EOI Updates When stressed about Federal chaos, focus on what can be accomplished locally June 27, 2018 / October 9, 2026 by John Burbank It is easy to get discouraged by the actions of the US Supreme Court in their continued five-to-four assaults on women, immigrants, workers, and consumers. With the next Trumpian Supreme Court nominee, we can only expect that things will get worse. But if we focus on DC, we miss the opportunities in our own backyard. […] Read more »
EOI Updates Remembering Hubert Locke, Sage of justice as fairness June 5, 2018 / October 9, 2026 by John Burbank My friend Professor Hubert Locke died this week. He was more than a friend. Hubert was the sage who guided many of us through the thickets of morality and policy. Hubert look deeply into the systems of inequality and hierarchy and evil. He was exacting in words and teaching, and he demanded from each of us, […] Read more »
EOI Updates Thank you, Jeff Bezos! May 11, 2018 / October 26, 2026 by John Burbank Thank you Jeff Bezos! With one public comment, Amazon has opened the door to rational and humane development in our city. How did Bezos manage to do this? Simply by stating that he would halt construction of a new Amazon building downtown and not occupy another building already under construction. We seem to see this […] Read more »
EOI Updates Is the privilege of the affluent of Seattle derived from the suffering of the homeless? April 23, 2018 / October 26, 2026 by John Burbank Fourteen years ago, the City of Seattle, King County and several other philanthropic and corporate partners embarked upon a bold new approach to end homelessness among families with children. Administered by Building Changes, the Washington Youth and Families Fund aimed to make youth and family homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in our state. Yet just […] Read more »
EOI Updates We associate racism with the south, but Washington has it too. April 4, 2018 / October 26, 2026 by John Burbank My sister-in-law retired from the Auburn University Library in Alabama this past Friday and we travelled there to celebrate. Despite the beautiful weather, I can tell you is was not “Sweet Home Alabama.” On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I saw that white racism, mixed with fundamentalist Christianity, remains […] Read more »
EOI Updates Washington launches marketplace to help more retire securely March 20, 2018 / October 26, 2026 by John Burbank Yesterday the Washington State Department of Commerce launched the new Retirement Marketplace, allowing workers and employers to save for retirement with ease. With over 2 million employees in our state unable to save for their retirement through their employers, this marketplace can be a big help. Almost half of all working age families have no […] Read more »
EOI Updates Finland doesn’t leave survival to the free market – we shouldn’t either January 20, 2018 / October 26, 2026 by John Burbank Our state had an important visitor last week. Not a movie mogul, not a billionaire, not a high-tech Amazonian full of hubris. Someone much more important, with a message for building the quality of life for all Washingtonians. Her name is Anu Partanen. Partanen is an American citizen, an author, a researcher, a spouse, and […] Read more »
EOI Updates Seattle’s income tax on the affluent: Why we will prevail November 24, 2017 / October 26, 2026 by John Burbank The King County Superior Court ruled this week in favor of the wealthy plaintiffs regarding Seattle’s Income Tax. That was not unexpected. This case involves a challenge to an 80-year-old interpretation of the state constitution, and lower courts generally do not overturn state Supreme Court precedent. But this case will go to the Washington State […] Read more »
EOI Updates Seattle to consider public bank study October 20, 2017 / October 26, 2026 by John Burbank Yesterday, Councilmembers Kirsten Harris-Talley and Mike O’Brien joined Kshama Sawant in pushing for a feasibility study for a Seattle public bank to be included in next week’s budget deliberations. The Economic Opportunity Institute helped write the language in the statement of legislative intent that Sawant submitted on Oct. 9. Similar studies have been approved in […] Read more »
EOI Updates What if WA leveraged our aerospace advantages? October 18, 2017 / October 30, 2026 by John Burbank Here in Washington we have the facilities, the personnel, the training pipeline and the popular interest. By law, we would offer the same tax incentives that we hand out to Boeing. Read more »
