The economic shutdown and transportation revenue
Prior to its defeat via a State Supreme Court decision, Initiative 976 would have reduced Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) revenue by $421...
Existing sales tax revenue sufficient for Metro bus service
If Seattle voters want to preserve bus service and believe a sales tax hike is needed to do that, they should take a moment...
I-976 struck down as panel mulls new transportation taxes
The release of the Washington State Supreme Court decision striking down Initiative 976 that was approved by voters last November seems appropriately timed –...
Unemployment tax hike will harm already struggling businesses
After a year of historic layoffs and unemployment claims that threatened to bankrupt the state Unemployment Trust Fund, businesses that managed to survive could...
Will future RUC revenue be protected?
The Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) for eight years has studied the concept of a road usage charge (RUC) in which drivers pay a...
“Uphill” battle remains for single-payer healthcare work
For more than a year a state work group has explored the idea of a universal healthcare system in Washington state with forthcoming recommendations...
Analyst says healthcare system “at crossroads”
Within the debate over healthcare reform in the U.S. are conflicting philosophies regarding how the system should operate and who ultimately should make health...
Washington’s budget woes
State lawmakers since May have been calling for a special session to address a significant operating budget revenue shortfall for the current biennium. Framing...
The politics of transportation revenue
The Statewide Transportation Needs Assessment Advisory Panel is looking at potential new taxes or fees to aid an underfunded system throughout Washington state, and...
Seattle’s spending priorities matter to businesses large and small
The Seattle City Council last month passed a new payroll tax intended to help plug shortfalls in the city budget, and there’s a strong...
New legal precedent set for public pension policy
The Washington Pension Funding Council recently voted to maintain a 7.5 percent assumed rate of growth for pension investments to ease financial pressure on...
Trucking’s future role in RUC program
Although the trucking industry isn’t included in Washington state’s ongoing exploration of a road usage charge (RUC) program as an eventual replacement for the...
Pension council rejects lower growth assumptions
The Pension Funding Council voted 4-2 at its July 29 meeting to keep a 7.5 percent assumed rate of growth for investments a week...
Unfunded liability drops as committee recommends lower pension rates
The state Select Committee on Pension Policy has voted to lower the assumed rate of return for the state’s public pension investments from 7.5...
Seattle City Council approves new payroll tax
Just over two years after passing and repealing a job tax ordinance, the Seattle City Council voted at a July 6 meeting in favor...
High court to decide I-976 fate
The state Supreme Court will decide the fate of Initiative 976 sponsored by Tim Eyman, following oral arguments at a June 30 hearing and...
Work group to develop health system recommendations
A state Universal Health Care Work Group formed last year is working on recommendations to the state legislature regarding a universal, or single-payer, health...
New taxes under consideration for state transportation
Prior to the state-ordered shutdown due to COVID-19 and the passage of Initiative 976, the state transportation infrastructure was already suffering from a significant...
State faces $4.5 billion budget shortfall
The latest revenue forecast released by the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) revealed what most state officials and legislators already expected: a...
Sound Transit faces massive revenue hit
One of the major objections raised by Sound Transit advocates against a recent legislative proposal to reduce the ST3 motor vehicle excise tax by...
Shutdown raises concerns over government power
A Chelan County Superior Court judge this week ruled that a lawsuit against Governor Jay Inslee’s stay home order can move forward. The use...
Economic forecast released; officials urge special session
A new update from the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) offered little surprise as to an economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19...
Court overturns state bank tax
A King County Superior Court judge has ruled a 2019 state bank tax unconstitutional for violating federal law after it was initially upheld regarding...
Small biz “barely hanging on”
Days after reopening the construction industry, Governor Jay Inslee announced that some outdoor recreation on state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) land will also...
Business, labor strongly oppose Seattle job tax
As the Seattle City Council continues discussions on a proposed new job tax, regional businesses and labor representatives have responded with a letter to Mayor...
Inslee may reopen construction, other activity
Governor Jay Inslee announced in an April 21 address to the state that his March 18 “shelter-in-place” order will extend beyond May 4, though certain activities...
Washington’s “economic refugees” caution against new taxes
With the Washington State Supreme Court unwilling to reexamine its long-standing position that a graduated income tax is illegal, some local and state elected...
New normal is time to recalibrate rainy day fund
Sucker punched and mugged by a tiny little virus.
In every reasonable sense of what it means to be actively aware, we did not see...
Real estate tax revenue up amid decreased activity, COVID-19 response
Despite decreased real estate activity and social distancing restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the state collected millions more in real estate excise...
Seattle job tax 2.0: “Punitive tax policy”
Two years after approving and then quickly repealing a $275-per-employee job tax to fund homelessness programs, the Seattle City Council at its April 6...
Inslee reduces operating budget spending increase
Governor Jay Inslee signed the 2020 supplemental budget on April 3 after vetoing spending provisions in anticipation of decreased state revenue due to the...
Supreme court refuses to take up Seattle income tax case
The Washington State Supreme Court has announced it will not hear a legal case regarding the city of Seattle’s graduated income tax ordinance previously...
Analyst: Tax relief can help Washington businesses, consumers
The COVID-19 response by the state of Washington has both small and large businesses taking a hit. However, Washington may be relatively well-positioned to...
New lawsuit targets Sound Transit’s MVET
Although the State Supreme Court ruled against plaintiffs in a case protesting ST3’s motor vehicle excise tax (MVET), a new lawsuit filed on March...
2020 legislative session roundup
Washington’s 60-day 2020 legislative session concluded March 12 after state lawmakers approved a supplemental operating budget amid growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak’s long-term...
Aerospace tax bill passes legislature
The state legislature has passed SB 6690, a measure that removes aerospace industry tax incentives in order to avoid possible retaliatory tariffs. The bill...
Plastic bag ban or paper bag tax?
A plastic bag ban proposal that cleared the Senate last year but failed in the House might make it out of the legislature this...
Proposal would incentivize hydropower investments
During the floor debates prior to passage of the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) last year, some legislators called attention to the absence of...
As battle over LCFS continues, stakeholders turn out in force
Stakeholders who oppose a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) proposal turned out in full force to share their perspectives in Olympia during a critical...
Washington’s future in “final frontier” economy
State lawmakers in recent years have monitored the emerging private space economy developing in Washington state, and while previous proposals have struggled to take...
Hefty bank tax stands as judge upholds title-only bills
This legislative session three bills proposing to end the use of title-only legislation failed to clear their original committees prior to the cutoff date....
High court upholds ST3 car tab tax
The Washington State Supreme Court ruled this week in a 7-2 decision that a provision in a 2015 state law authorizing the ST3 motor...
Is a measure of car tab relief on its way?
The Senate Transportation Committee has cleared a bill backed by key Senate Democrat leaders that would alter the way Sound Transit calculates its motor...
Amid warnings of hit to business community, B&O tax clears legislature
The state House voted 52-45 on Feb. 6 in favor of SB 6492 creating a new set of business and occupation (B&O) taxes and...
Pierce County’s ‘Trexit’ from ST3
Pierce County voters in 2016 voted by 55 percent in opposition to the $54 billion ST3 transit and light rail tax package. In November,...
Lawsuit drives I-976 proposals
Three bills introduced in the state Senate would codify into law most of Initiative 976 approved by 53 percent of voters in November. Driving...
Another run at jobs tax
Almost two years after opposing a job tax in Seattle that later was rescinded by the City Council with another local business tax possible,...
B&O tax shuffle gets mixed reviews
The state legislature last year enacted E2SHB 2158, which imposes the business and occupation (B&O) tax surcharge on certain businesses to pay for higher education...
LCFS proposal “destroys our competitiveness”
The state House has voted 52-44 in favor of a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) program via HB 1110; introduced last year and at...
Effort underway to restore previous real estate excise tax rate
The state legislature last year restructured the state real estate excise tax (REET) from a flat 1.28 percent rate to a graduated rate, with...
Bipartisan bill would affirm local income tax ban
The Washington Court of Appeals ruled last year that a 1984 state law prohibiting local governments from imposing income taxes was unconstitutional. Now, a...
