Will voters support tax increase for public-employee compensation improvements?

With news that state employee unions are on the verge of approving their 2013-15 contracts with Governor Gregoire, an interesting questions comes to mind: Will voters support increasing taxes to pay for public-employee compensation improvements? While these numbers will change based on caseloads and the remaining revenue forecasts for the year (one is tomorrow), the most recent Office of Financial Management (OFM) 4-yr budget outlook projects a $1.043 billion budget shortfall for 2013-15 (despite projected revenue growth of $1.5 billion). The same outlook also projects $1.033 billion in compensation related issues for public employees. Here are the projected compensation details for 2013-15 . . . READ MORE