News & Stories

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 State and local government employees provide vital services to their communities as teachers, firefighters, social workers, prison officials, and nurses. They are also consumers. Cuts in public jobs and in paychecks through mandatory furloughs, pay freezes, and higher contributions for health insurance and pensions reduce purchasing power […]

From LivingGreedy.com: vs. $80 million? You’d think multi-national chemical companies were struggling to compete with gardeners making organic compost in their back yard. It’s almost enough to make us shed a nitrogen-laced tear for their Wall Street shareholders. Almost. End this tax giveaway for non-organic fertilizer to save home health care for thousands of seniors […]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Many public sector jobs – such as teachers and social workers – require college or graduate degrees, while some of the largest private sector occupations – such as cashiers and waiters – require little formal education. In the U.S., 27.4% of public sector employees have college degrees […]

From the Washington Family Leave Coalition: In just four days, the Family Care Act enforcement bills now under consideration in Olympia must pass out of the House or Senate. We need your help to make it happen. Since 2002, Washington’s Family Care Act (FCA) has helped ensure workers can use the paid time off they’ve […]

From the National Academy of Social Insurance: By Alex Stone At N ASI’s 2011 annual conference, the session “Should We Adopt the Social Security Recommendations of the Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs?” demonstrated the complexity of the Social Security reform debate. Charles Blahous, a Social Security trustee, argued in favor of adopting the Fiscal Commission proposals, which […]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Public employee benefits are on the chopping block across the country as state and local governments look for ways to reduce spending. Public revenues remain low due to the lingering effects of the recession and the longer term trend shifting income from the middle class to the […]

From the Everett Herald: The other night I had a chance to talk to students and faculty at Seattle Central Community College. We discussed the lopsided equations of income and wealth which have become the norm in our state. The people and businesses now benefitting from the status quo are quick to promote the notion […]

From LivingGreedy.com: vs. We know life can be tough for private jet owners, especially when turbulence knocks over their in-flight champagne, but we think they can find some spare change in their fully reclining seats to fund maternity care. Super-wealthy private jets owners pay a flat fee to register their aircraft, regardless of the size […]

From LivingGreedy.com: vs. Giving buckets of money to Wall Street Banks seems to be all the rage these days, but they won’t miss a $200 million here or there. Trade in this unjust tax exemption to fund Basic Health coverage for 50,000 people in Washington! The B&O tax deduction on interest from first home mortgages […]

From LivingGreedy.com: vs. Hey neighbor, can you spare 6%? We like visitors from Oregon, Montana, and Canada, and we like it when they shop here too, but not enough to pay their sales tax for them. That’s why we think it’s a pretty sweet deal to trade in the sales tax refund for out-of-state shoppers […]

From CBS News: Americans often take pride in ways their nation differs from others. But one distinction — lack of a nationwide policy of paid maternity leave — is cited in a new report as an embarrassment that could be redressed at low cost and without harm to employers. “Despite its enthusiasm about ‘family values,’ […]

The national recession has hit Washington hard – with the economy slowing down, the state’s tax revenues have dropped sharply, to the tune of a projected $4.6 billion revenue shortfall for 2011-13. With $5 billion already cut from the state budget since 2009, the easy budget choices are gone. Unless, of course we start doing […]

It’s not exactly breaking news that the stock market crash, housing bubble, and resulting recession helped delay retirement and drive down living standards for millions of baby boomers. In their article titled Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Fall Short, the Journal reported that the median household headed by a person aged 60 to 62 with a […]

The Economic Opportunity Institute is now accepting applications for two paid internships. Positions run from late March to early June – complete job descriptions and application instructions available here: http://www.eoionline.org/about/jobs.htm.

By David Groves | Washington State Labor Council Imagine a company that does business in every county in Washington state, pumping billions in payroll dollars into our economy. Better still, this company is counter-cyclical, ramping up hiring and payroll when the state economy is struggling. The rest of the business community and public officials all […]

The Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce is collecting stories about paid sick days, and they want to hear from you. Your contribution will help more people understand why paid sick days are so important in today’s workplace. It’s easy to do, anonymous (if you want) and will only take a couple of minutes — […]

By David Groves | Washington State Labor Council One of the most persistent myths about Washington state’s business climate is that our workers’ compensation costs are higher than in most other states. The fact that many employers and public policymakers believe this to be true is another indication of the power and resonance of the […]

John Burbank | The Everett Herald: Which group of people do you think has your interests closer to heart: a Wall Street banker, an oil company CEO and a software executive, or the teacher’s aide in your kid’s classroom, the officer on DUI patrol and the social worker helping out foster kids? Too easy? I’ll […]

Cross-posted from the Washington Family Leave Coalition: Since the late 1980’s, Washington’s Family Care Act (FCA) has helped ensure workers can use their paid sick days or other paid time off to care for a sick family member. For the most part, it’s worked well — but the FCA doesn’t give state agencies authority to […]

By David Groves | Washington State Labor Council National rankings that analyze state business climates — including those by conservative “pro-business” think tanks and policy groups — consistently rank Washington among the very best states for business. They say we have comparatively low business taxes, a lighter regulatory burden, a highly skilled and highly trained […]

By Michael Reich | The Herald News While debates about how to promote jobs and economic growth while tackling the deficit have dominated the political conversation for the past year, an effective strategy for boosting the economy without increasing government spending or adding a dime to the debt has been largely ignored: raising the minimum […]

The folks over at the Washington State Budget and Policy Center have just released a new report titled Every Dollar Counts: Why it’s Time for Tax Expenditure Reform. The report takes a hard look at Washington state’s revenue and expenditure process, and determines our state budget shortfall could be significantly eased with more “effective management […]

A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) examines the effects of San Francisco’s paid sick days law and finds positive benefits of the policy for employers and employees alike. Passed in 2007, the law covers 17% of San Francisco workforce, or about 59,000 workers. It allows any part- or full-time employee […]

When it comes to improving the quality of early childhood education, nothing beats a caring, compassionate teacher with training, experience and education in the field. Unfortunately, while the profession of early childhood teaching is personally rewarding, it offers woefully low salary and benefits. An educated and experienced early childhood teacher earns about the same amount […]

On the heels of the worst economic collapse in decades, state legislators are looking for ways to fill a $5 billion+ revenue shortfall over the coming two years. It’s no small task, especially with hundreds of tax exemptions worth billions of dollars making Swiss cheese out of the state’s budget. But Rep. Eileen Cody has […]

From MarketWatch | By Jeff Reeves ROCKVILLE, Md. — Staring at my wife’s annual tax documents this weekend, I couldn’t help getting fired up over what she paid into Social Security last year. When I pointed out the money sunk into the entitlement program — a 6.2% haircut on her modest salary — she simply […]