News and perspective on public policy issues affecting Washington's economy and quality of life, brought to you by the Economic Opportunity Institute.
Excerpted from Washington State Budget 101: The recession has taken a big toll on jobs and family incomes – and on public revenue. The state has mostly cut services, not raised revenue, resulting in $10.5 billion in cuts. (Note: Federal aid in 2009-10, rainy day funds, and fee increases prevented deeper cuts.) Cuts from 2009-11 [...]
Reprinted from The Everett Herald It isn’t any surprise that people are pessimistic and negative right now. If we have jobs, we are worried about keeping them. If we don’t, we are worried about making ends meet, especially as unemployment insurance has run out for tens of thousands of jobless workers in our state. We [...]
From the Center for Economic and Policy Research: The U.S. health care system is possibly the most inefficient in the world: We spend twice as much per person on health care as other advanced countries, but we have worse health outcomes, including a lower life expectancy. The government, through programs like Medicare and Medicaid, pays [...]
From the Washington Family Leave Coalition: In just four days, the Family Care Act enforcement bills now under consideration in Olympia must pass out of the House or Senate. We need your help to make it happen. Since 2002, Washington’s Family Care Act (FCA) has helped ensure workers can use the paid time off they’ve [...]
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