Progress in Washington

Through our Progress in Washington 2018 series of research and policy briefs, the Washington State Budget & Policy Center aims to track our state’s progress toward ensuring Washington state and its residents can thrive. “Building an Inclusive Economy” is the first report in our Progress in Washington 2018 series.

Progress in Washington offers a framework for how we can create an inclusive economy – in which things like race, ethnicity, gender, nativity, and neighborhood are not determining factors in the opportunity and life outcomes of Washingtonians.

The framework focuses on the following key value areas within the state budget:

• Economic security: All Washingtonians should have access to employment opportunities, living-wage jobs, and financial security and stability; and they should be economically secure in the face of a financial emergency.
• Education and job readiness: Our education system should prepare all students – from early learning through higher education – for good jobs and jobs of the future. It should remove barriers to education and employment for communities of color.
• Healthy people and communities: Our state should support vibrant communities that allow Washingtonians to lead healthy lives and better connect to and participate in the economy.
• Effective and accountable government: The state government supports the foundations of our communities. Our public institutions should efficiently and reliably ensure that all Washingtonians can meaningfully participate in our democracy.

History of the Progress series

Progress in Washington 2018 builds on the Budget & Policy Center’s Progress Index, a project started in 2008 to create a framework for measuring the impact of public investments in Washington state. That project was launched to reshape the conversation on what represents progress. It sought to answer a question that we continue to try to answer through this series: Are we investing enough – and in the right ways – to give all Washingtonians opportunities to prosper? Take a look at our previous Progress Index reports:

• Progress Index 2015: Measuring Shared Prosperity in Washington State 
• A Framework for Prosperity, 2011
• Progress Index 2008