WashACE Publications Container

All publications under the WashACE heading should be put in here.

2002 Competitiveness Report - Will Washington Shrug?

Washington's plunge from prosperity to recession caught many policymakers by surprise - and radically refocused theh competitiveness debate.

Worker's Compensation

Workers’ compensation costs in Washington add to the state’s uncompetitive business climate. Proposed double-digit increases from the state’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) in recent months have fueled frustration with a complicated, but critical area of business costs over which employers in the private, public and non-for-profit sectors have little control. According to Association of Washington Business President, Don Brunell, “every dollar that employers have to pay into the (workers’ compensation) system unnecessarily is a dollar we don’t have, either to keep workers employed or to get employees back to work.”

Shaping Up Health Care

Washington’s Employer-Provided Health Care: Historically High Quality at Relatively Low Costs

Healthcare Mandates Boost Costs

The preponderance of evidence indicates that the buildup of health care mandates has caused insurance premiums to rise. The state should require independent cost-benefit analysis before issuing any new mandates. Similar cost-benefit analysis should be required as part of a sunset review of existing mandated benefits. Finally, the state should permit insurers to issue a basic insurance plan that provides standard coverage, unburdened by costly and unconventional mandates.

Preserve UI Reforms to Preserve Jobs

The 2003 unemployment insurance reform legislation improved the balance in a system that had imposed the nation’s highest employer UI taxes, combining extraordinary benefits with lax enforcement standards. Now, fewer than two years later and before the reforms have taken full effect, reform opponents want to revisit the legislation, contending it went too far. It did not. Now is not the time to retreat from the commitment made in 2003 to a stronger economy and a secure UI program.

A World of Hurt: Medical Costs Squeeze State Budget

The state must control health care costs, which are growing at an unsustainable rate. The state should emulate the private sector and increase the share of costs borne directly by employees. With regard to health care provided to low-income individuals, the state should prioritize services and eliminate those with the least value.

Wallowing in Sin Taxes

Taxes on cigarettes, liquor, beer, wine, soda, candy, gum and gambling are not a sustainable solution to the state’s structural budget gap. Modeling with the WRC/REMI model of the Washington economy indicates that a package of sin taxes generating $783 million in the upcoming biennium would cost the state on the order of 3,000 jobs by 2010.

Tax Increases Would Stifle Fragile Recovery

A strong recovery depends on rekindling growth in critical sectors of the state’s economy that continue to suffer lingering effects of the recession. Any increase in the burden of taxes on these businesses will reduce their likelihood of growing in Washington.

2005 Competitiveness Report - Catching The Tide

Washington has begun to climb out of recession. Progress has not come quickly, for the nation or the state. Employment remains below pre-recession levels. But after the long plateau, the trend lines point toward steady job growth. Unfortunately, the rising tide of recovery has not yet reached all corners of our state. Many employers continue to struggle and many Washingtonians remain unemployed or underemployed. Nonetheless, a stronger national economy has increased demand for goods and services produced here. And our trade-dependent state has benefited from a more robust global marketplace.

National Health Care and Insurance Trends

Part 1 in a two part series on the rise in health care costs.

Restoring the General Fund in 2007

It’s time for the Legislature to consolidate the “near general fund” accounts and restore the integrity of the state general fund.

Infrastructure in Washington: Growth and Change

 

Consolidating Gains in a Transitional Economy

 

Can We Afford Their Retirement?

Washington's retirement systems face nearly $5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities and a large, though yet to be quantified, health care liability.

On the Importance of Being Educated

A brief on the value of education.

Contracting: Unfilled Promise of Personnel reform

The governor and the legislature have yet to fully exploit this tool to reduce costs and improve performance.

Property Tax Bills Before the 2007 Legislature

The legislature is again considering measures to provide property tax relief to homeowners. Funding such relief by shifting the burden onto business would hurt the competitiveness of the state’s economy.

Trends in State Spending

Writing budgets involves making choices, and the choices made implicitly reveal the priorities of budget writers. Based on the spending trends, the highest priorities in recent years have been in human services.

Fasten Your Seatbelts

Even if the state does skirt recession, the mortgage meltdown and its contagion to other markets will have fiscal consequences for the state.

Recent Trends in Health Care Spending

 

Washington Remains Near the Top in Business Tax Burden

The Council on State Taxation recently released its sixth annual report comparing businesses tax burden across the 50 states.

June Reduction to Revenue Forecast Widens 2009-11 Budget Gap

Corrected 6/24/2008