By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
Last week, The Washington State Budget and Policy Center held a Budget Matters Policy Summit at the Convention Center that was filled with optimism and purpose. During the summit, the organization, which is a nonprofit research and policy organization that works to ensure the state budget is investing in Washington’s communities and people,” released a new report, “Building an Inclusive Economy,” which outlines the need to advance state policies that ensure everyone has equitable outcomes when it comes to health, income, education, and opportunity.
Wa. St. Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib’s declaration on the need to make college education accessible to all those with an interest in furthering their education highlighted the list of issues addressed during the day including: racial disparities in incarceration, land ownership and wealth building, rent equity, financial assistance and equal opportunity in housing for those less fortunate.
“We focus on access to higher education, disability and veteran employment and international relations,” said Habib. “Today we talked about higher education and my belief that access to higher education is critical to a growing middleclass and many of those out there would say college isn’t for everyone and we need to have different pathways for people to get into higher education and to afford it.”
Glenn Harris, President of Race Forward an organization on racial justice advocacy and policy, was a speaker at the event who emphasized the racial disparities in hiring, the justice system, policy and wealth building through real estate for the African American. Harris spoke eloquently and forcefully at times on these issues as he engaged the audience through call and response and opening himself up to questions and answers and the end of his presentation.
“Policy frequently is put together in ways that divides things up,” said Harris. “That’s not how we live our lives, our lives are connected.”
“So, I think in that way there can be this way in which we can feel distanced from conversation around policy and at the same time the reality is, especially for our community, this is done on purpose,” continued Harris.
The Washington State Budget & Policy Center is a policy organization that uses research and analysis to advance the well-being of Washington communities, improve the economic security and social opportunity of all in the state, and support the essential role of government in promoting a just and prosperous society.
Jennifer Tran the center’s Senior Policy Analyst shares that, “it is essential for us to work in and build an inclusive economy because as we see through data in our report, many communities of color and many communities in the state are falling further behind. And they are the furthest from opportunity.”
“If we don’t address that and if we don’t figure out how we can make intentional policy and budget choices to close those gaps, then these gaps for this segment of our population are going to continue to grow and that’s going to be harmful for all of us,” Tran concluded.
The Washington State Budget and Policy Center is my brother’s keeper. Their efforts in bettering the lives of humanity is to be commended. In its eleventh year the Center is focused on economic growth and resiliency, regional equity, immigrant integration, environmental justice, and issues related to children, youth, and families has strengthen the communities of Washington State in a major way.
