Media Releases 2004

2004 and Prior Media Releases

State of the State: Are we better off now that we were four years ago?

09.24.2004 | EOI's newest report on job growth & economic security since 2000 has found some improvement but little to cheer about as workers continue to struggle. Full Release »

Washington Legislators Plan Family Leave Program; Polls Support Policy Change

07.01.2004 | State Senator Karen Keiser and State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson plan to propose a paid family leave program for Washington. | Full Release »

Social Security Is One of the Best Friends American Women Have

04.19.2004 | Privatizing Social Security is precisely the wrong approach for women and all Americans. Full Release »

Still Working Well - Report Challenges Critics' Claims On State Minimum Wage

01.27.2004 | Job growth trends do not support claims that Washington State's relatively high minimum wage is a cause of the state's high unemployment rate. Full Release »

Real Work, a Paycheck, and Education Lead to Success for Welfare Parents

04.16.2002 | Washington's Community Jobs program to be showcased in Washington D.C., as Congress takes up welfare reform legislation. Full Release »

Family care Bill Signed into Law

04.02.2002 | Washington workers will have the right to use their sick leave or other paid time off to care for seriously ill family members, thanks to the Family Care bill signed into law by Governor Gary Locke on March 29, 2002.Full Release »

Privatizing Social Security put on hold―for good reason

01.01.2002 | Social Security reform now appears on the back burner. The commission has reluctantly admitted that privatization requires large benefit cuts and tax increases. Full Release »

Dismantle the Commission, Not Social Security

05.08.2001 | George W. Bush promised us a commission on Social Security, and now he’s given us one. But this is one campaign promise he should have broken. Full Release »

Bush's Push for Tax Cut Slows Attack on Social Security

03.01.2001 | After years of hearing about the need to plug the leaks in Social Security, why are we seeing a softening of the hard line? It’s simple: to make way for Bush’s tax cuts. Full Release »

Lessons from the Earthquake for President Bush

03.01.2001 | The earthquake reminds us of certain truths that Bush tried to obscure with his rhetoric, and those truths point towards very different values than the ones Bush expressed. Full Release »

Washington residents favor expanding family leave benefits

11.01.2000 | Results from a statewide poll indicate that a vast majority of Washington residents favor expanding family leave benefits and are willing to pay for it. Full Release »

Proposed property tax initiative will cut vital services

11.01.2000 | If passed, Initiative 747 would give local communities and schools two choices: cut programs and services or take the risk of yearly special elections to maintain vital services. The long-term effects of cutbacks caused by annual below-inflation tax rates would hobble local governments and drastically limit their ability to meet basic needs for schools, police, fire departments, hospitals, libraries, and roads.Full Release »

Tobacco use soars among teens

08.08.2001 | Increasing numbers of youth who smoke and lack of health care insurance for more than 750,000 adults in Washington remain two key issues in Washington state health care policy. Initiative 773 proposes a 60-cent increase in the cost of a pack of cigarettes. The funding would be used to increase the number of people with health care coverage and decrease the number of smokers by increasing cigarette prices and restoring full funding to the state’s tobacco prevention and control program.Full Release »

State Releases Community Jobs Evaluation

09.26.2000 | Successful program moves hard to employ people from welfare to work. Full Release »

Community Jobs and Welfare-to-Work Participants Move into Private Sector

05.04.2000 | Pierce County honors dozens of CJ and welfare-to-work participants. Full Release »

Key Legislators Receive Child Care Champion Awards

02.01.1999 | Child Care Works For Washington, in partnership with the Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI), is advocating for development of a statewide child care career and wage ladder. Full Release »

King County Council considers living wage for child care teachers

06.19.1999 | Starting wages for child care teachers in King County is $6.50 an hour, which contributes to the problems of high turnover (over 40%) and lack of quality and consistency in the child care field. The Economic Opportunity Institute, the King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO and the Child Care Union project have proposed that the Metropolitan King County Council pass an ordinance establishing an incentive program to reward and encourage teachers in the early childhood education field. Full Release »

Early Childhood Educators Deserve Worthy Wages

04.15.1999 | Washington state is in the middle of a vehement dialogue about the need to increase public school teachers’ wages. The debate centers on how we recognize the importance of the teaching
profession. This debate needs to be resolved and extended to the people who care for young children – child care teachers.. Full Release »

WorkFirst’s "Community Jobs" Program Turns Welfare Grants Into Paychecks

12.01.1998 | The Economic Opportunity Institute helps implement program aimed at the "hardest-to-employ". Full Release - Aberdeen » Full Release - Spokane »