Media clips

• Coddington plans to expand facilities and county childcare stock

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average cost for pre-school care in New York state is $1,030 a month, and for infant care it’s $1,283 a month. For a family to meet New York’s average yearly cost for infant care and fall within the HHS’s definition of affordable child care, they would need to make almost $220,000 a year.

  Ithaca Voice April 15, 2022
• A California labor law that lets workers sue on the state’s behalf faces its toughest test

  Contracts requiring workers and employers to settle agreements through a private third party rather than going to court are known as arbitration agreements. More than two thirds of private, non-union workers in California are already required to use arbitration instead of going to court, according to a study from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. 

  Cal Matters April 15, 2022
• How Much it Costs to House a Family of 4 in Maine

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, a family of four – two adults and two children – can expect to pay an estimated $15,031 on housing in 2022. This amount varies across the country, however.

  The Center Square April 15, 2022
• Can Wall Street and labor unions learn to get along?
  A recent Economic Policy Institute analysis found that private-sector employers spend nearly $340 million per year hiring advisers to prevent employees from organizing.

   

   
  CNN Business April 15, 2022
• Tyson Foods commits $1M to help its workers become U.S. citizens

  According to census data compiled by the Economic Policy Institute, many workers in the meat processing industry come from places such as Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Burma or Cuba; work for low wages in difficult conditions; and are classified as noncitizens.

  Arkansas Democrat Gazette April 15, 2022
• Rebuild Our Public Sector Before The Next Crisis

  These job losses hit women and workers of color especially hard. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI)pointed out in 2020 that “the public sector has been a key employer for women and people of color,” as the public sector has higher unionization and greater protections for workers against discrimination.

  Forbes April 15, 2022
• April 15, 2022
  April 15, 2022
• Some parents would prefer to go back to work — if they could just get some flexibility and childcare

  Decent pay that covers childcare and other expenses is one benefit that Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said parents look for when rejoining the labor force. Parents need to put their kids in day care as they head to work, and childcare is a major expense for most families.

  Business Insider April 15, 2022
• Latino Mortality Rate Spiked 48% in Los Angeles During Covid

  Paywall.

  Bloomberg April 15, 2022
• Report: More than 70% of corporations in Colorado aren’t paying state corporate income tax

  The liberal Economic Policy Institute surveyed seven states and found more than 60% of corporations weren’t paying income tax in each of them.

  9 News (Colorado TV) April 15, 2022
• How Labor Unions Are Good for the Economy, Your Life, and Your Wallet

  According to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute, unionization can help close gender wage gaps and racial wage gaps — which could give the economy a boost. 

  The Skimm April 15, 2022
• SEIU members rally for ‘Babies before Bezos’

  An Economic Policy Institute report published Thursday shows from 2015 to 2018, 69 percent of Illinois corporations paid no state corporate income taxes.

  Chicago Sun Times April 15, 2022
• N.J. Department of Education partners with Rowan to recruit more men of color as teachers

  According to a 2019 Economic Policy Institute Report, Black and low-income children are more likely to experience adverse childhood experiences that lead to “disrupted physiological functioning” and “depressed academic achievement.”

  WHYY April 15, 2022
• Labor unions have a place in Utah

  Workers who are under a union contract earn 10.2% more than non-unionized workers within the same occupational and educational demographics according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Salt Lake Tribune April 15, 2022
• I Worked My Ass Off for the Kardashian-Jenner Apps. I Couldn’t Afford Gas.

  This disparity between worker output and income is in line with a nationwide trend. Between 1979 and 2019, worker productivity grew 59.7 percent, but wages increased only 15.8 percent. Instead of going towards worker paychecks, the value of their increased productivity flowed up the corporate ladder to executive salaries, stock options, and bonuses. In 1978, according to the Economic Policy Institute, the ratio of CEO-to-worker wages was 31-to-1; as of 2020, it’s 351-to-1. That’s a 1,322 percent increase for CEO pay in 42 years.

  VICE April 15, 2022
• Corporations aren’t paying fair share in taxes according to an Economic Policy Institute report

  You see the money come out of every paycheck that pays your income taxes, but a nationwide oversight agency is reporting that corporations often aren’t paying their fair share.

  The Economic Policy Institute, along with Illinois, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, and Colorado are calling for reforms in their state governments to get corporations, especially large ones like Amazon and Comcast, to pay their share of the taxes.

  Nationwide, the institute argued the lack of corporate tax income created a revenue shortfall of $43 to $57 billion between 1989 and 2017.

  “Tax revenues are critical to the ability of state and local governments to provide basic services to their residents. However, in recent decades state and local policymakers have consistently allowed corporations to reduce their share of taxes,” report author and EPI Director of Research Josh Bivens said. “These policy decisions should be reversed to ensure profitable businesses pay their fair share in taxes.”

  HOI-TV (Illinois) April 15, 2022
• NY Farmworker Overtime Laws Are Changing, But Only at a Snail’s Pace

  The example of California suggests such a conservative approach is not necessary.  After overtime was expanded, California actually saw a small increase in the number of agricultural establishments, according to research by Daniel Costa, of the Economic Policy Institute.

  In sum, “There are no smoking guns out there showing that [overtime] will (or is) destroying the industry in any way,” Costa told me.

  The Indypendent April 15, 2022
• Two Cities Pay Teachers Based on Their Quality. Does It Work?

  When most people think of measuring teacher quality, they likely think of test scores. But expert groups, including the Economic Policy Institute, have warned against putting too much weight on test scores when evaluating teachers. D.C.’s IMPACT model “critically keyed in on something that teachers actually control, which is the character of their day-to-day practice in the classroom,” Dee says.

  EdSurge April 15, 2022
• Are You Rich? How the Wealthy Are Defined

  Among the top 5% of earners, the average annual wage was $342,987 in 2020, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank; among the top 1%, the average income was $823,763. Meanwhile, the average income in the U.S. in 2020 was $59,900.

   
  US News and World Report April 14, 2022
• Confounding and confusing events

   Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute was quoted as saying, “Inflation is really about the supply chain bottlenecks.” I would comment that she may well be right, but its unlikely inflation will rapidly return to the levels of 2% or below enjoyed during most of the past decade, however, Dr. Zandi believes that it will be back below 4% by this time next year. Authors note a 4% increase in wages no doubt played a role in the inflation rate.

  WAMC Northeast Public Radio April 13, 2022
• Legislature must act on the crushing burden of student debt

  And the switch cannot be more dramatic: According to the Pew Research Center, over two-thirds of all higher education students are now taking out loans to meet the rising cost of tuition. Education Data found that the average loan amount has tripled since 1993, to over $30,000. And, according to the Economic Policy Institute, the Black and white wage gap is worsening.

  Bay State Banner April 13, 2022
• Government numbers show depression virtually over, for now

  The additions brought total jobs to within 1% of pre-pandemic numbers, Economic Policy Institute Senior Analyst Elise Gould pointed out. There were 5.92 million jobless workers in March, compared to 5.717 million in February 2020, BLS data showed.

  People’s World April 13, 2022
• The ‘Crazy’ Reason for the IRS’s Huge Backlog

  As strong as the jobs numbers have been, it’s worth remembering that the economy is still millions of jobs short of where it was projected to be in the absence of the pandemic. At the current rate of growth, the job market will return to pre-pandemic levels this year, as soon as summer. “We are on pace to recover nearly EIGHT YEARS faster than we recovered from the Great Recession,” Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute tweeted, while crediting the rapid recovery to the fiscal policy choices made by Congress.

  The Fiscal Times April 13, 2022
• Frugality Goes Only So Far in Dealing With Inflation

  Teresa Ghilarducci is the Schwartz Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research. She’s the co-author of “Rescuing Retirement” and a member of the board of directors of the Economic Policy Institute.

  Bloomberg April 13, 2022
• New York poised to increase child care budget by billions, which could help women reenter the workforce

  Even before the pandemic, the cost of child care in New York had soared: The average cost of child care is $15,394, more than both the cost of in-state college tuition and average rent, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

  The 19th April 13, 2022
• Worker-led win at Amazon warehouse could provide new labor playbook

  “This is a moment when we know that workers’ expectations are rising,” Jennifer Sherer, senior state policy coordinator with the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “They were told from day one of the pandemic that they were essential, but they weren’t always treated that way.”

  The Washington Post April 13, 2022
• How Much Do Top CEOs Make?(Way More Than You)

  The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute took umbrage with executive pay in a report last August. “Corporate boards running America’s largest public firms are giving top executives outsize compensation packages that have grown much faster than the stock market and the pay of typical workers, college graduates, and even the top 0.1%,” the report said.

  The Street April 13, 2022
• Washington Lyft, Uber Driver Deal Not Safe from Court Challenge

  Worker advocates such as Jennifer Sherer of the Economic Policy Institute disagree. She testified against the Washington measure in February while it was moving through the state Senate, arguing that it did not go far enough and that drivers need the full benefits of employee status and union-organizing rights.

  Bloomberg Law April 13, 2022
• More California state workers might get COVID bonuses. Negotiations are underway

  Other states have restricted the bonuses to law enforcement. Most haven’t paid pandemic bonuses to state employees, said Dave Kamper, a senior state policy coordinator who has been tracking the federal coronavirus money for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “In some ways the state and local fiscal relief funds created a problem by having so many possible uses,” Kamper said. “It’s a good problem, but usually when the federal government sends money to a state, it’s very specific.”

  Sacramento Bee April 13, 2022
• Yes, US unemployment has dipped below its current rate only 3 times in the last 50 years

  Heidi Sheirholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, explained in a Twitter thread that the U.S. economy is currently “on pace to recover nearly eight years faster” from the high unemployment rates created by the COVID-19 pandemic than it did from the Great Recession. This is in part due to Congress acting to provide COVID-19 relief, including the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan, Shierholz said. 

  Verify This April 13, 2022