Washington ranks in top 10 for health insurance mandates
The Council for Affordable Health Insurance recently released Health Insurance Mandates in the States. Here’s why it’s important: Policymakers are increasingly focused on how to reduce the number of uninsured Americans and lower the cost of health insurance,” stated CAHI Executive Director J.P. Wieske. “While some state and federal legislators continue to pass new mandated […]
November 03 , 2010 - Emily Makings
Thrive Washington
It’s clear from yesterday’s defeat of I-1098 and approval of I-1107 and I-1053 that Washington voters do not want to be taxed more. At the same time, the state budget status quo is unsustainable. To make policy recommendations that will put state government on a better path, the Washington Roundtable and the Washington Research Council […]
November 01 , 2010 - Emily Makings
60 Minutes on I-1098
Just in time for the election, yesterday 60 Minutes ran a segment on taxing the rich and Initiative 1098. The Seattle Times’ Politics Northwest blog called it “a general overview of the campaign here, in the context of the national debate over increasing taxes on the rich.” (And they provide a link to the video.) […]
October 22 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Employment Growth: Metro Seattle vs. the Bay Area
The chart below compares job growth since 1990 in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Employment is seasonally adjusted and indexed so that in each case the January 1990 value is equal to 100. The Seattle MSA (comprising King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties) had 28.1 percent more jobs in August […]
October 19 , 2010 - Emily Makings
The Bigger Initiative Picture
An article in the Wall Street Journal today is worth reading. It’s about what is going on with the Washington ballot initiatives: So look past the billionaires. At issue on this Washington ballot is how government is to respond when it is spending more money than it takes in. We have posted policy briefs on […]
October 14 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Initiatives 1100 and 1105: Ending the State's Liquor Monopoly
We have posted a brief on Initiatives 1100 and 1105, either of which would end the state’s liquor monopoly. This brief is available here.
October 13 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Seattle Jobs
Kent Kammerer mentioned our 2009 brief “Seattle’s Lost Decade” Monday in Crosscut (“Why businesses worry about Seattle’s policies”). The brief is available here. Here is an update of Chart 2 from the brief, extended through March 2009, the most recent date for which employment in Seattle is available. The data come from the Puget Sound […]
October 13 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Two More New Briefs
We have posted briefs on Initiatives 1082 and 1107. “Initiative 1107: A Response to Last Minute Tax Increases” in available here, while “Initiative 1082: A Choice for Industrial Insurance” is available here.
October 12 , 2010 - Emily Makings
Taxes Influence Decision-making
In a New York Times op-ed over the weekend, the economist Greg Mankiw, using himself as an example, illustrates how higher taxes on the rich incentivize them to work less, thereby providing fewer services to the non-rich. The article is a response to the general idea of increasing taxes on the wealthy, in light of […]
October 07 , 2010 - Kriss Sjoblom
Two New Briefs
Today we have posted two new briefs. The first, Now is Not the Time To Raise Seattle Taxes, is available here. The second, I-1098 Income Tax Proposal: Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Prescription (Second Edition), updates our June 8 brief on Initiative 1098 and is available here.