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Workers' Comp Reform: Part 1 Down, Part 2 To Go

Yesterday Governor Gregoire signed SB 5801 into law: “We know we need to help more workers return to good health and back on the job after an injury, as well as reduce costs for our taxpayers and businesses,” Gregoire said. “This bill does both. It improves outcomes for our employees, while saving more than $200 […]

Perspectives on public pension problems…

Over the last week, we’ve seen some conflicting reports on the status of state and local plans nationally. A McClatchy story carried in several local papers suggested that the widely cited problems have been overblown. Quick dissent followed, but let’s allow the no-problem voices to go first. From McClatchy: There’s simply no evidence that state […]

Workers' Compensation Needs Fixing

The News Tribune has a good editorial today on workers’ compensation.  It questions opposition to the reform bill (ESB 5566) that passed the Senate.  Specifically, it questions opposition to the provision that would allow injured workers to choose a voluntary settlement instead of a pension. There’s not much controversy over the subsidy part of the […]

Consumer confidence falls sharply

Kriss noted that state revenue collections were falling below projections, signaling a possible large downward revision in the forecast that will be released March 17. The predictive art faces increasing challenges in a dynamic and changing global economy, as discussed here and here. Now factor in another sign of tough times ahead. U.S. consumer sentiment […]

March Economic and Revenue Update

The state’s monthly economic and revenue update (commonly called the collections report) is out today and can be downloaded here. Adjusting for the shift of certain taxpayers from quarterly to monthly reporting frequency, revenue for the February 11 to March 10 reporting month was $65 million below forecast. Adjusted revenue for the previous month was […]

No pot of gold likely in St. Patrick's Day state revenue forecast ….

That’s the theme of my column today. Given the increasing difficulty of forecasting state revenues and the significant downside risks, I suggest legislators underspend the revenue forecast this year. And, they should resist the temptation to kick the can forward with one-time gimmics. That these ideas continue to surface signals a lack of legislative seriousness, […]

Go Tall

There’s an article in the Seattle Times about the ongoing debate over building height in Pioneer Square.  It is particularly of interest given the Edward Glaeser article on Seattle that Dick linked to yesterday. One part of Glaeser’s article that I haven’t seen highlighted is the ending: Seattle has also helped itself by permitting taller […]

New Policy Brief: Time to Fix Workers' Compensation

We have a new policy brief today on workers’ compensation reform. As Dick noted earlier, the compromise bill that passed the Senate over the weekend would move us closer to the national mainstream, and the WRC has made similar recommendations in the past. Reforms like the ones in the compromise bill would help reduce the […]

Economic growth the Seattle Way … or not

Two reports today present sharply contrasting views of the Puget Sound region’s economy and prospects. In the New York Times, Harvard economist Edward L. Glaeser sings Seattle’s praises. Seattle is one of the few large cities outside the Sun Belt that is growing more quickly than the country as a whole. The city’s growth reveals […]

Editorial support for bipartisan Senate workers' compensation bill…

The Senate passed ESB 5566 last weekend, a good workers’ compensation bill that will move Washington closer to the national mainstream, benefiting both injured workers and employers. The Washington Research Council last year published Mainstreaming Workers’ Compensation: Reforms for 2010. The bill refines several of our recommendations and represents a major step forward for the […]