EPI in the news

• Denver Wage Brawl: City Hall Split Over Paychecks on Affordable Housing Jobs

  A literature review by the Economic Policy Institute finds that most econometric research shows little overall effect of prevailing-wage rules on total government construction costs, while a smaller group of studies has flagged higher costs specifically for subsidized housing. 

  Hoodline | April 23, 2026
• Congress Scrutinizes Pharmacy Benefits Companies, Zeroing in on Alleged Kickbacks

  Former Department of Labor officials and several trade associations published a letter sent to the DOL in which they requested a 30-day extension to the comment period for the recently proposed rule on the fiduciary duties in selecting designated investment alternatives.

  Signatories included:

  • Ali Khawar, former principal deputy assistant secretary of labor and acting EBSA head under former President Joe Biden;
  • Phyllis Borzi, former assistant secretary of labor and EBSA head under former President Barack Obama;
  • the Economic Policy Institute;
  • the Pension Rights Center; and
  • several other industry groups and legal scholars.
  PlanSponsor | April 23, 2026
• Why CT students can’t wait any longer for SB 7

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, without clear help from this state legislature, teachers have to fill the gap in funding. This has resulted in an average of $460 spent per teacher to support students without receiving any reimbursement. 

  The CT Mirror | April 23, 2026
• 7 Part-Time Jobs for People Who Love to Drive

  Pandemic-era school closures thinned the ranks of school bus drivers, creating a shortage that has only recently started to abate, according to research from the Economic Policy Institute. There were 21,200 fewer school bus drivers in August 2025 than in August 2019.

  AARP | April 23, 2026
• Trump’s Wage Cut for Foreign Labor Is a Gift to American Farmers

  Under the new wage rules, nationally farm workers stand to lose between $4.4 billion and $5.4 billion annually, according to an Economic Policy Institute estimate.

  Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at EPI, said the wage cuts appear to have a dual intent: help American farmers find cheaper labor, thus making it easier for them to replace unauthorized workers.

  “I think that’s the strategy overall: Deport the undocumented and replace them with H–2A low-wage workers,” Costa said.

  Bloomberg | April 23, 2026
• DC voters fill the seats at ‘Ask a D.C. Candidate Mayoral Forum’

  According to a 2025 report published by the Economic Policy Institute, the average cost of infant care in the District is $28,356 – that’s $2,363 per month. 

  Afro News | April 23, 2026
• Federal Job Cuts Hit Black Women Hard — A Year Later, Unemployment Is Up

  “Most of the increase in the Black unemployment rate over the last year has been due to employment losses for Black women” rather than more of them entering the labor force to find work, said Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity and the economy.

  Black women’s employment rate fell 1.4 percentage points last year, one of the steepest declines in the last quarter century. Black men as well as women of other races have not seen similar declines in their employment rates. “There is something unique happening to Black women in particular,” Wilson said. 

  This rise in unemployment has been particularly felt by Black women like Tayloe who have higher education. The share of Black women with bachelor’s degrees in the labor force fell by 3.5 percentage points last year, the largest drop for any educational level. About half of Black workers in the federal sector have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

  Capital & Main | April 23, 2026

More EPI in the news