2009 May « Washington Policy Watch

May 26, 2009 • 1:36 pm 0

Gregoire gets Paul Bunyan on early learning

Enough with the stale scalpel and hatchet metaphors. Governor Gregoire brought out the heavy machinery last week when she axed early learning out of this year’s basic education reform bill.

Those of us who were waiting in the wings of the Governor’s office ready to celebrate the historic inclusion of early learning in basic education had our legs cut out from under us when we learned just moments before the bill signing of the eleventh-hour veto. Sadly, not even the legislative champions of early learning in basic ed had been told beforehand.

In her signing/veto statement, Governor Gregoire stated that the reason for her veto was that any basic education program of early learning should be available for all children, and not just limited to “at-risk” 3-and 4-year olds. Her objective is commendable and I wholeheartedly agree that quality early learning should be broadly available to all children. However, the Governor’s methodology is both short-sighted and blind to the political realities of the day.

Typically, when children start behind they stay behind. The achievement gap starts long before children take that first step into the kindergarten or first grade classroom. While quality early learning opportunities cannot completely erase the barriers and challenges faced by low-income children, they can go a long way towards shrinking the disparities and giving more children a fair and strong start in school. No redefinition of basic education or new robust school funding model will have more of an impact on the long-term outcomes for children than early learning.

It took over 18 months of hard work on the part of legislative champions, advocates, and allies to even get early learning on the table for consideration, let alone passed by the legislature with bi-partisan support. The Governor’s action on this legislation has set the work back for children in Washington – but it has not dampened our spirit nor our commitment.

We all need to let the Governor know that early learning is a public policy priority. And we could use your help. If you want to weigh in with Governor about her decision and tell her how important early learning is to you, you might want to sign on to the new Children’s Alliance petition.

Filed under: early learning, education, children, family, income, inequality, kindergarten, middle class, pre-kindergarten, preschool, public policy, school, washington state

May 19, 2009 • 9:52 am 0

Revolutionaries in ties applaud state income tax ideas

Observations in political leadership from guest blogger Matt Loschen:

There I sat, listening to a speech that some would argue only gets delivered by radicals or rubes.

He said that in some ways we followed Rahm Emanuel’s advice and “didn’t let the crisis go to waste” this session (when it came to transportation). But he said the legislature blew it when it came to tax reform. He said we needed to ditch the current system and quit screwing the little guy. He said we should start taxing the wealthy to pay for healthcare and education, third rail be damned. He said that we had to stop hiding behind lame excuses, and get the job done. Most of his cohorts in the room nodded and applauded enthusiastically.

All except the woman seated next to him, who remained oddly silent.

Nope, not another Drinking Liberally meeting or a clutch of campus radicals. This was Sen. Ed Murray speaking at the Washington State Democrats Business Luncheon, held May 13th in that pinko enclave, the Washington Athletic Club. Eating our excellent lunches were revolutionaries in ties, from Boeing, Microsoft, etc. — none of whom appeared to be making a dash for the border to protect their wealth. On the contrary, they seemed to get the necessity of tax reform, and appreciated someone with the decisiveness to pull it off.

Then Sen Murray introduced Governor Gregoire.

Filed under: early learning, education, health care, state economy, tax and budget, budget, economy, health, health care, middle class, public policy, revenue, school, taxes, washington state

May 18, 2009 • 2:49 pm 0

National paid sick days legislation off and running. Plus: Mapping economic stress, looking for state revenue fixes, college brains drain to Canada, and women’s retirement insecurity

In the news:

National legislation to guarantee American workers paid sick days was introduced today by Congressional Democrats.

The Associated Press has a spiffy — and let’s face it, a little bit depressing — interactive map of economic stress based on foreclosure, bankruptcy and unemployment data for every county in the U.S.

Schumdget continues its ongoing series on Washington’s budget crisis with a look at how a projected $1.2 billion revenue shortfall quadrupled in six months.

Voters in California are considering a complicated ballot proposition to cap state spending, but the L.A. Times reports such policies are no silver bullet.

As tuition costs rise south of the 49th parallel, some families are looking north to Canadian universities.

Women workers are less likely than men to have enough money to retire comfortably because they generally live longer than men and earn less on the job, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security. That risk can be reduced with the combination of a traditional pension, supplemental 401(k)-type individual savings, and Social Security.

Filed under: education, retirement security, state economy, tax and budget, work and family, budget, california, deficit, economy, family, paid sick days, pension, politics, public policy, retirement, revenue, social security, taxes, united states, washington state, women, work

May 18, 2009 • 12:32 pm 0

Does an income tax mean more millionaires will move in?

Whenever the idea of a state income tax is brought up in Washington, you’ll often hear some variation on this theme: “Watch out, the rich will leave if you raise taxes!” The latest iteration is Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore’s column in today’s Wall Street Journal. The authors cite New Jersey, among other states, as emblematic of this problem — but they’ve overlooked a small detail shown in this little study from Princeton:

New Jersey’s net domestic out‐migration is primarily occurring at the bottom end of the income distribution level. Below the state’s median family income, there is a net loss of 26 people for every 100 out‐migrants. However, above New Jersey’s median income, there is a net gain of 5 people per 100 out‐migrants.

We note that in spite of net out‐migration, the number of half‐millionaires in New Jersey has increased sharply in recent years, from 26,000 in 2002 to 44,000 in 2006 (a 70% increase). Income growth among high earners has led to a tremendous increase in the number of people who fall into the half‐millionaire tax bracket. Using New Jersey tax records, we estimate that the new half‐millionaire tax rate has generated an average of $895 million per year in tax revenues, rising from $739 million in 2004 to over $1 billion in 2006.

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Filed under: health care, state economy, tax and budget, budget, business, economy, health, health care, income, inequality, middle class, ohio, poverty, public policy, revenue, school, taxes, united states, washington state

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