Revenue forecast helps grow budget reserves

While those following the state's monthly revenue receipts expected state revenue collections to continue to grow, the amount of yesterday's increase was a bit of a surprise. According to the state's economist, Dr. Steve Lerch, revenues are now projected to grow by another $345 million for the current budget and $342 million for the 2015-17 budget . . . READ MORE

Coalition requests performance audit of I-937

A coalition of lawmakers and business groups sent State Auditor Troy Kelley a letter yesterday requesting a performance audit of I-937 (Energy Independence Act). From the letter . . . READ MORE

Questions on I-517

On Thursday we published our analysis of Initiative 517. This led to several questions from the Yes on I-517 campaign. Their first question was wondering how we came to the conclusion that the measure would impact private property rights. Here is my explanation . . . READ MORE

Summary of I-517

In November the people of Washington will vote on Initiative 517. The measure would make several changes to state law concerning signature gathering for initiatives and referendums. Initiative 517 would increase the time period for gathering signatures, require that proposals that receive an adequate number of valid signature proceed to the ballot, change the penalties for interfering with signature gathering, and increase the number of locations, both public and private, where signature gathering can occur. After reviewing the text of I-517 and various legal cases relating to its provisions, here is the conclusion of our study analyzing the proposal . . . READ MORE

Governor kicks off "soft" launch of Results Washington effort

Today Governor Inslee put his stamp on the state's long track record with performance management efforts with a "soft" launch of Results Washington. As noted by his press release . . . READ MORE