Blog

New Brief: Initiative 1185: Reaffirming a Supermajority Requirement for Tax Increases

We have a new policy brief today on I-1185, which would again require a two-thirds legislative supermajority for tax increases. The requirement was last approved in 2010. Because it has been two years since then, the legislature could amend, repeal, or suspend the requirement — unless I-1185 is approved by voters. Our brief looks at […]

Washington's Minimum Wage Rising

The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) announced today that Washington's minimum wage will increase to $9.19 in 2013. For 2012, Washington's state minimum wage is the highest in the country at $9.04. (The cities of Santa Fe and San Francisco have higher municipal minimum wages.)The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25. In 2012, the […]

Regulatory reform – a long way to go

Emily wrote previously about the performance audit of state regulatory reform efforts. In my column today I take a closer look at the findings. Despite good intentions and serious efforts, the desired results have not materialized. The rising tide of regulation rolls in as state officials, like Canute, ineffectually order the sea to recede. We […]

Seattle ranks No. 40 on new economic index

According to the On Numbers Economic Index, Seattle ranks 40th in the nation, well behind top performers Oklahoma City, Autin and Omaha. The index is a product of American City Business Journals, which publishes regional business journals across the country, including the Puget Sound Buxiness Journal. The American economy is strongest in the heartland. Oklahoma […]

State Auditor on Regulatory Reform

The state auditor's office has been working on a performance audit of Washington's regulatory system. Last September, the auditor created an inventory of regulations in the state, by agency. Yesterday, the auditor released "Regulatory Reform: Communicating Regulatory Information and Streamlining Business Rules." The audit asks if "state government websites effectively provide regulatory information to businesses" […]

The NFL and Workers' Comp

Workers’ compensation is a hot topic for us, and so it is for the National Football League. In honor of football season, let’s turn it over to an article by Darren Rovell on ESPN.com today: National Football League teams are facing a significant threat to their finances because of a legal option available to nearly […]

Discovering interactive tax calculators at National Taxpayers Conference

Just finished hearing a great presentation by Nick Kasprak, programmer and analyst at the Tax Foundation. he was leadoff speaker at the NTC conference, held this year in Washington, D.C. He showed us a number of user-friendly and useful tools to help understand state and local tax policies: net migration, performance against state expenditure limits, […]

"Brainpower is spreading out:" More cities attracting the college educated

In the New Geography, Joel Kotkin reports that America’s college graduates are increasingly found outside the dominant metro areas. …The New York Times recently opined that “college graduates gravitate to places with many other college graduates and the atmosphere that creates.” Yet an analysis of Census data shared with Forbes by demographer Wendell Cox tells a different story. […]

WA and CA only states showing negative FY12 balance in NCSL budget update

While it’s not necessarily cause for alarm, the negative balances reported in the 2012 state budget update isn’t the happy news one hopes for in these things. As the National Conference of State Legislature’s notes: In Washington, FY 2012 marks the midpoint of the biennium; the shortfall will be eliminated over the remainder of the […]

August revenue collections report shows taxes track with forecast

Today’s revenue collections report, though possibly foreshadowing a softening, shows receipts continuing to track the June forecast. The press release has the yin and yang. It’s a good news/bad news thing. Major General Fund-State (GF-S) revenue collections were $45.0 million (3.8%) lower than the June forecast, but cumulative receipts for the last two months are […]