Practically the End of a Tough Legislative Session - Some Good Competitiveness Outcomes
Posted by Richard S. Davis on 4/27/2009 6:56:00 PM
About 11 hours after the 2009 legislative session adjourned, Gov. Gregoire announced her plans to call lawmakers back for a special session to clean up unfinished business. She'd like it to be short, a day or two, and limited to a handful of items necessary to implement the budget. Not everyone's enthusiastic.
It's important to take time to recognize that in a very difficult year, the Legislature accomplished some noteworthy things, foremost among them: balancing a budget without general tax increases. Critics may point at the heavy reliance on one-time money, including the federal stimulus cash, and the likelihood of another shortfall in the next budget. While that argument has validity, it's more important to note that lawmakers bought themselves - and us - another two years to transition to a sustainable spending level, we hope in a stronger economy. Tax hikes would have further hammered struggling families and businesses, delaying the recovery. Commend lawmakers for making the right budget decisions and avoiding new taxes.
Also, at the eleventh hour (literally), lawmakers adopted a clean unemployment insurance reform bill after the House receded from problematic amendments that would have led to a certain tax hike, particularly on mid-size Main Street businesses. Along with a balanced budget that did not rely on new taxes, UI reform has been a top WashACE priority. Thanks to all who contacted their legislators in the last few weeks!
The Employer Gag Rule (aka Worker Privacy Act) disappeared, at least for a while.
We'll have more on what did and didn't happen this session in the coming weeks. Facing considerable challenges, lawmakers were able to take meaningful steps to improve our economic competitiveness. That's no small accomplishment.
As she predicted, reactions to the governor's budget have been swift. While the scramble to understand the details will take us all a while, the broad brush strokes are enough to frame the likely debate.
As we posted earlier today, Sen. Joe Zarelli likes the approach Gregoire has taken, saying it puts the process on the proper course. Zarelli is ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. His counterpart in the House, Rep. Gary Alexander, also likes the direction.
I commend the governor for putting forth a balanced budget that does not raise taxes or fees. House Republicans have long believed that increasing taxes or fees is not the right approach while families are struggling with everyday expenses and workers are losing jobs.
While there are certainly some details of her plan that we might do differently, the governor has offered a good first step in correcting the past four years of overspending.
Alexander and Zarelli both emphasize the importance of building early savings into the 2009 supplemental budget.
AWB president Don Brunell issued a brief statement.Noting that AWB continues to review the budget proposal, Brunell emphasizes the groups support for her decision not to raise taxes on families and employers. He adds:
It is critical that Washington state look beyond the current budget woes and prepare for what happens after we emerge from this recession. Part of that discussion must include creating the conditions for a healthy business environment so that when we do emerge from the recession, Washington is positioned as a good place to create those jobs.
As devastating as the economic conditions may be, the recession is an opportunity to reshape the way government operates and position our state to attract and retain businesses.
The largest union representing state workers call Gregoire's plan dead on arrival. They say that approvingly, looking for legislative support for tax hikes.
?Our biggest concern is that everything should be on the table and that includes tax loopholes and revenue enhancements, Federation Executive Director Greg Devereux said. ?If the economic parts of our negotiated contracts that were ratified two months ago can be suspended, why can?t a campaign pledge on no revenue increases be retracted?
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown has reservations as well. She calls reliance on $1 billion in federal assistance a "glaring flaw" and, pointedly, does not pledge to resist tax hikes. Brad Shannon notes her concern in his Olympian story, which includes Alexander's assessment that the estimated federal money is a "reasonable assumption." Today's Wall Street Journal story on the Obama stimulus plan adds weight to the Gregoire/Alexander position.
The broad parameters of the package are known already. It will include a tax cut designed to pump $50 billion to $100 billion into the economy almost immediately; about $100 billion in aid to state governments, primarily to temporarily assume more of the cost of Medicaid, in hopes of staving off benefit cuts or tax increases; and funding in five main areas: traditional infrastructure, school construction, energy efficiency, broadband access and health-information technology.
H.S. Graduation Standards, Higher Education, and Gaining the Competitive Advantage
Posted by Richard Davis on 8/14/2008 1:25:00 PM
A couple of recent reports link several themes relevant to the competitiveness of our state and nation.
Education Week (free registration required) reports that states that have tied their accountability standards to high school graduation face increased calls to relax the requirement.
Though 26 states have adopted such mandates?most of them since 2000?that number has remained static since last year, according to a report scheduled for release this week by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization that has tracked the trend for the past seven years.
And for nearly a dozen states, compliance deadlines that once seemed far off have begun to bite, leading Arizona, Alabama, Maryland, and Washington, among others, to soften their mandates by offering alternative paths to a diploma, or by also weighing factors such as a student?s grade point average.
Chester Finn, a supporter of standards-based accountability, aptly frames the challenge.
Mr. Finn, the Fordham Institute president and an assistant U.S. education secretary in the Reagan administration, said the struggle for states is to strike a balance between enforcing a rigorous policy and understanding students? needs.
?I really do think a kid shouldn?t have his entire life blighted because he can?t do well on a particular kind of test, Mr. Finn said. ?Yet at the same time, you allow too many alternative paths and too many exemptions and you dilute the meaning of having a graduation test.
It's a good overview of the national debate, a debate mirrored in this year's OSPI campaign.
Three valuable reports by AeA underscore the value of education to our state's economic competitiveness.
Cyberstates, an annual state-by-state overview of the high tech industry, looks at the contributions of technology to state economies. Washington regularly ranks near the top, led by software publishing.
"Washington?s tech industry remains strong, experiencing it's third year of job growth with average wages that are more than double those of the private sector, said J.D. Hammerly, Vice President, Energy Infrastructure. "While many people associate Washington state with the software industry, they may not realize how fast it continues to grow. This growth runs on the knowledge and intellectual capital of some of the smartest and most skilled workers in the world. Washington's challenge is that we are not graduating enough scientists and engineers to maintain this growth. All you have to do is look at the websites of our technology companies ? large and small ? and you?ll find thousands of positions going unfilled."
"Our Evergreen state needs to do more to prepare our workforce for careers in the tech industry, from the K-12 system to our universities, continued Hammerly.
Cybercities, the metro area equivalent, reports Seattle is now the ninth largest "cybercity" in the nation by employment. Again, Hammerly cites the education challenge.
"... future growth depends on our ability to make high-tech careers attractive to our children. We need to spark more excitement and enthusiasm for technology, sciences, and math. These skills are critical to prepare young students for an increasingly technical world, providing them with the foundation to become highly paid tech workers.
The United States trails other countries in the number of people graduating with bachelor degrees in engineering. While the United States is the largest economy in the world and the third most populous nation, it only ranks seventh in the number of bachelor degrees awarded in engineering. China graduates almost six times as many engineers as the United States, according to the most reliable data available. Japan, with less than half the population of the United States, graduates 60 percent more engineers. ?
On a country-by-country basis, the United States still leads in the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctoral degrees granted by a wide margin. But significant portions of these are awarded to foreign nationals who increasingly cannot or choose not to stay in the United States after graduation. Between 2001 and 2005, U.S. S&E doctorates awarded to foreign nationals increased by 25 percent and comprised nearly all of the overall growth in S&E doctorates awarded over this time period.
While our state - like many states - faces a significant budget shortfall, technology has been the key to our strong economic performance during these tough times. We cannot afford to see our position erode because of a failure to adhere to standards and make critical investments in higher education a priority, even during these straitened days.
More Questions About Rankings: Universities This Time
Posted by Richard Davis on 8/14/2008 9:41:00 AM
I hadn't planned on writing again so soon about rankings studies, but this Instapundit post intrigued me. He linked to a longer post by University of Wisconsin law professor Ann Althouse questioning Forbes methodology.
Good questions. And relevant to our "best states" discussions. (Read the comments - some clever stuff there.)
The conference runs for nearly two hours, a long time to watch on your computer. But take the time to watch the nine-minute vide Kirsch to kick off his presentation. It comes on at about 17:58. Even those of us who've grown weary of "perfect storm" analogies will have to agree that the folks at ETS didn't overstate.
The challenges identified are real. They're here. And they're eroding our competitiveness.
