Written by PEL Lab Leader Deric Gruen
The economy we need—one where we are secure in our housing, have a say at work, and have time to care for our families—can’t exactly be legislated. But, in the current political climate, public policies and budgets are still an important part of helping us create an economy where we share the prosperity we build together.
Right now, Washington State is nearing the end of a legislative session. It’s easy to feel like decision-making in Olympia is distant and opaque. Most of us learn about new laws after they’ve already passed. Through PEL’s collaborative governance work, we’re striving to change that and bring state policy deliberations about our economy closer to the people most impacted by them.
Having worked on state policy for over a decade, I can tell you that things can change, and strategic participation really matters. And while policy at the State level generally lags local governments’ ability to adopt new ideas, the State ultimately has much greater power. The good news is that policy discussions that prioritize people over corporate profits are accelerating, thanks to the many community advocates and elected leaders pushing more ambitious solutions. Here are a few things that have been or are still being discussed this session:
Better Work:
- Representative Shaun Scott used his platform to propose changing the standard work week to 32 hours. While he didn’t get a hearing, the news of his proposal reached far and wide, opening the conversation about how we share work and have flexibility to use our time outside wage labor.
- Workers in agriculture didn’t get to see a vote on SB 6405, which would have made collective bargaining rights enforceable under a state commission. This would bring worker protections to a crucial group of workers, primarily immigrants and people of color.
- In better news, a new law took effect this past January to give workers unemployment benefits when on strike.
Democratic Enterprises:
- In case you missed it, in 2023 the Washington legislature made an important move to promote employee ownership through staffing, administrative policy, and a Business and Occupation tax credit that came online in 2024 (but is currently unfunded).
Corporate Accountability:
- A law sponsored by Representative Kristine Reeves didn’t advance, but would have required producer responsibility over clothing waste. This follows a major producer responsibility law passed last year, which requires the packaging and paper industry to cover the costs of recycling.
- In January, another new law went into effect that requires manufacturers to give consumers the “right to repair” recent digital electronics, a foothold for a wide range of products that have been made functionally obsolete.
Taxing the Rich:
- Last year, Governor Ferguson killed a novel wealth tax proposal that would have been a first in the nation. Washington State has been attempting to dig out of the hole of a regressive state tax structure, starting with a capital gains tax passed in 2021, surcharges on high revenue businesses last year, and increases in the estate tax (that legislators scaled back this year).
- This year, the governor and the legislature have both lined up behind a higher earners income tax—9.9% on personal income over $1 million. This would be a first for Washington State, which is one of the few states without an income tax.
Public Investments:
- While progressive taxes and public investments attempt to remedy income and wealth disparities, the best strategies aren’t just redistributive, but “predistributive”—seeking to prevent massive accumulation of wealth where it’s already concentrated and building wealth where it’s needed. In fact, the State has made many important investments in the past decade, like funding Community Assemblies, the Community Reinvestment Program, and community-controlled real estate projects. All of these are efforts by and serving Black, Indigenous and people of color to build ownership and control of the economy. These things were barely on the radar of legislators, if at all, a decade ago.
- The state also needs to build its own capacity after decades of privatization. Right now it’s considering stepping in to ensure statewide energy assistance, for example.
Public spending is over $100 billion dollars per year in Washington and has been more or less steady when compared to personal income over the last several decades. Still, government is only one part of Washington’s 
$700 billion economy. Moreover, the laws being passed are shaped behind the scenes by major corporations drawing red lines that too many legislators are willing to line up behind.
Ultimately making laws or “codifying” the things we really need plays a critical role, but it’s one part of what must be a larger strategy. Elected leaders generally prefer to follow proven models and established consensus, rather than be out in front.
That is why the work of demonstrating what a solidarity economy looks like and socializing a vision of shared prosperity is so important—work that’s primarily been (and should continue to be) led by leaders and entrepreneurs from communities of color, immigrants, and others historically marginalized from economic benefits. By creating the economy we need, we can actually shift what’s politically possible as illustrated in the “3 Circles” strategy created by Movement Generation.
This post covers just a small, select sample of the bills proposed this session and the past year or two, and it’s extremely difficult to follow it all. If you’d like to learn more, you can track publications like the Washington Standard, go direct to the legislature’s website, or follow bill trackers from organizations like Statewide Poverty Action Network, Front and Centered and many more.
