Special Report: Using Tax Policy to Promote Economic Vitality
Our latest Special Report, “Using Tax Policy to Promote Economic Vitality,” offers a comprehensive look at Washington’s system of business taxes and tax preferences. You can read the report here. Too often, tax preferences are portrayed simply as “breaks” that give certain industries and/or companies special (possibly unfair) treatment. But as our report shows, these preferences play a […]
25th of May 2016
Job openings, some worker shortages expected in aerospace industry
An article in today's Puget Sound Business Journal brought our attention to a new "Talent Pipeline Study for Aerospace" published by the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County. It's full of fascinating data on employment in the aerospace industry through 2023. Some highlights: While "overall employment within the aerospace industry will decline by 0.8% annually from 2013 […]
7th of October 2015
Washington scores good – not great – on new "Opportunity Index"
Our friends at Opportunity Washington are out today with a brand-new assessment – called the “Opportunity Index” – of how Washington stacks up against the rest of the country on education, transportation and economic vitality. In partnership with the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable, the Research Council conducted a data-driven analysis of performance of all 50 states […]
11th of September 2015
Global health's impact on state economy
The Washington Global Health Alliance (WGHA) is out with a new “Landscape Study” on the economic impact of Washington-based global health alliances. From the executive summary: “Washington’s global health sector accounts for a growing portion of the state’s total economic activity. Global health organizations in Washington state directly accounted for $5.8 billion in output in 2013, […]
19th of August 2015
Improving education, strengthening the economy
Opportunity Washington recently pointed out fascinating research (summarized here) which indicates: “that national average student performance at age 15 on an internationally standardized mathematics test is predictive of that nation’s future economic growth.” It’s yet more proof that a good education is not only empowering and life-changing for individual students, but for entire nations as well. It raises […]
28th of February 2014
Putting the proposal to tax recycled refinery fuels in context – the exemption makes sense
As we have written, the governor, Senate Democrats and House Democrats have all proposed new or increased taxes (generally characterized as repealing preferences) to fund education. The House and Senate Democratic plans propose …applying the sales tax to bottled water, ending the sales tax exemption for out-of-state residents, taxing recycled fuel (“extracted” or “hog fuel”) […]
6th of September 2011
WRC economist named to state debt commission
Kriss Sjoblom, WRC vice president and economist, will serve on the new state debt commission established by SB 5181. Here’s how the bill report describes the commission’s activity. A commission is established to examine the use of debt in Washington State and make recommendations on debt policy and debt limitations. Commission members include the State […]