Richard S. Davis

Sequester showdown stymies state budget writers, weakens recovery

It looks like the sun will rise Friday morning (that’s good, but not surprising, news) without Congressional action to avoid the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration(that’s bad news, but probably not as bad as the worst case scenarios we’ve heard). The axe doesn’t fall decisively March 1 and the various scheduled reductions have a […]

Seattle life sciences cluster ranks tenth in the nation

Seattle Times business columnist Jon Talton reports on the continued strength of Seattle’s bio sciences cluster this morning. Well, I put that a bit more strongly than he did. Seattle was fortunate to have an established cluster, which was ranked No.  5 nationally in an influential 2004 report by the Milken Institute. How are we doing now? […]

Business costs, regulation and economic growth

Joel Kotkin has an excellent op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal reviewing the nation’s “four growth corridors.” Sadly, unsurprisingly, the Pacific Northwest is not among them. …trends point to a U.S. economic future dominated by four growth corridors that are generally less dense, more affordable, and markedly more conservative and pro-business: the Great Plains, the […]

Association health plans are a solution, not a problem

A half million Washingtonians currently get high quality, affordable health insurance through association health plans. As AWB president Don Brunell points out in the Columbian, Washington’s plans grew out of the health care reform debates in the early 1990s. Today, these plans allow small businesses to offer comprehensive insurance to their employees. Yet, despite their […]

New poll shows teachers and voters agree on need for performance data and better education outcomes

A new poll commissioned by Excellent Schools Now, an education reform coalition, shows strong support by voters and teachers for better performance data, as well as agreement that the U.S. education system is not producing college- and career-ready students. Key poll results are here.   The group polled 500 voters and 500 teachers in late […]

Should state pension reforms include shift to 401k-type plans?

Sen. Rodney Tom has introduced a bill that would shift new hires and younger workers to a defined contribution pension system, similar to the 401k plans common in the private sector. Here’s how the bill report summarizes it: The Washington Public Employees Savings Plan (PESP) is created as a new defined-contribution plan to replace PERS, […]

State budget worry mounts as federal sequestration deadline approaches

Even arbitrary, manufactured  and gimmicky fiscal crises have consequences. So it is with the federal sequestration – $85 billion in spending cuts – scheduled to hit at the end of the week. As the New York Times reported over the weekend, The point of sequestration, in fact, was to define cuts that were so arbitrary […]

Lower Business Costs, Better Education & Transportation = More Jobs

Gov. Inslee’s jobs plan, released last week, again highlights the state’s enduring problem: Too many people looking for work and not finding it. In my column, I lead with this: Nearly 17 percent of the state’s workforce — one in six of us — is either unemployed or underemployed. So much for the recovery. Nationally, […]

Washington imposes 2nd heaviest cell phone tax

The combined state-local tax on cell phone users in Washington is 18.62 percent. According to a new Tax Foundation study, that’s the second highest rate in the nation. Only Nebraska, at 18.67 percent, is higher. The weighted state-local across the country is 11.36 percent. The feds tack on another 5.82 percent. The Tax Foundation notes, […]

A capital gains tax for Washington? Probably not, but they're discussing it again.

Senate Democratic Leader Ed Murray has proposed a new capital gains tax. Murray is proposing a 5 percent tax on capital gains to start in 2015, which he said would raise between roughly $600 and $700 million per year to help fund basic education and higher education. He proposed something similar last year. Under Murray’s […]