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Job loss from minimum wage hikes often less than expected, NCPA explains why. Increase is offset by reducing other compensation.

The National Center for Policy Analysis takes on one of the challenges posed by supporters of an increased minimum wage. Specifically, they answer the question of why job losses often come in lower than opponents predict. It’s a short, compelling research post. The gist: Both proponents and opponents of minimum-wage hikes do not realize that […]

Teachers' union promotes class size initiative for fall ballot

The Washington Education Association formally endorsed Initiative 1351, another unfunded mandate to reduce class sizes. The union describes it this way. The initiative reduces class sizes for all grades. For example, I-1351 would fund class sizes of 17 students per class in K-3, and 15 per class in high-poverty schools. The initiative would also will […]

NYT looks at Seattle minimum wage, plus some inconvenient facts on possible impacts

The New York Times uses Seattle’s $15 minimum wage initiative (small “I” so far) to highlight efforts across the country to combat income inequality by raising the wage floor. The story by Annie Lowrey leads by citing the travails of a low-wage worker whose hours have been cut back. By now, we’re accustomed to such tales […]

Kim Strassel will speak at our 82nd annual dinner

We are pleased to announce that Wall Street Journal columnist Kim Strassel will be our speaker at our annual dinner on May 29. In her column today, she writes about legal reform, “a big—if overlooked—issue in this year’s midterm.” Mr. Braley knew exactly what he was doing by bringing up Mr. Grassley; he was conjuring […]

Amid a flurry of minimum wage actions across the country, Seattle's proposed $15 floor stands alone

The New York Times reports on the presidential push for a higher federal minimum wage. While this Congress is unlikely to approve it, the White House claims credit for the emergence of state and local actions to raise the minimum. In the last 14 months, since Mr. Obama first called for the wage increase in […]

Tax incentives for research and development are important to state economy

In my column today I address the state legislature’s failure to extend R&D tax incentives that have been in place since 1994. It’s a topic we’ve written on before, including this policy brief. Similar incentive programs are standard in most states, particularly those with a strong tech sector. I imagine their reinstatement will be a […]

Two good columns on education and trades

Don Brunell writes in The Columbian about underemployed and unemployed college graduates and the shortage of skilled workers in the trades. I recommend the piece. It addresses an important issue, one deserving more attention as we consider how to assure a better match between education, career opportunities and the demands of the workplace. Nationally, an […]

Washington ranks #27 in new Tax Foundation study of state/local tax burdens

The full study is here.

Seattle Times business columnist faults Legislature for failing to renew R&D incentives

Jon Talton, business columnist for the Seattle Times, skipped subtlety and got right to the point in writing about the effects of some Legislative inaction in the recently completed session. Noting that it’s not correct to say lawmakers did nothing, he writes, In fact, legislators delivered a sledgehammer to state competitiveness by killing the nearly […]

NW Clean Air Agency finds no emissions problems from coal transport

The Northwest Clean Air Agency monitored air quality near a Bellingham rail crossing for twenty months – months during which coal was safely transported by rail through the crossing – and found, well, no problems. The Bellingham Herald reports: During the 20 months when the monitor was on the job sampling particulate pollution, it registered air […]