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Washington Policy Blog

Another school district signs up to become a charter school authorizer

April 15, 2013 in Blog

Education officials at the Yakima School District have signed the district up to become an authorizer of charter schools, making a total 13 districts, up from the 12 districts I reported on April 2. The State Board of Education has updated its website to include the Yakima School District.

Paul Krugman: There is “No Correlation” Between Regulations and Jobs

April 12, 2013 in Blog

Earlier this week liberal economist Paul Krugman declared there is “no correlation” between government regulations and job creation.   When pressed on the issue and encouraged to ask actual business owners how government regulations impact them, Krugman dismissed such claims, saying, “I have talked to them [business owners], that's not what they say.”

Governor Inslee confirms his support for A–F grades for schools

April 10, 2013 in Blog

Readers of this blog know Washington Policy Center recommends creating A–F letter grades for school performance in Washington, as eleven other states do, to inform parents and the community how their local school is doing. Yesterday, Seattle Times reporter Brian Rosenthal, who has stayed on top of the issue, wrote that Governor Inslee confirmed his support for letter grades for schools.

House budget will require supermajority vote for approval

April 10, 2013 in Blog

Place this in your irony file, after fighting to have the voter-approved supermajority vote requirement for tax increases ruled unconstitutional, the budget proposed today by House Democrats will require a supermajority vote for approval.

Update on Health Insurance Mandates

April 10, 2013 in Blog

Benefit and provider mandates in health insurance plans drive up the cost of health insurance. Each state, through either statute or regulatory action, controls the number and type of mandates required in plans sold in that state. Not all mandates are created equal, however. Some add less than one percent to the overall cost of the plan, whereas others such as mental health parity can add 10 percent to the cost. On average, each mandate adds 0.5 to 2.5 percent to the overall price of the insurance plan.

House budget on deck

April 9, 2013 in Blog

Last Friday night the Senate approved its operating budget with a bipartisan 30-18 vote. The House is expected to release its counter proposal on Wednesday. As with most budgets there are good and bad components of the Senate plan.

OFM highlights concern with use of dedicated performance audit funds

April 5, 2013 in Blog

With the Senate about to take action on its 2013-15 budget proposal, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) is weighing in. OFM said this about the proposed use of dedicated I-900 performance audit funds:

USA Today reports on charter school benefits

April 5, 2013 in Blog

USA Today published an editorial Monday about new research showing students attending high-quality charter schools, like KIPP, learn better than similar students in conventional public schools. USA Today says Mathematica Policy Research reports that at KIPP charter schools:

Rewarding excellence in the schools: SB 5901

April 4, 2013 in Blog

Breaking news: Reform-minded Senator Litzow (R-Mercer Island) and Senator Tom (D-Bellevue) just introduced a bill to reward excellence in the schools. It is SB 5901, available here. I am reading through it now. Here is what the bill does that jumps out at me:

PubliCola takes umbrage at Washington Policy Center over union’s sub-minimum wage

April 4, 2013 in Blog

Erica C. Barnett over at PubliCola takes umbrage at my pointing out that the national AFL-CIO wants to pay its interns less than Washington’s minimum wage, calling my comments “feigned outrage.”

Senate budget studies

April 4, 2013 in Blog

Having finished reading the 237 page budget summary I'm now digging in to the actual 401 page bill language. At the pace I'm going I'll be reading the Senate "approved" versus "proposed" budget. Despite being only a few pages in some very interesting studies proposed for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC).

Among them:

48 Hours After Governor's Climate Legislation Is Signed, Another Attempt to Ignore It

April 4, 2013 in Blog

With great fanfare on Tuesday, the Governor signed his climate legislation, designed to prioritize the best ways to reduce carbon emissions by 2020. The event, moderated by the Washington Environmental Council, promised a new approach to climate policy.

Just two days after its signature, however, a new bill attempts to sidestep the promise of that approach.

Senate 2013-15 budget released

April 3, 2013 in Blog

The Senate Majority Coalition released its $33.2 billion 2013-15 blueprint for the state today at a noon press conference with Republican and Democrat budget writers speaking. Joining GOP Sen. Hill and Sen. Parlette were Democrat Sen. Hargrove and Sen. Nelson. As tweeted by Tacoma News Tribune Columnist Peter Callaghan:

Union pays less than minimum wage

April 3, 2013 in Blog

Although many Democrats and Republicans support Rep. Gary Condotta’s training wage bill (HB 1150) our state’s powerful unions strongly oppose giving young workers access to job opportunities through a temporary training wage.