With two weeks left in the second enrollment period for Affordable Care Act health coverage, marketplace enrollment is projected to reach between 9 million and 9.9 million people this year. That’s a net increase of between 2 and 3 million people gaining coverage through the marketplaces. Millions more will gain coverage through Medicaid expansion. That’sContinue reading “A Question for Lawmakers Who Backtrack on Expanded Health Coverage: Seriously?”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Making Ends Meet: Unaffordable Housing
Last month, we showed just how difficult it is for working parents to afford to pay for child care and cover other living expenses. One of those other major living expenses that all workers must account for is the cost of housing and utilities. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30Continue reading “Making Ends Meet: Unaffordable Housing”
I Give Thanks to Workers Standing Up to Injustice
The holiday season — a time of counting your blessings, spending time with your family, and abundance. It is also a time for a huge portion of workers — unable to make basic ends meet — to be made painfully aware of how they are falling short. About half of all full-time workers of color in the United States do notContinue reading “I Give Thanks to Workers Standing Up to Injustice”
LeeAnn Hall’s Statement on Executive Action for Immigration
For Immediate Release November 20, 2014 Contact: Kathy Mulady, Communications director Alliance for a Just Society (206) 992-8787 Statement from LeeAnn Hall, executive director of the Alliance for a Just Society, regarding President Obama’s announcement on executive action for immigration: “This is a great step forward for everyone in our country,” said LeeAnn Hall, executiveContinue reading “LeeAnn Hall’s Statement on Executive Action for Immigration”
Voter Support Spreading Nationwide for Higher Minimum Wage
Workers deserve to earn enough to support themselves and their families. This concept has helped guide the work of the Alliance for a Just Society for years. And, in the recent midterm elections, voters in five states and two cities showed that this is an issue that is important to people of all backgrounds, inContinue reading “Voter Support Spreading Nationwide for Higher Minimum Wage”
King County Council Approves One of Toughest Living Wage Ordinances in the Country
SEATTLE — The King County Council yesterday approved a living wage ordinance, which, when signed by County Executive Dow Constantine, would be among the stronger county-level ordinances in the country. The Alliance for a Just Society and Washington Community Action Network have supported the legislation, which includes language citing Alliance living wage research. The legislationContinue reading “King County Council Approves One of Toughest Living Wage Ordinances in the Country”
Justice for Michael Brown! End Racial Profiling and Police Violence
The images of protest and militarized police response in Ferguson, Missouri are shocking. But developments in that small suburban town are simply exposing the racial reality that millions of people of color face every day. Everyday experiences with the courts, media, government authorities and police remind us, in ways large and small, that the livesContinue reading “Justice for Michael Brown! End Racial Profiling and Police Violence”
No New Jails: Consider Alternatives to Incarcerating Children
King County Council members in Washington state are charging ahead with plans to build a new juvenile detention center to be known as the Children and Family Justice Center (CFJC). The county’s existing youth facility in Seattle has 50 beds – and is not even filled to capacity. The new jail triples the number ofContinue reading “No New Jails: Consider Alternatives to Incarcerating Children”
For the Children, We Must Transcend Politics and Do the Right Thing
One of the most inhumane things that a group of political players can do in this country – or any other – is to use children as a pawn in a political game. It is especially repulsive that Republicans in the U.S. have chosen this course rather than figuring out a humane way to reuniteContinue reading “For the Children, We Must Transcend Politics and Do the Right Thing”
Grads Pay a High Price for Student Loans, Plus the Emotional Toll
College is sold to young Americans as a ticket to a better job and life by giving them knowledge and tools to increase their earning power over their lifetime. But for millions of college graduates, graduation is followed by severe student loan debt and a low paying job. With an average student loan debt ofContinue reading “Grads Pay a High Price for Student Loans, Plus the Emotional Toll”