for Interstate 5 along the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) corridor, now that the Legislature and governor have approved the latest transportation revenue package. Lane-widening (at least eight lanes all directions and at a certain point 10 lanes) and new interchanges, among other improvements, are planned for this […]

777X plane project is cooking

On Wednesday night, State Route 526 was temporarily closed to traffic to transport a very special, very large oven to Boeing’s Composite Wing Center in Everett. The high-pressure oven, known as an autoclave, is there to “bake,” as the Seattle Times reports, the new 777X jet’s carbon fiber composite wings “to hardness.” The Boeing Company provides more […]

Where do transportation dollars go?

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is out with a comprehensive analysis of where transportation dollars come from, and where they’re spent. The official title is “County By County Comparison: Estimated Return Per Dollar Contributed by Citizens within Each County.” It looks at state and federal transportation funds from 2003 through 2014. Total contributions and expenditures in […]

InFocus: SeaTac minimum wage ruling, State employment report

Policy Today: State agencies need to work on regulatory reform

Improving education, strengthening the economy

Opportunity Washington recently pointed out fascinating research (summarized here) which indicates: “that national average student performance at age 15 on an internationally standardized mathematics test is predictive of that nation’s future economic growth.” It’s yet more proof that a good education is not only empowering and life-changing for individual students, but for entire nations as well. It raises […]

InFocus Podcast: State revenue collections up, Workers' comp costs still highest in nation

90 Seconds Podcast: The McCleary series

We're starting a series of 90 Seconds podcasts specifically on the McCleary ruling (in 2012 the state Supreme Court ruled that the State of Washington is unconstitutionally failing to fully fund K-12 basic education; that decision and all subsequent McCleary filings and rulings are here). Given the importance of McCleary, and the amount of time […]

Policy Today podcast: Analyzing the latest McCleary order

Last week the state Supreme Court ordered a $100,000-per-day penalty against the state for not producing a plan to reach full K-12 basic education by 2018. Lawmakers have made significant progress, but have a highly complex task ahead of them.

McCleary roundup

Big day yesterday with the state Supreme Court “impos[ing] a $100,000 per day penalty on the State” for not producing a plan to achieve, by 2018, full state funding of basic education (as laid out in Article IX, Section 1 of Washington’s constitution – the famous “paramount duty” provision). The court ordered the amount of the […]