Richard S. Davis

Washington ranks No. 33 in Chief Executive magazine's 2014 "Best & Worst States for Business" report

The springtime business climate reports are beginning to appear. Chief Executive magazine is out with its annual “best and worst states for business” rankings. Washington comes in at No. 33 (No. 1 is best and goes to Texas). The Evergreen State moved up three places from last year’s No. 36, but is still well entrenched […]

Filing week begins: Quiz candidates on education funding, transportation, and the skills gap

This is the filing week, when candidates declare their intent to run in the 2014 elections. This year’s ballot includes all 10 U.S. House seats, including the open seat in the 4th District in Eastern Washington where Doc Hastings is retiring, the secretary of state’s office said. Also on the ballot are all 98 members of […]

More details on Seattle's proposed $15 minimum wage

The Puget Sound Business Journal has a good overview. As the PSBJ reports, it’s complicated. Under the mayor’s proposal, which the City Council has to approve, businesses with fewer than 500 employees would have up to seven years to reach $15 an hour. But counting what is called “temporary compensation responsibility,” these small businesses would […]

Gov. Inslee names "Carbon Emissions Reduction Task Force"

Inslee’s Executive Order 14-04 attempts to jumpstart action on his climate change initiatives. But it’s not clear that the EO has any teeth. Nonetheless, it’s a clear statement of where the governor wants to take the state. The Governor’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Taskforce is hereby created to provide recommendations on the design and implementation of […]

Legislative response to state Supreme Court's McCleary mandate to fund basic education: "We tried. Wait until next year."

The Legislature met its deadline to report to the state Supreme Court on progress toward meeting the McCleary funding requirements. (Background here.) The 58-page report did not lay out a specific, year-to-year funding plan, but did describe the progress lawmakers have already made, primarily in the 2013 legislative session. The committee charged with reporting to the […]

Seattle mayor announces $15 minimum wage agreement endorsed by most members of his income inequality advisory committee

Mayor Ed Murray just concluded a press conference in which he announced that his appointed committee has reached agreement on a phased-in $15 minimum wage. Here’s the schedule:          

Minimum wage, maximum hassle. Uncompromising activists threaten to take $15 to November ballot.

My column today’s looks at the ongoing wrangling in Seattle City Hall over how to get to a $15 minimum wage. What Seattle does matters statewide. So far, no one has devised a containment strategy to prevent Seattle politics from spreading. It’s not Vegas. What happens in Seattle doesn’t stay in Seattle. …Here’s what’s clear: […]

No recommendation from Seattle mayor on how to get to $15 minimum wage. Yet.

Yesterday’s press conference (video) had Seattle Mayor Ed Murray explaining why he was not announcing his proposal for a $15 minimum wage. Here’s how Publicola characterized it. At a press briefing this afternoon—the official press release read, “Mayor Murray to announce his proposal for raising the minimum wage in Seattle”—Mayor Ed Murray did not announce […]

Teachers' union objects to tying test scores to teacher evaluation; Washington becomes first state to lose education waiver

As expected, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a letter to Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn today declined to renew the state’s education waiver.   Dorn pulls no punches in his press release. “Washington state has been doing great work under our waiver agreement,” Dorn said. “We have developed our own system that more […]

Mobility math: 12 Percent of Americans can count on being in the 1 Percent

Static formulations aside, there’s some good news about social and economic mobility. An article in the New York Times by social welfare professor Mark Rank lays it out: The picture drawn of the 1 percent has been that of a static population, just as the 99 percent is often portrayed as unchanging.  But, he writes: […]