Blog

WRC discusses state budget on TVW's Inside Olympia

I join Remy Trupin, executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, to discuss the budget end game with Inside Olympia host Austin Jenkins. It was a lively half hour. Hope you enjoy it.    

Washington ranks 30th in total school spending per pupil in 2011

A new report from the U.S. Census provides a wealth of data on public school spending. (Links to all the data can be found here.) A look at state revenues and spending per pupil can be found in this spreadsheet, Table 11 from the report. It shows that Washington spent $9,483 per pupil, ranking the state […]

Additional workers' comp reforms could help build up reserves

Bill Weaver, President and CEO of Canyon Creek Cabinet Company, has an op-ed in the Everett Herald about why workers’ compensation reforms passed by the Senate earlier this year are a good idea. As he writes, “continued workers’ compensation reform is a key element of our state’s economic competitiveness.” Further, To compete worldwide, we depend […]

Why workers' comp benefits paid are the best indicator of system costs

As Dick noted on Wednesday, his column this week “debunks the charge that [business climate ranking] studies are bunk.” He also linked to the Washington Roundtable’s Benchmarks for a Better Washington, which look at how Washington does (compared to other states) on measures of innovation, quality of life, and business costs. Today, David Groves of […]

The impact of a 160,000 barrels per day refinery

Last year, we prepared a study of the economic impact of the state’s petroleum refineries. These impacts can be expressed in terms of the hypothetical Washington refinery producing 160,000 barrels of product a day. In 2011, such a refinery would have provided 552 jobs, and its workers would have received $66.4 million in wages and […]

Oregon revenue forecast increased

Down in Salem, the Office of Economic Analysis today updated its forecasts of state revenues. For the current 2011–13 biennium, revenues to Oregon’s general fund are now forecasted to be $14.248 billion, an increase of $126 million (0.9 percent) from the amount forecasted in February. For the upcoming 2013–15 biennium, the new forecast is $15.606 […]

Preliminary estimate shows Washington gained 3,800 jobs last month

The state Employment Security Department has released its Monthly Employment Report for April (here). The preliminary estimate is that the state gained 3,800 jobs (seasonally adjusted, net) from March to April. Of these jobs, 3,600 were private private sector and 200 were government. The original estimate that the state lost 5,500 jobs from February to […]

Benchmarking added 12,900 to April Washington employment estimates

Here is a follow up to my earlier post on the April employment report. The estimates of Washington employment that are reported monthly by the state Employment Security Department (ESD) are derived from a survey of employers (the establishment survey) conducted by U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Because the estimates are […]

State business climates matter, drive interstate economic competition

Last week I posted on the flawed Good Jobs First study purporting to demonstrate that business climate rankings are worthless, ideological exercises. My column today debunks the charge that the studies are bunk. I encourage you to read it and share your thoughts with me. It’s nonsense to argue that there’s nothing to be gained […]

Inslee's three priorities for special session: budget, transportation, DUI

Gov. Inslee has pared his list of special session priorities to three. Gov. Jay Inslee has narrowed his list of top priorities for lawmakers to address in a special session, saying Monday that the Legislature must focus on the operating budget, a transportation-funding package and new legislation to crack down on drunken drivers. As the […]