Blog

Paid sick leave mandates banned as often as adopted

An article in Stateline notes that New York City has joined the handful of jurisdictions that require employers to provide paid sick leave for their employees. The article highlights the controversial nature of such mandates, which are in effect in San Francisco, Washington DC, Connecticut and Seattle. Portland adopted paid sick leave in March; it […]

Assumptions gap complicates budget negotiations

In The News Tribune today, Jordan Schrader writes about how the House has some work to do on its budget even before considering the Senate’s proposal: As lawmakers debate how much money to spend on schools and state government, the budget proposal by House Democrats represents the high-water mark — one that even they cannot […]

State revenues exceeded forecast by $57.6 million during April 11 to May 10 collection period

For the second month in a row, state revenue collections have beaten the forecast. Collections for the April 11 to May 10 period beat expectations by $57.6 million. Of this, $29.5 million represents property tax payments. State economists suspect that the positive variance in property taxes will be reversed in the May 11–June 10 collection […]

Oregon Medicaid study inconclusive on benefits, warrants caution on expansion

We previously wrote on the results of a closely-watched Medicaid study in Oregon. Avik Roy has taken a second look at the results (we linked to his earlier piece also). He’s not encouraged. . . . the Oregon findings are even worse than they look. Here’s why. 1. 40 percent of those who ‘won’ the […]

What we've learned about Boeing, multipliers and the state economy

With the governor committed to seeing the 777X built here (stories in the Seattle Times and Everett Herald) I thought it worthwhile to link to some of our previous work related to Boeing’s impact on the economy. In 2009 we produced an economic impact report, What If Boeing Left Washington. Some findings: Since each Boeing […]

Competitiveness key to landing Boeing 777X: Inslee announces aerospace strategy

Gov. Jay Inslee has joined the competitiveness battle, a high stakes bid to assure that the Boeing 777X is built here. The Seattle Times writes: Gov. Jay Inslee proposes funding a new cargo facility at the Port of Everett, extending Boeing’s tax breaks and streamlining the local permitting process in Everett as part of a […]

Best Cities for Jobs – Seattle Ranks No. 14 Among Large Cities

The competition among states is often more about competition among metro areas. Some industries thrive in urban centers. Tech, health care, mass media and other creative enterprises are among them. New Geography recently published a ranking of the "best cities for job growth." And again we see a different methodology – not policies, not perceptions, […]

Site Selection magazine's Top 10 Competitive States. TX #1, WA not among them.

Another magazine business climate ranking, using a different methodology than the Chief Executive survey I linked to earlier today. Site Selection ranks the states based on a formula that includes new and expanded facilities, capital investment, jobs created, tax policy (using the Tax Foundation tax climate report), the Beacon Hill Institute’s business climate index, and […]

WA ranks No. 36 in Chief Executive magazine business climate survey

Washington does not fare well in the latest business climate survey conducted by Chief Executive magazine. The state comes in No. 36, between Maine and Rhode Island. The top ten are unsurprising: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Arizona, Virginia, South Carolina, Nevada and Georgia. At the bottom of the list are Illinois, New York […]

U.S. Senate passes Internet sales tax bill, still big hurdle in the House

On a strong bipartisan vote, 69-27, the U.S. Senate yesterday passed the Marketplace Fairness Act, or what most of us just call a bill requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes. Mashable has a short, clear explanation of the legislation and why it’s necessary. So does the National Conference of State Legislatures, which strongly supported […]