Blog

State Senate sets city limits on Seattle sick live ordinance

Business groups opposing Seattle’s controversial paid sick leave ordinance won one yesterday, as the state Senate passed ESB 5276 on a strong bipartisan vote, 29-20. The city’s ordinance would have applied the rule to employers operating in the city, regardless of whether the firm was located within Seattle city limits.The Senate bill sets limits, city […]

A chart of unemployment insurance claims in Washington

Here is a chart of the four-week average of seasonally-adjusted initial claims for unemployment in Washington state. While the most recent values are above the average for 2006 and 2007, the two years preceding the great recession, these values are slightly below the average for 1999 and 2000, the two years preceding the dot-com collapse. […]

Revenue forecast likely to be reduced

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met this morning in Olympia to discuss the preliminary version of the economic forecast that will underpin the updated revenue forecast scheduled to be unveiled on March 20th.  The preliminary economic forecast is discussed in this memo. Handouts and slides from today’s meeting are available here. The new economic […]

More on why state pension reforms are coming

Alicia Munnell, the director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, nicely frames the public pension problem in a blog post today: Public plans around the world cannot sustain today’s level of benefits in the face of increased life expectancy, two financial crises in a decade, and low expected investment returns.  Expensive provisions […]

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 […]

To expand or not to expand Medicaid…

Twenty-four governors (including Gov. Inslee) currently support Medicaid expansion. Whether or not to expand is a complicated question, as Charles Blahous of the Mercatus Center explores in a new study: “The Affordable Care Act’s Optional Medicaid Expansion: Considerations Facing State Governments.” In a blog post yesterday, he wrote, Setting aside the larger question of whether […]

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. […]

Elway poll shows limited appetite for new transportation funding – the search continues

A new Elway Poll underscores the challenge facing legislators and the broad coalition working to fund essential transportation improvements in the state. The Seattle Times reports: A Stuart Elway poll of 412 registered voters found that 72 percent oppose a higher gas tax and 62 percent oppose an increase in the car tab. The poll has a margin […]

Why state pension reforms are coming

Sunday’s Seattle Times carries an excellent analysis of the state pension system by reporter Drew DeSilver. The crux: An analysis by The Seattle Times suggests that the system’s promised benefits are much bigger, and its real assets smaller, than official numbers indicate. The analysis, using market-based data and methods, pegs the total gap between the […]

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 […]