Thrive Washington on Economic Development
The latest Thrive Washington paper is now available. Economic Development: Moving Washington State Forward Into Recovery covers education and business climate, as well as more direct economic development policies. From the conclusion: Public and private groups have made proposals that would enhance the education of our students to ensure they are prepared to enter the […]
May 06 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
New Brief on Higher Education in the 2011-13 Budgets
We have posted a new policy brief on higher education in the House and Senate budgets, titled “Higher Education: State Funding Down, Tuition Up.” It is available through this link. Briefly: Under the House budget, NGFS+ funding for higher education would be $2.81 billion, while under the Senate budget it would be $2.84 billion. Either […]
May 02 , 2011 - Emily Makings
New Brief on How Public Schools Fare in 2011-13 Budgets
Following last week’s brief on proposed 2011-13 expenditures in the human services budget area, today we take a look at public schools. (See also this brief for an overview of the House and Senate budget plans.) Spending on public schools would increase over 2009-11 levels in both the House- and Senate-passed budgets. Maintenance level changes […]
April 27 , 2011 - Emily Makings
New Brief: For Human Services, Cuts All Around
A policy brief from last week, So Close and Yet So Far Away, gave an overview of the spending plans and balance sheets of the House- and Senate-passed 2011-13 budgets. It also promised more details on a few key budget areas. The first of these additional briefs provides a comparison of spending on human services […]
April 26 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Regulatory Overlap in Washington
Today the latest Thrive Washington paper was released: Confronting Washington State’s Overlapping Regulatory Structures. Regulatory reform efforts are being undertaken in numerous states and in the federal government. As President Obama said in the Wall Street Journal, “Sometimes . . . rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business–burdens that have stifled […]
April 22 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
New WRC Policy Brief Comparing House and Senate Budgets
We have posted a Policy Brief (So Close and Yet So Far Away) comparing balance sheets and high-level spending plans for the House and Senate budgets.
April 20 , 2011 - Emily Makings
New Brief: Reforming Public Pensions
In Reforming Public Pensions, we look at the current state of Washington’s public pension system and the methods of calculating unfunded liabilities in these plans. The good news is that Washington is in much better shape than most other states. The bad news is that all states are probably understating their unfunded liabilities by assuming […]
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 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. […]
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.