On March 16, Dr. Diana Pearce presented on the Self-Sufficiency Standard to the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee at a legislative Work Session. Dr. Pearce shared findings from the upcoming 2009 Washington Standard and the Washington demographic report (Overlooked and Undercounted). Her presentation highlighted the impact of using a more realistic measurement of income adequacy, showing legislators how the Standard can and is being used, in Washington and elsewhere, in a wide variety of ways and contexts.
In addition, Seanna Melchoir Ruvkun from the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County spoke about how they use the Standard as their measurement of "self-sufficiency", describing how it has transformed employment counseling and program evaluation through the use of their Self-Sufficiency Standard Calculator. Jenny Chung from the Insight Center for Community Economic Development (California) explained how a state FESS partner can use the Standard to draft legislation and work with local and state governments to adopt the Standard as a measure of income adequacy.
Many of the committee members were present for the work session and there was a lively informed discussion. The Committee Chair, Margarita Prentice, concluded by commenting that the presentation had given the committee a lot to think about. This is the first step towards developing legislation in Washington State that would institutionalize its use here.
View the PowerPoint Slide of the Presentation.