Aerospace tax incentives work
WRC President Lew Moore spoke to Seattle's KIRO TV yesterday about the benefits of Boeing and aerospace industry tax incentives for Washington state. In response to union criticism about 777X tax incentives originally approved in 2003 and extended by the Legislature and governor in 2013, Lew stressed that they are working: "The incentive was passed in 2003," said Moore. […]
November 05 , 2015 - Mary Strow
November 05 , 2015 - Emily Makings
What's next for I-1366?
The latest returns have Initiative 1366 leading by 53.13 percent to 46.87 percent. But even if that lead holds, the measure will be challenged in court. I-1366 would reduce the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent on April 15, 2016 — unless the state Legislature refers a constitutional amendment to voters requiring a two-thirds […]
October 30 , 2015 - Mary Strow
October 21 , 2015 - Mary Strow
House committee explores K-12 financing
Yesterday in Olympia the House Finance Committee looked at how public schools are funded, here in Washington and nationwide. Committee staff prepared in-depth reports with lots of information (the Research Council in 2013 published a report on on K-12 financing, comparing Washington’s funding to other states’. You can read that here). Some highlights: Washington differs […]
October 09 , 2015 - Mary Strow
October 05 , 2015 - Mary Strow
Governor's new carbon-cap rule could include Seattle's lone steel manufacturing plant
Last month, Gov. Jay Inslee directed the state Department of Ecology to start “writing a rule that would cap and reduce carbon pollution.” This directive came after the governor’s carbon cap-and-trade proposal died in the 2015 legislative session. Ecology also released a list of entities it says emit at least 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide […]
October 02 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Marijuana revenue distributions indicate strong cross-border sales
The Columbian reports that Vancouver is getting more of the marijuana revenue distributions for fiscal year 2016 than any other city — by far. The Association of Washington Cities (AWC) has the data. The 2015-17 state budget provides that $6 million will be distributed to cities and counties in FY 2016, and only those jurisdictions […]
September 30 , 2015 - Mary Strow
September 24 , 2015 - Mary Strow
Taxes: The grass is always greener…
With the first meeting today of Gov. Inslee’s legislative McCleary workgroup, we’re likely to see another round of calls for new taxes – specifically, an income tax and/or a capital gains tax – to fund the rest of the state’s K-12 obligations. Arguments in favor of new forms of taxation include: Washington’s tax system is unfair and regressive, […]