Blog

New Brief: More Reforms for Workers' Compensation

On February 4, the state Senate passed three workers’ comp bills. In a new brief today, we take a look at those bills and discuss why reforms are needed, even after the changes made in 2011.

Lower Business Costs, Better Education & Transportation = More Jobs

Gov. Inslee’s jobs plan, released last week, again highlights the state’s enduring problem: Too many people looking for work and not finding it. In my column, I lead with this: Nearly 17 percent of the state’s workforce — one in six of us — is either unemployed or underemployed. So much for the recovery. Nationally, […]

President's proposal would increase federal minimum wage, nearly to Washington's level

In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama proposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $9.00 by the end of 2015 and indexing it to inflation. (It is currently $7.25.) Twenty-two states currently match the federal minimum wage, 19 states and DC have minimum wages above the federal requirement, four have minimum […]

Paid sick leave in Washington, and a new study on Connecticut's law

The House Committee on Labor and Workforce Development held a hearing this morning on HB 1313, which would require Washington employers to provide paid sick and safe leave to their employees. The bill is very similar to Seattle’s paid sick and safe time ordinance, which has been in effect since September 1, 2012. We wrote […]

More reforms for workers' compensation

Washington’s workers’ compensation benefits paid are the highest in the country, as we’ve documented here and here. And, as the National Academy of Social Insurance says, “several studies . . . demonstrate that the level of statutory benefits is a major determinant of the costs of workers’ compensation in a state.” In 2011, the legislature […]

Potential changes for workers' comp voluntary settlements

In a Seattle Times op-ed over the weekend, two state representatives, Christopher Hurst and Cathy Dahlquist, call for more changes to workers’ compensation. Some reforms to the system were enacted in 2011 (we wrote about them here), and some savings have been realized. As Reps. Hurst and Dahlquist note, The single largest projected saving from […]

Local government pension and retiree health care funding shortfalls

According to the Pew Center on the States this week, in 2009, pension liabilities of 61 major cities in the U.S. were $385 billion, of which $286 billion was funded. Additionally, these cities had retiree health care liabilities of $126 billion, of which only $8 billion was funded. In total dollars, the 61 cities had […]

Unemployment Insurance and Workers' Compensation Rates for 2013

Today the Employment Security Department (ESD) announced that unemployment insurance rates will either stay the same or be reduced for most employers in Washington for 2013. In 2013, 14 percent of employers will move into lower rate classes, 61 percent won’t change, and 25 percent will move into higher rate classes. More than one-third of […]

Maps of Unemployment Benefits Maximum Duration Since 2008

In 2008, the federal government enacted temporary emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) for people who run out of their regular state unemployment benefits. The program expires at the end of the year. Washington workers are eligible for 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, and under the EUC program, they may currently be eligible for 37 additional […]

Can WA Eliminate Public Pension COLAs?

In 2011, the legislature eliminated future automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System Plan 1 (PERS 1) and the Teachers’ Retirement System Plan 1 (TRS 1). As we wrote in an April 2011 policy brief, In 1995, the legislature passed a bill providing retirees in PERS 1 and TRS 1 […]