Media Center | Commentary

Family Leave a Wise Investment for Our State

12.18.2007 | Tacoma News Tribune | "Our state’s paramount duty is to provide for the education of all of Washington’s children. Family leave insurance assures that our children benefit from the care of their first and best teachers – their parents." | Read

Congress Makes Wise Investment with Head Start

11.18.2007 | Longview Daily News | Congress gave final approval this past week to a five-year reauthorization bill for Head Start, the nation's flagship early childhood education program. It took four long years of sometimes heated partisan debate to produce this legislation. But, in the end, Congress got it right. | Read 

Say yes to progress

10.04.2007 | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Working families stand to gain the most from Proposition 1, the Roads and Transit measure on November's ballot. The proposition will improve access to jobs, schools and affordable housing, and help create a healthier environment. Roads and Transit will fund major new investment in light rail, buses, bridges and highways throughout King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. These are investments our region needs to ensure that economic growth benefits us all. | Read

Get Well Soon: Without paid leave, four in 10 workers don’t have any other choice

02.14.2007 | Real Change News | Last fall I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m lucky that this potentially fatal disease was caught early, and my prospects are good. But to get to that good outcome requires nine grueling months of treatment. I figure by next summer I’ll have missed 320 hours of work, the equivalent of eight weeks, for surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and doctor’s visits. For 112 of those hours, the equivalent of 14 work days, I’ll need someone with me. I’m particularly lucky to have health insurance, paid leave, and supportive family and friends who also have paid leave. Not everyone is so fortunate. | Read

Break Even: Three small steps toward fixing Washington’s unfair taxes

01.03.2007 | Real Change News | Bargaining for tax breaks has become a routine part of doing business. During every legislative session, business lobbyists line the hallways of the state capitol demanding their own special tax exemptions. And they get heard. In the past three years, Washington’s Legislature passed 61 tax break packages for businesses ranging from software giants, to car dealers, to soda pop distributors, giving away nearly half a billion dollars from the state’s 2007-09 budget. | Read