Credit to Erik Smith at Washington State Wire for his report on the revenue impact analysis Special Report we released yesterday.

An initiative that would shutter the state liquor stores would generate huge revenue for state and local governments – an extra half-billion dollars over the first five years alone, according a new report from the Washington Research Council.

Initiative 1183, the liquor-store privatization measure that appears on the November ballot, would generate an additional $443 million for state and local governments between 2012 and 2017, the report says.

I also appreciate this:

It should be noted that the Research Council, a business-oriented think tank, produced its report with support from Costco and its business membership. But the non-partisan organization maintains a 79-year tradition of independence and strict attention to economic modeling.

We work hard to maintain that reputation. As they say, RTWT. Both of them, actually, Smith’s story and our report.