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Reactions to state supreme court rejection of supermajority requirement

This morning’s supreme court ruling has prompted a host of first reactions. Gov. Jay Inslee likes the decision. The state Supreme Court did the right thing today in ruling that a supermajority requirement for ordinary legislation would alter our system of government. The supermajority requirement gave a legislative minority the power to squelch ideas even […]

State Supreme Court strikes down supermajority requirement for tax increases

On a 6-3 vote, the state Supreme Court ruled that the supermajority requirement for tax increases imposed by Initiative 1053 is unconsititional. Here’s the opinion and dissents. The decision has been highly anticipated. I expected they’d scrap it years ago, writing in a December 2007 column: …most members of the court, possibly all except Justices […]

Seattle life sciences cluster ranks tenth in the nation

Seattle Times business columnist Jon Talton reports on the continued strength of Seattle’s bio sciences cluster this morning. Well, I put that a bit more strongly than he did. Seattle was fortunate to have an established cluster, which was ranked No.  5 nationally in an influential 2004 report by the Milken Institute. How are we doing now? […]

Lower Business Costs, Better Education & Transportation = More Jobs

Gov. Inslee’s jobs plan, released last week, again highlights the state’s enduring problem: Too many people looking for work and not finding it. In my column, I lead with this: Nearly 17 percent of the state’s workforce — one in six of us — is either unemployed or underemployed. So much for the recovery. Nationally, […]

New Brief: Leveling the Playing Field with Tax Preferences

Many business tax preferences serve to normalize Washington’s tax structure by reducing distortions, offsetting disincentives, and avoiding pyramiding. This is important from the standpoint of good tax policy, as we outline in a new policy brief. We also discuss the high tech R&D tax credits in particular.

Washington imposes 2nd heaviest cell phone tax

The combined state-local tax on cell phone users in Washington is 18.62 percent. According to a new Tax Foundation study, that’s the second highest rate in the nation. Only Nebraska, at 18.67 percent, is higher. The weighted state-local across the country is 11.36 percent. The feds tack on another 5.82 percent. The Tax Foundation notes, […]

A capital gains tax for Washington? Probably not, but they're discussing it again.

Senate Democratic Leader Ed Murray has proposed a new capital gains tax. Murray is proposing a 5 percent tax on capital gains to start in 2015, which he said would raise between roughly $600 and $700 million per year to help fund basic education and higher education. He proposed something similar last year. Under Murray’s […]

Louisiana and Kansas consider scrapping income taxes to improve business climate

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback have both voiced support for pro-growth tax reform based on eliminating personal income taxes. From NRO: “Eliminating personal income taxes will put more money back into the pockets of Louisiana families,” Jindal said in a statement earlier this month, “and will change a complex tax code […]

Gov. Gregoire proposes new taxes in final budget release

Gov. Chris Gregoire offered her final biennial budget proposal this morning. In addition to required “current revenues” proposal – one that doesn’t rely on new taxes – she presents a plan to make the billion-dollar downpayment on the increased public school funding required by the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. From the governor’s press release: […]

Tax incentives get additional attention after NYT series

Last week we wrote about the NYT series looking at tax incentives. Since then, I’ve come across a number of reports that shed additional light on the issue. Economist Tim Bartik, quoted in the Times stories, points out that the paper flubs the figures on Michigan’s tax breaks. …most public finance economists would argue that […]