Washington state corrections workers are calling on the state to keep their word and deliver on pandemic-related bonuses.

More than 400 union members of the Washington Federation of State Employees who work at the Department of Corrections say they've been informed they won't get a $1,000 Recognition and Retention Lump Sum payment negotiated in their latest contracts.

Jim Furchert, community corrections officer for the Washington State Department of Corrections and a union steward for the Washington Federation of State Employees, said the payments are needed.

"A thousand bucks may not seem like that much money to some folks," Furchert noted. "But to some of our lower-income folks -- our support staff, folks that aren't making, oftentimes, a family wage in my mind -- $1,000 is a huge amount of money."

The bonus is for workers who were employed on or before July 1, 2022, and remained employed a year later. The Department of Corrections referred questions about the payment to the Office of Financial Management, which said it had no comment because it anticipates litigation over the matter.

Furchert argued workers earned their pay working while COVID-19 raged. He pointed out arrests were still being made at the height of the pandemic, meaning corrections officers had to transport people to prison or jail.

"In that transport, you're in a car with a person. You don't know their COVID status, you don't know what they had," Furchert recounted. "I can't think of a CCO or a community corrections officer, or even a correctional specialist, that didn't get COVID during the pandemic, because we were still out doing the work."

Furchert stressed corrections workers in the state are implementing changes to the system to make people's lives better.

"The Washington State Community Corrections Division is one of the most progressive in the nation for some of the techniques we're using and some of the practices we're doing," Furchert emphasized. "I mean, we're really doing groundbreaking programs and groundbreaking approaches to attempt to impact behavior change."

Washington Federation of State Employees have written a petition to leadership in the state the public can sign.

Average teacher pay increased in 2023, but a new study shows it still lags far behind that of other college graduates.

Average weekly wages for teachers across the nation increased 1.7% last year. But it was still more than 26 percentage points below other college graduates.

Sylvia Allegretto, senior economist with the Center on Economic Policy Research, is author of the report - and said there's a vast disparity across states, with Idaho among the states falling behind.

"The worst is in Colorado at just over 38% - and then Idaho, the teacher pay gap is 27.1%," said Allegretto. "So, not really great news, but it's not the worst in the country."

Wyoming had the smallest gap between teacher pay and other college graduates, at 9%. Nearly three quarters of states had gaps larger than 20%.

Allegretto noted that the gap for teachers has increased significantly in recent decades, from about 6% in 1996 to more than 26% in 2023.

She said this is having far-reaching effects for a profession that's one of the most important in the country.

"Are we able to retain the teachers that are already in the profession?" said Allegretto. "And how are we going to attract and retain future students of today to choose teaching as a profession?"

Allegretto said more public investment in education will be necessary to correct this issue.

"There's not going to be one way to do this," said Allegretto, "but it is definitely going to take federal, state and local government effort."




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Pennsylvania families facing challenges with child and dependent care expenses may now benefit from a significant state tax break.

The expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit is expected to directly benefit almost 210,000 working families in Pennsylvania by providing them with additional financial support when they file their income taxes.

Gillian Kratzer, deputy director of the advocacy group Better Pennsylvania, said the tax credit expansion is a substantial benefit, as it increased from $600 to $2,100.

"Anybody who has experienced the cost of child care and dependent care for folks with intellectual or physical disabilities is extraordinarily expensive," Kratzer pointed out. "And often out of reach for many families."

To claim the enhanced tax credit on your personal income tax return, you must have incurred care expenses for a dependent child under 13 or a spouse or dependent adult who was incapable of self care. She added the credit is refundable, meaning you would not owe any state taxes on the amount you receive.

Kratzer noted the state's tax credit amount is based on the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, income levels and the number of dependents.

"It does vary based on the number of dependents," Kratzer pointed out. "For one child, the max is $1,050; for two or more, the max is $2,100."

She recommended people visit the website revenue.pa.gov for information about the tax credit and filing process.

Her group applauded Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration for the tax credit, which she emphasized demonstrates its commitment to supporting working people.

More jobs are available now in Kentucky compared with the past couple of years and many are better-paying union jobs driven by federal investments, according to a new report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

The construction industry added more than 13,000 jobs or 16% above pre-pandemic levels.

Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, noted the rate of growth is nearly twice the national average.

"Building new manufacturing facilities like the Blue Oval plant in Hardin County, in energy-related construction, in building infrastructure like bridges and water and sewer systems," Bailey outlined.

The state is also seeing big job gains in health care and the clean energy sector. Eastern Kentucky, however, continues to grapple with fewer jobs and a lower workforce participation rate. And public sector employment lags behind, in part due to lean state budgets and income tax cuts.

Among Kentuckians of prime working age, 80% are already working or in the labor force. Bailey explained most of those not working are either caregivers or people living with an illness or a disability.

"There are very, very few people who are not in the labor force that don't have real barriers," Bailey emphasized.

After decades of declining union membership, Bailey noted the Commonwealth is seeing an uptick in labor organizing.

"There are more workers voting to form unions," Bailey observed. "There's more union strikes and job actions, higher union membership."

Yet many Kentucky workers are paid low wages and lack benefits and workplace protections. In 2023, 19% of workers were paid less than $15 an hour. According to the report, 28% of working residents' incomes put their family below the poverty line.