Minnesota shutdown ending with budget agreement
Minnesota’s two-week government shutdown appears to have been resolved. I wrote about it in this column, drawing a comparison with the federal debt ceiling and deficit showdown. The Republican legislature and Democratic governor travel down a well worn road to covering budget gaps. The deal raises the revenue Dayton sought — $1.4 billion — but […]
July 11 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
Disappointing July Revenue Collections Report
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (EFRC) issued its monthly Economic and Revenue Update today. Once again revenue has come in under forecast. For the month, General Fund–State collections were $22.1 million (1.7 percent) less than the amount anticipated under the forecast adopted in June. Of this $22.1 million, $4.1 million was an unanticipated refund. […]
July 08 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
A business perspective on recent legislative session
That’s what I try offer in this commentary in Crosscut. Here’s how I frame it. Legislative post mortems generally report that business interests had a good session. That’s a fair but incomplete conclusion. The progress made this year in Olympia will improve Washington’s economic competitiveness. However, much more remains to be done. Let’s look first […]
July 01 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
Washington wins some, falls some in competitiveness rankings
In my column in the Puget Sound Business Journal today (subscriber content), I comment on Washington’s favorable ranking in a new study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Washington ranks 10th on its measure of entrepreneurship and innovation, scoring well on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) job concentration and job growth. Other high marks […]
June 16 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
June revenue forecast: Down $183 million and not much cushion
Today’s official revenue forecast went according to the well-worn script. Bad news accumulates. As Kriss anticipated in our earlier blog post on the collections report, the ending balance for the current biennium, which ends in a couple of weeks, vanished. The balance sheet distributed today shows the current biennium with a negative ending balance of $84 […]
June 15 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
Improved competitiveness from legislative session, but just a start
That’s the theme of today’s column. Employers have been cheered by some legislative outcomes. Nonetheless, it’s amazingly difficult to get the right things done in Olympia. The state’s abundant assets — trade, technology, natural resources, brilliant innovators and skilled workers — keep us competitive, but tax, regulatory and labor policies and inconsistencies weigh heavily on […]
June 13 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
June Revenue Collections Report
The June Economic & Revenue Update issue today by the Forecast Council (available here) shows a shortfall in collections that almost completely exhausts the projected 2009-11 ending balance in the near general fund. Here are the key paragraphs on revenue collections from the update: Major General Fund-State (GF-S) revenues for the May 11 – June […]
June 09 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
Washington ranks #40 in new Economic Freedom Index
The Mercatus Center at George Mason University recently released Freedom in the 50 States. Here’s how they describe the index: This study comprehensively ranks the American states on their public policies that affect individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. It updates and expands on the Center’s inaugural edition, published in 2009. For […]
June 03 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
No joy in today's employment report
As foreshadowed earlier in the week, today’s job report confirms that the American economy remains stagnant. From the statement by BLS Commssioner Keith Hall: In May, nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+54,000), following increases that averaged 220,000 in the prior 3 months. The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged, at 9.1 percent, in May. Employment in […]
May 26 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
Preliminary June Economic Forecast
Economic and Revenue Forecast Council has posted the preliminary June economic forecast (available here). Under the new forecast, growth rates for Washington employment and personal income are a bit lower than under the forecast ERFC adopted in March, while the new forecast for the unemployment rate is correpondingly higher than the March forecast (see table […]