Percolate Up Economics

Percolate Up Economics

by | Jan 29, 2014 | Economic Justice, Issues & Policy, Youth Agenda

President Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union speech last night, once again pleading with congress to you, know, legislate or something.

More newsworthy was Obama’s decision to take action on his own, circumventing congress’s political gridlock to work on addressing our country’s growing problem with income inequality.

While Obama asked congress to pass a bipartisan bill raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, he also decided to issue an executive order mandating all federal contractors start paying $10.10 an hour immediately. “If you cook our troops’ meals or wash their dishes,” said Obama. “You should not have to live in poverty.”

Personally I’d say if you are working a full time job (or two) you shouldn’t have to live in poverty either, but I guess that’s outside of Obama’s hands.

Using an executive order to push for progressive employment policies is nothing new. Franklin D. Roosevelt passed an executive order back in 1941 prohibiting racial discrimination in the national defense industry. Closer to home, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray signed an executive order raising all City employees wages to $15 an hour.

And perhaps following in the lead of successful movements such as SeaTac’s Good Jobs initiative, Obama spoke directly to local leaders:

“To every mayor, governor, state legislator in America, I say, you don’t have to wait for Congress to act; Americans will support you if you take this on.”

Currently in Washington State Governor Inslee has suggested raising the current minimum wage of $9.32 an hour an extra $1.50 to $2.50, and Representative Jessyn Farrell introduced a bill raising the state minimum wage to $12. The bill currently has 32 sponsors in the Democratically controlled house.

And Seattle itself is working to extend the $15 an hour minimum to all workers, not just city employees.  The City Council and the Mayor’s Office are deliberating on how best to implement the wage increase, with added urgency from Councilmember Sawant’s threat to send an initiative directly to Seattle voters.

Realistically Congress isn’t going to pass a minimum wage increase in the next two years. But the issue clearly has popular support. Legislators who don’t realize that may find themselves out of a pretty high paying job. Perhaps then and only then will they appreciate how hard it is to get by on the current minimum wage.

This blog post was written by Devin Glaser, longtime friend and volunteer of the Bus.

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.

by | Jun 3, 2013 | Issues & Policy

Frequent Hella Bus readers may be all too familiar with our ongoing failure to adequately fund state government. Thanks in part to the now extinct 2/3rds requirement and a regressive and out-of-date tax system, we are failing to keep up with the baseline costs of running our state.

There could be no better metaphor for this civic negligence than an I-5 bridge literally falling into a river.

Drowning government in a bathtub.

Last Thursday evening a truck carrying an oversized load hit a section of the I-5 bridge spanning the Skagit River.  The bridge, listed as “functionally obsolete” by the Federal Highway Administration crumbled and fell into the water. The truck managed to make it across but two cars and three people were thrown into the abyss. Thankfully no one was killed.

The most terrifying thing about this tragedy is how unremarkable the bridge was. According to a report by the American Society of Engineers, 366 of Washington’s 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient, and another 1,693 bridges are considered functionally obsolete. Together that’s one in four bridges in Washington State.  On my daily commute I cross two.

Many of these bridges were built during the Eisenhower era and are badly in need of upkeep; upkeep that has been stalled by our  refusal to pay for it.

A bit of background: Washington’s gas tax is a flat fee, not a percentage. In 2005 legislators last voted to raise our gas tax to 37.5 cents per gallon, where it sits today. Back then a gallon of gas cost $2.55.

With gas hitting $4 a gallon and fuel efficiency standards going up, state revenue just isn’t keeping pace with need.  House Democrats passed a transportation package dedicating $911 million to maintenance and preservation. To pay for it, they would increase the gas tax $0.10 over a period of four years.

The bill is currently stuck in the Senate, where the Majority Coalition is opposed to any package that includes a tax increase.

This knee-jerk refusal to raise revenue affects much more than our bridges. King County is currently legally unable to raise the revenue necessary to maintain Metro. Not broke, not living outside its means, but lacking permission from Olympia to pay for the things King County values.

This is (ten) penny smart and pound foolish. A functioning Interstate system is crucial to our economy, as is moving people smoothly through our cities.

Government provides for a lot of our needs, in ways that used to seem intangible. And it doesn’t do so for free. Hopefully this bridge collapse will kick off a conversation on our shared values, and how we’re willing to contribute. If not? I guess we get what we pay for.

This blog post was written by Devin Glaser, longtime friend and volunteer of the Bus.

Marriage Equality for the Win!

Marriage Equality for the Win!

by | Dec 9, 2012 | Issues & Policy, LGBTQ Justice

Today marks the first day that same-sex couples can legally marry in Washington State.

Not wanting to wait any longer, couples lined up outside the King County Courtroom in downtown Seattle to be married at 12:00 am last night. King County Executive Dow Constantine was there signing Marriage Certificates, as well as Senator Ed Murray, the creator of the Marriage Equality bill in the Senate.

On Sunday, December 9th Seattle City Hall was brimming with couples excited to tie the knot. Judges, city officials, and members of the community came out in droves to volunteer their time in order to make everything come together.

And it was beautiful.

An amazing 138 couples were married in City Hall. Many had been together for decades and are just now able to legally wed. Couples were married at one of five temporary wedding altars, and afterward were led into a reception area where they could give video testimonials about their relationships.

One other congratulation in order: Washington State hit 81% voter turnout, the highest in the nation. These historic events wouldn’t have been possible without such huge turnout.

Yesterday was the culmination of years of work, from the dream Senator Ed Murray had for 17 years, to the Marriage Bill passed in January, to the Referendum that voters approved in November, and the weddings all over the state. Being present yesterday was awe inspiring – Washington State affirmed these couples as being completely equal in the eyes of the law. Congratulations to all the happy couples!

 

This blog post was written by Devin Glaser, longtime friend and volunteer of the Bus.

 

Things Cost Money.

Things Cost Money.

by | Dec 5, 2012 | Economic Justice, Issues & Policy

Last month Washington voters passed Initiative 1185, a third Initiative from conservative activist Tim Eyman that imposes a two-thirds majority requirement to raise any revenue in Washington State.

In 2007, Initiative 960, Eyman’s first 2/3 Initiative passed with 51.24% of the vote. In 2010, after the legislature overturned 960, Eyman’s 1053 passed with 63.75% of the vote. Currently 1185 is passing with 63.91% of the vote. Tellingly, none of these bills would have become law if they were subject to the same 2/3 requirement placed upon the legislature.

In fact, none of the ballot measures on the 2012 ballot would have passed the 2/3 requirement. No marriage equality (54%), no marijuana (56%), no charter schools (50.69%).  Even President Obama didn’t manage to pull in 2/3 of the electorate in deep blue Washington state.

Which is part of why a King County Superior Court found Initiative 1053 unconstitutional back in May of this year. Super-majority requirements are in practice unattainable. The State Supreme Court has yet to set a date on when they will decide on the case, but will likely do so before the January legislative session.  If they don’t, the 2/3 majority requirement will still be considered unconstitutional when state legislators return to Olympia.

What’s At Stake:

Washington State is not paying its bills.  After a drawn-out recession, we’re simply not raising enough revenue to keep up with a very baseline upkeep. Our state-based revenue system falls disproportionately on the poor and is slow to adapt to changes in market conditions and demographic shifts and trends.

The Washington State Budget and Policy Center finds that state revenue is projected to come in at $4.8 billion less than our current obligations. This includes vital state services plus our state’s “new” obligation to fund schools due to the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision.

As just one example of many, according to the 2010 census, Washington State spends $9,452 per student each year. Contrast that with Washington DC, which spends $18,667.  Do we value our student’s education half as much as our country’s capital?

Can’t Squeeze Blood from a Stone

Washington voters are pretty consistent about their desires to lower taxes.  On the same ballot voters approved the 2/3rds requirement, they rejected two non-binding advisory votes to raise revenue by removing a deduction used by large out-of-state banks and delaying the expiration of a current tax on petroleum manufacturers. (Both votes have mere symbolic effect thanks to a prior Eyman Initiative.)

And I’m empathetic.  Low-income and middle income Washington residents are feeling the squeeze.  (As is my broke ass.)  According to a report by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, Washington’s poorest residents pay up to 17.3% of their income into state coffers while Washington’s richest pay just 2.9%.  We live in a very high-tax state if you’re poor and a very low-tax state if you’re rich.


But there are ways to raise revenue that don’t soak the poor.  Last session legislators attempted to create a modest tax on capital gains – i.e. the money earned from sales of stocks or property.  Capital gains are almost ubiquitous amongst the richest members of Washington State, and rare among low-income and middle-class Washingtonians.  The bill that failed to pass last session exempted the first $10,000 in capital gains, resulting in a tax on only the richest 3%.

A capital gains tax would be one of many possible ways to get Washington out of debt.  But ideas like this are non-starters while Olympia is shackled by 2/3rds requirements.

Regardless of how we do it, until Washington gets real about paying for the things we value, we’ll continue to underfund schools, roads, transit and life-saving services.  It’s time for the Evergreen State to put its money where its mouth is.

This blog post was written by Devin Glaser, longtime friend and volunteer of the Bus.

Marriage Equality: We Meet Again

Marriage Equality: We Meet Again

by | Oct 30, 2012 | Issues & Policy, LGBTQ Justice

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past several months (which I wouldn’t judge), you probably know that on November 6th Washingtonians will have the opportunity to be one of the first states in the U.S. to uphold gay marriage at the ballot box.

My relationship with Marriage Equality, like a lot of queer folks, is complicated. I’ve had, heard, and landed on both sides of the debates surrounding how Marriage Equality campaigns have drawn much-needed resources out of social justice issues such as the school to prison pipeline, access to health care, and youth homelessness to name a few.

I have to admit, I have landed on the side of the debate that Marriage Equality is, in fact, important. I agree, it is not the only issue queers should be fighting for. However, I can also see that Marriage Equality has the potential to affect many people’s lives on a very fundamental and positive level.

For example, I was going to school in Maine during election season in 2009 when Mainers had the chance to uphold Marriage Equality (they didn’t—they voted to repeal it by about a 6% margin).  Leading up to the election, I attended a few community meetings for academia and out of personal interest.

The most notable was a discussion on Marriage Equality and religion led by Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Anglican bishop.*  During the discussion, multiple gay men stepped up to ask the bishop how they should reconcile their feelings of anger towards people that had physically and/or verbally assaulted them based on their sexuality.  In other words, in that room for the folks present, there was a strong connection between basic physical and emotional safety and Marriage Equality.

It began to sink in for me that for some people Marriage Equality is not just about a certificate, or even all the legal rights that go with marriage; it’s also about basic respect and dignity. It is about the sense that the right to marry might lead to greater public acceptance, and, therefore greater safety physically, emotionally, legally and psychically.

My hope for the fight for Marriage Equality in Washington, Maine and Maryland (the three states that have it on the ballot this election season,) is that it will be approved at the ballot box to promote safety for LGBTIQ folks on all levels.

However, I genuinely hope it doesn’t end there.  I hope folks can start using the conversation about Marriage Equality in broader terms—that connections will be made between the legal, physical and emotional vulnerability that queer folks have with the legal, physical and emotional vulnerability that, for example, communities of color have in relation to the war on drugs and racial profiling.  (Not to say they are comparable, the same experience or don’t intersect either, just to say they are all pieces of the same puzzle…and it’d be worthwhile to think about Initiative 502 as part of that puzzle.)

In essence, I hope that we can all start to see and talk about the campaign for Marriage Equality more broadly—that we all should really be thinking about, debating and campaigning for ways we can create spaces and environments where everyone feels safe and is capable of thriving.

*Gene Robinson will be leaving his post in 2013 due to continual threats to his life and personal safety since he became bishop in 2004.

This blog post is by Shann Molly, friend of the Bus.

Setting a Higher Bar

Setting a Higher Bar

by | Aug 21, 2012 | Issues & Policy, Voting

This November Washington residents will be voting on Initiative 502, an ACLU-sponsored initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in Washington State.

Yesterday, the seldom-progressive Seattle Times endorsed a yes vote on I-502, commemorating Seattle’s long history of allowing Hempfest to operate for 21 years in legal limbo within our public parks.

In their endorsement, the Seattle Times Editorial Board gave a nod to opponents of I-502, who dislike the DUI-style provisions created by the new bill.

But they also fall into the trap of pretending there is not currently a law against driving while under the influence of marijuana.

According to RCW 46.61.502:

“A person is guilty of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug if the person drives a vehicle within this state:

And the person has, within two hours after driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher as shown by analysis of the person’s breath or blood made under RCW46.61.506; or while the person is under the influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor or any drug;

The fact that a person charged with a violation of this section is or has been entitled to use a drug under the laws of this state shall not constitute a defense against a charge of violating this section.”

There is currently a zero-tolerance rule for driving while under the influence of non-alcoholic drugs. I-502’s “new” DUI threshold would raise the current limit by setting one.

In addition, the new threshold measures a seldom-used test for the active component in marijuana that causes the sensation of being “high”. This is different than the inactive metabolite employers test for that lasts for weeks at a time (and may have cost you a job or two).

This establishes the first legal difference between proof that you are currently high versus proof you attended a Snoop Dog Lion concert two weeks earlier.  There’s no carve-out for the latter under current law, and a judge or jury who sees no legal distinction could choose to convict a person who was completely sober but driving erratically.

Washington State could be the first state to break from Federal Law and legalize marijuana for casual use.  Whether voters think this is a good idea is totally up to them.  But an informed electorate is important, stoned or not.

This blog post was written by Devin Glaser, longtime friend and volunteer of the Bus.