Promoting tourism, statewide
In 2011, Washington’s state tourism office was closed, making Washington the only state without one. The Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA) was formed by industry to take up the slack. From a 2014 report to the Legislature: In the two years since the state closed the tourism office, the travel and tourism industry has managed to […]
May 07 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Can Washington's Exchange use federal grants going forward?
According to the Seattle Times, the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (HBE) may have more financial troubles than we already knew about: Financial challenges are threatening the survival of Washington’s Healthplanfinder insurance exchange. First, the marketplace is facing a state budget proposal that would provide roughly two-thirds of the money that exchange officials say they need. […]
May 05 , 2015 - Emily Makings
May 04 , 2015 - Emily Makings
New brief: College Affordability, Two Ways
In a new policy brief, we look at the College Affordability Program, which is the Senate’s plan to reduce tuition for 2015-17. Briefly: The Senate’s College Affordability Program would return tuition-setting authority to the Legislature. It would tie tuition to the state’s average wage, resulting in tuition reductions in the 2015–17 biennium. Reflecting the tuition […]
May 01 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Looking on the budget bright side . . .
In 2013, Oregon had reformed its public pension system, including by repealing certain cost-of-living adjustments. Yesterday the state Supreme Court ruled that that was unconstitutional. The Oregonian has a delightfully scathing editorial: Unfortunately, the majority party has spent much of the current legislative session on a counterproductive, far-left policy bender. . . . Thursday’s court […]
April 30 , 2015 - Emily Makings
When will budget negotiations end?
The special session of the Legislature started yesterday, and the papers had a lot to say about it. The Seattle Times’ editorial board exhorts the Legislature to “meet in the middle.” It notes that “Both budgets include a justified cost-of-living adjustment for teachers, but the House benefit package is excessive.” Also, “the Legislature should look […]
April 29 , 2015 - Emily Makings
April 28 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Sundry links: Trade, the budget, McCleary
Economist Gregory Mankiw has an excellent column in the New York Times: “Economists Actually Agree on This: The Wisdom of Free Trade.” Former state senator Rodney Tom has an op-ed in the Seattle Times about the state budget: “It was easy to make a case for fiscal responsibility when the state was in desperate financial […]
April 23 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Dueling op-eds on the budget proposals
The Seattle Times has op-eds from both the House and the Senate on their 2015-17 operating budget proposals. Reps. Ross Hunter and Reuven Carlyle and Sen. Andy Hill provide an overview of the differences between the chambers, as seen by the primary budget writers. (See here for a more inside-baseball take from Rep. Hunter.) Hunter […]
April 23 , 2015 - Emily Makings