Media clips

• 5 thing to know

  A January report from the Economic Policy Institute found that an estimated 146,000 workers in the 12th district would receive wage increases if a $15 per hour minimum wage is passed by Congress and signed into law. Of those, 80,000 are women and 66,000 are Black. Twelfth District workers benefiting from the legislation would see an average annual wage increase of 18% or approximately $4,200 in 2020 dollars

  Queen City Nerve March 1, 2021
• Congressional Dems bent the universe toward justice last week. We need to keep pushing

  According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think-tank, impacted workers would earn an additional $3,300 a year under a $15 minimum wage, and majority (59 percent) whose total family income is below the poverty line would receive an increase if the wage is raised in four years’ time. The hike would be particularly significant for workers of color and help to narrow the racial pay gap, the analysis also found.

  The Progressive Pulse March 1, 2021
• Biden’s ‘Buy America’ plan may hit a solar wall

  Bringing manufacturing “back” to the United States has long been a politically popular idea. In 2012, Obama pledged during his reelection campaign to create 1 million new manufacturing jobs. Trump made similar promises in 2016.

  Yet the United States has lost nearly 5 million manufacturing jobs overall since 1997, according to the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute.

  E and E News March 1, 2021
• Pramila Jayapal says Dems have to deliver on $15 minimum wage because ‘voters trusted us’

  The benefits of an increased federal minimum wage would be felt by a lot of Americans, she added. Affected workers would earn an extra $3,300 a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Annual government expenditures on public assistance programs are also estimated to fall by as much as $31 billion. Jayapal added the groups to benefit the most would be minorities.

  “Let’s not forget that out of the 27 million that are going to get a raise, 30 percent of Black workers would get a raise, 26 percent of Latino workers would get a raise, and 60 percent or more of women would get a raise.”

  Newsweek March 1, 2021
• Substitute teacher crisis forces districts to turn to local businesses and recent grads

  Emma García, who specializes in education policy for the Economic Policy Institute, said her research indicates a need for more education and training for substitutes, not less.

  “I understand that you may need to adapt your criteria to the emergency,” she said. “But the only way you can really help kids catch up is to focus on the quality of the instructors. Would you want to be vaccinated by an uncredentialed, unprepared nurse? I don’t think so.”

  The Hechinger Report March 1, 2021
• So, are the new stimulus checks coming yet?
  We also need to acknowledge the huge impact a minimum wage hike would have on the people who have been most harmed by the pandemic. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently released an analysis of wages in the past year and found that average, inflation-adjusted wages in the U.S. had actually gone up in 2020. Great news, right? Wrong. The EPI found that average wages had increased because the makeup of the American workforce had changed so drastically — a huge proportion of those who lost their jobs during the pandemic were those making low wages, or around $14 per hour or less. In contrast, people making $25 per hour and above actually saw job gains overall in 2020.

  With so many low-wage jobs having disappeared, we get the illusion that there’s been progress instead of a downslide. A $15 minimum wage would be life-changing to so many Americans, and its exclusion from the next stimulus bill is an enormous disappointment.
  Refinery29 March 1, 2021
• Confused about Bitcoin as I am? Some answers to your questions

  This was the 49th straight week, the Economic Policy Institute points, out that such claims were greater than the worst week of the Great Recession.

  Newsweek March 1, 2021
• The battle over $15 is a 1930’s-like defining moment

  Earlier this month the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit progressive think tank, calculated that a $15 minimum wage by 2025 would save between $13.4 billion to $31 billion in major public assistance programs.  EPI estimates the current minimum wage is worth 17 percent than it was a decade ago.

  “More concretely, full-times workers at the federal minimum wage earn $6,800 less per year in real wages compared with their counterparts five decades ago,” EPI found. “This has happened even as labor productivity has essentially doubled over the last 50 years. The amount of good that can be produced (or services that can be provided) in an hour of work has grown to twice what it was, yet workers’ pay has not.”

  Insider NJ March 1, 2021
• Here’s why 2021 could be a big year for labor unions
  What is new is that other groups of workers such as nurses, gig workers and warehouse employees are being revered as critical during the pandemic while the stark inequalities and their vulnerable situations — such as unsafe working conditions, low pay and lack of access to health care — are being exposed, said Celine McNicholas, director of government affairs and labor counsel for the Economic Policy Institute.

  “This is not a moment where these issues can be ignored,” she said.
  CNN Business March 1, 2021
• UC Berkeley report finds higher wages may not lead to business closures

  In the report, Dave Cooper, senior economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, explained that a higher minimum wage increases how much money families can spend, leading to overall increased consumer demand in those states. He said this may explain why states, where employees earn more in direct wages, are retaining business.

  The Daily Californian March 1, 2021