New Brief on Senate W&M Budget Proposal
We’ve worked through the Senate W&M Chair’s (and Ranking Member’s) 2011-13 budget proposal, and the resulting brief with the details is available here. It includes comparisons to the House-passed budget, on which we also have a brief. The Senate W&M Chair’s proposal addresses the $5 billion plus shortfall in many of the same ways the […]
April 06 , 2011 - Emily Makings
New Brief on the House Democrats' 2011-13 Budget
We have a new brief up on Rep. Hunter’s 2011-13 budget proposal. It is a good starting point, cognizant of fiscal reality. Although fees do figure in, the proposal does not assume that voters will agree to raise taxes. Rep. Alexander has put forth an alternative. All the information on both proposals is available here. […]
April 05 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
New WRC Policy Brief: Clarifying the Role of Tax Preferences
Our new Policy Brief on tax preferences can be download through this link.
April 05 , 2011 - Richard S. Davis
New Thrive Washington paper on employment cost drivers published today
The latest in the series of white papers published by the Washington Research Council and Washington Roundtable examines workers’ compensation reform and unemployment insurance. In particular, the report urges lawmakers to act this session to fix the state’s broken workers’ comp system. Here’s the link to Employment Cost Drivers in Washington State: The Case for […]
March 18 , 2011 - Kriss Sjoblom
Brief on March Revenue Forecast
We have posted a Policy Brief on the March revenue forecast, which can be downloaded through this link.
March 08 , 2011 - Emily Makings
New Policy Brief: Time to Fix Workers' Compensation
We have a new policy brief today on workers’ compensation reform. As Dick noted earlier, the compromise bill that passed the Senate over the weekend would move us closer to the national mainstream, and the WRC has made similar recommendations in the past. Reforms like the ones in the compromise bill would help reduce the […]
March 01 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Too Many Cooks
The fifth paper in the Thrive Washington series was released yesterday. Consolidation versus Specialization looks at ways to restructure the executive branch. It makes these recommendations: Reduce the number of statewide elected officials from nine to six. (Specifically, have the governor appoint the state insurance commissioner and the lands commissioner and eliminate the elected office […]
February 25 , 2011 - Emily Makings
Supplementing Some More
A week ago, Gov. Gregoire signed the fourth 2009-11 supplemental budget into law. Our policy brief on what’s included is available here. Taking into account the governor’s vetoes, the supplemental reduces the remaining NGFS shortfall by $361 million. Unfortunately, four rounds and cumulative spending cuts totaling $1.1 billion later, the 2009-11 budget is still not […]
January 27 , 2011 - Emily Makings
House-passed 2011 Supplemental
On Monday, the House passed a 2011 supplemental bill that reduces the NGFS shortfall by $346 million. (The vote on final passage was 55-43.) Our brief on the bill is available here. Unfortunately, although it does make significant spending cuts, the bill does not fully address the shortfall–some $160 million remains. In the brief, we […]
January 20 , 2011 - Emily Makings
How to Contain Health Care Spending
Yesterday the latest paper in the Thrive Washington series was released: Containing State Health Care Spending While Improving Outcomes. This was a timely release, given the vote yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal federal health care reform and the major cuts in health spending that are being contemplated in the Washington legislature. […]