New Brief: House Ways & Means Chair's Proposed 2012 Supplemental
On Tuesday, Rep. Hunter released his proposed 2012 supplemental budget. Our brief on the proposal is available here.
February 22 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
Charts comparing Hunter and Gregoire supplemental budgets
I have prepared two pie charts that allow a comparison of Rep. Hunter’s supplemental budget proposal to the “Book 1” supplemental budget that Gov. Gregoire released in November. By the governor’s reckoning at that point in time, the state faced a shortfall of nearly $2 billion in the general fund–state budget for the remainder of […]
February 21 , 2012 - Emily Makings
The Alexander Striker
This afternoon, Rep. Alexander has proposed a striking amendment to PSHB 2127, the House Ways and Means Committee Chair’s proposed 2012 supplemental. (I discussed the chair’s proposal in a post earlier today.) Alexander’s striker defines the budget problem as being $1.593 billion (near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways, NGFS+). It is larger than the Chair’s […]
February 21 , 2012 - Emily Makings
House Chair's Proposed Supplemental
Today Rep. Hunter, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, released his proposed 2012 supplemental budget. The budget overview document describes the near general fund-state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) budget problem as being $1.472 billion (including reserves totalling $504 million). This problem statement takes into account significant maintenance level savings and a positive February […]
February 16 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
Revision to state revenue forecast adds $95.7 million for 2011-13 biennium
The headline number for today's revision to the state general fund revenue forecast is a gain of $95.7 million, taking expected revenues for the 2011-13 biennium to $30.284 billion. However, $50.6 million of the $95.7 gain is due to actions taken in the December 2011 special session of the legislature allowing unclaimed property seized by […]
February 13 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
State's monthly Economic and Revenue Update contains a bit of good news
The state Forecast Council’s monthly Economic and Revenue Update (available here), which was released this afternoon, contains a bit of good news on revenue collections over the last month. Here is the summary: The preliminary February forecast for the U.S. economy is similar to the November forecast, with continued concerns about downside risks. Washington’s economy […]
February 09 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Why it's a mistake to increase capital gains taxes
In an earlier column, I pointed out that several problems with proposals to tax capital gains in our state. With key legislators, including the Senate Ways and Means chair, still promoting the idea, I wanted to call attention to a recent blog post from the American Enterprise Institute. Some very effective debunking of prevalent myths. […]
February 01 , 2012 - Emily Makings
New Brief: The First 2012 Supplemental Budget
During this legislative session, legislators must close a significant 2011-13 budget shortfall. They started the work during the special session late last year. In a new policy brief today, we look at the 2012 supplemental that was enacted in December. It solved only part of the budget problem.
January 30 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Seattle Times, Microsoft executive urge action on higher education
Sunday’s Seattle Times carried a strong editorial page call to action. “Losing kids on the path to prosperity” charts a course from early learning through higher education. Editorial page editor Kate Riley explains the urgency. The state of Washington’s education system — and by system, we mean the ways we educate our citizens from birth […]
January 25 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Tax Foundation: WA has nation's 7th best business tax climate. There's more.
The Tax Foundation, a respected national tax policy research group, released its annual report ranking the business tax climate in the 50 states. As it has in the past, the group gives Washington generally high marks. This year, the state comes in No. 7, up one from last year’s 8th place ranking.   Here’s the […]