Ross Hunter

Category: Budget

  • Washington State and local taxes drop to lowest level in 50 years

    Washington State and local taxes drop to lowest level in 50 years

    The DOR released this as part of their “Revenue Update” for the month. Washington’s state and local taxes (as a percent of personal income) dropped to their lowest level in 50 years in Fiscal Year 2009, according to new figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Washington taxes dropped to $93.24 per $1,000 personal income…

  • Post-Special Session Newsletter

    Now that the “special” session is over I’ve been motivated to write a newsletter that answers many of the questions I’ve received in email. If you want to print it click here for the PDF version that’s better formatted for your printer (or at least for mine.) As always, it’s an honor and a privilege…

  • Internet Sales Growth Explosive, Compared to In-Store Sales

    The following article was sent to me by the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Governing Board, an organization representing more than half the states that charge sales tax. In it you see the shift to Internet retailing and the consequent loss of sales tax revenue for the state. We are attempting to convince Congress that…

  • Budget “down-payment” will be heard today

    OLYMPIA – A bipartisan plan to take a big bite out of the projected $2 billion state budget shortfall will be heard Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill, sponsored by Chair Ross Hunter, D-Medina, makes $479.7 million in cuts to the 2011-13 budget, which was initially adopted last spring. Since then,…

  • Slow-Motion Default in Wenatchee

    I’m disappointed that the Legislature failed to address the slow-motion financial default in progress in Wenatchee. 7 cities and 2 counties got together and agreed to build an arena in Wenatchee. They used a stream of money from the state plus the expected “operating profits” from the arena to get a construction loan in 2008,…

  • K-12 Funding Proposal – Additional Data

    I am posting CSV versions of the two data tables as several people have requested the data in searchable formats. We are typically careful about doing this as people can manipulate the data in ways that say different things than the original presentation did, and I’m hoping people are careful with it. The proposal will…

  • K-12 Funding Proposal – Local Levy Swap

    I’m stepping outside my role as Ways and Means chairman to put out a personal proposal for comment. The idea described below is a big one, moving around about a billion dollars in property taxes that are used for the support of public schools. I’m giving a speech on this topic Saturday morning at the…

  • WA Budget – Proposed Agency Cuts Explanations

    I used this document in a caucus discussion of the proposed agency cuts and thought it might be interesting to people. It’s a long PDF with a duplicate copy of the spreadsheet referenced in my last budget post. To understand the spreadsheet you need to read the earlier post first. There are 6 pages here…

  • Good Washington Post Op-Ed on Federal Budget

    Rep. Alan Simpson (former GOP senator from Wyoming) and Erskine Bowles (former Clinton budget director) produced a difficult but rational plan for dealing with the pernicious federal budget/debt/economy problem. It’s difficult because it asks people to leave their sacred cows at the door and discuss real problems like adults. An op-ed in the Washington Post…

  • WA State Budget Update – Special Session

    WA State Budget Update – Special Session

    The papers today are reporting that Governor Gregoire is calling us (the legislature) into a special session, most likely in late November after the next revenue forecast. This is a good idea, as doing so will give us about 3 more months of traction on whatever changes we make. As you may have heard, the…