News & Stories

From the Everett Herald: While watching Congress and the president wrangle over the fake crisis of raising the debt ceiling, the Department of Agriculture reported that 45.8 million Americans now receive food stamps to help purchase food. That’s one out of every seven Americans. In our state more than 1 million people now depend on […]

By EOI Policy Intern Tatsuko Go Hollo Amidst all the talk of funding cuts related to the debt ceiling deal, there is something you may not have heard about – a funding increase. Pell Grants, which provide financial aid to low and middle income students seeking higher education, will see a $17 billion increase in […]

Guest post by Stan Sorscher I went to France in June and couldn’t help comparing the French revolution to our own. So let’s start with aristocracy, then we’ll get to Ayn Rand. Stick with me. In a nutshell, shortly after our revolution, peasants in France concluded that aristocrats were giving them a really crappy deal. […]

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Attacks on sorely-needed increases in state tax revenues often include the unproven claim that tax hikes will drive large numbers of households — particularly the most affluent — to other states. The same claim also is used to justify new tax cuts. Compelling evidence shows that this […]

Via the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce: Today’s committee vote to pass Seattle’s “common ground” paid sick days ordinance is a big step forward for the 190,000 people working in Seattle who don’t have paid sick days on the job. We appreciate the leadership of Councilmember Nick Licata and the vote in favor by […]

Via the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce: Rally at City Hall Plaza, 1:30 PM, 8/10/11 This one is huge — the council is slated to take a vote on Paid Sick Days at 2:00 pm following our rally. However, there are some members who’ve been hearing from business chamber opponents that they need to […]

Via Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce: City Councilmember Licata released the following statement today on a letter received from the state’s leading economists on the merits of paid sick leave legislation: “Our state’s prominent economists today sent a letter to the City Council supporting the proposed paid sick leave ordinance that I am sponsoring. […]

By EOI Policy Intern Tatsuko Go Hollo The minimum wage just isn’t worth what is used to be. A recent news article points out that while the minimum wage has seen modest increases over the last several decades, inflation has led to a drop in the value of those wages. In fact, the minimum wage […]

From the Everett Herald: Can we all breathe a sigh of relief now that Congress has passed and the president has signed a bill increasing the debt ceiling and cutting the budget by $1 trillion? After all, it seems like sanity prevailed. That would have been the case if Congress has simply passed an increase […]

A new report from the AARP puts a price tag on an invaluable service typically provided by adult children – the cost of family caregiving. The report Valuing the Invaluable: 2011 Update – The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving finds that in 2009, more than 42 million Americans provided uncompensated care to an […]

If attendance at Tuesday’s Seattle Chamber of Commerce forum* is any indication, the proposed paid sick days ordinance just isn’t a big deal to many Seattle business owners. *Update 7/29: The forum was also co-sponsored by the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce, Greater Seattle Business Association, neighborhood chambers and other community groups. To a […]

Does anyone else have that uncle who comes home from a fishing trip and tells the story of the one that got away? It’s always the biggest fish you’ve never seen, and it only gets bigger every time he tells the story. Well, my uncle’s fishing stories are a lot like a recent Wall Street […]

From the League of Education Voters: Today, the League of Education Voters – along with the Washington Education Association, lawmakers, parents and taxpayers – filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court challenging the constitutionality of Initiative 1053. The initiative imposes a supermajority vote in the state Legislature to raise revenues or close tax loopholes. […]

For 30 years Washington state and the U.S. as a whole have experienced a decline in the middle class. If you listen to the pundits on TV, it sounds like it was inevitable – or at least unavoidable. Nothing could be further from the truth. The rise of the middle class in the post-WWII era […]

It’s no secret this year was a difficult one for Washington. Persistent unemployment, the continuing budget gap, skyrocketing tuition, high gas prices, plummeting home values and cuts to essential services – at a time when they’re needed most – have damaged our state economy and left middle class families struggling to stay in their homes. […]

From the Everett Herald: We have a big private-sector economy, which is floundering in stagnation. Chief among the victims are middle class Americans, some on the verge of losing their houses, others with their jobs exported out of the country, and others trying to figure out how to pay the accelerating costs of their kids’ […]

I’m the proud father of a 6-week old baby girl. As you can imagine, I’ve had my share of sleepless nights recently – but it’s helped me realize how lucky I am. Growing up, my dad worked full-time as an elementary school teacher, and my mom did part-time accounting work, often from home. So when […]

Last week, eight representatives from the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce and the Washington Family Leave Coalition joined more than 200 people from across country in Washington, DC for the National Summit on Paid Sick Days and Paid Family Leave. The conference brought together policy makers, campaign leaders, worker representatives, researchers, and business owners […]

From BusinessWire: WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A forthcoming report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) estimates that giving employees access to paid sick days would reduce visits to hospital emergency departments (ED) and save $1 billion in medical costs annually. Public insurance programs currently foot about half this bill. “We have known for decades that individuals […]

From the seattlepi.com: A packed room of vocal supporters cheered a government proposal Wednesday that would make employers give Seattle workers paid sick leave, largely drowning out business groups that oppose the plan. City Councilmember Nick Licata proposed the ordinance last month, for the roughly 200,000 Seattle workers who get no paid sick leave, according […]

Via Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce: From the West Seattle Herald: Jody Hall, Cupcake Royale & Verite Coffee From the day I started my business, taking care of my people has been my utmost priority. Within a year of opening, I offered heath insurance for employees who worked 30+ hours. As our business grew, […]

8:06 PM: Councilmember Nick Licata is wrapping up the hearing. The legislation will come up again before his committee on July 13th. 8:03 PM: Several workers are expressing final thoughts about why paid sick days are important to them, including a single mother with a child who has a kidney problem and another whose coworker […]

From the Everett Herald: This week we celebrate our nation’s 235th birthday. That birth was announced in the Declaration of Independence, which asserted that “… all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure […]