News & Stories
Policy is personal. So, we want to share more than just data.
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At first glance, Governor Jay Inslee’s proposed 2019-21 biennial budget seems like a bold pitch. The budget, which he unveiled Thursday, includes much-needed and long overdue public investments in education, mental health, and the environment – including: Creating 2,385 slots for kids in the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, and funding newborn screening assessments […]
We invite you to come in from the cold and join us for an evening at the Economic Opportunity Institute. We’ll provide light refreshments and best of all, we’ll be joined by Janelle Jones, the Director of Policy and Research at the HUB Project, an organization advancing progressive campaigns to build a more just economy. […]
Our economy should provide everyone the individual freedom and opportunity to follow their own path to happiness, and ensure that all people, families, and communities flourish through life’s inevitable ups and downs.
Social Security benefits are crucial to the economic security of more than 1.3 million Washington residents and their families, and contribute significantly to the economic stability of every region of the state.
San Francisco just did something Seattle couldn’t manage: on Election Day, they voted to tax big business to fund homelessness relief. Like Seattle, San Francisco is a tech city whose rising costs have pushed people out of the area and out of their homes. Also like Seattle, the community asked big business to pay their […]
Social Security benefits are crucial to the economic security of Washington residents and their families, and contribute significantly to the economic stability of every region of the state. Yet some members of Congress are threatening once again to cut Social Security to pay for tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations. Raising the retirement age […]
It’s been 42 years since Washington set the threshold at S250 per week, or $13,000 per year, to determines which salaried employees are exempt from the protections of minimum wage, sick leave, and overtime laws. That’s the equivalent of working about 22 hours a week at today’s minimum wage. Overtime, minimum wage, and sick leave […]
Although employment is growing overall, most working people in Washington are facing serious economic headwinds. Stagnant wages and growing income inequality (driven by declining unionization and gaps in pay by gender and race), combined with higher costs for basic necessities, are making life harder for most working people across the state. It doesn’t have to […]
In a democracy, rights are not earned, they are given. The Bill of Rights, voting rights, Miranda Rights – these are ethics determined by popular assent. The majority of the people can undo anything the government does, if the people vote. In this system, it’s a fallacy that civil rights are “won” – minorities are […]
We did it, Washington! Washington State still has the most unequal and unjust tax system in the country! That means lower-income and middle-class people have a much higher tax rate than the wealthy. We’re Number 1! If you feel like you’re paying a lot in taxes, you may be – if you’re lower-income, you’re paying […]
I’ve been considering changing the way I tip my servers when dining out— to level the playing field for people of color. I want to tip people of color more generously. Why, you ask? How much people tip, and to whom, can be subtly affected by biases as much as anything else. This means that, […]
This project was done by Ashley Sutton and Brandon Bannister. Earlier this year, the Economic Opportunity Institute partnered with local organizations to solicit community feedback on their experience with the health care system. From the seven listening sessions, EOI identified common concerns constituents shared related to health care: Finding a doctor: Because of low Medicaid […]
What an evening! On behalf of everyone at EOI, thank you for being a part of our 20th Anniversary dinner. The night was one of both celebration and hope. Nearly 450 guests filled the room last night to help us commemorate the event. Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Senator Karen Keiser reminded us have how far […]
This Labor Day marked a year of little or no wage gains for most U.S. workers. But for low-wage workers, a report released today from UC Berkeley reveals good news. The report from the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics analyzes the effects of minimum wage policies in the six large U.S. cities that were […]
This post was written by EOI Floyd Jones Fellow Brandon Bannister. Many millennials – who now constitute the biggest generation in the U.S. with the largest share of the workforce – have enjoyed the benefits of health care through either their employers or their parents, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The desire for health […]
Two weeks ago, my adult son’s temperature shot up to 102. And it stayed between 101 and 104 for a week. He is immune suppressed, thanks to a biologic he takes for Crohn’s disease (so don’t believe all the pretty ads for Humira which are saturating TV now…. But that is another story….) He had […]
Every parent in Washington State wants quality learning opportunities for their kids and every provider wants to provide quality care for each child in their classrooms. The question is: who bears the cost? Pressure on providers and parents to bear this cost is unsustainable. In 2016, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Families […]
This post was written by EOI Floyd Jones Fellow Brandon Bannister. Have you ever had a procedure where you figured the cost would be covered by your insurance, then out of nowhere, you ended up with a huge bill for the whole thing? This is called “surprise billing” – or in insurance-company speak – “balanced […]
It’s great that Congress is once again paying attention to the need for time off work to care for family or their own health, but most of us who have fought for paid sick days and paid family leave are groaning rather than cheering. With much fanfare, Senator Marco Rubio this week introduced the “Economic […]
Thursday, September 20th, 2018 5:30 PM Your presence is requested – please join us at our 20th Anniversary dinner! The evening will feature delicious buffet dinner and drinks and an exciting program. We’ll honor our shared victories, be inspired by community allies working for change, and shine a light toward future successes. Your support will help make […]
We all seem to be suckers, distracted by the Trumpian antics and losing focus on corporate privilege and compensation. We shrug it off as if to say, “Shit happens.” But if we take some power into our own hands, we can make good things the reality, rather than losing ourselves to a national preoccupation with […]
This comic is a brief illustration of paid sick days and paid family and medical leave. More detailed information can be found at the Department of Labor and Industries for paid sick days and the Employment Security Department for paid family and medical leave. For a printable PDF, click here. Illustration by Ellen T. Crenshaw.
Last month, Washington State reported that 11 insurers filed 74 health plans for the 2019 state Washington Health Benefit Exchange market. The good news: no counties will be without issuer coverage. The bad news: health insurers proposed a 19 percent increase in insurance premium costs. The rising cost of health care leaves working individuals and […]