News & Stories

Some interesting assertions by State Rep. Bruce Chandler (R-Granger) in his guest column in yesterday’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer; he claims (erroneously) that Washington’s Family Leave Insurance program “will only be used by the prosperous…[it] could be funded by the poor working-class folks to give the more prosperous a benefit” and asserts family leave is”being rushed through […]

The Pew Center on the States released a 50-state assessment evaluating and grading each state based on a range of areas, from budget and finance to roads and bridges. Turns out Washington State gets an A-, sharing the top spot with Utah and Virginia: [Washington’s] Government Management Accountability and Performance program…emphasizes periodic public forums during […]

The last several decades have seen an abundance of research stressing the importance of the early years of a child’s education and extolling the benefits of quality early learning initiatives. Full-day kindergarten is one such initiative. Despite the fact that full-day kindergarten results in increased academic achievement and school readiness for participants, fewer than half […]

In a photo-editing program like Photoshop, brightening a picture just takes a few clicks of the mouse. It’s not quite that easy when it comes to changing our economic outlook. Still, there are steps we can take to minimize the impact of the current economic slowdown on our workers, businesses and families. Let’s begin with […]

While Social Security is best known as a retirement program, it is also irreplaceable life and disability insurance for young families, according to a new report released today by the non-partisan National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). Among the report’s many findings: Four percent of children under 18 (3.1 million kids) today receive Social Security, […]

Bill Virgin asks some good questions in his recent column on state tax breaks for corporations: Does the facility involved support other companies in the region? Does it conduct research and development that might lead to growth at the company, or create opportunities for spinoffs? Does it provide a market for a locally produced raw […]

Lots of people chewing on the state’s 2008 proposed supplemental budget and taxes lately. But here’s something that until recently was missing from the conversation:In the three legislative sessions from 2004 through 2006, state lawmakers passed at least 61 measures either granting new tax preferences or extending old ones. Those tax breaks will cost the […]

It’s refreshing when someone just tells it like it is, isn’t it? A story in Wednesday’s Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) features a candid quote from a business lobbyist about family leave that is quite revealing. Associated Oregon Industries lobbyist J.L. Wilson says his group opposed a new state law allowing Oregon workers to use their sick […]

The New America Foundation recently noted an emerging consensus on early childhood education, as evidenced by recent editorials from right- and left-leaning columnists in the New York Times. Something similar is going on in Washington State, but it isn’t taking place on local editorial pages. It’s actually a quiet, powerful conversation on a person-to-person level. […]

Perhaps only Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland – and the remaining U.S. states without paid family leave – will be disappointed by this development, as their political cover is certainly diminished by it. The Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee will vote on a budget proposal (PHSB 2687) tomorrow that includes start-up funding […]

When visiting the doctor, one hopes that he or she finds anything puzzling, it will be examined more closely. So in that spirit, following is a closer look at a number of assertions by the Association of Washington Business (AWB) about Washington’s Family Leave Insurance law. Let’s start at the top – with the head: […]

This “doctor’s examination” of assertions by the Association of Washington Business about Family Leave Insurance continues from Part 1. Next comes the abdomen – lots of twists and turns here, so hang on: Currently, the two funding options that have been proposed are to draw from the state’s general fund or to charge a payroll […]

The proposed 2008 Supplemental Budget released today by the House of Representatives includes $6.2 million in funding for Family Leave Insurance, paving the way for benefits to begin in October 2009. A proviso in the bill (PSHB 2687) also directs the Employment Security Department (which will administer the program) to implement efficiencies stemming from recommendations […]

The common line of reasoning around most poverty-fighting programs is that they are, by definition, designed to help those living in poverty. But Shaun Fremstad at Inclusion argues in his post today that in fact, program’s with univeral benefits have been at least – if not more – effective. Fremstad’s starting point is Paul Krugman’s […]

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s common sense POV on Washington’s tax structure notes that: Microsoft, Yahoo or any technology enterprise could build server farms anywhere (including Oregon, where there is no sales tax). That’s a fair point, but one that argues for a comprehensive review of Washington’s tax policy rather than databit by databit exemptions. Washington State’s […]

As Washington State grapples with the impacts of a slowing economy on the state budget, it’s worth noting that since 2003 the Legislature has passed business tax breaks reducing revenues by nearly $400 million this biennium and next. This while our state economy was, by all accounts, roaring along – when it would have been […]

On the face of it, the two have nothing to do with each other. But one legislator makes this interesting analogy: When the clock expired at the end of the Super Bowl, a lot of so-called experts turned out to be wrong. The game is played on the field, and that often has a funny […]

House Bill 3305 passed out of the House Appropriations Committee today on a straight party line vote. If passed, the bill will save Washington taxpayers $5.2 million in one-time start-up costs and $1.7 million annually in on-going administrative costs. There was lots of discussion on the bill (from both sides of the political aisle) and […]

Opponents of paid family leave have to walk a difficult tightrope: How to extol the virtues of a popular, successful program (the unpaid federal FMLA) while trying to whack down the idea that expanding on the idea to include a modest benefit for families is worthwhile. Here’s one attempt. The comments so far make it […]

The Everett Herald notes how difficult it is for working parents to find high-quality, affordable child care. Washington’s Early Childhood Educator Career and Wage Ladder (in use at around 72 child care centers in the state) benefits around 5000 children every year by improving the pay, training and overall quality of childcare programs – and […]

Sunday’s Seattle Times’ outlines potential fallout from the nation’s economic for Washington State. Workers and business stand to take a hit – but so does state government: Atop the list of recessionary losers is government revenue as tax collections fall. Worse, this risks the competitive position of states and cities when the economy recovers, because […]

Just a few more thorns to yank after yesterday’s post reviewing the Washington Policy Center’s brief on Family Leave Insurance: [Opting out of the program] would help alleviate the regulatory burden small businesses face once subjected to the parameters of the program. Currently, there is no option to exempt small businesses (as there is for […]

Update: The pdf version of the WPC brief cites a 2004 study by the National Federation of Independent Business to back up its claims about provision of paid family leave by small business. The NFIB study states: “Just 12 percent of all small employers have policy regarding employees who request time off for a serious […]

A recent brief published by the Washington Policy Center is long on opinion and short on facts when it comes to Washington’s Family Leave Insurance program. For example, the paper states: There are few eligibility requirements and every business is covered and must be part of the system regardless of size. Someone clearly didn’t do […]

Last week alone, 20 bills were heard in the legislature on tax breaks that would cost the state budget more than $91 million in the 2009-11 biennium and more than $114 million in 2011-13 if they all passed. Bargaining for tax breaks has become a routine part of doing business. Fearful of losing jobs, Washington, […]