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Options for basic education spending

In a blog post yesterday, state Rep. Ross Hunter provides a good overview of the education funding problem in Washington. He notes the report of the Joint Task Force on Education Funding (JTFEF), which was released December 31, 2012. Created by House Bill 2824 last year, the task force was charged with “developing a proposal […]

The Effectiveness of Higher School Spending and Class Size Reductions

One of the main issues to be tackled this legislative session is education funding. Gov. Gregoire’s 2013-15 budget proposal calls for a “$1 billion down payment on the $3.4 billion in new K-12 spending the state has committed to over the next six years.” Additionally, the budget proposal would reduce K-2 class sizes in high […]

New Brief: Governor Gregoire's 2013-15 Budget Proposal

In December, Gov. Gregoire released her budget proposal for the upcoming biennium. We detail her proposed spending and revenue changes in a new policy brief. Overall, the proposal would increase spending by $2.8 billion over 2011-13. New and extended tax options in the plan total over $1 billion.

Talent shortage a bigger threat to software industry than the fiscal cliff?

Here in Microsoft’s backyard, we’ve heard this story for a while. Today Investors Business Daily leads with the tale of the tech talent shortage. The big challenge facing the U.S. software industry might not be the economy, looming fiscal cliff or growing competition. First things first — the companies are begging for qualified job candidates. […]

Gov. Gregoire proposes new taxes in final budget release

Gov. Chris Gregoire offered her final biennial budget proposal this morning. In addition to required “current revenues” proposal – one that doesn’t rely on new taxes – she presents a plan to make the billion-dollar downpayment on the increased public school funding required by the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. From the governor’s press release: […]

Thanks to Gov. Gregoire and Budget Staff

I've only just started going through Governor Gregoire's 2013-15 budget proposal, but I'd like to thank her and her budget staff for finally showing the balance sheet in terms of near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+). In the past, the governor's proposals have been in terms of the general fund-state, while legislative fiscal committee […]

The Costs of Medicaid Expansion for Washington

The Kaiser Family Foundation released “The Cost and Coverage Implications of the ACA Medicaid Expansion: National and State-by-State Analysis” in November. (Dick mentioned it in a post earlier this week.) Thanks to the June Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, states may choose not to implement the law’s Medicaid expansion. (There had been […]

Making tax incentives work for economic efficiency

My column this morning cites a recent New York Times series on tax incentives and their effects on state and local government revenues. The three part NYT report is here, here, and here. Without question, there have been some major boondoggles in the subsidy game routinely played as corporations and government officials attempt to land […]

November 11 – December 10 state revenues were $72.7 million more than expected

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released its monthly Economic and Revenue Update today. For the November 11–December 10 collection “month,” revenue was well above forecast. However, it is likely that much of the excess will be reversed next month. From the summary: Major General Fund-State revenue collections for the November 11 – December 10, […]

Coming to grips with the costs of the Affordable Care Act

Costly Calorie Counting. In his column today, AWB president Don Brunell lays out some of the lesser-known but not inconsequential costs associated with the ACA. For example, tucked away in the 2,000-plus pages of the legislation is a requirement that restaurants and “similar” food retailers display calorie counts on their menus. Sounds reasonable in this health-conscious […]