Media clips

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• How 15 years of stagnant federal minimum wage affects hourly workers

  Do we even need a federal minimum wage? Yes, says Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “Any increase in the minimum wage is going to sweep up millions of workers.”

  • About 17 million people are earning less than $15 an hour, according to EPI’s low-wage workforce tracker. Raising the wage floor to $15 would give all of them a pay boost.

  • Plus, it’s likely that a wage rise would also push up pay for those earning more than the minimum. Say, for a manager earning $15 an hour who oversees those making $7.25.

  …

  • If the federal minimum wage was raised, women and people of color (also disproportionately lower paid) would see the largest wage increases, Zipperer says. “By not raising the minimum wage we are keeping their wages low.”
  Axios July 29, 2024
• Economists debate Rick Scott’s assertion the federal budget should be ‘half its size’

  “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans programs make up two-thirds of the non-interest, non-defense portion of the federal budget,” added Josh Bivens, chief economist with left-leaning EPI Action. “There are only two ways to interpret this statement from Sen. Scott — he is either calling for huge cuts to these programs or he is too uninformed to know this. He owes it to voters to follow up this statement by either specifying what he wants to cut or studying up and learning how the federal budget works.”

  Florida Phoenix July 29, 2024
• Wage thieves must not get government contracts

  Wage theft is rampant: A 2017 Economic Policy Institutestudy examined one form of wage theft – minimum…[paywall]

  New York Daily News July 29, 2024
• New Report Reveals 41% of Michigan Households Can’t Cover Basic Expenses

  Similarly, the ALICE budget allocates $530 a month for full-time day care for one child, but a 2022 study by the Economic Policy Institute estimated the actual cost at $741 monthly for a toddler and $905 for an infant.

  Michigan News Source July 29, 2024
• Steep fines in Iowa set off state-federal showdown over child labor laws

  Since 2021, lawmakers in 31 states have introduced bills that would weaken child labor protections, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that examines how policies affect low- and middle-income workers. This year, EPI tracked bills weakening child labor protections that passed in eight red states: Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virginia.

  …

  Jennifer Sherer, an EPI researcher who tracks the issue, said federal and state governments had for decades embraced protecting the youngest workers after eradicating the worst child labor abuses. But legislatures, backed by business groups, have recently sought to loosen standards, leading to heightened tensions over federal rules, she said.

  “What we’re seeing is this pretty bold and alarming all-out assault on that consensus,” Sherer said.

  Stateline July 29, 2024
• It’s necessary to tame the national debt. And surprisingly doable.

  The foundation asked seven think tanks from across the ideological spectrum to submit detailed plans for putting the debt back on a sustainable trajectory. Every single institution agreed that American borrowing must be reined in. “It gives me hope to see a couple hundred different policy proposals that could solve this,” said Michael A. Peterson, chief executive of the foundation. “This is a solvable challenge for the United States.” (The think tanks include: the American Action Forum, the American Enterprise Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Center for American Progress, the Economic Policy Institute, the Manhattan Institute and the Progressive Policy Institute.)

  The Washington Post July 29, 2024
• July 29, 2024
  July 25, 2024
• Lawmakers challenge Supreme Court ruling overturning Chevron doctrine with Stop Corporate Capture Act

  Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced the Stop Corporate Capture Act (SCCA) alongside senators like Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker on Tuesday. The legislation would undo the Supreme Court’s decision last month to overturn the Chevron doctrine, which allowed federal agencies to reasonably interpret ambiguous laws

  …

  Organizations sponsoring the bill include: Physicians for Social Responsibility; the Union of Concerned Scientists; Public Citizen; the Economic Policy Institute; Rise Economy; and the Sierra Club.

  MLive July 25, 2024
• Fact-checking Kamala Harris’s campaign launch speech in Wisconsin

  Claim: “I do believe our teachers do God’s work. They teach other people’s children and God knows we don’t pay them enough.”

  Fact Check: True. Economic Policy Institute confirms this claim by highlighting a significant pay gap between teachers and other similarly educated professionals.

  WISN (Wisconsin) July 25, 2024
• ‘Economic and Moral Failing’: It’s Been 15 Years Since Last Federal Minimum Wage Hike

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, 31 million U.S. workers are paid less than $17 an hour.

  Common Dreams July 25, 2024