Justice can’t be achieved if we don’t all do our part
From the Everett Herald:
Does the arc of the moral universe bend toward justice? Martin Luther King Jr. believed that it did, and so have millions of other people who want to see justice achieved.
But justice and injustice are episodic. We have made great progress in the 20th and 21st centuries, progress for well-being, democracy and peace. We have vanquished racial segregation. We have witnessed the overthrow of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Women have gained power, respect and esteem.
But horrible things have happened as well: the Holocaust, the increasing and exponential overcrowding of this planet, the impoverishment of billions of people, coup after coup to prevent democratization of economies and governance throughout the world, and the polarization of wealth and income in our own country. We make progress in some areas and fall back in others. There is certainly no continuous progress toward justice.
This is why the second part of Dr. King’s discussion of the arc bending toward justice is of far greater importance. “It does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice.”
More momentum for paid sick days
The idea is simple: Ensure every worker in America has the right to earn paid sick days on the job. Catchy, isn’t it?
MarketWatch – the online media group owned by the Wall Street Journal – recently published a great article called “Ill and on the Job” which nicely encapsulates the current policy discussion. and the Boston Globe has added its name to the list of papers endorsing paid sick days as a new work-family standard, pointing out:
Business groups oppose the bill on several counts, including the pressure that employers are already under because of the recession. But these same groups were no more supportive in past years when the economy was stronger and the sick-day bill made no headway. A paid-sick-day law now would be an investment in the health of the American people and the American economy.
The Globe’s sentiments on the business case for family leave are backed up by a new study examining countries with the same level of economic development as the United States. It finds no statistically significant relationship between national unemployment rates and legally-mandated paid sick days in countries with paid sick days standards. The full report is available from the Center for Economic Policy Research .
Other academic research also illustrates the importance of paid leave to care for family. A recent study published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Public Health found that among parents of children with serious chronic illnesses who missed work because of their child’s illness, those who received full pay during leave reported more positive effects of leave-taking than those who received no pay.
And check out the health benefits of paid sick days in this press release from the National Partnership for Women and Families:
More than one-third of flu cases are transmitted at schools and workplaces…[and] guaranteed paid sick days would reduce the spread of pandemic and seasonal flu by enabling workers to comply with public health advice if they or their family members show signs of illness.
Infected workers staying home could reduce the spread of a pandemic flu virus by up to 34 percent, according to the study. Paid sick days will also protect the public from diseases carried by sick restaurant workers, and benefit nursing home residents, visitors and workers.
You can read a summary of the report’s findings on the National Partnership’s website.
The new report finds that more than one-third of flu cases are transmitted at schools and workplaces, and that guaranteed paid sick days would reduce the spread of pandemic and seasonal flu by enabling workers to comply with public health advice if they or their family members show signs of illness. Infected workers staying home could reduce the spread of a pandemic flu virus by up to 34 percent, according to the study. Without preventative strategies like paid sick days, a serious flu outbreak could kill more than two million people.
Paid sick days will also protect the public from diseases carried by sick restaurant workers, more than 85 percent of whom cannot take paid time off from work when ill. From 2003 to 2007, nearly 122,000 people fell ill from foodborne disease outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 18,030 illnesses in institutional and workplace settings involved an infected food-handler, the study says.
Nursing home residents, visitors and workers would also benefit from paid sick days, which would help prevent avoidable hospitalizations and deaths. Between 30 and 45 California nursing homes would be spared norovirus outbreaks each year under a new paid sick days law, it says
Green shoots in the state economic forecast?
The Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’s June presentation provides a concise overview of the official state forecast for economic recovery. Key findings include:
- There are some tentative signs that the bottom of the recession is near; economic activity continues to decline, but at a slower pace.
- Washington’s economy is well positioned to recover at the same time as the nation. The recovery is likely to be gradual, or U-shaped, rather than V-shaped.
- The recovery in state revenue will lag the recovery in economic activity because consumers need to be more confident of economic circumstances before they increase spending.
More in the full presentation online.
The Council consists of two members appointed by the governor and four members appointed by the chairs of each of the two largest political caucuses in each house of the legislature.
Time to stop the wobbling and truly reform health care
From the Seattle Post-Globe:
The health care debate is heating up, for good reason. In our state, tens of thousands of people lost their health coverage when they lost their jobs. They will soon be joined by tens of thousands more who are losing their Basic Health coverage. The number of uninsured has spiked to almost 900,000 people. One out of five adults between 19 and 64 has no health coverage. Meanwhile, businesses which offer health coverage are facing another round of escalating health care costs. And just this month Premera Blue Cross is increased its individual rates by over six percent.
Where’s the hope? Wasn’t that what millions of Americans voted for last November? Hope lies in the push by President Obama for universal coverage. It won’t be easy. The national discussion about health care is undergoing the lobbyists’ metamorphism. All during the Presidential campaign, the run-up to the inauguration, and the first months of President Obama’s administration, the focus was on universal health coverage. But in the past two months, it has switched to making sure that private insurance is not undercut by a public program.
Chart of the week: This isn’t your dad’s recession.
Some media outlets have taken to calling our current economic woes “The Great Recession.” Anytime people lose their jobs and businesses close, it causes family and community hardship — recession or not. But how does this recession really stack up against others in recent memory?
To shed some light on that question, following are “apples-to-apples” comparisons of job loss and unemployment during previous and current recessions in Washington State.
The first chart shows Washington’s unemployment rate during the 1990, 2001 and 2007 recessions, starting three months before each recession began (”-3″) and continuing through the 16 months following (through April 2009 of this year):
The second chart covers the same time period, but indexes job loss to 1 to allow for comparison across recessions. The beginning of recession is set as the standard: 100% employment, and every other month is then expressed as the percent of employment in relation to that base month.
(Data courtesy of the Economic Policy Institute.)
Schoolyard bully: Davis Wright Tremain shaking down Seattle Public Schools for a whole lot of lunch money
A local law firm already forced Seattle Public Schools to shelve the racial tie-breaker. Now it’s making the district pay the legal bill.
From Real Change News:
Pro bono is a term used by lawyers for legal work they perform without reimbursement or compensation. Legal firms — especially the large ones that charge several hundreds of dollars per hour — are usually eager to promote their pro bono work as community service.
Davis Wright Tremaine is one of Seattle’s premier law firms, and a sizeable portion of their website is dedicated to their pro bono work. But now they’re looking to get paid for it — and at taxpayer expense to boot!
This law firm, where former Governor Gary Locke was a partner before becoming our nation’s Secretary of Commerce, is strong-arming the Seattle School District in an attempt to be reimbursed for pro bono expenses from a suit that effectively allows re-segregation of public schools around the country.
Moms to U.S. Senate: “We’re Trapped in the Last Century”
From Washington News Service:
Washington, DC – Many working families are victims of a corporate culture and public policies that were forged in the middle of the last century, when Dads went to work and Moms cared for the kids at home, according to the National Association of Mothers’ Centers. “Bring us into the 21st Century!” is the message they gave this week to a U.S. Senate work group looking into work/life reforms. The Association’s executive director, Linda Lisi-Juergens, says today’s employees can’t juggle fast enough.
In Washington, for instance, less than half of full-time workers and only 12 percent of part-timers have paid sick days. Juergens says adding some workplace flexibility should not be viewed as running “counter” to the interests of business. Studies show that when companies are more flexible, it enhances their employees’ morale and productivity.
Your (wo)man in Washington is covering progress of the three bills under consideration by Congress that would promote family economic security:
- The Healthy Families Act (which would guarantee workers can earn up to 7 days of sick leave per year)
- The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2009 (which would ensure 12 weeks of paid benefits for the handful of times workers need extended time off care for a sick family member, a new baby, or the worker’s own illness), and
- The FIRST Act (which would provide start-up funding to states for family leave insurance)
Why do deficit hawks suddenly appear, every time Obama is near?
It’s been about eight years since we’ve heard the “deficit hawks” sing their song – but it’s an easy one to remember because the tune is always the same. Funny how it’s always sung loudest when the conversation turns to investments in improved health, education or infrastructure.
So says Robert Reich in The Great Debt Scare is back, in response to New York Times article predicting a sea of red ink in federal finances. The bottom line, as David Fiderer writes, the Obama administration has inherited a situation in which future deficits will dwarf all those prior to 2009.
Most states don’t have the option of deficit spending — and with the worst recession in generations now gripping the country, they’re grappling with steep declines in tax receipts. Faced with massive cuts to K-12 education, public universities, health programs, and other vital public structures, elected leaders are looking for new revenue to balance the books.
New financial protections for consumers may be on the way
American consumers may finally have a reason to smile soon, when President Obama proposes the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency tomorrow. The new watchdog agency will be responsible for protecting consumers from what Jennifer Liberto, CNNMoney, describes as “deceptive or dangerous mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.”
In the last year, you’ve probably experienced some anxiety over some new or unfair practice from the finance industry. It might have been your credit card. Millions of Americans learned of hidden fees, were subjected to reduced limits, new account fees or increased monthly payments.
Perhaps you took advantage of one of the low-interest credit card transfer offers. Later, after you made additional purchases at a higher rate, you may have realized that your payments went toward the low-interest rate charges first. Or maybe you were one of the millions who took out an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) and were hit hard with a new rate, or ended up with another mortgage product that was too costly.
Congress hears expert testimony on two national family leave insurance bills
Congressional hearings have begun on both the FIRST Act (Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions) and the Healthy Families Act. You can see testimony on both bills from:
- Rajiv Bhatia, Director at the Occupational and Environmental Health Department of Public Health
- Sandra Poole, Deputy Director of the California Employment Development Department Disability Insurance Branch
The FIRST Act (full text) authorizes $1.5 billion in grant funding to states to seed new programs or to bolster existing paid leave programs. Washington State would be one of the first states to benefit should the bill pass.
The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2009 (full text) would provide 12 weeks of paid benefits to workers who need time off to care for a new child, ill family member, service member returning from combat, or their own illness. The program covers all employees who have paid into the fund and worked for their current employer for 6 months.
