News & Stories
Policy is personal. So, we want to share more than just data.
Stay up to date with our legislative updates, organizational news, media mentions, and more.
The arrival of fall is one more signal that we are close to seeing Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program become reality—in about two and half months! Anticipation from those expecting the arrival of a new child in their home must be high. With paid leave, parents can take time off work to be […]
This spring, Washington lawmakers took an important step toward making college more affordable. The Workforce Education Investment Act expands the Washington College Grant (formerly called the State Need Grant), guarantees aid to students below state median income, and provides a new dedicated funding source by raising taxes on tech and other businesses. Here’s what the […]
The stakes are high in the debate over health care, and the health industry millionaire and billionaires aren’t going to give up their means of acquiring wealth easily. The Sackler family made a literal killing hooking Americans on opioids, and are now trying to shield their ill-gotten gains from lawsuits. Private equity firms, it turns […]
As kids across the state head back to school, some teachers in Seattle were left with no students to teach. Students at schools with high percentages of students of color walked out demanding equitable funding and fewer cuts to staff. They also wanted implicit bias training. One event overshadowed this demand: Last May, when a […]
“No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of labor short enough so that after his day’s work is done he will have time and energy to bear his share in the management of the community, to help in […]
Each of the thousands of students heading to college in Seattle, Pullman, Bellingham, Ellensburg, Cheney, Olympia and other Washington cities this fall will have a different experience in school — but there is one thing they’ll all face together: extremely high tuition. It hasn’t always been this way though, and many of today’s state legislators […]
Dear black women, Congratulations! Today is your Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day represents how far into the year groups need to work to earn what white, non-Hispanic men earned the previous year. In 2019, White women celebrated Equal Pay Day in April. Asian women celebrated it in March. Native women will celebrate it in […]
Young people like me face an economy with rising income inequality, rising higher education costs, climbing student debt, and relatively stagnant wages. We’re also facing a workplace culture that expects us to be available for long hours, sometimes around the clock. Recent data show that the typical American works more than 8 hours during a […]
Today, the Washington Court of Appeals released its ruling on the lawsuit against Seattle’s income tax on the affluent. The court found Seattle to be completely within its rights to implement its own income tax. “Seattle has the statutory authority to adopt a property tax on income,” the ruling says. The Economic Opportunity Institute helped […]
Every year, we choose fellows for the Floyd Jones fellowship, honoring a man who grew up in dire poverty as a sharecropper in Arkansas, yet moved to Washington and became an extremely astute and successful financial investor. Floyd did not sit on his wealth. He put it to work for the benefit of others, in […]
On Sunday, Oregon’s legislature gave final approval to a new law providing paid family and medical leave. And on Monday, Washington officially launched the web portal that allows employers to pay the premiums they’ve been collecting for our state program. With these two big milestones successfully passed, the day is fast approaching when workers up […]
Today the Court of Appeals heard oral arguments regarding Seattle’s Income Tax on the Affluent. This is the next step of the legal process for Seattle’s Income Tax on the Affluent. We look forward to continuing to share our insights in the legalities of Seattle’s Income Tax on the Affluent with the Court. We understand […]
After 43 years of inaction, Washington State plans to update the overtime threshold for salaried workers. The threshold is now less than minimum wage. As a result, you might be losing out on hundreds of dollars from your weekly paycheck, along with sick leave and personal time. Every worker with an hourly wage earns overtime […]
Late Saturday evening, Washington’s Legislature passed a bill that will lower health care costs for people across the state. Cascade Care creates an affordable insurance option for individuals and families not eligible for insurance through their employer, Medicare or Medicaid. These patients must purchase their insurance on the individual market and now often pay 30 […]
We could consider an excise tax on employers to progressively fund public services and rein in the acceleration of employer-based compensation to top of employees.
As the 2019 session draws to a close, state legislators are considering how to implement Cascade Care, which would create a state-sponsored plan for the individual market to reduce health care premiums and deductibles. Both chambers have passed Cascade Care bills, but different versions, which need to be united to pass. Senate Bill 5526 in […]
A new study shows that teachers face a significant wage penalty compared to other college-educated professionals in almost every state. Washington is second-worst, trailing only Arizona, with teachers making 31.6 percent less than similarly educated professionals. Meanwhile, school districts across the state are scrambling to find enough teachers to staff their classrooms, and the Legislature […]
For most of 2019, stock market advisors have said to steer clear of investing in health insurance companies. In fact, health-care stocks are lagging the broader market by their largest margin since 2006, even though many are producing record profits. Stock investors are afraid the “Medicare for All” movement embraced by some Democratic presidential candidates […]
The just-released 2019 Social Security Trustees Report lands with a thud – literally – because it’s 270 pages long. But fear not, the key takeaways are straightforward: Social Security has a large accumulated surplus – totaling $2.9 trillion – that is sufficient for 100 percent funding until 2035. Looking out a bit further, the Trust […]