Activists accelerate push for $15 minimum wage. Economists identify consequences.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has named a 23-member task force to make recommendations on a $15 minimum wage for the city. It’s a broad group, with representatives from business and labor, raising speculation that a clean recommendation may be out of reach. Murray acknowledged that consensus between labor and Seattle’s business elite might be difficult […]
November 26 , 2013 - Kriss Sjoblom
Update on tech sector growth
Here is a brief update on growth in the tech sector, which we profiled in a special report a year ago (Washington’s Prosperity Depends on Vibrant Tech Sector). From 1990 to 2012, employment in the state grew by 725,500. The tech sector directly accounted for 115,000 (16%) of these jobs. Another 336,500 (46%) of the […]
November 15 , 2013 - Emily Makings
Announcing our new website
We are excited to unveil our new website today. Our blog, publications, and other work are now all located in one place: researchcouncil.org. Please update your bookmarks. To receive our blog posts by email, please look at the column on the right hand side of the blog and enter your email where it says “follow […]
October 11 , 2013 - Kriss Sjoblom
State revenue: September 11 to October 10 collections beat forecast by $9.8 million
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council issued its monthly Update this morning. Here are the key bullets on state revenue collections from the summary: Major General Fund-State revenue collections for the September 11 – October 10, 2013 collection period were $32.3 million (2.9%) higher than the September forecast. The forecast included a $22.5 million refund […]
September 19 , 2013 - Kriss Sjoblom
More on the revenue forecast
Here’s a follow-up to Dick’s post on yesterday’s revision to the official state revenue forecast by the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC). Under the new forecast, predicted general fund-state revenue over the 2011-13, 2013-15, and 2015-17 biennia is $771 million greater than under the previous forecast, which the EFRC issued on June 18. The […]
September 05 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
April 06 , 2012 - Emily Makings
Housekeeping Note: New RSS Feeds
We have added new ways to access our work. In addition to this blog, Twitter, and Facebook, you may now subscribe to several RSS feeds. You may subscribe, for example, to all of our publications, or you may pick only the topics that interest you. We also have feeds for columns written by our president, […]
February 03 , 2012 - Emily Makings
80th Annual Dinner
We're pleased to announce that the speakers for our 2012 Annual Dinner will be Jennifer Rubin, of the Right Turn blog at the Washington Post, and Mickey Kaus, of KausFiles at the Daily Caller. Greg Lane, President & CEO of TVW will moderate. The event will be held June 5 at the Museum of Flight. […]
October 16 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
Foie Gras Tourism: Economic Development Opportunity?
According to an artcle in today's New York Times, Californian's are bingeing of foie gras in advance of the ban scheduled to become effective in July 2012. Perhaps this ban will provide a tourism opportunity for Washington State, complimentary to our promotion of wine tourism. Foie gras tourism, of course, would be an even more […]
April 19 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Register for our 79th Annual Dinner
The Washington Research Council's 2011 Annual Dinner will be held on June 7, at the Bellevue Club. Kimberley Strassel, of the Wall Street Journal, is our speaker this year. Details are available on our website. If you would like to sponsor a table, please contact DeDe McConnell at dede@researchcouncil.org or (206) 467-7088. If you would […]