1+ day, 1+ hour ago  (153+ words) A new report from the Downtown Seattle Association delivers a stark verdict on Seattle's signature economic experiment. Five years after the city imposed a Jump Start payroll tax on large employers, downtown Seattle has shed roughly 30, 000 jobs. Office building values…...

1+ day, 1+ hour ago  (180+ words) The column ends with the much more important question for the future of our state: will state government use this money well? On that score, the record is not encouraging. That surprise $750 million in collections is likely to close less…...

6+ day, 20+ hour ago  (588+ words) Washington Policy Center H-2 A bill looks to update the program for the better The H-2 A farmworker visa program might finally be headed for the overhaul it has needed for a long time. The U. S. House of Representatives has an opportunity to…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (236+ words) Two years after Seattle implemented its landmark app-based worker minimum payment ordinance, better known as the "Pay Up" law, the results are in, and they confirm what we at the Washington Policy Center warned from the beginning. This policy, which…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (253+ words) Three months after lawmakers raised taxes to balance this year's supplemental budget, the revenue those taxes were supposed to deliver is already coming in short. The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council's June update shows major General Fund-State collections for the…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (283+ words) If you don't want Washingtonians to experience the healthcare access problems, waitlists, lack of choice, high taxes and rationing practices that people in countries with taxpayer-funded universal healthcare experience, you should be part of a conversation that's happening right now…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (395+ words) Some members of the King County Council say they want more money for their budget." Recently council members presented Resolution TD2026-01, a measure to raise the sales tax again. If enacted, the measure would net the county council an added $102 million…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago  (278+ words) Proponents claim the initiative will make the rental market fairer, despite having passed another tenant rights initiative in 2023. Since the original initiative passed, rents have continued to rise in Tacoma showing clearly that the initiative didn't help reduce rents and…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago  (453+ words) Washington Policy Center Seattle adds population by international migration, not policy success Recent headlines highlighted Seattle posting the fifth-largest numeric population gain among U. S. cities with 20, 000+ residents in 2025, adding 11, 572 people for a 1. 5% increase to reach 784, 777. The city was the only West…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago  (375+ words) This year's legislative session featured proposals to "modernize" agriculture through the forced creation of collective bargaining units. Many activists and legislative advocates persistently implied farmers and ranchers were backward and uneducated, going so far as to cast food producers as…...