Richard S. Davis

More on state Supreme Court pension case and its budget implications

In my column Wednesday, I take a deeper look at the pension lawsuit before the state Supreme Court. Emily wrote about the hearings, which involve union challenges to the Legislature’s repeal of gain-sharing and the Uniform Cost of Living Adjustment. The implications are serious. If the court rules for the public employee groups contesting the legislation, the increased burden to taxpayers […]

Washington ranks 6th best in Tax Foundation's 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index

Once again, the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation gives Washington high marks for its business tax climate. The map below shows how the 50 states fare on the annual report. The full report is here. As we’ve written before, the Tax Foundation methodology favors states without an income tax. Here’s from our post on last year’s […]

WRC analysis on high costs of I-522 featured in media reports

Monday we released Initiative 522: Costly, Flawed and Ill-Conceived. Here is the executive summary, and here is the full report. Yesterday, KOMO reporter Keith Eldridge interviewed WRC economist Kriss Sjoblom. Watch the segment that aired last night here. “The cost of the initiative for a family of four would be upwards from $450 a year,” […]

Time to take another look at "property tax swap" to boost school spending?

In my column today, I suggest lawmakers take another look at the property tax swap proposed last year. A couple of issues prompted the suggestion. A report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities finding that most states have not returned to inflation-adjusted pre-recession per pupil spending. Comparatively, Washington looks pretty good. The legislature’s […]

Another good news state revenue forecast, with a warning

Today’s state revenue forecast beat expectations (at least my expecations). First the good news, from the press release: The September forecast for the 2013-15 biennium is $345 million higher than in June and the forecast for the 2015-17 biennium has been increased by $342 million. These forecast updates include $123 million in legislative and other […]

Scoping hearings for Millennium coal export terminal near Longview

Our recently completed four-part series on trade and transportation underscored the benefits of bulk commodity exports to our state. Among them: Continued export growth in bulk commodities will boost job creation and investment Expanded facilities for coal will benefit other key export sectors, including agriculture The expansion will spur additional private sector spending on rail […]

New Policy Brief: Expanded Commodity Exports Will Create Jobs, Increase Investment

We have just released the final report in our four-part “trade and transportation” series. The report summary: Growth in trade of all kinds—intermodal, break bulk, liquid bulk, dry bulk—in the coming decades will increase demands on the state’s privately owned and operated freight rail system. The addition of new bulk terminals for coal and other […]

SeaTac Prop. 1 and the union "crisis"

SeaTac voters will apparently decide the fate of Proposition 1 ($15 minimum wage for some workers plus a slew of HR regulations) in November. That’s the result of Friday’s ruling by the state Court of Appeals. The New York Times featured the initiative in a long look at dwindling union membership. “The crisis for labor […]

SeaTac Proposition 1 headed to federal court

From today’s Seattle Times: The battle over increasing SeaTac’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, the highest in the nation, is heading to federal court after claims by SeaTac Committee for Good Jobs that a city review board improperly eliminated 201 signatures from the petition. No idea when a decision will be made, so the […]

Washington gets high marks for quality of education finance reporting

The Cata Institute gives Washington a ‘B’ in its new “Cracking the Books” study. They’re not grading on the curve, because that B ranks Washington third among the 50 states, just behind New Mexico and South Dakota. Cato says inadequate financial reporting leads most members of the public to significantly underestimate the “true cost of […]