New brief: Taxing Captive Insurance
Captive insurers are insurance companies that are controlled by the company, group, public entity, or individual they insure. They can provide a less costly way to manage risk. Current law in Washington does not recognize captive insurers as a distinct form of self-insurance that is different from commercial insurance. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner […]
January 14 , 2021 - WRC
New brief: Unemployment Insurance Taxes Will Be a Headwind for the State Economy
Unemployment insurance tax rates are adjusted annually and will be much higher this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of unemployment insurance tax paid by Washington businesses is expected to increase dramatically, from $1.12 billion in 2020 to $2.11 billion in 2021 and then to $2.99 billion in 2022. This rising UI tax […]
January 08 , 2021 - WRC
New brief: Washington’s Business Taxes Exceed National Average
In fiscal year 2019, Washington state’s tax code relied heavily on businesses, which paid almost half of state and local taxes. Washington businesses paid nearly a quarter more in state and local taxes per employee than the average of their counterparts in other states. On all measures, Washington ranked at or above the national average, […]
November 02 , 2020 - WRC
Update on the Washington State Convention Center Addition Project
In November 2016, we published a report on the proposal by the Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District to construct an additional building, which would roughly double the amount of space available to host conventions. The PFD broke ground on the new building in July 2018, and at this point the project is approximately […]
October 08 , 2020 - WRC
New brief: ESJR 8212: A Constitutional Amendment to Treat Long-Term Care Funds the Same as Other, Similar State Funds
ESJR 8212 would amend the state constitution to allow money in the new long-term care services and supports trust account to be invested in stocks. If approved by voters in November, this would put the new long-term care fund on the same investment footing as the state’s retirement funds, industrial insurance trust funds, and funds […]
October 05 , 2020 - WRC
New report: School Funding: Accounting for the Billions Spent in Response to McCleary
In response to the McCleary decision, and as part of the Legislature’s adopted school funding reforms, state spending on public schools increased $14.244 billion or 110.0 percent from 2009–11 to 2019–21. Over the same period, all other state spending increased by just 52.0 percent. In addition to increasing spending, the Legislature increased the state property […]
July 24 , 2020 - WRC
New brief: Delaying Budget Action Would Deepen the Pain
The Office of Program Research, in an unofficial budget outlook, estimates that the unrestricted ending balance of funds subject to the outlook will be negative $3.403 billion in 2019–21 and negative $8.465 billion in 2021–23. Despite these dire projections, Gov. Inslee says he has no plans to call the Legislature into a special session. Depending […]
July 01 , 2020 - WRC
New report: State Budgeting in the Great Recession, and Lessons for Today
The June revenue forecast reduced estimated state revenues by $4.540 billion (8.7 percent) in 2019–21 and by $4.342 billion (7.8 percent) in 2021–23. While the current recession seems to be deeper than the Great Recession, there is hope that its duration will be shorter. Still, there are lessons to be gleaned from how the state […]
May 26 , 2020 - WRC
New brief: How Much of the State Budget is “Protected”?
The Office of Financial Management estimates that about 70 percent of the 2019–21 budget is protected from cuts. If that is the case, then any budget cuts to offset the revenue effects of the COVID-19-related downturn would need to come out of the remaining 30 percent of the budget. However, these figures are essentially a […]
March 30 , 2020 - WRC
New brief: While Acknowledging the Increasingly Negative Economic Outlook, the Legislature Increases Appropriations by 20.5 Percent
Acknowledging the quickly worsening public health and economic circumstances in the last few weeks of session, the Legislature passed a 2020 supplemental operating budget that appropriates less than either of the earlier Senate-passed or House-passed proposals. Still, it increases appropriations from funds subject to the outlook plus the workforce education investment account (NGFO+WEIA) by $975.8 […]