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Side-by-side of three bills that would change the workforce education investment surcharges

Three bills have been introduced that would overhaul the workforce education investment surcharges. The workforce education investment business and occupation (B&O) tax surcharges were adopted last year to supplement funding for higher education. (See this brief for more information.) Revenues to the new workforce education investment account (WEIA) are expected to be $380.0 million in […]

What are the prospects for city and state tax increases in 2020?

Gov. Inslee did not propose general tax increases in his 2020 supplemental budget proposal, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be proposed by others. In the Seattle Times, Daniel Beekman and Benjamin Romano report that ideas for business taxes are circulating in Seattle: From Councilmember Sawant: “another head tax based on employee hours or a […]

Several tax- and budget-related bills have already been prefiled in the Legislature

In addition to Sen. Braun’s proposal to dedicate state sales tax revenues from the sale of motor vehicles to transportation, several other bills affecting taxes and the budget process have been prefiled in the Legislature to date. SB 6031 (Sen. Fortunato) and the identical HB 2227 (Reps. Young and Walsh) would enact Initiative 976, which […]

New and repurposed taxes proposed for wildfire costs and transportation funding

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has proposed an insurance premium surcharge to help fund wildfire response. The draft legislation would require property and casualty insurers (except medical professional liability businesses) to collect a “wildfire surcharge” of $5 per policy annually. Each property and casualty insurer would have to make a payment of at least […]

Local governments and unfunded mandates

In a work session last week, the House Local Government Committee heard from the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) and the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) about unfunded mandates and the revenues that are available to local governments. Both organizations talked about Washington’s property tax limits. There are two limits, and there is sometimes […]

A shortfall in the new workforce education investment account

The Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee’s work session on Thursday included presentations on the workforce education investment act (E2SHB 2158) that was enacted earlier this year. As I wrote last week, a staff presentation at the Senate Ways & Means Committee’s work session included a concern about a reduced 2021–23 revenue estimate for […]

A new budget outlook, and prospects for the 2020 supplemental

As Kriss noted, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) adopted a new revenue forecast yesterday. The ERFC also adopted a new budget outlook. The June outlook, which was based on the 2019–21 enacted budget and vetoes (and the March revenue forecast), estimated that the unrestricted ending fund balance was $372 million in 2019–21 and […]

Tax policy after the election

In the wake of the passage of I-976 and the results of some local races, tax policy is an emerging theme. For example, King County Executive Dow Constantine used the occasion to call for comprehensive state tax reform: Our state’s tax system is inefficient, unfair, volatile, inadequate, and bad for business. Local governments have few […]

The budget implications of I-976

Heidi Groover has a story in the Seattle Times today that considers what might happen with the state budget if I-976 is approved. (I-976 would reduce vehicle fees and revoke local governments’ authority to levy certain transportation fees and taxes.) The initiative would significantly reduce state and local funding for transportation. As we wrote in […]

More on the proposed new tax on Uber and Lyft in Seattle

Kevin Schofield of SCC Insight provides a rundown of some of the issues the Seattle City Council is debating as part of the 2020 budget. One of these is Mayor Durkan’s proposal to levy a new tax on transportation network companies (TNC; i.e., Uber and Lyft). The Council’s staff memo on the proposal includes some […]