Blog

State Supreme Court finds Legislature in contempt, defers sanctions

Yesterday’s big news was the state Supreme Court order finding the state in contempt for failing to respond adequately to the court’s McCleary decision, calling for a rapid ramp-up in state funding of basic education. (Like everyone, we’ve written a lot about this, good background here.) The judicial rebuke was expected. The question was how […]

New Brief: Washington's Business Taxes Continue to Exceed National Average

In a new brief, we look at this year’s Council on State Taxation report, which summarizes state and local business tax collections in 2013. Washington continues to impose above average business taxes.

Why repealing tax incentives will not be the answer to the school funding problem

Attacking “tax loopholes” is nothing new in Washington budget debates. It’s the perennial tax policy panacea, the painless way to raise a lot of money without imposing a general tax hike. Everybody talks about it, but rarely do the efforts gain much traction.  There’s a good reason for that. There’s no there there. Yesterday, in a […]

Various and sundry links

“Cancelling Washington R&D Incentives Will Erase Success,” by Tom Ranken and Eric Viola of the Washington Clean Technology Alliance, in Xconomy: “Before the programs, Washington tax law was punitive to R&D growth—and the job growth that goes with it.” (Here’s our policy brief on the R&D incentives: “Supporting Research and Development with Responsible Tax Policy.”) […]

Seattle Times columnist writes about that mythical $8.7 billion tax break for Boeing: not a giveaway!

Erik Smith used our recent policy brief as a peg for an excellent column on tax policy in today’s Seattle Times. Though the Department of Revenue calculated it exactly as it was supposed to, a more realistic view is that the legislation costs taxpayers nothing. He summarizes, drawing on points we developed in the brief. […]

New Policy Brief: About That Mythical $8.7 Billion Tax Break . . .

We have posted a new policy brief regarding aerospace tax incentives: About That Mythical $8.7 Billion Tax Break . . . Briefly: A competitive tax policy is not a “subsidy” that costs the state money. It is, rather, a pragmatic response to the marketplace, including the global competition for major industrial projects. Tax policies adopted […]

Class size Initiative 1351 hides costs, consequences

My column today compares and contrasts Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1325 with the Washington Education Association’s Initiative 1351. The former failed to qualify for the November ballot; the latter apparently did. Eyman’s sales tax reduction would have cost the state about $2 billion over the two-year budget cycle without specifying what programs and services would be […]

Loopholes? Really?

Over on the Taxgirl blog, Kelly Phillips Erb ponders press coverage of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s estate tax reduction strategies (Admit It: The Clintons Didn’t Do Any Tax Planning You Wouldn’t Do). Along the way, she discusses the misuse of the term “tax loophole.” We all want to criticize tax reduction strategies as somehow un-American […]

Looking ahead: Minimum wage, fish consumption, data centers, and cap & trade.

The week ends with a few stories reflecting some changes ahead: Minimum Wage Puget Sound Business Journal asks, $15 minimum wage: What will Seattle restaurants with Eastside locations do? Some of the answers aren’t good. A Crosscut article, Seattle on verge of ‘historic’ action on minimum wage, closes with a curious quote from Seattle councilmember Sally Clark, who […]

Seattle, nation's fastest growing city, and some bumps in the road ahead: business costs, housing affordability, and rising taxes

The Census Bureau reported last week that Seattle was the nation’s fastest growing city. From the Seattle Times story: From July 1, 2012 to July 1, 2013, Seattle grew by 2.8 percent — the highest rate among the 50 most-populous U.S. cities. Seattle added nearly 18,000 residents in the one-year period, bringing its population to about 652,000. The Times notes […]