News and perspective on public policy issues affecting Washington's economy and quality of life, brought to you by the Economic Opportunity Institute.
02/14/12 4:08 p.m. Updated to clarify the distinction between the state “general fund” and “operating budget”. Yesterday’s post illustrated how to get comparable state budget numbers by accounting for inflation and population growth. Today I’ll look at three other ways we can put state spending in context. The first is to compare the general fund […]
Washington state grabbed headlines this year with a minimum wage of $9.04/hour, thanks to a voter-approved automatic cost-of-living adjustment enacted in 1998. In 32 other states, the federal minimum – just $7.25/hour – applies.* But if it were adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the federal minimum would be $9.16 today. For […]
Excerpted from Washington State Budget 101: Most states have an income tax that makes their tax system more equitable across all incomes and better ensures public revenues keep up with population and economic growth. That means other states have been able to invest in their people and public structures, while Washington has fallen behind. Washington’s […]
