About the Commission

The Citizen Commission for Performance Measurement of Tax Preferences was established by the 2006 Legislature (RCW 43.136). The seven-member Commission is made up of five appointees: two appointed by the House, two appointed by the Senate, and one appointed by the Governor; and two non-voting members: the State Auditor and the Chair of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee. Members serve four-year terms and may be reappointed to serve more than one term.

VOTING MEMBERS

Chief Economist, Avista Corp.

Appointed by Senate Republican Caucus | Term ends June 30, 2026

Dr. Forsyth is the Chief Economist of Avista Corp. Before coming to Avista in 2012, he was Professor of Economics at Eastern Washington University from 1999 to 2012. Before EWU, from 1996 to 1999, he worked in the Czech Republic as an academic and private sector economist. He received his BA in Economics from Central Washington University (1988), his MBA in Finance from the University of Oregon (1990), and his PhD in Economics from Washington State University (1996). He also serves on the Washington Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors and the Spokane Mayor’s Economic Advisory Roundtable.

President, Edmonds Education Association

Appointed by House Democratic Caucus | Term ends June 30, 2025

Andi Nofziger-Meadows is the President of the Edmonds Education Association and the WEA-Cascade UniServ Council. Before being elected President, she was a math and English teacher at Mountlake Terrace High School and Sedro-Woolley High School. She received both her BA (1992) and her Masters (1993) from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. She serves on the Washington Education Association Board of Directors, is a trustee for the Foundation for Edmonds School District, is a member of the WEA Benefits Services Advisory Committee, and is the Legislative Chair of the PTA at her son's school.

Andi and her husband Jim enjoy traveling the world with their son Matthew. She is also an avid baseball fan and remains hopeful that one day she will see her beloved Mariners in the World Series.

Appointed by House Republican Caucus | Term ends June 30, 2025

Ron Bueing is a mostly retired tax lawyer and CPA who practiced for over for 30 years specializing in state and local taxes. Mr. Bueing assisted clients in managing their multistate taxes through planning, structuring and negotiation of voluntary disclosure agreements, and defending taxpayers in tax audits and litigation. Mr. Bueing is recognized for his experience in successfully resolving Washington State & City excise tax disputes in connection with a variety of such taxes including business & occupation tax, sales and use tax, real estate excise tax and utility tax.

Mr. Bueing has a JD and a BA from the University of Washington. Mr. Bueing is a past chair of the Tax & Fiscal Policy Council of the Association of Washington Business and previously served as a member of the Committee for the Study of Electronically Delivered Products.

Associate Professor of Public Administration, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington

Appointed by the Governor | Term ends June 30, 2024

Sharon Kioko, a nationally recognized public financial management scholar, is Associate Professor at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.

Dr. Kioko’s research has largely focused on the financial condition of state and local governments, the relevance and significance of financial information in the capital markets, the impact voter initiatives including tax and expenditure limits have on state and their localities. Her work appears in Public Budgeting and Finance, Public Finance Review, National Tax Journal, Journal of Public Administration Theory and Research, and Municipal Finance Journal. Dr. Kioko is also a two-time recipient of the Jesse Burkhead Award for Best Article published in Public Budgeting and Finance (2012, 2017). Her book Financial Strategy for Public Managers (with Justin Marlowe) is the first open-access, graduate-level textbook for public financial management.

Before joining the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, Dr. Kioko was an Associate Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs at the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She has a B.A. in economics from University of Nairobi (Kenya), a Master of Public Administration and Ph.D. (Public Affairs) from Indiana University – Bloomington and is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA-Kenya).

Appointed by the Senate Democratic Caucus | Term ends June 30, 2026

Jim is a retired teacher. After receiving his BA in Music from Washington State University in 1975, he taught in the Richland (WA) School District, retiring in 2012. During that time, he served as President of the Richland Education Association for 3 years, and earned a Master’s in Education Administration from WSU in 1996.

Jim also worked for 38 years as a collegiate, scholastic, and Junior Olympic volleyball referee and rules clinician.

He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Wilburforce Foundation, a conservation foundation that works throughout western North America and is headquartered in Seattle. Jim and his wife Rose enjoy gardening and traveling.

 

NON-VOTING MEMBERS

Appointed by RCW 43.136.035(b) | JLARC Chair (standing non-voting member)

After graduating from the University of Washington Law School, he chose a career as a public interest attorney protecting our environment, children, consumers, promoting open government; and, teaching a new generation of public health and law students.

Gerry continues to be active, as he was for many years before becoming a legislator, in numerous neighborhood and public school causes, including working to fully fund public schools, advocate for special education, and helping form the parent coalition working to reduce the overcrowding of public schools in Seattle. He has assisted in organizing and legal efforts in Kenmore and Lake Forest Park to protect local streams, preserve open space and work for the cleanup of toxic dioxin in North Lake Washington. Gerry serves on the Board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government.

Gerry is the vice-chair of the House Higher Education Committee and serves as one of Washington’s three commissioners on the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (which oversees the Western Interstate Undergraduate Exchange providing low tuition for Washington residents attending other state’s public universities as well as being one of the nation’s leading providers of research on access and quality for higher education).

As the Executive Director of Heart of America Northwest (the region’s leading citizens’ group dedicated to the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation), national and regional news media often call on Gerry’s expertise regarding contamination and risks at Hanford. The reservation is the most contaminated area in the western hemisphere. His organizing and advocacy to protect the Columbia River stopped USDOE’s dumping untreated liquid radioactive and chemical wastes straight into the soil and ended plans to use Hanford’s unlined soil landfills as a national chemical-radioactive waste dump for nuclear weapons production. He has sought to protect cleanup workers from deadly exposures to beryllium, toxic vapors and radiation. For more than 10 years, Gerry chaired the committee of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Advisory Board which oversees Hanford’s $2 billion per year budgets, management, and contracts. His work on contract reforms and reducing overhead costs is estimated to have saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Gerry teaches at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health and some courses at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance; and, he runs a summer internship program for law students in tribal and environmental law. He frequently guest lectures on environmental law and policy, risk assessment, freedom of information/public records, and public participation.

Gerry’s groundbreaking work has been honored by various organizations across the state. In 2010, the University of Washington School of Public Health honored Gerry with its annual Community Service Award. Gerry was also awarded the top annual award for peace and environmental work by Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility in 2005. Heart of America Northwest was named “Best Regional Environmental Group” by Spokane’s environmental and peace organizations. He has been the only legislator honored two years in a row as the Legislator of Year by the state’s public university and college students’ Washington Student Association for his advocacy to improve access to higher education. Gerry has also been recognized by the League of Women Voters with its Sunshine in Government award for his role promoting freedom of information, access to public records and open meetings.

Gerry counts amongst his most significant legislative achievements: the first in the nation regulation to prevent youth use of e-cigarettes and “vape” products and provide state oversight of toxic chemicals in the products; lifting the cap on the number of special education students who the state provides funding for; tens of millions of dollars in funding for renovating and rebuilding schools in the district to address overcrowding; expanding access to affordable higher education with investments in advising and support for students; and, the law stopping predatory towing companies from charging thousands of dollars for people to get their car back if they park in the wrong space.

Gerry lives in North Seattle with his wife Janet Miller. They have two children: Eileen and Henry, who is a student at Western Washington University. In his downtime, Gerry enjoys racewalking through neighborhoods and parks in the 46th District.

Appointed by RCW 43.136.035(a) | State Auditor (standing non-voting member)

Pat McCarthy is the Washington State Auditor. She began her term in January 2017 and is proud to lead the professional auditors who provide a window into taxpayer-funded operations. For the past eight years, she managed the daily operations of Pierce County, the second largest county in Washington. McCarthy has been a public servant for three decades, starting with 12 years on the Tacoma school board. She was elected twice as Pierce County Auditor and served as chair of Sound Transit, as well as an administrator and advisor for the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program at the University of Washington Tacoma. She and her husband, John, live in Tacoma. They have four adult children and eleven grandchildren, all of whom make western Washington their home.