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Category: The economy

Revenue update: `Flat is the new up’

Revenue update: `Flat is the new up’

A new Washington revenue forecast was what passes for good news at the beleaguered state Capitol: at least things didn’t get worse. Lawmakers and the new governor still have a potential budget gap of several billion dollars, including court-mandated K-12 funding. Some old Olympia hands had expected a sizable new drop in expected revenue for the next 27 months, perhaps in the $200 million range, but the number from chief economist Steve Lerch was up $40 million. The forecast for…

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WA lawmakers & new gov gird for grueling session

WA lawmakers & new gov gird for grueling session

Washington lawmakers and incoming Gov. Jay Inslee are arriving in Olympia for a grueling budget-year legislative session that begins at high noon on Monday. The 63rd Legislature and the newly elected governor face a big budget shortfall — perhaps $2 billion, counting pay raises, rising cost of services for a growing and graying population and a state Supreme Court order to invest more in the state’s public schools.  Democrat Inslee and a number of legislators say they will try to…

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Tacoma World Trade Center honors Reed

Tacoma World Trade Center honors Reed

(Secretary of State Reed stands with former Secretary of State Munro (left) and WTC Tacoma President/CEO Anthony Hemstad after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award.) The World Trade Center Tacoma has honored Secretary of State Sam Reed for his long years of work on behalf of international trade and tourism to benefit the nation’s most trade-dependent state. The center, a fast-growing member of the international network of trade centers, gave Reed its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.   The 19th Annual Globe…

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Senate Ds’ budget: No education cuts or sales tax hike

Senate Ds’ budget: No education cuts or sales tax hike

Majority Senate Democrats have unveiled a proposed budget that deals with a billion-dollar budget gap without cutting K-12 or higher education, or relying on a voter-approved sales tax hike. Their plan involves deferring a school support payment into the next biennium, saving $330 million; cutting spending by $356 million; adopting $31 million in new revenue; shifting $71 million in solid waste tax revenue to the General Fund from the construction budget; and capturing about $150 million in agency savings and…

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House D budget: Cuts, delays, but no sales tax hike

House D budget: Cuts, delays, but no sales tax hike

Majority House Democrats launched the endgame of the election-year 2012 legislative session Tuesday, unveiling their plan to close a billion-dollar budget gap. They propose doing this by shifting $405 million in K-12 payments into the next biennium; creating a few new taxes; shedding some revenue-sharing with local government; and cutting higher education, social and health services, inmate supervision, parks, State Archives and other programs. The proposal includes some new revenue, including $18 million from a new tax on mortgage bankers…

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Suddenly, some rosy economic news for WA

Suddenly, some rosy economic news for WA

Light at the end of the tunnel: Washington economists are projecting a $96 million increase in the state’s revenue. Coupled with news that state government will save $330 million in lower caseload costs and that House Republicans will support closing a banking tax loophole, it could mean lawmakers can avoid calling a special election to ask voters to boost the state sales tax a half-cent for the next three years. It also makes it more likely that the Legislature will…

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Lawmakers kick off election-year session

Lawmakers kick off election-year session

Washington lawmakers are back at work, confronting a $1.5 billion budget gap, the possibility of a tax referendum, and a number of touchy social issues, including gay marriage, marijuana, and abortion — all within the context of 2012 being the first election since redistricting. The session got off to a very quiet start at noon Monday, with few speeches and few protesters outside.  That was in marked contrast to the noisy reception lawmakers got when Occupy Olympia and thousands of…

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Special session adjourns after trimming budget $480m

Special session adjourns after trimming budget $480m

Washington lawmakers have adjourned their unprecedented 17-day November-December emergency session designed to start trimming the state budget to size. But they won’t be gone for long.  The regular 2012 session, supposedly limited to 60 days, is just around the corner — Jan. 9. The Democratic-controlled Legislature didn’t do the complete $2 billion budget-and-tax deal that Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire had strongly recommended when she called the session.  They gave strong bipartisan agreement to a plan, House Bill 2058, that begins…

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New Elway Poll shows majority support for tax hike

New Elway Poll shows majority support for tax hike

A new statewide Elway Poll by independent pollster Stuart Elway shows nearly two-thirds of Washington voters are “certainly” or “probably” willing to support Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal for a three-year boost of the state sales tax by a half-cent on the dollar. Elway said polling done last week with 408 randomly selected Washington voters across the state showed that voters want lawmakers to cut spending, but that new revenue will also need to be part of the solution. In his…

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Gregoire proposes sales tax hike, budget cuts

Gregoire proposes sales tax hike, budget cuts

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a $2 billion all-cuts rewrite of the ailing state budget, along with a plan to ask the voters to OK a three-year state sales tax hike of a half-cent to head off some of the cuts. The Democratic governor said the Legislature already has slashed the state budget by $10 billion in the past three years, “shredding” the state safety net and whacking K-12, higher education and other areas.  She said her latest list of…

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