Open Government
WPC's Center for Government Reform's mission is to partner with stakeholders and citizens to work toward a government focused on its core functions while improving its transparency, accountability, performance, and effectiveness for taxpayers.
What's New
Social Security: A Tale of Two Problems
Pedro Celis, Policy Analyst
, June, 2005Those with a vested interest in the current setup of the Social Security system are holding to the strategy of, "Confusion is the best defense."
But our Social Security crisis can be best understood by ignoring all the confusing "fixes" and focusing on the two distinct problems at its core.
Relying on Sin Taxes Reveals the Contradictions in the State Budget
John Barnes, Policy Analyst
, June, 2005Five hundred years ago Martin Luther said that if you are going to sin, sin boldly. For the sake of the state budget, the governor and lawmakers who voted for recent "sin" tax increases are quietly hoping that is just what Washingtonians will do.
Structural Reforms Needed to Avoid Tax Increases
We now have three very similar budgets working their way through the legislature, none of which offer structural budget reforms that will avoid tax increases. While their tax-increase proposals differ, the Governor, House and Senate budget plans are in firm agreement about one thing: Washingtonians are not paying enough in taxes.
Gregoire Budget Contains Necessary Spending Cuts; Unnecessary Tax Increases
Governor Gregoire's 2005-07 proposed budget contains new tax increases and will target thousands of families that provide a nest egg to pass on to their children even though the state's revenue is projected to increase by 7%, or $1.7 billion, next year.
DOT Should Adopt Reforms and Efficiencies Before We Give It More Gas Tax Dollars
Paul Guppy, Vice President for Research
, March, 2005A bipartisan proposal to add new gas taxes was recently introduced in the state Senate. The package is slated to raise $9.1 billion over 16 years. If passed, the state portion of the tax would rise three cents a gallon this year, two cents next year and one cent more every year for the following ten years, for a total increase of 15 cents.
Overextended Government, Not Lack of Revenue, is the Reason for State's Structural Budget Deficits
Paul Guppy, Vice President for Research
, March, 2005Every other year about this time we hear from elected leaders in Olympia about the condition of state spending. That's because the legislature is in the throes of putting together a new budget. And as we have come to expect, with long faces and strained voices public leaders grimly tell us the state is again short on money – citizens are simply not paying enough in taxes to cover every item in the budget. The solution, we are told, is to add new taxes on top of the rising revenues already coming into the state treasury.
Cigarette Tax Doesn't Live up to Its Promise
Carl Gipson, Director, Center for Small Business
, March, 2005A trend has become apparent over the past several years. As state governments impose higher tobacco taxes on cigarettes, the resulting revenue streams have grossly underperformed expectations. Such is the case for Washington and raising tobacco taxes even higher could exacerbate the situation.
Health Savings Accounts Can Help Solve Olympia's Budget Mess
Paul Guppy, Vice President for Research
, February, 2005State legislators meeting in Olympia are, once again, wrestling with a budget "deficit." I put the word in quotation marks because only in the topsy-turvy world of politics does a $1.3 billion increase in revenue result in a budget shortfall. The amount of tax money now flowing into the state treasury is more than 7% higher than at this time last year, a rate of revenue increase more than double the rate of inflation. Yet state elected leaders plan to boost public spending at an even faster pace, resulting in an estimated $2.2 billion "deficit."
Budget, Business Climate Recommendations Released in Tri-Cities
Washington Policy Center, the state's premier independent non-profit public policy research and education organization, will release its first book-length publication, Agenda 2005: The Guide to Public Policy Issues in Washington State, to Tri-Cities media on Wednesday, February 16th at 10 a.m. at the Tri-City Area Chamber of Commerce.
New Research Shows Voter-Passed Property Tax Limitation is Working
Paul Guppy, Vice President for Research
, January, 2005In recent years Washington voters have approved three popular measures to ease the growth of the property tax burden state and local governments places on their citizens. Referendum 47 passed in November 1997 with 64% of the vote, Initiative 722 passed November 2000 with 56% of the vote (and later invalidated by Judge Christine Pomeroy), and Initiative 747 passed in November 2001 by a 58% margin.