Search Results
Please enter search terms in the box below.   This search is site wide including Retiree Advocate issues from January 2025 forward for pre 2025 issues of the Advocate please go to the Advocate Archives

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents July 2025 Are You Considering Residential Solar? Resources and Tools to Help You Get Started Anne Shields Are There Still Financial Incentives for Installing Solar? Yes! State sales tax exemption: Washington provides a sales tax exemption for solar energy systems, including rooftop solar panels,other materials and their installation. The exemption is available through 2029 and is usually provided through your contractor. You can request a refund if you are charged sales tax on eligible materials. Residential renewable energy tax credit: The federal government first enacted a solar investment tax credit in 2006, which allows people who install solar panels on their homes or businesses to claim a reduction in the income taxes that they would normally pay to the IRS. The amount of this reduction is capped at 30% of the amount invested in the solar array. WA’s Community Solar Program Might Save You Money Olympia Community Solar’s non-profit group purchasing model might reduce your costs and help simplify the installation process. The Solarize program is currently open to enrollment by residents of Island, Mason, Lewis, East King, Skagit, Thurstonand Whatcom counties and the cities of Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Redmond, Sammamish, Kirkland, and Kenmore. What about the Tariffs on Solar Panels? The Trump administration tariffs on solar imports are unlikely to slow the rollout of solar power in the US. Even if it becomes a little more expensive, solar remains one of the cheapest clean energy sources. The good news is that Washington State’s solar panel manufacturing industry is growing rapidly and now supplies many local installers. Where Can I Learn More? The Dept. of Energy online Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar is a great resource for learning the basics of residential solar installation. Olympia Community Solar’s 11-minute video, Five Steps to Going Solar, might also be a useful starting point. These resources and tools will help you get started, but make sure to work with solar installers for custom estimates of how much power your own system would be likely togenerate. Getting Bids and Choosing a Contractor The non-profit Solar Washington recommends getting at least three bids and checking references on all contractors that you decide to consider. Solar WA also recommends finding vetted local installers through the Washington Solar Energy Industries Association (WASEIA). You will be able to find a wide range of reputable, local solar installers through the WASEIA online tool foridentifying installers in your region. Comparing Installation Bids Solar WA offers a detailed list of Questions for Solar Shoppers and advice on comparing bids that you may find useful. Many factors go into an installer’s bid and cost structure, including labor required, the equipment used, the amount of power generated, warranties, and financing options. Overhead costs: Some solar equipment suppliers have high overhead costs, resulting in higher bid amounts. However, homeowners should be wary of bids significantly lower than other bids, as this may signal that an installer is cutting corners. Equipment costs: The number, type and quality of panels installed can be a significant factor in the estimates you receive. Different types of solar panels produce varying amounts of electricity, and some panels last longer than others. Warranties and production guarantees : Many installers provide warranties, but what those warranties include and do not include will vary. Generally, higher solar bids may include better warranties that could save you money in the long run. Some companies provide additional guarantees, such as production guarantees and coverage for any potential damage to your roof. When reviewing your bids, you should always read through warranty information carefully and check if the information you receive is clear about its coverage, process, and coverage amounts. Permits and policies: Your bids should include state or local permit costs for solar panel installation or usage. Be sure to review and compare these costs across all your bids. Anne Shields is a member of PSARA's Climate and Environmental Justice Committee and Third Act Washington. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents June 2025 Final Legislative Budget Overview Pam Crone The 2025 Washington legislative session ended on April 27. The information below reflects the final legislative budget. The Governor has until May 20 to sign the budget and exercise his veto authority. The budget does not be- come final until he acts. This overview was prepared before the Governor has taken action. As a reminder, the Governor has line-item veto power, meaning he can eliminate funding but cannot add new spending or shift dollars around. Over the final weeks of the session, the Legislature returned to the drawing board multiple times to draft a budget that included new revenue to navigate a $16 billion deficit projected over the next four years. Why did the Legislature have to return multiple times to the drawing board? The Governor repeatedly and consistently expressed opposition to a wealth tax, as well as concerns about relying too heavily on new revenue to balance the budget. As a result, the final budget includes more, and deeper, cuts. Another major concern is the potential impact of looming federal Medicaid reductions. Although these cuts are largely unpopular – effectively reducing healthcare access for many Americans while further lining the pockets of the wealthy – the Repub- lican-controlled House continues to move closer to a budget proposal that includes them. If these cuts are en- acted, the Governor is expected to call a special legislative session to address the resulting healthcare crisis. Current Budget Snapshot: Final operating budget: $77.8 billion Four-year outlook: $7 billion in total reductions New revenue (2025–2027): $4.3 billion New revenue (2027–2029): $4.4 billion Rainy Day Fund: $2 billion remaining Cash reserves: $225 million Investments in K–12 Education: $750 million for special education services $213 million for materials, supplies, and operating costs $200 million in local effort assistance for low-income school districts Investments in State Workers: Approximately $1 billion to fund and approve collective bargaining agreements for state employees Housing Investments: $605 million to the Housing Trust Fund $117 million in grants to local governments to offset lost document recording fee revenues Maintaining Core Services: $93 million for emergency food assistance organizations $27.9 million for senior nutrition programs $20 million to expand resources for crime victims Pam Crone is a retired lobbyist and Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee (GRC). < Back to Table of Contents

I Can't Look Backward, I Can't Look Forward, Part 3 Dina Burstein and Mohamed Ibrahim discuss his immigrant experience. Read

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents July 2026 PSARA's Juneteenth 2026 PSARA thanks Mr. Delbert Richardson, our special guest; our host, Rev. Robert Jeffrey, Sr., and his church, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church; Larry Gossett, who introduced Mr. Richardson; Anne Watanabe, Chair of PSARA's Race and Gender Equity (RaGE) Committee; Faith Action Network; the Abe Keller Peace Foundation; our PSARA members; and the community for a successful Juneteenth 2026 event. As people who attended the Juneteenth event were departing they commented that the presentation by Delbert Richardson and his exhibit were "fabulous", and "out-standing". Bob Barnes, who provided the audio system, commented that he was really glad that he had the opportunity to be present at this program. We are very grateful to Mr. Richardson for his well conceived and impactful exhibit and presentation. Special guest Delbert Richardson, RaGE Committee Chair Anne Watanabe, and PSARA Executive Committee member and former ML King County Council member Larry Gossett. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents October 2025 Trump Tariffs and Stagflation: Why TACO is the Least Bad Option Robert Pollin (reprinted from Left Hook Economics) The first obvious step right now for fighting stagflation is for Trump to dump his tariff policies. Is stagflation—the toxic blend of high unemployment and high inflation—taking hold now in the U.S. economy? The most recent evidence mostly signals “yes.” If stagflation is on the way, we can mainly thank President Donald Trump’s imposition of unprecedented tariffs—that is, taxes on the products we import from more than 90 countries. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that only 106,000 jobs had been added to the U.S. labor market between May and July. This represents a nearly 80% drop in job growth relative to the 474,000 jobs created over the same three-month period last year. Meanwhile, wholesale prices spiked by 0.9% in July, the largest monthly wholesale inflation increase since May 2022. It was in response to the dismal May-July job report that Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, after claiming, without evidence, that she had “rigged” the numbers to make him look bad. How could Trump’s tariff polices produce stagflation? According to the Yale Budget Lab, as of July 30, U.S. consumers are facing an average import tax/tariff rate of 17.5%, the highest since 1934. At the same time, imports account for 14% of overall purchases in the U.S. economy. Therefore, if the average 17.5% tariff rate were simply passed on, dollar for dollar, to U.S. consumers, this alone would raise average prices in the United States by 2.5% (that’s 17.5% x 0.14 = 2.5%). But price increases resulting from the tariffs don’t need to be confined to imported products only. This is because higher prices for imports create cover for businesses to raise prices on domestically produced goods and services as well, enabling them to boost their profit margins. Of course, nobody forces businesses that sell imported products to raise their prices. The alternative is for them to pay the tariffs to the U.S. Treasury and then just eat their average 17.5% cost increases by cutting their profits. Obviously, businesses would much rather raise prices before letting their profit margins shrivel. Why should employment conditions also get worse in this situation? This is because businesses worry that the tariffs will cut into their profits. They therefore hold off on plans to expand their operations and hire new people. To date, the Trump program to combat stagflation has two prongs. First, cook the government data to make reality disappear. Second, lambaste Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve (which is the US central bank, and commonly referred to as “the Fed”), into cutting interest rates. Trump regularly ridicules Powell as a “stiff,”“numbskull,” or “moron” for not having cut interest rates so far. Most recently, Trump also began attacking and demanding the resignation of Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve as a member of the Fed Board of Governors and a Biden appointee. Trump and company claim that Cook committed mortgage fraud in 2021, before she joined the Fed. Cook vehemently denies the charges and insists that she will not resign. Trump’s real purpose here is to replace independent voices at the Fed with loyalists who will toe his policy line, whatever that line happens to be. In fact, by maintaining relatively high interest rates to fight inflation, Powell, Cook, and the other Fed policymakers are only following the standard Fed playbook. The aim with high interest rates is to slow the economy and increase unemployment. The higher unemployment rate then weakens workers’ bargaining power, which lowers labor costs for businesses, enabling businesses to maintain their profit margins without raising prices. Thus, it is baked into the standard Fed inflation control program that working people are the designated sacrificial lambs, even if their wage increases have not caused the inflation in the first place. Trump’s tantrums aside, there are indeed major problems with this standard Fed approach. To begin with, workers gaining excessive bargaining power has never been the driver of stagflation in the United States. In the 1970s and early 1980s, stagflation resulted because global crude oil prices rose roughly tenfold between 1973 and 1980, from $3.56 to $39.50 a barrel. The only other bout of stagflation was after the COVID lockdown was lifted. In this case, stagflation resulted because the production of major items, like new cars, had been cut during the lockdown conditions. Demand for cars then returned quickly when lockdown conditions lifted, but with new cars in short supply, used car prices rose by 40%. From a longer-term perspective, we also have to remember how the U.S. working class has fared, on average, under the 50 years of neoliberalism that preceded Trump. The most central facts are that average wages for nonsupervisory workers are basically where they were 50 years ago, at roughly $50,000 per year (in 2024 dollars), even while average worker productivity has increased by 150%. Meanwhile, over this same 50-year period, average CEO compensation has risen nearly tenfold, from $1.5 million to almost $15 million. In fact, in a major August 22 speech, Powell signaled that, at its next official meeting in September, the Fed is likely to modestly reduce the main interest rate that it controls (the federal funds rate), due to mounting evidence of worsening employment conditions. As Powell knows well, this will accomplish nothing to reduce the inflationary pressures created by Trump’s tariffs. In other words, through deploying the Fed’s main policy tool of manipulating interest rates, you can either reduce inflation through raising unemployment or reduce unemployment at the cost of higher inflation. What you can’t do is combat both sides of stagflation—inflation and unemployment—at the same time. The first obvious step right now for fighting stagflation is for Trump to dump his tariff policies. We shouldn’t rule that option out. Trump didn’t earn the nickname TACO—“Trump Always Chickens Out”—for nothing. But even if Trump does chicken out on the tariffs, we will still be stuck at square one in terms of advancing inflation control policies that also enable U.S. workers to get the long-overdue raises they deserve. Robert Pollin is Distinguished University Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2025 PSARA Members On Your Mark “Ready, Set, Go!” Pam Crone The 2025 legislative session began January 13. PSARA activists prepped for advocacy action on January 7 at our annual legislative conference. 2025 PSARA Legislative Conference I exaggerate only a tad to say it was SRO at the Seattle office of the Washington State Labor Council on Tuesday, January 7. What a fabulous turnout! We convened at noon, chatted and filled our plates (sometimes two times, but who’s counting) with yummy treats. GRC member Tim Burns cooked up a crockpot of his famous beans, and vegetarian to boot. Jessica Bonebright has perfected the art of making deviled eggs, a personal favorite. It was lovely to be in person, break bread together, and enjoy each other’s fellowship. Mike Andrew, our intrepid executive director, and Karen Richter, our gracious and brilliant co-president welcomed attendees. Members came from far and wide representing 14 legislative districts. Former Speaker Frank Chopp and Senator Bob Hasegawa shared heartfelt words. We honored Frank with a photograph of PSARA activists along with him at the House of Representatives dais from a past Lobby Day. Nancy Sapiro, our lobbyist, gave an overview of the session and what we might expect. Yours truly unveiled PSARA’s 2025 legislative agenda as a work in progress. Below you can find the latest iteration. At 2:15 p.m., running overtime a bit, PSARA members headed home with full heads, hearts, and bellies. Please visit our informative and engaging PSARA website for the PowerPoint created for the conference presentation by Paul Muldoon. You will also find results of our member survey that informed our legislative priorities. Eighty-nine members responded. YOUR VOICE MATTERS! Thank you so much. Next Up: LOBBY DAY March 18 Mark your calendars and make sure you register. The deadline for Retiree Advocate articles was Jan. 14, so stay tuned to your inbox for messages from Mike with additional details regarding transportation, timing, legislator meetings, and other logistics. Base Camp will be the Olympia Washington State Labor Council office. We start the day there with an overview of the day’s activities before heading off to campus for meetings with legislators. We plan to meet with both Senate and House leadership and Patty Kuderer, our new Office of Insurance Com- missioner. Participants will also have meetings with their representatives and senators. There will be hearings we can sit in on as well. Front and center, we will be building relationships with our legislators. We will do that by sharing and advocating for our legislative priorities. The GRC will prep participants with talking points on our legislative priorities and tips for how to speak with legislators. We will do a virtual training before Lobby Day so you feel confident and good to go in Olympia. March 18 will be a great day for advocacy. We will know what bills are still alive as cut-off for bills to be out of their house of origin is February 21. Our advocacy is necessary for continuing progress on our priorities so that bills pass the second house and make it to Governor Ferguson’s desk for signature. Budget and revenue talk will be heating up. Uncertainty at the Federal Level and Final Words The November election brought us a solid Democratic trifecta at the state level, but not so in the other Washing- ton. The D.C. administration will not be a friend to Washington State. We are not sure how that will play out, but our top priorities will be protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and supporting vulnerable communities. PSARA is an amazing organization. We don’t have to look back far to recognize our impact. We mobilized and organized for months to defeat three of the four conservative, backward-looking initiatives in the November election. When we stand together we create ripples that become waves and change lives for the better. Thank you all. PSARA 2025 Legislative Agenda PSARA is a multi-generational grass roots organization advocating for all people, and seniors in particular, to be able to live their lives with economic security, dignity, and respect. Health Care PSARA believes that comprehensive, affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate health care is a fundamental human right. Promote Leveling the Playing Field in Medicare SJM 8002 Protect against healthcare program cuts and advance immigrant health equity Support efforts to advance universal healthcare SJM 8004 Ensure quality affordable health care for nursing home workers (WA Essential Worker Healthcare Program) Strengthen and protect WA Cares Housing and Homelessness PSARA supports keeping people housed, building more low-income housing, and preventing homelessness in the first place. Ensure reasonable and more predictable rent increases by passing rent stabilization Invest $500 million in the Housing Trust Fund RA supports legislation that promotes healthy families and workplaces. Extend job protection in the Family & Medical Leave Program to ensure low wage earners can return to their jobs after leave to care for themselves or family members Extend unemployment benefits to striking workers and undocumented workers Build economic security for low-income families by creating the Washington Future Fund Program (Baby bonds) Climate and Environmental Justice PSARA supports the right of all people to live and work in a clean and healthy environment. Divest Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) funds from fossil fuels (No Coal Act) Add a Green Amendment to the Washington State Constitution Improve solid waste management outcomes by reducing use of plastic wrap and containers Fiscal Reform and Revenue PSARA supports a state budget that is transparent, pays a living wage to state workers, and provides services that help our people, economy, and environment thrive. Prevent devastating budget cuts by providing new progressive revenues such as a wealth tax that taxes extraordinary financial assets Pam Crone is Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee and a member of PSARA's Executive Board. < Back to Table of Contents

GENIUSes at Work: Crypto Buys the Government, Michael Righi In the Advocate August 2025: Michael Righi GENIUSes at Work: Crypto Buys the Government Michael Righi The Big Beautiful Bill has been voted into law. Now we have the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, passed by the Senate, with the help of 18 Democrats. If this is genius, what are the idiots up to? Other than thinking up ridiculous names, that is. What is a “stablecoin”? It is a type of cryptocurrency. Crypto coins or tokens are privately created assets based on computer blockchain technologies (don’t ask). Boosters want them to be actual money to buy and sell stuff, but they aren’t. They are pure speculation, created out of thin air. Crypto is great for money launderers, illegal arms traders, drug dealers and anyone engaged in fraud or bribery, since it is anonymous, with no traceable bank account. It has no use for anyone with a bank card or a payment app. Yes, those have fees that go to tech firms or bloated banks, but they are a lot more efficient than trading crypto, which takes huge amounts of computer power, and uses outsized amounts of fuel and water. Cryptocurrencies are great for those companies that issue them and rake in fees from trading. Unregulated predatory operators pump up the value of their coins and then sell, leaving smaller purchasers with the losses. Crypto also works well for corrupt politicians like Trump. Used to be you had to furtively hand a bag of cash to the politician you needed a favor from. Now, Trump and family have issued a whole array of crypto assets that tycoons buy, pump up their value, then announce on X that they have put $100,000 into $TRUMP. (That’s an actual case, not a hypothetical. In return, the SEC pauses your fraud case.) They’re Stable, Right? But back to stablecoins. Stablecoins are supposedly backed up one-to-one by liquid dollar assets like government bonds. So they are stable and safe, right? And then traditional financial institutions like banks and insurance companies can lend money to them, and pools of pension and government funds can “invest” in them. Which gives the crypto industry legitimacy. To achieve that legitimacy, crypto super PACs put hundreds of millions into the 2024 election, nearly half of all corporate spending for political candidates that year. They defeated crypto skeptics and elected boosters. They brought in the Trump crime family. They bought the government. The result? The GENIUS Act. Which very lightly “regulates” stablecoin- issuing companies. It will allow banks to issue coins, and lend money to firms who do. It requires minimal reporting of reserve assets of stablecoin issuers, with weak oversight. What could go wrong? Does anyone remember the 2008 financial crisis? The GENIUS Act removes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from regulating or bringing fraud charges. It basically allows private issuers to create their own money, without any customer protections, such as deposit insurance. Maybe it is OK to allow speculative trading in crypto, although many unaware folks are being fleeced of their money. But if that fraud and manipulation finds its way into the banking system, it threatens a financial crisis that affects all of us. And then the GENIUS Act will ensure that crypto speculators get bailed out by the government. Socialism for the rich. Supporting an industry whose main contribution to the economy is to scam people. Monopoly Money The GENIUS Act would also allow big tech firms – Apple, Meta, X – to issue their own stablecoins/currency. Musk, Zuckerberg, and others would have their own private currencies, locking you into their platforms and having access to your data. The rich get richer, and more powerful and in control. We have had laws for 200 years separating commerce and finance; this begins to break that separation down. The huge surge in inequality at the very top (the 0.1%) we have experienced since the 1980’s has occurred in a couple of waves. The first was the rise of hedge funds and private equity. These are predators who buy and sell and break up productive firms, producing nothing themselves but accumulating wealth in fewer and fewer hands. This has come at the expense of jobs and wages, and you would think there’s a limit. But now, notice that private equity firms have moved hard into health care, housing, and even kids’ sports leagues. The second wave of tycoons is our tech overlords, who already control our data and our attention. Now they want a piece of crypto profits as well. This is privatization run amok: from private schools and health care and privately held firms, and now to private weather forecasts and private currencies like crypto. It’s clear who benefits from all this privatization; it’s where our greedy billionaires come from. Michael Righi is a retired economics professor and a member of the Retiree Advocate editorial board. BACK TO THE ADVOCATE