Below is the testimony Executive Director Misha Werschkul gave to the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth at a field hearing in Seattle. The focus was “Lessons from Seattle: New Horizons for Workers’ Pay, Benefits, and Protections.”

Good afternoon, Chairman Himes, Ranking Member Steil, and members of the committee.  

I am Misha Werschkul, Executive Director of the Washington State Budget & Policy Center, a nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to building a stronger, more equitable Washington state. 

I am excited to share what we are doing here in our part of the country to support equitable growth, and the research that demonstrates that robust labor standards help reduce inequality and fuel the economy. These successes represent the vision and advocacy of countless community leaders, organizations, and elected leaders, including those who I am honored to present with today. 

Keys to workers’ right innovations

I want to start by highlighting three things that are important about region’s approach. 

1. First, workers and worker organizations have fought for policy that pairs increases in wages with protections that ensure workers have time away for family and personal needs, industry-specific protections, like those that Peter described, and policies that undo past decisions to exclude workers from core labor standards. Senator Saldana spoke to many of these policies, and I included in my written testimony a table highlighting some of our policy advances and you’ll see it’s quite an impressive list. An example of this holistic approach is recent policy changes related to overtime pay – importantly, we are both raising the statewide overtime threshold for salaried workers AND ending the unjust exclusion of agricultural workers from these protections.
2. Second, advocates have ensured that a focus on inequality is part of all aspects of policymaking including budget decisions and tax policy. For example, Seattle elected leaders used federal funds to help address impacts of the pandemic on workers, including payments to childcare workers. And advocates just won a new tax credit at the state level benefiting 420,000 low-income households.
3. Finally, advocates fought for policymaking structures that put workers in decisionmaking roles and allow policy to be responsive to changing needs over time. For example: A 2001 initiative to establish statewide collective bargaining for home care workers resulted in improvements in wages, health benefits, and retirement benefits, for those workers over the past two decades.

Workers’ rights lead to a strong economy overall

Our region’s innovative spirit is exemplified by having the strongest labor standards in the country AND one of the healthiest economies. 

The Seattle metropolitan area is the nation’s 10th largest regional economy. In King County, average weekly wages were nearly $1,000 higher than in the U.S. overall, and unemployment rates are lowest in the state and lower than the national average. Seattle was ranked by Forbes as the Best Place for Business and Careers two years in a row due to the region’s “booming economy, educated work force and large millennial population.”   

Robust workers’ rights contribute to economic equity

Of course, the high-level economic data doesn’t tell whole story. Similar to the country as a whole, our region is experiencing dramatic income and wealth disparities, which is why labor protections like those we are talking about today are so important. A recent analysis from Gene Balk at The Seattle Times found that among the 50 largest U.S. cities, Seattle had the third highest average incomes for the lowest 20% of households. Importantly, Balk notes, “One factor keeping Seattle’s income gap in check is the city’s famously high minimum wage.”  

And there is a robust body of research backing this up. For example, researchers with the University of Washington found that the City of Seattle minimum wage law meant higher earnings for low-income Seattle residents, increased worker productivity, and reduction in turnover rates.  

And research from across the country on paid family and medical leave shows a positive impact on women’s participation in the labor force and a range of indicators of family well-being. During the first two years of operation, Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program provided benefits to over 200,000 workers, proving to be a critical support in the midst of a global pandemic. 

Both Washingtons must continue to strengthen workers’ rights

In closing, I want to emphasize that policymakers must continue to act to address issues of economic insecurity.  

Specifically, the federal government must modernize federal labor standards, like updating the federal minimum wage and overtime standards and removing exclusions so that all workers – including domestic and agricultural workers – are covered by these protections. And Congress must continue policies that are working, including reauthorizing the expanded monthly child tax credit and investing in state, municipal, tribal and territorial fiscal relief. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.