Category Archives: Washington State

Gas tax would aid economy, fund state programs

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Published in The News Tribune, October 9, 2011

After what now seems like a thankfully long respite – four months was it? – state budget cuts are once again on the table.  And it’s the same old story.

The state’s chief economist Arun Raha once again erred on the side of optimism.  In truth, it’s more accurate to say that he was not pessimistic enough – no one dares be optimistic these days.  At any rate, the state budget is once again short — this time it is predicted to have $1.4 billion fewer revenues than when Raha last peered into his crystal ball. So back to the drawing board.  Back to negotiating more budget cuts. Continue reading →

Strike has been resolved, but many problems remain

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Published in The News Tribune, September 25, 2011

If you’re of a certain age, you’ll probably recall the cult film The Endless Summer.   We seemed to be living through our own version of that movie the last few weeks.  Summer ends when kids are back in school, and like the perfect wave in that movie, our waiting never seems to end.

It’s hard to think of a better example than a teacher’s strike of an event where everyone loses.  The only way the public can “win” is if the strike provides some lessons about the shortcomings of our school system.  I can think of three. Continue reading →

Task for new UW President: Make college affordable

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Published in The News Tribune, July 8, 2011

The University of Washington has made an interesting choice for its new President.  Michael Young, who this week took over UW’s realm, does not seem to fit the liberal reputation of this institution.  But let’s hope he proves successful in addressing the conservative features of the University.  Such conservatism marks most of the nation’s public colleges and universities, and poses one of higher education’s largest challenges.

Some background is needed to understand this.  Let’s take what is fast becoming one of the most challenging issues in higher education:  providing an affordable education for the state’s students. Continue reading →

Unions not to blame for problems with pension mess

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Published in The News Tribune, April 15, 2011

Paying public employee pensions is costly, and will become more so. So we
better learn the right lesson.

In this state, two public pension programs are running out of money.  Unless
it changes current contracts, the state will have to significantly dip into
the general fund to meet its obligations.

The recent House budget addresses this problem by reducing future payouts to
retired workers. Yet even if approved, the changes still leave the two
programs billions of dollars short over the coming years. Continue reading →

State revenue picture is better than you might think

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Published in The News Tribune December 2, 2010

Despite front page doom and gloom on the state budget front, my column last week argued that things aren’t quite so bad.  Sure in the weeks ahead, we’ll suffer more budget cuts as the projected revenue for the rest of the fiscal year is once again falling short of what was previously forecast. .

But looking ahead, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) is forecasting record revenue for the next biennium – a full 16 percent above revenue expected this biennium.   By comparison with these last two years, the next biennium sounds like a piece of cake.  Perhaps with the exception of Tacoma’s City Manager, who among us wouldn’t  leap for joy if told that our income was going up 16 percent? Continue reading →

I-1098 neither targets nor discourages innovation

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Published in The News Tribune October 27, 2010

It’s the Innovation Era!  Creativity and ideas are what drive economic growth these days, not strong backs and the luck of geography.

So we should be especially interested in knowing what promotes “innovation” — and conversely what inhibits it.  If you listen to many opponents of the state’s income tax initiative (I-1098), an income tax on the wealthiest Washingtonians will do the latter.   

 “I-1098 would significantly harm the state’s ability to attract new businesses” is a common complaint.  Another critic writes that I-1098 harms firms “at the heart of the ‘innovation economy’”.

There may be good reasons for opposing I-1098, but that it will stifle innovation is not one of them. Continue reading →

New education standards key to improving schools

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Published in The News Tribune August 27, 2010

As a new school year rolls around, there is reason to be optimistic that our educational system might finally be headed in the right direction.

Let’s start first with the bad news, best summarized by a couple of statistics.  According to the federal government, among Washington’s 8th grade low income black students, only 8 percent have achieved 8th grade math proficiency.  Among the state’s nonpoor white students, about half meet this standard.

These statistics point to the two persistent problems facing both Washington and the nation:  the low overall quality of education received by students, and the “achievement gap” – differences in the quality received based on socioeconomic class. Continue reading →

Ballot measure gives us chance to fix budget for good

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Published in The News Tribune August 15, 2010

Should we be upset that Congress has just promised Washington an extra $526 million?  Not I nor, I think, will others whose kids go to our public schools, who use Medicaid for health insurance or have a parent in a nursing home, or who otherwise support the wide range of services the state provides:  This money will help assure their continuation.

According to Richard Davis, however, we would be better off without this additional federal dollars (“We missed a chance to really fix the state budget”, TNT 8/11).  Basically, Davis believes this windfall has allowed elected officials to temporarily avoid the hard choices ahead. Continue reading →

In economic terms, raising taxes better than budget cuts”

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Published in The News Tribune, March 9, 2010

Peter Callaghan noted in his column (“Instead of guessing, we could ask our economist about tax increases”, 2/21/10) that elected officials in Olympia are throwing out dueling claims over the effect new state taxes will have on the economy.  He asks “Would it cripple a halting economic recovery? Would deeper budget cuts do the same?”

The truth is, neither cuts in public spending nor tax increases are ideal in a recession as both reduce demand for goods and services (and hence employment) in the economy. However unlike the federal government – which can rely on deficit spending during recessions – the state government must choose cuts, new taxes, or a combination of both.  Given this choice, deeper cuts in spending on investments to education, health care and infrastructure improvements would be the worst option. Continue reading →