The case for workers' comp reform
In my column this morning, I review the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 50-state study of employment costs. Washington ranks in the third tier of states, those with poor employment policies and high costs. (Emily notes here that the chamber’s data are a couple of years old. We’d look worse now.) Jason Hagey at Olympia Business […]
April 05 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
New Thrive Washington paper on employment cost drivers published today
The latest in the series of white papers published by the Washington Research Council and Washington Roundtable examines workers’ compensation reform and unemployment insurance. In particular, the report urges lawmakers to act this session to fix the state’s broken workers’ comp system. Here’s the link to Employment Cost Drivers in Washington State: The Case for […]
April 05 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
New WRC Policy Brief: Clarifying the Role of Tax Preferences
Our new Policy Brief on tax preferences can be download through this link.
April 04 , 2011 - Emily Makings
House Releases 2011-13 (and 2011 Supplemental) Budget
The House proposal for the 2011-13 budget (including a final 2011 supplemental to close out the 2009-11 biennium) is now public. In Near General Fund-State plus Opportunity Pathways (NGF-P) terms, the 2011 supplemental would reduce spending in the current biennium by $93 million (on top of reductions made in the early action supplementals), to bring […]
April 04 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Outdated Data in U.S. Chamber Employment Policy Study
AWB’s Olympia Business Watch notes that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has released a study on state employment policies and job growth. In considering the states’ employment policies, the Chamber looked at employment relationships/costs of separation, minimum wage and living wage laws, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, wage and hour policies, collective bargaining, and litigation/enforcement […]
April 01 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Washington's Union Membership Rates
Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sent out a press release on union membership in Washington in 2010. BLS notes, “Since 1990, Washington has had union membership rates above the U.S. average.” In fact, in 2010, Washington’s union membership as a percent of total employment was the fourth highest in the country, behind […]
March 26 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
Four Charts on Washington Personal Income
The Bureau of Economic Analysis updated its estimates of state-level personal income on Wednesday, with numbers through the 4th quarter of 2010 (BEA press release). Here are 4 charts using the new data.
March 25 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
DVR Alert: Kriss on King 5's Upfront with Robert Mak
Update: Here is a link to the program. The video of the program is 20 minutes, 30 seconds in length. The segment on tax preferences begins 9 minutes in (11 minutes, 30 seconds remaining), following a segment on the Pierce County Assessor.
March 25 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Comparing Savings from Governor's New Workers' Comp Proposal to ESB 5566
Unfortunately, after the good news earlier this week about how much money ESB 5566 (passed by the Senate, but so far stalled in the House) would save the workers’ compensation system, the governor decided to put forward a different set of reform proposals that do not include the full option for voluntary settlement agreements. (For […]
March 23 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
Keeping the best teachers in the classroom when it's necessary to downsize
That’s my subject in today’s Everett Herald column. Right now, layoffs are handled by seniority — last hired, first fired, with no regard for teacher performance. A pair of bills (HB 1609 and SB 5399) would create a performance-based system for staff reductions. The legislation calls for making layoff decisions based on teachers’ average evaluation […]