Blog

Governor's Reductions

Last week, Governor Gregoire released a list of programs that have been reduced or could be reduced to close the budget shortfall for FY2011.  In addition to across-the-board cuts, fund transfers, and payment delays, the Governor’s proposal would cut education, health, corrections, and other social services funding. As the Governor says in a letter to […]

One More Time: Revenue Forecast Reduced Again

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met yesterday and adopted revised forecasts of general fund revenues for the current (2009–11) and upcoming (2011–13) biennia. For 2009–11, the new forecast is $28,127 million, a decrease of $385 million from the September forecast. Of this decrease, $64 million is due to the passage of Initiative 1107, which […]

Economic and Revenue Update

The state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (EFRC) yesterday issued its monthly Economic and Revenue Update (available here). The November Update is the second since EFRC’s September revenue forecast, and, as was the case in October, collections have come in above forecast. Major General Fund-State (GF-S) revenues for the October 11, 2010 – November 10, […]

Lessons From Canada

"Canada's Budget Triumph," a recent paper from David Henderson (published by the Mercatus Center) is well worth the read.  It is particularly instructive as Washington implements immediate spending cuts and faces a $4.5 billion deficit for the 2011-13 biennium. Back in 1993-94, Canada's federal debt to GDP ratio was 67 percent (and they were spending […]

"It's Going to Be a Bumpy Ride"

On Friday, Washington State Wire ran a story on the volatility of the income tax on high earners that is proposed in Initiative 1098.  No matter what you think of the merits of an income tax per se, this particular proposal is untenable — especially given Washington’s current budget situation.  Erik Smith writes, High earner […]

Taxing the Rich

A Forbes.com article from yesterday looks at how the federal government and some states are considering increasing taxes on the wealthy.  It includes a discussion of Initiative 1098 in Washington. This and other articles on the initiative (see Dick Davis’ recent post for some examples) highlight some of the negative consequences I-1098 would have on […]

Dedicated Fund Transfers to the General Fund

Dick Davis has a piece in the Puget Sound Business Journal today on dedicated funds and the state budget. The first 4 paragraphs are available on the public portion of the PSBJ web site. (A subscription is required to read the whole thing.) Here is a table detailing transfers to and from the General Fund-State […]

June Revenue Forecast

In its quarterly meeting this morning, the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) approved revised forecasts of general fund revenue for the 2009-11 and 2011-13 biennia. Meeting documents are available here. The general fund forecast for the current biennium is now $29,282 million ($29.3 billion). This is an increase of $558 million from the […]

June Economic and Revenue Update

Last Friday, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (EFRC) posted its monthly progress report, the Economic and Revenue Update, for June. The update sets the stage for Thursday, when EFRC will issue its quarterly update to the state revenue forecast. The U.S. economy has performed largely as anticipated in the February forecast, The economic recovery […]

Times Editorial From Rasmussen's WRC Dinner Remarks: "Cynical Nation"

The Seattle Times draws on Scott Rasmussen's speech at the Research Council dinner for this excellent editorial. "People don't trust government projections," Rasmussen said. "Eighty-one percent believe that whatever the government says, it will cost more." Who is to say the people are wrong? If they believe this, they learned to believe it. The great […]