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Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Rep. Eric Pettigrew make the case for extending R&D tax incentives

Today’s Seattle Times carries a convincing op-ed by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and state Rep. Eric Pettigrew arguing for an extension of a pair of R&D tax incentives scheduled to expire this year. They point out the significance of the tech sector to our state and the economic contribution of the sector. The tech industry […]

Putting the proposal to tax recycled refinery fuels in context – the exemption makes sense

As we have written, the governor, Senate Democrats and House Democrats have all proposed new or increased taxes (generally characterized as repealing preferences) to fund education. The House and Senate Democratic plans propose …applying the sales tax to bottled water, ending the sales tax exemption for out-of-state residents, taxing recycled fuel (“extracted” or “hog fuel”) […]

House and Senate base budgets are close; that's before you get to House-proposed new taxes and school spending

Yesterday House Democrats proposed their 2014 supplemental budget (documents here). It’s the time of year when things happen quickly; the Appropriations Committee hearing was last night at 6:00 In addition to a base budget, which closely resembles the plan introduced earlier by the Senate Majority Coalition, the House rolled out a proposal to increase taxes […]

Bipartisan supplemental budget proposal from state Senate adds $96 million, no tax hikes

Senate Ways and Means chairman Andy Hill, R-Redmond, just concluded a press conference unveiling his proposed 2014 supplemental operating budget. To underscore the bipartisan nature of the process, he was joined by the Democrats’ lead budget writer Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam and other Republicans and Democrats involved in developing the proposal. Although Hill had previously said […]

Gubernatorial reactions to Chief Executive magazine's annual "Best & Worst States for Business" Report, including #36 Washington

In what looks a lot like a way to spark interest in the spring release of its annual ranking of state business climates based on CEO perceptions, Chief Executive magazine just published a list of how governors responded to the 2013 rankings. Here’s how the magazine conducts its ranking. Business leaders were asked to grade […]

New Policy Brief: Supporting Research and Development with Responsible Tax Policy

We have posted a new policy brief titled Supporting Research and Development with Responsible Tax Policy, which can be downloaded this link.  

Transportation plan released in Senate today – next steps uncertain

Senate Transportation Committee co-chair Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, today released a $12.4 billion transportation plan. Video coverage of the press conference here. King writes in his cover letter to the governor and legislative transportation leaders that he wants to “restart negotiations,” a theme echoed at the press conference by Majority Leader Rodney Tom and others. As […]

It's a competitive world: Management prof recommends Microsoft move to San Francisco

It’s no secret that much of the world covets Washington’s twin economic engines, aerospace and technology, anchored by Boeing and Microsoft. And it’s no secret that this state occasionally takes its prosperity for granted. Every so often, Boeing will remind lawmakers that complacency is not a prize-winning strategy. But for the most part, Olympia tends […]

Putting the focus back on increasing economic opportunity for all

In my column, I comment on the president’s State of the Union address and the shift in focus from inequality to opportunity. The new opportunity emphasis was previously discussed here and is examined in this New York Times story. I also highly recommend this Robert Samuelson column explaining why inequality is not the problem. To create “ladders […]

Governor's tax proposals face skeptical Legislature

Gov. Inslee’s proposed tax increases to boost school spending look like they’ll go where they’ve gone before — nowhere. AWB president Kris Johnson had this statement. Unfortunately, the governor’s plan to eliminate a handful of tax incentives does not address the long-term funding challenge we face, and would have serious negative impacts on the employers […]