Building an economy that works. For everyone.
2008 Media Coverage
Higher Minimum Wage a Struggle for Workers, Employers
12.28.2008 | Kitsap Sun | When the minimum wage rises, everybody's paycheck usually gets a little bigger at Martha & Mary. Not this time. Full Story »
Gov's Budget: Spending Cuts, No New Taxes
12.19.2008 | Public News Service | Even Governor Chris Gregoire says she "hates" the lean state budget she's proposing for the next two years - but she laid it out on Thursday, nonetheless. Full Story »
What's worse: Taxes or cuts?
11.30.2008 | Everett Herald | State lawmakers facing a deficit could ask you to decide by putting a tax hike on the ballot. One progressive think tank, the Economic Opportunity Institute, suggested several means of generating cash, including an income tax on those earning more than $200,000 a year. "It is critically important to put everything on the table, including new revenue," said Marilyn Watkins, executive director of the Seattle-based research organization. Going to the voters "is a very good likelihood" next year, she said. Success will hinge on whether it is clear how and where money will be spent.
Left Behind: Gregoire Suspends Work on Paid Family Leave
11.20.2008 | The Stranger | In a decision that shocked and disappointed family-leave advocates around the state, Governor Christine Gregoire announced last week that she was suspending work on the popular paid-family-leave program that passed the state legislature last year. Marilyn Watkins, acting director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, which pushed for family leave last year, says that although "I understand the desire to show fiscal constraint and find ways to cut spending," paid family leave isn't the place to cut—"particularly in economic times like these, when families really need these kinds of programs to build up their economic security."
With no money source in sight, WA family leave launch uncertain
11.29.2008 | When Washington state created a program giving parents five weeks paid time off to be with a new child, it was lauded as being ahead of the curve. But the question of how to pay for the program is still unanswered, raising doubts about whether benefits of as much as $250 a week will start in October 2009, as the law requires. Marilyn Watkins, policy director for the Seattle-based Economic Opportunity Institute, a labor-backed think tank, said lawmakers could temporarily use existing taxes to cover benefits until they can get a tax collection program up and running.
Minimum-wage attack on Rossi misleading
10.24.2008 | Seattle Times | Would Republican Dino Rossi really lower the state's minimum wage by $1.50 an hour if elected governor? Full Story »
The Money Squeeze: National troubles hit home
09.27.2008 | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | The financial storm of the past two weeks blew the curtains away from the Seattle economy. Full Story »
Earnings gap widening between men, women in Washington state
09.21.2008 | The Bellingham Herald | Trying to figure out what's going on in today's economy is more challenging than ever, but a new study seems to put a fresh look on some of the numbers. Full story »
On our own and getting by
09.19.2008 | The Columbian | Every day I meet women who are on their own, holding down jobs, managing families, paying the bills and trying to keep their cars running. Full Story »
Tri-City jobless rate down, but growth slowing
09.17.2008 | Tri-City Herald | Job growth in the Tri-Cities is slowing. But from August 2007 to August 2008, the local economy added 2,600 jobs, an increase of 2.84 percent. Full Story »
Washington state jobless rate hits 6%, highest in four years
09.17.2008 | Seattle Times | As economic thunderstorms lash Wall Street and soak most of the rest of the country, Seattle and Washington state have managed to stay fairly dry. Full Story »
One step forward and one step back' -- County jobless rate rises
09.16.2008 | Yakima Herald | Yakima County's employment situation is showing mixed signals these days. Full Story »
Unemployment rises in Whatcom County; state hits 6 percent
09.16.2008 | Bellingham Herald | Locally the unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, was 5.6 percent in August, up from 5.5 percent in July, and the highest rate since February 2005. Full Story »
State's jobless rate 6%, a 4-year high
09.16.2008 | Seattle P-I | Washington's unemployment rate last month reached its highest level in nearly four years, and the number of people looking for jobs is only expected to grow. Full Story »
New Report: WA Works Harder, Makes Less, Spends More
09.15.2008 | Public News Service | Many Washington families haven't had enough recovery time since the last recession to rally, or even to brace for another downturn. Full Story »
Brown challenges 'supermajority' rule for taxes
08.24.2008 | Spokane Spokesman-Review | Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown is doing something that would make many a politician squirm: going to court to make it easier to raise taxes. Full Story »
Progressive think tank proposes high incomes tax
07.10.2008 | Tri-City Herald | The progressive Economic Opportunity Institute is proposing tax increases and cuts it believes would help plug Washington’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit. Full Story »
A tax on big paychecks
07.10.2008 | Spokesman-Review | Washington's private Economic Opportunity Institute, a liberal-leaning budget think tank, has done something that virtually no state politicians dares: propose an income tax. Specifically, the group is suggesting a "high incomes tax" for Washingtonians. Under the plan, the state could afford to reduce some sales and property taxes while still netting hundreds of millions of dollars more each year for government services.
State’s paid family leave so far an empty promise
06.19.2008 | The News Tribune | State lawmakers have done little of the heavy lifting needed to ensure that new parents can collect benefits beginning next year. Full Story »
Plan to open up CalPERS reflects worry about inadequate saving for retirement
04.25.2008 | Sacramento Bee | A proposal making its way through the California Legislature has people talking about whether the state can make putting aside retirement money more palatable. Full Story »
New Report: Washington’s Wealthiest ‘Rake It In’
04.09.2008 | Public News Service | It's no surprise, but now it's documented in black and white: A new report on "income inequality" says wages of the lowest-income families in the state have lost ground , while the richest have made about 12 percent more money. Full Story »
Washington stumbles toward landmark paid family leave
04.04.2008 | Crosscut.com | Legislators failed to provide paid family leave with permanent funding, but their budget did give it an administrative home and start-up funding of $6.2 million. Full Story »
Washington state lawmakers must find a way to pay for parental leave
03.14.2008 | Puget Sound Business Journal | Last year, Washington lawmakers created a family medical leave provision. The original idea was to let workers take paid time off to care for sick family members or a newborn or to recover from a disability. Full Story »
WA Childcare Advocates Seek Advice from Finland, England
03.10.2008 | Public News Service | Juggling preschoolers and paychecks isn't as hard for families in some countries as it is for Americans. Full Story »
Enactment Of Paid Family Leave Stalled In Olympia
02.25.2008 | Democrats have large majorities in the Washington legislature. But they’re having trouble figuring out how to fund a major new social program. The program is Paid Family Leave for parents of newborn or newly adopted children. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.
Dos and Don’ts of Coping with State Budget Crises
02.20.2008 | California Progress Report | The budget news is grim in some states. The impulse by some state leaders is to slash state spending, but that could be disastrous for the economy. Full Story »
Family-leave program needs funding source
02.10.2008 | The Olympian | Creation of paid family leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted baby was a bold step forward by the 2007 Legislature. But a new program like paid leave is meaningless unless lawmakers decide how to pay for it. Full Story »
Family Leave: Fairer treatment
01.25.2008 | Seattle PI | When it comes to the first few weeks after a child's birth, the state of Washington plans to give parents a small taste of the fair treatment that is the standard worldwide. Full Story »
WA's New Minimum Wage: Worth More than 14-Cents
01.09.2008 | Public News Service | After eight years with the state's minimum wage pegged to inflation, both workers and employers appear to have benefitted. Full Story »
Coverage
This
work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
from the Economic Opportunity Institute. Liquid layout thanks
to Matthew James Taylor.