OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Jay Inslee was sworn in for his third term as Washington state governor and delivered his State of the State address Wednesday.

Inslee focused on the COVID-19 crisis and laid out a vision for an equitable recovery from the pandemic.

Misha Werschkul, executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, said the governor's proposed budget, released in December, outlines investments in public services and prioritizes racial equity, but her group sees it as just a start on the path toward an equitable recovery.

"What I would say, though, is that in many cases, his budget doesn't go far enough to be able to really make that vision that he laid out a reality, in the short term," Werschkul contended.

Inslee's budget, for instance, includes a one-time investment of $10 million into the Immigrant Worker Relief Fund. The Washington State Budget and Policy Center thinks lawmakers should invest in a permanent income-support program for undocumented workers.

The group also suggested the Legislature invest more money in programs like Housing and Essential Needs, to improve access to affordable housing and prevent homelessness.

However, the state faces a massive budget shortfall because of the pandemic, which is leading to calls for cuts.

Werschkul noted cuts did not bode well for states in the wake of the Great Recession.

"If what we really want to do is get our economy back on track, the best way to do that is actually to have more public spending and investment in communities," Werschkul asserted. "Getting that money flowing is going to be what helps our economy, long term."

Hers, and other progressive groups, are urging lawmakers to make the state's tax system more equitable. Washington's wealthiest residents have some of the lowest tax rates in the country.

The governor spoke frankly about racial inequities in Washington state.

Werschkul added that frank discussion will help the state prioritize communities of color.

"I do think it's really important that both the governor and the Legislature are talking about processes that are more equitable, in terms of the development of the state budget," Werschkul concluded.


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MADISON, Wis. -- Details are still being sorted out in the Biden administration's spending plan for boosting social programs. In Wisconsin, those pushing for paid leave for all are worried workers who need it most could be left out.

The Build Back Better plan originally offered workers across the country 12 weeks of paid leave, but in trying to win over reluctant lawmakers, it has been scaled down to four weeks, and still could be eliminated.

Shawn Phetteplace, state manager for the Wisconsin chapter of the Main Street Alliance, said failing to act would push the U.S. further behind other developed nations in this area and leave Wisconsin's working families in a bind.

"A lot of folks either have to leave their jobs permanently, or they have to take no pay and be pushed into poverty as a result," Phetteplace explained.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has said paid leave is one of the provisions he is concerned about including in the Biden plan. The package was originally set at $3.5 trillion, but has been trimmed to roughly $2 trillion to alleviate cost concerns.

Nearly a dozen states require paid sick leave from private-sector companies. Wisconsin is not among them.

Other advocates of paid family leave note the unpaid leave already required by federal law is still inaccessible for 61% of working Wisconsinites. Supporters of the Biden plan now propose a tax on billionaires to help pay for the package. Phetteplace thinks these types of funding mechanisms are the best approach.

"This is not paid for by Main Street," Phetteplace asserted. "The way this is all paid for is by getting back to a reasonable tax rate for very wealthy individuals."

Those who would be taxed have at least $1 billion in assets, or have earned more than $100 million for three straight years. This approach also faces skepticism, including from some Democrats, and analysts say it might be difficult for the government to enforce.

BISMARCK, N.D. - A portion of American Rescue Plan funding sent to North Dakota has yet to be divvied up. Groups that want to improve the child-care system say the state shouldn't miss an opportunity to boost access and affordability.

Some of the funds North Dakota received from the federal pandemic-relief package in March already have been spent or set aside, but there's still room to distribute roughly $700 million of the aid. April Fairfield, a member of the North Dakota Children's Caucus. said dedicating substantial funding for child care should be a priority.

"Many areas, many communities, rural and urban in North Dakota, lack accessible and affordable child care," she said. "So, we are looking at the American Rescue Plan as a way to fortify that and to really try and get North Dakotans back to work."

She said more aid would help with worker shortage issues.

Next week, legislative committees will hold more meetings on what to do with the remaining funds. Gov. Doug Burgum's priorities include matching grants for employers who offer a child-care benefit, but Prairie Action ND has said his plan commits only 2% of funding to address the crisis and looks to the Legislature to change that.

Xanna Burg, the Kids Count coordinator for North Dakota, said the statewide average child-care cost for an infant is 13% of a family's budget. She said she thinks that's a good place to start in committing federal funds.

"We're really calling on the state to think about investing that same amount - 13%, or $130 million - towards child care, to really address better access for families, making child care more affordable for families, and also helping child-care businesses pay their workers more than poverty-level wages."

She said failing to boost child-care workers' pay could force more providers to close, creating economic harm to the state. Earlier this year, a Kids Count report said 14 North Dakota counties meet less than 60% of the child-care demand for working families. Votes are expected during next week's committee meetings to advance proposals for the Legislature to consider in special session.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Gov. Mike Parson is facing calls to get the Missouri Cybersecurity Commission off the ground after it was created by the Legislature earlier this year.

This month, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter exposed a major flaw in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's website that, before it was resolved, had put hundreds of thousands of educators' personal information at risk.

State Rep. Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said Missouri needs to beef up its cybersecurity. She noted that the new commission is meant to identify vulnerabilities and recommend solutions, but the governor has yet to appoint any commissioners.

"What I believe needs to happen in Missouri to allow for more transparency into the state of our cybersecurity program," she said, "is for this commission to be filled, and for them to get to work and start advising the governor on what needs to be done."

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and experts recommend multi-factor verification for all accounts and devices, creating unique passwords and only using sites that begin with "https" when online shopping or banking.

After learning of the problem, the Post-Dispatch alerted the Department of Education, which promptly took its pages down. When the story broke, Parson announced a criminal investigation, saying the reporter was trying to expose state information. But lawmakers, including Aune and members of the governor's Republican Party, have defended the reporting, saying it was important that the problem was identified and solved.

"Over 100,000 Social Security numbers were potentially exposed, and that's just a drop in the bucket," she said. "So as a state, cybersecurity absolutely has to be a priority, in terms of where we spend our money and where we spend our efforts."

She added that insecure data not only threatens individual Missourians but also can hurt taxpayers' pockets since preventing breaches is less expensive and more efficient than resolving cyber threats after they happen.