Blog

Sorting the data on public sector compensation …

Well before the protests in Madison, Wisconsin, touched sympathetic nerves around the country, the disparity between public and private sector employee compensation drew controversy. A headline in Sunday’s Seattle Times asks, “Have Washington state workers given their fair share?” It’s both unanswerable and, in many respects, off point. Compensation for services provided is not the […]

An Oscar miss on an education breakthrough

As I rarely go to movies and don't own a TV, my thoughts on the Academy Awards are not worth sharing. So I'll just refer you to AWB president Don Brunell's post on Waiting for Superman.  

Medicaid: A Budgetary Problem for Many States

An article in the Wall Street Journal today, “Governors Scramble To Rein in Medicaid,” talks about the concerns both Republican and Democratic governors (including our own) have regarding rising Medicaid costs–especially given widespread budget problems: About eight million Americans joined the Medicaid rolls between 2007 and 2010, many because they lost jobs. The federal government […]

Supplementing Some More

A week ago, Gov. Gregoire signed the fourth 2009-11 supplemental budget into law.  Our policy brief on what’s included is available here. Taking into account the governor’s vetoes, the supplemental reduces the remaining NGFS shortfall by $361 million.  Unfortunately, four rounds and cumulative spending cuts totaling $1.1 billion later, the 2009-11 budget is still not […]

Unemployment insurance compromise tough to replicate for workers' comp reform

In the Puget Sound Business Journal today, my column examines the 2011 legislative session’s big accomplishment so far: an agreement on unemployment insurance that drew overwhelming bipartisan support. It’s a good deal, providing tax relief to 90 percent of the state’s employers and increasing benefits for 70,000 unemployed workers. Conditions aligned for this to be […]

Preliminary March Economic Forecast

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council posted the Preliminary March Economic Forecast today. The summary memo from Arun Raha (ERFC Executive Director) to the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors is here; calendar year tables are here; fiscal year tables are here. With regards to the national economy Raha’s memo has this good news: The near-term […]

Competing to deliver public services …

That’s the theme of my column this morning, which also considers some recent activity in Wisconsin (you might have read about the collective bargainng flap there) and the UK (which has not gotten the same visibility). Here’s my conclusion: Government employee unions come under increased scrutiny as budget shortfalls force cutbacks in public services. Public […]

Tax Foundation releases state/local tax burden study: WA ranks 29th

The national Tax Foundation published its annual review of state/local taxes. Here’s the PDF of the report. And here’s the press release. TF uses a different methodology for calculating tax burdens than that used by some other familiar sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau. Here’s how TF describes it: For each state, we calculate the […]

Tuition Transfer Update

As I discussed in an earlier post, the Senate version of the early action supplemental budget cut general fund–state funding to the higher education coordinating board (HEC Board) for the state need grant by $25.4 million. The Senate supplemental budget backfilled this loss in two steps. The first step was an appropriation of $25.4 million […]

Minimum Wage Proposal Is Misguided

For 2011, Washington state’s minimum wage is $8.67 per hour. This is the country’s highest state minimum wage. Legislators are considering a misguided proposal to revise the manner in which the state’s minimum wage is indexed for inflation; this proposal would over time push the wage much, much higher.