Issue Position: Working Families

Issue Position

In tough economic times like these, we need to do everything we can to stand up for working families. This includes protecting living wage jobs with benefits, expanding access to affordable health care for all and stemming the tide of cuts to critical social safety net services.

Social Safety Net: Washington families have sustained more than $10 billion in cuts over the past four years. It is critical that we begin to reinvest in services that matter most to Washington's families. We can do this by promoting new sources of revenue in our state and focusing on investments in programs that save money in the long run, such as family planning.

Workforce Training & Standards and Higher Education: Higher Education, apprenticeships and our community and technical colleges are a great path toward family-wage jobs. By investing in education for our workforce and working with employers to ensure access for local applicants, we can create a stronger regional, state and local economy. By building in requirements for apprenticeship utilization and compliance with prevailing wage standards, we can make sure that more family-wage jobs and pathways to careers are created in our community.

Healthcare: Washington's families deserve to work and live without the fear of losing their lives and livelihoods due to the high costs associated with healthcare and the rules governing insurance policy that seek to protect corporate profits, rather than doing the right thing for people in our community. Our new health insurance exchange--established following passage of the federal Affordable Care Act--is step in the right direction toward creating a more competitive, cost effective and transparent health insurance market here in Washington state. Furthermore, our state's Basic Health Plan and Apple Health for Kids provides healthcare access to our most vulnerable families and kids, respectively, and is a good long-term investment for the people of Washington. Expanding eligibility to this program so that more families can access care will go a long way toward creating healthier communities and a more productive work force.

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