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 13 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
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 […]
August 07 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Gauging the size of the next budget shortfall
Yesterday OFM released its outlook for the state budget through FY 2017. (Here’s a link to today’s slightly revised version, a tweak to footnote h). Kriss presented a biennial look at the outlook yesterday. There’s been some news coverage. I’m quoted in Washington State Wire. Richard Davis, president of the Washington Research Council, said the […]
August 07 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Primary day thoughts on electing too many statewide office holders…
In my column this morning, I write that, by electing nine statewide executives, our state weakens the office of governor and dilutes accountability. Only a handful of states elect nine or more executives. Diluting executive authority, however, frustrates accountability. Moreover, it allows special interests an inordinate influence on offices that matter mightily to them, but […]
July 25 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Medicaid expansion will add to state budget stress
In my column this morning I look at the costs of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Earlier, Emily and I have reported on the findings of the State Budget Crisis Task Force (here and here). Medicaid costs are one of the six major budget threats identified by the group and the one most […]
July 23 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
WA business taxes are 5.5 percent of private GSP; 14th highest in nation
The Council on State Taxation today released its new report on state and local business taxes. We watch for the annual updates of this comprehensive report, conducted for COST by Ernst and Young. While there’s a lot of good information in the report, we turn to Table 4, which reports state and local business taxes […]
July 19 , 2012 - Emily Makings
More from the State Budget Crisis Task Force Report
On Tuesday, Dick linked to the State Budget Crisis Task Force report. As he noted, the report shows how states face structural budget problems that were only exacerbated by the recession. The report’s “major threats to fiscal sustainability” include Medicaid, underfunded pension promises, and state budget practices — topics that we’ve written about often. Although […]
July 18 , 2012 - Emily Makings
Govistics on Taxes in Gold Bar
Our friends at the Center for Governmental Research in New York have a very handy product that helps users find and compare public finance data for U.S. states, counties, towns, school districts, etc: Govistics. In a blog post today, they link to a story about Gold Bar's decision to ask voters to agree to a […]
July 17 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Good news: more online education coming to UW
Today’s Seattle Times report that the University of Washington has signed on with Coursera to offer online education represents good news and a welcome extension of a model designed to expand access to higher education. Coursera is “a huge experiment that is transforming the face of higher education,” said Daphne Koller, a Stanford University computer-science […]
July 16 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Governors, economists tally the costs of Medicaid expansion under ACA
The New York Times reports today that the nation’s governors, meeting in Williamsburg, VA, are taking a cautious approach to the Medicaid expansion baked into the Affordable Care Act, but rendered voluntary by the U.S. Supreme Court. The initial reaction to the court’s ruling split along party lines. More than half a dozen Republican governors […]