Opponents say the voucher program could have a strong impact on rural students. Data show voucher spending made up more than a quarter of K-12 funding in some states in 2025. The Economic Policy Institute notes that in rural areas with no private schools, voucher programs pull funds from public schools.
Public News Service
July 13, 2026
“CEOs of major U.S. companies were paid 21 times as much as the typical worker in 1965, using the realized measure of CEO compensation, which captures what CEOs took home in pay after any stock-based compensation were sold,” according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
The numbers have climbed significantly in recent years.
“This ratio grew to 31-to-1 in 1978 and 60-to-1 by 1989. It surged in the 1990s, hitting 380-to-1 in 2000, at the end of the 1990s recovery and at the height of the stock market bubble,” the EPI showed.
The Street
July 13, 2026
The Economic Policy Institute found school bus driver employment in 2025 was still about 9 ½% lower than in 2019. Just a few years ago in the School District of Waukesha, some routes went unfilled because of a lack of drivers.
FOX 6 Milwaukee
July 13, 2026
Dresser acknowledged that may seem “very aggressive” given the regional landscape, but noted it’s based in part on an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
“They’re starting to look to two-thirds of the median wage as a good way to think about what’s possible for a minimum wage,” she said, adding “there has been so much work raising the minimum wage all across this nation since 2012.”
Wis Business
July 13, 2026
A $25 minimum wage would have a huge impact on workers around the country. According to the Economic Policy Institute’s wage tracker, an estimated 66 million workers earn less than $25 per hour, which is the equivalent of a salary around $50,000.
Huffpost
July 13, 2026
However, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute disputed that notion in a piece published this year. It said that “high-quality economic research finds increasing the minimum wage does not significantly impact employment,” or job opportunities and benefits. It even said raising the minimum wage isn’t expected to raise prices.
In fact, the EPI said evidence suggests that increasing minimum wages serves to “reduce poverty and should be paired with a strong safety net.”
Audacy
July 13, 2026
Minimum wage in the Portland Metro area will increase to $16.80 per hour, and the non-urban minimum wage will increase to $14.55 per hour, according to the state Bureau of Labor and Industries.
That translates into an average annual increase of $573 for a full-time, year-round worker in Oregon, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute.
Salem Statesman Journal
July 13, 2026
Almost half of American workers currently make less than $25 an hour, per data from the Economic Policy Institute.
The U.S. Sun
July 13, 2026
About 4% of Oregon workers earn minimum wage, according to state data. Among them, slightly more than half are women, more than 40% are Black or Hispanic and most — nearly 90% — are adults at least 20 years old, according to recent analysis from the left-leaning Washington, D.C.-based think tank Economic Policy Institute.
Oregon Capital Chronicle
July 13, 2026
For some teenagers across the country, the summer is the first opportunity to gain work experience for their nascent resume.
In a handful of states, however, teens who find jobs will find fewer protections under child labor laws. Four states — Indiana, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia — enacted laws this year that weaken child labor protections, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank. In all, 13 states had bills seeking to weaken those protections; some are still under consideration.
Omaha Daily Record
July 13, 2026