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Initial estimate that Washington gained 24,100 jobs in January is likely to be revised downward

The state Employment Security Department today released the monthly employment report for January. The preliminary estimate is that seasonally adjusted employment in the state increased by 24,100 from December 2012 to January 2013. This number is likely to be revised downward in future reports, however, as the ESD press release indicates: It has been more […]

With supermajority for taxes out, what's next?

I take a stab at answering that in my column today. The crux: After 20 years, voters understand how the supermajority requirement works. If they want it in the constitution, they first must elect a Legislature that will place it on the ballot. They should begin by making it an issue in the 2014 campaign. […]

Taxing Tech: Seattle Times op-ed emphasizes benefits of tax incentives

Legislators wanting to exercise their new taxing authority by boosting tech taxes should first read an important commentary in today’s Seattle Times by Susan Sigl and Bryan Mistele. Sigl, head of the Washington Technology Industry Association, and Mistele, founder and CEO of INRIX, remind policymakers of the economic importance of the industry to the state […]

Public pensions and investment returns

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee held a hearing on HB 1899, which would allow first class cities to enter into agreements with the State Investment Board (SIB) allowing the SIB to “assume the duties of investing the retirement funds of the first class cities’ retirement systems.” The only first class cities with their own […]

Sequester showdown stymies state budget writers, weakens recovery

It looks like the sun will rise Friday morning (that’s good, but not surprising, news) without Congressional action to avoid the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration(that’s bad news, but probably not as bad as the worst case scenarios we’ve heard). The axe doesn’t fall decisively March 1 and the various scheduled reductions have a […]

Seattle life sciences cluster ranks tenth in the nation

Seattle Times business columnist Jon Talton reports on the continued strength of Seattle’s bio sciences cluster this morning. Well, I put that a bit more strongly than he did. Seattle was fortunate to have an established cluster, which was ranked No.  5 nationally in an influential 2004 report by the Milken Institute. How are we doing now? […]

Association health plans are a solution, not a problem

A half million Washingtonians currently get high quality, affordable health insurance through association health plans. As AWB president Don Brunell points out in the Columbian, Washington’s plans grew out of the health care reform debates in the early 1990s. Today, these plans allow small businesses to offer comprehensive insurance to their employees. Yet, despite their […]

Business costs, regulation and economic growth

Joel Kotkin has an excellent op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal reviewing the nation’s “four growth corridors.” Sadly, unsurprisingly, the Pacific Northwest is not among them. …trends point to a U.S. economic future dominated by four growth corridors that are generally less dense, more affordable, and markedly more conservative and pro-business: the Great Plains, the […]

State budget worry mounts as federal sequestration deadline approaches

Even arbitrary, manufactured  and gimmicky fiscal crises have consequences. So it is with the federal sequestration – $85 billion in spending cuts – scheduled to hit at the end of the week. As the New York Times reported over the weekend, The point of sequestration, in fact, was to define cuts that were so arbitrary […]

Lower Business Costs, Better Education & Transportation = More Jobs

Gov. Inslee’s jobs plan, released last week, again highlights the state’s enduring problem: Too many people looking for work and not finding it. In my column, I lead with this: Nearly 17 percent of the state’s workforce — one in six of us — is either unemployed or underemployed. So much for the recovery. Nationally, […]