More than 357,000 Oklahoma workers could see larger paychecks if voters approve State Question 832 this June in what supporters describe as one of the most significant wage votes in Oklahoma history.
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According to research from the Economic Policy Institute, approximately one out of every five wage earners in Oklahoma would benefit directly or indirectly from the proposed wage increases.
Radio Oklahoma News Network
May 12, 2026
Indiana’s HIV Outreach and Testing program was funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Part of President Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan signed into law on March 11, 2021, ARPA provided state and local governments with $350 billion in additional funding to spend on public health, economic recovery, infrastructure (water and sewer) and more. ARPA recipients were obligated to spend their recovery funds by the end of 2026, but December 2024 was the deadline to allocate those funds to specific programs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Poz.com
May 11, 2026
Tax cuts aren’t the only reason for this growing disparity. Income inequality has “skyrocketed” over the past three-and-a-half decades “because of intentional policy choices that suppressed wages for typical families to accelerate income growth at the top,” according to the Economic Policy Institute (6).
By its calculations, middle-class household incomes “would be roughly $30,000 higher today if their incomes had simply kept pace with average income growth since 1979.”
MoneyWise
May 11, 2026
Wage tracking figures from the Economic Policy Institute show that this problem is unfortunately still worsening. The “wage penalty” for teachers stood at 6.1% in 1996. By 2021 it had grown to 23.5%, and by 2024 it was at a record-high 26.9%. Taking fringe benefits into account shrinks the gap, but only partly. Total compensation for teachers in 2024 was 17% lower than for other degree-requiring professions.
Maryland Daily Record
May 11, 2026
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the unemployment rate for young college graduates increased from 4% in 2023 to more than 5% in 2026.
NBC 4
May 11, 2026
The statewide minimum wage is $7.25, the same as the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since July 2009, marking the longest period in U.S. history that it has remained unchanged.
In 2021, the Economic Policy Institute predicted that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would boost pay for between 32 million to 33.5 million American workers by 2025.
News from the States
May 11, 2026
The federal government may be swinging the hammer, but workers are building anyway. Jennifer Sherer, deputy director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Economic Analysis and Research Network, joins the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss a moment of startling contrasts. Despite a hostile federal environment, approximately 463,000 workers joined unions in 2025. Sherer breaks down how states like Virginia are becoming the new front lines for worker power—banning captive-audience meetings, repealing “right to work” laws and protecting the right to strike when Washington fails to act.
America's Work Force Union Podcast
May 11, 2026
Not only are wages not keeping up with the cost of living, according to the Economic Policy Institute, but in most cases have simply stalled. Disproportionate growth also dramatically impacts low earners. To put this into perspective, the bottom 10% of earners — many making around $14.50 an hour — lost purchasing power when adjusted for inflation last year. At the same time, the federal minimum wage remains stuck at $7.25 an hour, unchanged since 2009, making it increasingly disconnected from real living costs.
MoneyLion
May 11, 2026
Economists and political strategists agree that many voters, especially those without a college degree, feel it has become far more difficult to get ahead than it was for their parents, as income inequality has widened since the 1970s. Josh Bivens and two colleagues at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute recently calculated that the incomes of average families would be as much $30,000 higher today if workers at the very top had not claimed such a growing share of total national income since then.
“Rising income inequality is the main reason that affordability feels out of reach for too many U.S. families,” they wrote.
CNN.com
May 11, 2026
“We’re all paying for these accounts,” through tax dollars, said Monique Morrissey, a senior economist at the progressive Economic Policy Institute. “So, even if you don’t like the idea of a Trump Account, you should take advantage of it.”
USA Today
May 11, 2026