By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 26, 2010
The state and its public employee unions drew even firmer lines when they met behind closed doors this week. The state now wants workers to pick up 26 percent of the cost of their health-insurance premiums -- another big bite from paychec...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 4, 2010
A preliminary vote on a $26 billion Medicaid bill for once offers good news for the state. The U.S. Senate Wednesday morning finally said yes to the measure, which means $480 million for the state of Washington -- and could stave off big c...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 3, 2010
More dithering in Congress over Medicaid money means more dithering in this Washington about whether to call a special session. If Congress doesn't come through with $480 million in Medicaid money, Democrats still haven't decided whether t...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 31, 2010
The governor wants help from the Legislature to deal with an impending budget crisis and demands an answer by noon Monday. And here's a switch! Republicans say they are happy to give a helping hand to the poor governor, but Gregoire's own...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 29, 2010
The wacky-tobacky budget-balancing plan is the public's favorite idea so far for fixing the state's big revenue problem. At least that's what it's saying on the governor's official website. Will the governor say yes to drugs?
No news is bad news. Top economist Arun Raha tells a legislative committee that nothing has happened in the last month or so to improve the forecast he issued in June. And what it means is this. The state is down $207 million so far -- and if Congress ...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 21, 2010
For the second year in a row, state employees will face big increases in medical-insurance costs. But the state is holding the line on copayments and deductibles -- a big issue last year. And the big bugaboo about benefits -- the 88-12 sp...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 19, 2010
Tough luck, Labrador! And let us bid Quebecois shoppers adieu! Five provinces in eastern Canada are losing a Washington-state sales-tax break, at least for now. A judge has blocked a sales tax break that would have applied to every reside...
By : Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 12, 2010
There's a new wrinkle in one of the state's strangest-ever legal battles. Big retail chains and the Washington Retail Association say they want a quick court decision about whether to give British Columbia residents a sales tax exemption...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 23, 2010
Can you find the legislator in this picture? 77 Democrats voted for this year's tax package, but only one showed up for the bill-signing. Doesn't anyone want honors?
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 14, 2010
Every speech from the Senate floor! Lawmakers pass the most controversial bill of the session, enacting a $794 million tax package -- what some like to call the biggest tax increase in state history.
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 10, 2010
Last-minute agitation over a green plan to raise taxes on oil is providing one of the biggest dramas of the 2010 Legislature's final hours. But the Senate vote-count is stuck at 24, just as it has been all session long.
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 5, 2010
Lawmakers are counting on nearly a billion dollars in tax increases, and the tax package is yet to come. Here's a look at what they actually said on the House floor.
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 4, 2010
Include her out, says Judy Clibborn of a green plan to raise oil taxes. The measure is one of the top priorities for the environmental lobby, but support appears to be faltering.
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 27, 2010
The state Senate Saturday evening took the first big budget vote of the year, appproving a spending plan that will require nearly $1 billion in new taxes. And it ducks the question -- how is the Legislature going to pay for it all?
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 27, 2010
A sketchy bill introduced in the state House shows the trouble that chamber’s Democrats are having coming up with a tax plan. The "title-only" bill is vaguer than most, and could include just about anything.
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 25, 2010
The governor's decision to sign came as a surprise to no one. Without the bill, Democrats couldn't raise taxes this year -- and they say they must. But why was initiative sponsor Tim Eyman hovering over her shoulder?
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said Wednesday during a meeting with reporters that opposition runs strong within her caucus to a Senate proposal that would end a sales-tax credit for trade-ins. It's a major issue for car dealers ...
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 14, 2010
Port districts and trade interests come out swinging against a tax increase on interstate truck and train shipments -- would chase traffic to L.A., B.C., they say.
Exactly how big a hole lawmakers will have to fill next year is anyone’s guess at this point. But it looks like it's between $1 billion and $2 billion. And lawmakers will either have to raise taxes, or else they’ll have to cut -- again.
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Sept. 8, 2010
In a decision that could change campaign strategies for this year's initiatives, a federal judge has ruled that the state's limits on last-minute contributions are unconstitutional. It's another victory for James Bopp, Jr., the conservative attorney who has been picking away at campaign-finance restrictions nationwide. And in the state's biggest-spending year for initiatives ever, that means the enormous contributions can keep right on coming until election day.
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Sept. 3, 2010
A lawsuit to overturn the results of the Senate race in the 38th Legislative District became a probability Friday. Phil Talmadge is on the case. He gave notice to Attorney General Rob McKenna and the Snohomish County prosecutor that if they don't sue, he will. All because of a phony Republican mailer from the left that did exactly what it was supposed to -- destroy incumbent Sen. Jean Berkey in the primary.
In this "Letter from Washington," Bob Keefe says America's military involvement in the Near East remains at the forefront of everyone's mind in the nation's capital. Meanwhile, Joe Miller's election as senator from Alaska portends trouble in Republican ranks.
By: Jim Boldt | Washington State Wire | Sept. 3, 2010
It’s a shame Washington citizens, and particularly voters, don’t take the time to look behind the curtain at think-tank reports. Do they actually know it is a word game, or cooked-up findings?
Yes, it comes from both sides. The conservative think tanks take a data set, twist the numbers, and shape the findings. The liberals do the same thing.
By: Melvin G. Ashton | Washington State Wire | Sept. 2, 2010
It’s back to school time, and as a parent of children in our public school system, I’m shocked and dismayed by the “Not the WASL” test scores just released by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. And the most disturbing thing is not the performance of our kids, but the behavior and beliefs of the ‘adults’ running the show.
So, pop quiz. Don’t worry, it’s open book, and you can find a...
By: Jim Boldt | Washington State Wire | Aug. 25, 2010
1. The head of the Port of Seattle gave us all a moment of relief when he announced he would not accept a raise this year. He went home, sat down at the table and realized he could get by with his meager $334,000 a year. That of course is just the salary, the monthly nut. I feel better knowing he won't have to miss, what? A trip to Asia? No, the port sends him there for free. Maybe a new Lexus or ...
By: Melvin G. Ashton | Washington State Wire | Aug. 25, 2010
We are all cognitive misers – that means our brains are lazy. We like things to follow a pattern, and we don’t like to spend time reviewing the data looking for the exception. So when we develop a ‘truth’, we tend to stick with it even when the data doesn’t support our lazy view of the world.
In reading the comments on the latest Seattle Times “Truth Needle” article, plenty of people mad...
Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement.
In recent years, cognitive scientists have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve what matters most: how much a student learns from studying.
About half a dozen states have banned BPA in children’s products, and U.S. Senator Feinstein hopes to accomplish the same nationwide, with an amendment to the food safety bill scheduled for a vote in the Senate next week.
One in five Americans lights up regularly. If all states had prevention programs like those in California and Utah, 5 million fewer people would be smoking, the agency says.
Double-digit rate increases are hitting most individual health-insurance plans in Washington state, hurting jobless workers and worrying insurance regulators.
There is good reason to be scared into action. Every year, 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur, leading to about 300,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.
The researchers said their estimate includes $45.6 billion in what's known as defensive medicine costs -- when doctors prescribe unnecessary tests or treatments to avoid lawsuits.
Researchers have calculated that more than half of the 354 million doctor visits made each year for medical care, like for fevers, stomachaches and coughs, are not with a patient’s primary physician, and that more than a quarter take place in hospital emergency rooms.
Newly installed Medicare chief Donald Berwick, keeping a low public profile after encountering controversy over his appointment, is moving quickly behind the scenes to seed the US health care system with 100 to 300 sites to test new models of caring for patients.
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