Reports & Articles
Retirement plans for small businesses and the self-employed are limited, costly and difficult to use. Which explains hwy 77% of small business employees (fewer than 100 workers) and 80% of very small business employees (fewer than 10 workers) have no way to save for retirement at work.1 When you don’t have good options, you can’t […]
For a PDF of this report, click here. Social Security is one of the great achievements of American democracy. It represents the best of our values – honoring our parents, respecting hard work, and supporting families. Social Security provides stable income to 56 million people in one in four American households – in both good […]
The problem: Over the past decade, state policy makers have given out an ever‐growing number of business tax breaks in the name of economic development, while our education system falls behind and commuters and goods sit mired in traffic. At the end of 2007, Washington had 567 tax breaks on the books. The legislature adopted […]
Washington had 567 tax exemptions on the books at the end of 2007. These tax breaks added up to $15 billion in lost state and local revenue that could improve education, health, the environment, transportation, or other public services. Providing piecemeal tax breaks is a poor economic development strategy and has made Washington’s tax structure […]
For the PDF, click here. This report shares both the practical findings of the study tour and the transformational nature of the experience. The report begins with the nature and make-up of the study trip followed by a short introduction to early learning in England and Finland. The main body focuses on broad themes that sparked inspiration and motivation among the study […]
BARGAINING FOR TAX BREAKS has become a routine part of doing business. Across the United States, state and local governments are providing an estimated $50 billion in tax subsidies to businesses. Fearful of losing jobs, Washington, like other states, is giving away public revenue while underfunding the services necessary for a vibrant economy and a […]
Washington state’s tax code includes over 500 tax exemptions, deductions, credits, and other breaks worth an estimated $64.7 billion during the 2003-05 biennium. Some of these tax breaks benefit everyone in the state, while others benefit selected industries or even a single company. Because of federal laws and administrative issues, the Washington Department of Revenue […]
In 1994 the Washington legislature passed two tax incentive measures for high technology firms conducting research and development in advanced computing, advanced materials, biotechnology, electronic device technology, and environmental technology. Both of these laws are scheduled to expire in 2004. The governor and legislature are considering extending these tax breaks, which would result in a […]
Washington state’s tax code allows for over 430 tax preferences which provided $46 billion dollars in savings for various taxpayers during the 1999-01 fiscal biennium. For the most part, tax preferences in Washington are not subject to a comprehensive review process that assesses their effectiveness. Seven tax preference programs are scheduled to expire in the […]
Jennifer Dunn and Dorcas Hardy got one thing right in their opinion piece on Social Security (SeattlePI.com, Opinion, April 17, 2002). The system could be improved to work even better for American women. However, the radical restructuring that Dunn and Hardy suggest would slash guaranteed benefits and cost over $1 trillion. Privatizing Social Security is […]
Community Jobs (CJ) is the nation’s oldest and largest transitional jobs program providing paid work experience, training, education, and support services for welfare recipients who have not had success in finding or keeping a job. Based on wage data, the Economic Opportunity Institute assessed employment, job retention, and wage progression for Community Jobs participants and […]
While Washington residents initially support restructuring Social Security to a system of private accounts, they change their opinion when they learn about the loss of guaranteed benefits and the costs of transition. 57% favor maintaining the current Social Security system. Adults between the ages of 25 and 64 shift from initially favoring to opposing private […]
Testimony of John Burbank, Executive Director, EOI For SSB 6426, Allowing sick leave to care for family members This Committee and the House as a whole have already considered and supported the family care issue. The substantive difference between the bill this committee already approved and S.S.B. 6426 is that parents-in-law and grandparents are included in […]
Testimony from Marilyn P. Watkins, Ph.D. For HB 2364, before the House Committee on Commerce and Labor I’m Marilyn Watkins, from the Economic Opportunity Institute. I’d like to thank the members of the committee for the opportunity to testify today in favor of House Bill 2364. Since this legislature adopted the Family Care bill in […]
The Pension Problem Social Security provides a strong foundation of a guaranteed minimum income in retirement for workers, but a comfortable and secure retirement also requires savings built up over many years. Unfortunately: Only about half of workers have access to a retirement savings plan at work. Less than 20% of employees in firms with […]
The focus groups: EOI contracted with Evans-McDonough to conduct two focus groups on Washington Voluntary Accounts, EOI’s proposal for universal pension access for Washington workers. Participants in both groups were small business owners and managers in King County, one group representing businesses with 5 to 25 employees, the other with 25 to 100 employees. The […]
What Will I-773 Do? I-773 will lead to an additional $0.60 tax per pack of 20 cigarettes, generating $160 million in fiscal year 2003, $159 million in fiscal year 2004, and more than $155 million in every fiscal year thereafter. These revenues will fund 50,000 additional slots in the Basic Health Plan, fully fund the […]
Twenty-eight percent of people below the age of 65 with incomes below, at, or near poverty do not have health coverage. Public policy and the private sector are failing to insure many low and moderate-income working families in Washington state. The foundation is already in place for a solution to this growing gap in economic […]
Under current state law, growth in the property tax portion of state and local government budgets is limited to the rate of inflation, or up to 6 percent under extraordinary circumstances. Proposed Initiative 747 would lower this cap to 1 percent, unless voters approve a higher increase. Because inflation consistently averages above 1 percent, I-747 […]
I-773 will raise the current Washington state cigarette tax by $0.60 and impose a comparable surtax on other tobacco products. The additional tax revenues ($160 million in fiscal year 2003) will be used to: expand access to the Basic Health Plan (BHP), fully fund the state’s tobacco prevention and control program, and provide funding for […]
Smoking Rates in Washington State Smoking among youth is on the rise. Five percent of 6th graders, 15% of 8th graders, 25% of 10th graders, and 29% of 12th graders smoke. There was a 38% increase from 1990 to 1998 in the number of high school seniors who smoke. Tobacco use and addiction nearly always […]
Regressive Tax: Opponents to I-773 say that because smoking levels are highest among people with low incomes, cigarette tax increases are regressive taxes that unfairly impact lower-income families and communities. Research indicates that: The fact that smoking rates are highest among lower-income communities means that these communities currently suffer the most from smoking and will […]
In May 2001, President Bush appointed a commission charged with submitting a Social Security reform plan including individual investment accounts. During his election campaign, Bush’s advisors described a possible reform package that would encourage diversion of 2% of the 12.4% of payroll that currently goes to Social Security into individual investment accounts controlled by workers. […]
In a workshop on cost estimates at a conference on paid family leave last winter, one presenter said that in his model he chose assumptions that would result in a total cost figure at the high end of the possible range in costs for a new program. That way, if his state adopted the program, it […]
In a workshop on cost estimates at a conference on paid family leave last winter, one presenter said that in his model he chose assumptions that would result in a total cost figure at the high end of the possible range in costs for a new program. That way, if his state adopted the program, […]
Since 1935 Social Security has been the foundation of economic security for America’s working families. With its progressive benefit structure, survivors and disability programs, family benefits, annual cost of living adjustments, and guarantee of retirement benefits for life, Social Security provides a solid foundation of income security for all workers, retirees, and their families. Because […]
George W. Bush won plaudits during the recent election campaign for “starting a conversation” on Social Security. Unfortunately, the discussion thus far has been long on misleading rhetoric and short on hard facts. Bush suggests radically changing Social Security, transforming it from a social insurance program into an investment scheme. Under his proposal, a portion […]
The Trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund issued their 2001 annual report on March 19, 2001 showing a system that is fundamentally healthy, and confirming that fears of a “Social Security crisis” are unfounded. The trustees project program costs and income a full 75 years into the future based on numerous assumptions about population […]
The Trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund issued their 2000 annual report on March 31, 2000 announcing the program was fully funded for at least 37 years. The trustees evaluate the health of the trust fund in light of the performance of the economy, demographic trends, and projections of future economic growth. In each […]
George W. Bush has proposed a drastic restructuring of Social Security in order to “save” it. But he’s proposing radical surgery on a patient that has at worst a sniffle. Social Security is the best source of economic security for all America’s working families. Some minor reforms could make this highly successful program even better, […]
Why raise the minimum wage? Because working families in Washington need it. The primary impetus to increase the minimum wage is to enable people who work full time to earn their way out of poverty. Current minimum wage workers are forced to live in poverty. A full-time worker who makes $5.15 an hour earns barely […]
A Strong Majority of Voters are Concerned About Getting Time Off When Needed for Their Families: Women are more concerned than men about all of the issues surveyed, except for spending time with kids and the amount they pay in taxes where there is no statistical difference between the two groups. Voters who are employed and those who […]