Blog

Washington youth unemployment is much higher than the national average. Think the minimum wage plays a role?

We’ll be releasing a policy brief on this issue next week. But I think this slide that Kriss prepared for today’s meeting of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers is highly consistent with national studies showing that minimum wage hikes negatively affect teenage unemployment. In 2013, the overall unemployment rate for Washington was 7.0 percent; […]

Minimum wage bill passes out of House committee; closing skills gap a better solution

Yesterday, on a 5-4 party line vote, the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee passed HB 2672, which would raise the statewide minimum wage to $12. Committee passage was expected. Whether there are the votes in the full House to increase the wage is somewhat in doubt. And it’s a certainty that the Senate will […]

From Gallup: The State of the States, an interactive political map

Some of you will enjoy this.

Sports and local funds

Many of us in the Northwest have sports on the mind today, understandably. Given that, I found a couple of local articles interesting and timely: In a Seattle Times post, Jonathan Martin writes about the potential costs of the Super Bowl parade through downtown Seattle: The Seahawks’ city-issued parade permit includes standard costs for traffic […]

Putting the focus back on increasing economic opportunity for all

In my column, I comment on the president’s State of the Union address and the shift in focus from inequality to opportunity. The new opportunity emphasis was previously discussed here and is examined in this New York Times story. I also highly recommend this Robert Samuelson column explaining why inequality is not the problem. To create “ladders […]

Appointing the insurance commissioner? We've suggested it before.

Sen. Randi Becker has introduced a bill eliminating the elected office of insurance commissioner, replacing it with a 10-member board who would hire a director. We’ve previously written on the merits of replacing an elected commissioner with one appointed by the governor. In 1999 we wrote: The argument for making not only the insurance commissioner […]

The problem with letting cities set the minimum wage

The Spokesman-Review editorializes for maintaining the current statewide minimum wage law without local variation. The editorial uses the SeaTac $15 minimum as a teaching moment. … Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, would stop the wage wars by forbidding any local government entity to set a minimum above the state level. Bravo, Braun. Employees are migratory, not so […]

Seattle's income inequality "not as bad as you think," plus bonus links on mobility and the minimum wage

Emily Parkhurst reviews income data in the Puget Sound Business Journal and finds the metro area is doing pretty well. The national debate over income inequality and raising the minimum wage may begetting a lot of attention here in the Seattle area, but this region is one of the best in the country to go […]

WA ranks #42 in share of tax filers claiming Earned Income Tax Credit

The Tax Foundation’s tax map this week shows EITC claims as a share of filers by state. Washington ranks No. 42. Go here for a good explanation of the EITC. BTW, today is Earned Income Tax Credit Day. Who knew? The Tax Foundation summarizes the general resul. Lower-income, southern states had a higher proportion of […]

Increasing opportunity: better politics and better policy than attacking inequality

In the days leading up to the State of the Union, the White House signaled a rhetorical shift. Less talk of inequality, more emphasis on opportunity.  As ABC News reported, The adjustment reflects an awareness that Obama’s earlier language put him at risk of being perceived as divisive and exposed him to criticism that his […]