Register for our 79th Annual Dinner
The Washington Research Council's 2011 Annual Dinner will be held on June 7, at the Bellevue Club. Kimberley Strassel, of the Wall Street Journal, is our speaker this year. Details are available on our website. If you would like to sponsor a table, please contact DeDe McConnell at dede@researchcouncil.org or (206) 467-7088. If you would […]
April 16 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
Senate Ways and Means Committee Passes Budget
Yesterday (April 15) the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed its version of an operating budget for the 2011–13 biennium. Amendments increased total NGFS+ appropriations for the biennium by $17 million compared to the committee Chair’s proposal. Of the $17 million net increase, $7 million was the result of technical amendments correcting errors in the […]
April 15 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
Tax Day column on assessing the tax burden
In my column in the Puget Sound Business Journal today I look at Tax Freedom Day, the level and distribution of the tax burden and how our state’s revenue structure compares with other states. It’s behind the firewall, so access is limited to subscribers. Here’s a sample. The tax discussion generally comes down to the […]
April 14 , 2011 - Emily Makings
New Brief on Senate W&M Budget Proposal
We’ve worked through the Senate W&M Chair’s (and Ranking Member’s) 2011-13 budget proposal, and the resulting brief with the details is available here. It includes comparisons to the House-passed budget, on which we also have a brief. The Senate W&M Chair’s proposal addresses the $5 billion plus shortfall in many of the same ways the […]
April 11 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
Revenue Collections for March 11–April 10 Period Exceed Forecast by $5.1 Million
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council issued its monthly Economic & Revenue Update today. Here are the key takeaways:
April 11 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
Closing tax "loopholes" won't solve the state budget problem
Kriss and I draw on our Clarifying the Role of Tax Preferences policy brief for this article in Crosscut.In both pieces, we point out the state’s already high business tax burden and the importance of tax preferences in offsetting tax pyramiding (multiple taxation of transactions in the production cycle). We also note that many so-called […]
April 09 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
House Passes Budget
The House of Representatives today (Saturday, April 9) passed its version of the 2011-13 state operating budget. The House passed budget bill differed little from the version reported out of the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday. On Friday, 11 amendments were made to the House Ways and Means bill on the House floor. […]
April 08 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Our Annual Dinner Speaker, Kim Strassel, on the Federal Budget
This week has been a busy one on the budget front. Here in Washington, the House Ways and Means Committee proposed and passed a 2011-13 budget, which may be passed by the full House today or tomorrow. (For more on the budget, see here and here.) It has also been budget week in the U.S. […]
April 07 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
House Ways & Means Committee Passes Budget
Last evening the House Ways and Means Committee passed–with 10 relatively minor amendments–the 2011-13 budget we detailed in yesterday’s policy brief. The 10 amendments added $20.6 million to NGFS+ spending for the biennium. However, the projected ending balance is down by only $3 million (to $792 million) due to the correction of several errors that […]
April 06 , 2011 - Emily Makings
New Brief on the House Democrats' 2011-13 Budget
We have a new brief up on Rep. Hunter’s 2011-13 budget proposal. It is a good starting point, cognizant of fiscal reality. Although fees do figure in, the proposal does not assume that voters will agree to raise taxes. Rep. Alexander has put forth an alternative. All the information on both proposals is available here. […]