Cap-and-Trade Could Cost Washington as Many as 18,292 Net Jobs, $5.7 Billion in Personal Income
Seattle — Specific proposals that several Western states would implement to comply with a proposed cap-and-trade carbon emissions control pact would destroy jobs and erode income, according to a report co-released by a national economics institute and the Washington Policy Center.
Tax Increases Will Cost Even More Washingtonians Their Jobs
Olympia – Today Washington Policy Center (WPC) is running a full-page ad in The Olympian warning lawmakers about the impact of tax increases. The ad uses information from Washington Research Council’s new study, “The Economic Impact of Hiking Taxes to Close the Budget Gap.”
“As legislators wrestle with the state budget shortfall, it’s important that they recognize the effects of tax hikes on job preservation and creation,” says Dr. Kriss Sjoblom, VP for Research and Economist with the Washington Research Council.
State Increases Workers’ Comp Rates by 7.6% during One of Nation’s Worst Economic Downturns
Olympia - Today the Department of Labor and Industries announced a 7.6 percent increase in workers’ comp system premiums for calendar year 2010, which will result in a $117 million cost increase for businesses. This marks the third year in a row premiums have increased and it is the largest increase since 2003 when state officials raised the rate 29 percent.
Mandated Living Wages: A Short-Sighted Effort to Help the Working Poor
Seattle – Washington Policy Center has released “A National Movement Hits Close to Home: The Living Wage Proposal Comes to Washington State.” The report outlines the living wage proposal that proponents introduced in the city of Spokane in 2006 and gathered signatures to place on the ballot in 2007, but came up short.