Blog

State Supreme Court hears public pension arguments

This morning the state Supreme Court heard arguments on the public pension gain sharing and uniform COLA cases. The Department of Retirement Services summarized the issues yesterday: At issue in one case is a law from 2008 which repealed gain sharing provisions for members and retirees of certain state retirement plans and replaced them with […]

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 […]

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 […]

State revenues exceeded forecast by $65 million during August 11 to September 10 collection period

The economic and revenue forecast council’s monthly Economic & Revenue Update brought more good news today. Here is the key bullet point regarding revenue from the summary: Major General Fund-State revenue collections for the August 11 – September 10, 2013 collection period were $65.0 million (6.0%) higher than the June forecast. For the three collection […]

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 […]

Education reforms from the 2013 legislative sessions

To be sure, the main education headline from the legislative sessions this year was that about $1 billion extra will be spent on K-12 education in 2013-15. A number of reform bills were also enacted, though, including: E2SSB 5329 establishes a process “to assign responsibility to the superintendent of public instruction to intervene in persistently […]

July 11 to August 10 state revenue collections beat forecast by $72.6 million

The economic and revenue forecast council’s monthly Economic & Revenue Update brought a bit of good news today. Here are the key bullet points regarding revenue from the summary: Major General Fund-State revenue collections for the July 11 – August 10, 2013 collection period were $72.6 million (6.2%) higher than the June forecast. The June […]

2013 action on transportation

In May, a 2013–15 transportation appropriations bill, ESSB 5024, was enacted. According to the House Office of Program Research, the budget includes “a continuation of budgetary activity but no significant new transportation projects.” Considering all fund sources, it is an $8.7 billion budget ($5.2 billion of which is for capital projects). Some of the projects […]

Ignoring McCleary, state budget balances over four years

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council has released its official budget outlook, based on the 2013-15 operating budget passed by the legislature last month. Total ending reserves (including the budget stabilization account) are expected to be $1.326 billion for 2015-17. So, the 2013-15 budget balances over four years. (For information on the state’s four year […]

New Brief: 2013-15 Operating Budget Mostly Avoids New Taxes, Prioritizes Education

In a new policy brief, we take a detailed look at the enacted 2013-15 state operating budget. Appropriations are about $2 billion higher than in 2011-13, as are total resources. The budget leaves $630 million in reserves.