Changing the world, one little kid at a time!
The Tax Foundation, one of my personal favorite conservative tax research organizations, wrote about a new law passed this year by the Legislature. The bill attempts to level the playing field between in-state and out-of-state companies by taxing them the same for business they do inside Washington.
The Tax Foundation objects. They’re wrong.
Continue reading “WA “Economic Nexus” bill dinged by Tax Foundation”
Washington State Legislature
Sen. Rodney Tom, Rep. Ross Hunter and Rep. Deb Eddy
48th Legislative District
CALENDAR ANNOUNCEMENT
Eastside residents invited to May 18 town hall with local legislators
May 5, 2010
State Sen. Rodney Tom (D-Bellevue) and Reps. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) and Deb Eddy (D-Kirkland) invite Eastside residents to a Town Hall on Tuesday, May 18 for a recap of the 2010 legislative session and a look ahead at upcoming work on the 520 project, education reform and more.
Residents are encouraged to come with questions or ideas about other issues of interest.
When: Tuesday, May 18 at 6 p.m.
Where: Bellevue City Hall (450 110th Ave. NE)
For more information, contact Rep. Hunter’s Legislative Assistant Marilyn Pedersen at (425) 453-3064 or pedersen.marilyn@leg.wa.gov.
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Contacts: Sen. Rodney Tom – (360) 786-7694 or tom.rodney@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Ross Hunter – (425) 453-3064 or hunter.ross@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Deb Eddy – (360) 786-7848 or eddy.deb@leg.wa.gov
Media Staff: Jaime Smith – (360) 786-7631 or smith.jaime@leg.wa.gov
I spent the better part of the week in DC. I’m Washington’s representative to the “Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement” Governing Board. This is a group of states working to simplify their sales tax systems to make it easier for national businesses to comply with sales taxes in all the states, not just their home state. It’s a wonky activity that’s intellectually fascinating.
More fascinating though is being in DC and visiting the capital. I spent a day working the Washington State delegation to get them to agree to co-sponsor the bill we’re working on. Visiting “The Hill” is a slice of America. I don’t think you can do what we do in any other country.
Last week WSDOT announced the preferred alternative for the 520 bridge. This is one of the magic steps in the 520 design/contruuction process and is a major milestone. It’s not perfect, but it’s vastly better than no bridge at all. In general I’m pleased with it – we get most of what we wanted.
I’ve attached their press release with some of the major features listed. For lots and lots more information you can visit the website www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/SR520Bridge.
The remaining task is to identify the funding for the last part of it. I would expect that this will include some revenue from tolling the I-90 bridge as we get further into the construction. Tolls on 520 will turn I-90 into a parking lot without a balanced tolling approach. We have to consider the lake crossing as a single corridor. I’m not excited about tolls, but don’t see a way to avoid them as we try to get a new bridge built.
Washington is ahead of many states in implementing aspects of the federal halthcare bill, and will it will require less state money here than it does in other states. One of our policy analysts put together a short summary of the next steps we’ll be going thorugh as we figure out the implications for Washington.
Getting the details right on this will make the difference between a successful implementation and one that doesn’t work and wastes money. I expect to spend a fair amount of time trying to understand the flow of money as we implement this so that we can plan out how it will work carefully. More information can be found after the jump… Continue reading “Federal Healthcare: Impact on Washington”
I sat through a briefing this morning on “Provider One,” the state’s new $200 million Medicaid claims processing software implementation exercise. We expect to go live with the software on May 6th, after 12-18 months of delay rolling the product out. I believe the implementation will mostly work at that point (this is a big improvement over 6 months ago) but that many, many medical providers will not have engaged in the work necessary to get connected to the new way to pay their claims.
For example, only 1100 of 2900 “key” submitters have even started testing their connection. Since it takes 4-5 weeks to get working, lots of people are going to be very frustrated on May 7th when they can’t get paid for Medicaid work they have done. The 1100 represent over 70% of the claims volume, but we will still have a big problem. Just so you have some context, billions and billions of dollars flow through this system annually.
What I expect to happen is that they will submit their claims on paper instead of electronically. Arghhh.
Today about 5% of claims volume is on paper. If this goes up to 10% the cost to the state will be horrendous. Even the 5% we have today cost us a huge amount of staff time scanning the forms, typing numbers into the computer, sending it back and forth and finding something to do with it when it’s processed.
We have to go paperless. This will be painful for some people who file infrequently, but they can get paid faster if they just type the answers into a website instead of onto a paper form. The same thing is true in the Dept. of Revenue. Last year we switched all monthly tax return filers over to electronic submission, and I think we need to move everyone over.
I intend to file legislation next year that will start this process in several key areas. Tax returns, Medicaid payment claims, any other high-volume communication area in the state. I’m open to suggestions.
One of my favorite thinktanks (The Tax Foundation – www.taxfoundation.org) a conservative tax research organization releases an annual report listing “tax freedom day” for each state. This is the day when you’ve finished paying your combined state, federal, and local taxes for the year.
As is usual with soundbite politics the data behind is somewhat interesting. Here’s their map of states:
If you root around in their data you find out that we’re this high because we’re a relatively high income state. Since the federal income tax is progressive, that means we pay more in total taxes than other places.
When you look at state and local taxes the picture is a little different. We’re #15 in their per-capita data, and #35 when you look at state and local taxes as a percentage of personal income.
When you look at their analysis of our “Business Tax Climate Index” we’re #9, and in this case lower numbers are better. A single soundbite is rarely a good way to analyze serious questions, though they’re fun to use.
The Department of Transportation sends out a regular update on what’s going on. Here’s their update from today celebrating the signing of the 520 bill yesterday at Bellevue City Hall.
Eastside improvements can move ahead: Gov. Gregoire and state Legislature allow bridge tolls to be spent in the SR 520 corridor
We’re now a big step closer to building transit/HOV lanes and making major improvements on SR 520 on the Eastside. On Tuesday, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation (ESSB 6392) that allows toll revenue collected on the SR 520 floating bridge to be used for improvements within the SR 520 corridor from I-5 in Seattle to SR 202 in Redmond.
State law approved in 2009 allowed the funds to be spent on only a replacement SR 520 floating bridge. State law needed to be changed so toll revenue could finance both a replacement SR 520 floating bridge and start construction on improvements east of Medina to help commuters and the environment.
Last month’s Atlantic Magazine has a great article on the transformative effect the current recession will have on people in America over the next few decades. It’s a little depressing a read, but very thought-provoking.
Here’s the blurb the magazine uses to intro the article:
The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. It will leave an indelible imprint on many blue-collar men. It could cripple marriage as an institution in many communities. It may already be plunging many inner cities into a despair not seen for decades. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years to come.
The last time I recommended an article from the Atlantic it was about Nutria cuisine in New Orleans, and a little more light-hearted. This one is more substantive.
I sent out the following press release today on the signing of several key education bills. We mostly stayed focused on the budget, but stayed the course on ed reform, both financial and structural. THese bills don’t do all that I want, but are a step in the right direction.
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AUBURN – Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) joined Governor Gregoire and dozens of education advocates at Auburn High School this afternoon to celebrate the signing of more than a dozen education bills passed by the Legislature this session.
“Despite the enormous focus on our state’s budget challenges, we haven’t let that distract us from our ongoing work to reform and improve our schools,” says Hunter who has been extensively involved in education finance and reform efforts. “I can’t think of any other issue we’ve made this much progress on in the past two years.”
Of the numerous bills signed today, four were passed in the final hours of the regular 2010 legislative session when breakthrough compromises were negotiated between the House and Senate.
HB 2776 sets in motion five recommendations from the Quality Education Council, the group tasked with implementing the reforms outlined in the education funding reform bill Hunter played a key role in passing last year. The bill:
“The recent King County court ruling confirms we haven’t been meeting our constitutional obligation to fund our education system,” says Hunter. “But ultimately, it isn’t just about more money but the best use of our money. We made some big promises with last year’s reform bill and these next steps prove we’re serious about making sure every one of our children gets the best education possible. There’s still much more to do but we’re moving in the right direction.”
Reform was also the intent of SB 6696, a bill designed to make Washington more competitive in the Obama Administration’s competitive education grant program known as Race to the Top (RTTT). SB 6696 outlines reforms related to accountability, educator evaluation and educator preparation. Major provisions include a new accountability system to turn around low-performing schools, an updated evaluation system for teachers based on student achievement, and expanded teacher preparation opportunities to help more people who want to become teachers find quality prep programs.
Hunter also pointed out the significance of the Governor’s approval of HB 2731 which expands quality pre-school across the state and secures early learning as a new state entitlement program.
“When we crafted last year’s education reform bill it was important to us that we find a way to get more children into quality early learning programs,” says Hunter. “The research is undisputable – there isn’t any other investment more worthwhile than quality early learning programs. Children who enter kindergarten ready to learn are far more successful in school and life, saving us millions in remediation, welfare and criminal justice costs.”
Also approved was a critical school levy bill, HB 2893, aimed at boosting school districts’ ability to collect local, voter-approved funding. Most districts can currently use levies for no more than 24 percent of their budgets. Last year the Legislature suspended funding for I-728 and I-732, voter-approved initiatives for class size reduction and teacher cost-of-living increases. The reduced funding meant school districts were collecting less levy money. This legislation allows school districts to calculate their levies as though that funding were still in place, temporarily offsets cuts made by the state last year by allowing a temporary four percent raise in the levy lid, and increases levy equalization funding for property-poor districts.
“This allows school districts to collect the full amount of money their voters approved, instead of allowing it to be reduced by arcane funding formulas from Olympia,” says Hunter. “We allow school districts to cash a check their voters have already approved.”
Other bills signed by the Governor today include HB 2621 which expands resources and assistance for creating more STEM schools (science, technology, engineering and math), SB 6403 to establish collaborative new models of reducing dropout rates and re-engaging dropouts, and HB 2801 to update and strengthen anti-harassment and bullying policies in schools.
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Contact: Rep. Ross Hunter – (360) 786-7936 or hunter.ross@leg.wa.gov
Media staff: Jaime Smith – (360) 786-7631 or smith.jaime@leg.wa.gov
