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” laid the groundwork for the Progress in Washington 2018 series. "Building Assets for Washington State's Future" is the first brief. “Promoting Economic Security through Commonsense Tax Reform" is the second one.
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.
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 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?
A note about the Progress in Washington value areas: Although prisons and policing are not part of the Progress in Washington value areas, the Budget & Policy Center recognizes that Washington state dedicates significant resources to incarceration and law enforcement. Our analyses reflect those investments alongside the Progress in Washington value areas.
