Blog

Washington imposes 2nd heaviest cell phone tax

The combined state-local tax on cell phone users in Washington is 18.62 percent. According to a new Tax Foundation study, that’s the second highest rate in the nation. Only Nebraska, at 18.67 percent, is higher. The weighted state-local across the country is 11.36 percent. The feds tack on another 5.82 percent. The Tax Foundation notes, […]

WA union membership, 2012

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released 2012 data on unionization in the U.S. (Dick wrote about it here.) In 2012, the total union membership rate in the U.S. was 11.3 percent, the public-sector union membership rate was 35.9 percent, and the private-sector union membership rate was 6.6 percent. Washington’s total union membership rate […]

Lawsuits and education finance policy

An article in Education Week calls attention to education funding lawsuits that are pending in several states, complicating policymaking: As state budgets slowly recover from several years of economic contraction and stagnation, significant court battles continue to play a related yet distinct role in K-12 policy, even in states where the highest courts have already […]

Union membership continues to fall across the nation

The Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday reported another year of decline in union membership. In 2012, the union membership rate—the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of a union—was 11.3 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of wage and salary workers […]

Louisiana and Kansas consider scrapping income taxes to improve business climate

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback have both voiced support for pro-growth tax reform based on eliminating personal income taxes. From NRO: “Eliminating personal income taxes will put more money back into the pockets of Louisiana families,” Jindal said in a statement earlier this month, “and will change a complex tax code […]

"Big Sort" author Bill Bishop to speak at WRC's annual dinner June 4

Bill Bishop, author of the Big Sort, will be the featured speaker at the WRC annual meeting June 4. Bishop’s book, published in 2008, authoritatively documented America’s shifting demographics. Going far beyond the simplistic red state/blue state divide, journalist Bill Bishop (in collaboration with sociologist and statistician Robert Cushing) marshals original data and incisive reporting to show […]

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 […]

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: […]

Washington slips to 11th place in Forbes business climate rankings

Last week Forbes released its annual list of the best states for business. Washington fell out of the top 10, coming in at No. 11 for 2012. We’ve been sliding since ranking No. 2 in 2009. As we’ve written before, it’s a mistake to assign too much weight to any of these things. There’s always […]