Emily Makings

Seattle paid sick leave and reduced employee-employer flexibility

Increasing the minimum wage in Seattle is getting all the employment policy attention right now, but it is one of many compensation and benefit mandates. Another of those mandates in Seattle is paid sick leave, which went into effect September 1, 2012. A second report on the ordinance was released April 23. (More on the […]

2012 Ag Census: Washington's value of products sold totals over $9 billion

The National Agricultural Statistics Service today released the 2012 Census of Agriculture. The Washington highlights are available here. From 2007 to 2012, Washington’s acreage in farms decreased by 1.5 percent, and Washington’s total value of agricultural products sold increased by 34.3 percent to $9.121 billion. Fruits, tree nuts and berries sales made up 32.1 percent […]

Nearly final Washington Exchange enrollment numbers

Yesterday the Washington Health Benefit Exchange released new enrollment numbers. Open enrollment for qualified (private) health plans (QHP) ended March 31, but the Exchange allowed “those who were unable to complete their applications due to technical reasons or experienced other barriers to enrollment” to enroll after the deadline. The Exchange is still working with some […]

Minimum wage and the kludgeocracy

In this week’s EconTalk episode, host Russ Roberts talks with Steven Teles about the kludgeocracy. Teles wrote about the idea of a kludgeocracy in a Fall 2013 article in National Affairs. Some excerpts from the article: If anything, we have arrived at a form of government with no ideological justification whatsoever. . . . Understanding, […]

"Cruel budgeting," in CA and WA

Dick’s column yesterday is about a blast from the near past: A proposed initiative for the ballot this year would reduce class sizes. This idea is very similar to I-728, approved by voters in 2000. I-728 “redirected money from a fleeting state surplus, one that disappeared shortly after the initiative passed.” This year’s initiative “doesn’t […]

Paid family leave proponents giving up on the states

Stateline reports: After lobbying state by state for years, some supporters of paid family leave say it’s time for a federal solution. A proposal in Congress from Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York would export the models used in California, New Jersey and Rhode Island nationwide. Those are the only three states with their […]

Employment policy links

$15 Now files ballot initiative to raise Seattle’s minimum wage: Activists this morning filed a Seattle city charter amendment to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2015. The measure calls for a three-year phase-in for small business and non-profit organizations and defines a small business as any with 250 or […]

Kim Strassel will speak at our 82nd annual dinner

We are pleased to announce that Wall Street Journal columnist Kim Strassel will be our speaker at our annual dinner on May 29. In her column today, she writes about legal reform, “a big—if overlooked—issue in this year’s midterm.” Mr. Braley knew exactly what he was doing by bringing up Mr. Grassley; he was conjuring […]

At last minute, private plan enrollments spike

Monday was the last day to sign up for health insurance and avoid a penalty under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As expected, there was a spike in enrollments in qualified (private) health plans (QHP) just before the deadline. Yesterday the Washington Health Benefit Exchange released enrollment numbers through March 31 (Medicaid numbers are through […]

Income Inequality Symposium: "False trickle-down economics"

(Previous post on the symposium is here.) Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer was the keynote speaker of the Income Inequality Symposium. His speech consisted mostly of decrying “false trickle-down economics”—namely, the concept that if minimum wages are increased, employment will drop. According to him, “rich people and businesses don’t create jobs;” consumers are the real job […]