Blog
Mobility and equity – the gap between policy and reality
In recent years “equity”, though not always clearly defined, has become a major public policy objective. For example, Sound Transit has adopted a policy calling for “Fairness in process, distribution of resources, opportunity…
Gov. Ferguson Signs Income Tax
Statement on Gov. Signing the Income TaxRyan Frost, WPC Director of Budget and Tax Policy:Governor Ferguson signed Washington's first income tax today. He has enacted the largest tax increase in state history and a…
Some worker rights get a poster, others get fine print
When I researched House Bill 2355 — which creates new rules for hiring domestic workers in private homes — I was struck by a line in the fiscal note. It said that $33,500 was needed in fiscal year 2027 to revise, translate…
New York Still Hasn’t Learned from its Covid Mistakes
Today marks the sixth anniversary of a fateful moment in New York’s coronavirus pandemic: the Cuomo administration’s order sending Covid-infected patients into nursing homes. Of the thousands of seat-of-the-moment judgment…
NH ranks first in taxpayer ROI for 11th straight year
New Hampshire ranked No. 1 in taxpayer return on investment (ROI) for the 11th year in a row, according to financial services website WalletHub. “New Hampshire is the state with the best taxpayer return on investment, which…
Massachusetts lost 145,000 residents to New Hampshire over the last 20 years
Massachusetts lost an estimated 145,000 residents to New Hampshire over the last 20 years, a Josiah Bartlett Center analysis of U.S. Census migration data shows. For scale, that number of people living in one place would be…
California’s $20 fast food minimum wage creates less jobs and lower income – Washington lawmakers foolishly still think it will work here
California’s experiment with a $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers is delivering exactly the outcomes we at the Washington Policy Center (WPC) predicted nearly three years ago.A new University of California, Santa…
The Legislature Has Committed $2.4 Billion to Recurring Pension Increases since 2018
The legislature has granted Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) Plan 1 and Teachers Retirement System (TRS) Plan 1 retirees a “one-time” cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) six times in the past eight years. Combined, these…
Washington state lawmakers are getting it right on hiring qualifications
“It’s not often that we come before you asking you all to limit our agency’s ability to do something, but here we are,” said a director for Washington state’s Office of Financial Management (OFM), Sheri Sawyer. The agency is…
State is rightly emphasizing experience and skills, not degrees
“It’s not often that we come before you asking you all to limit our agency’s ability to do something, but here we are,” said a director for Washington state’s Office of Financial Management (OFM), Sheri Sawyer. The agency is…
TRENDING
