EPI in the news

• Canal Street shooting witness Daniel Tirado Pantoja released from ICE custody amid Houston immigration scrutiny

  The Economic Policy Institute estimates Harris County taxpayers’ share of that federal spending exceeds $4.1 billion through the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. Adding Fort Bend, Galveston and Montgomery counties brings the regional estimate to an additional $1.8 billion.

  Click 2 Houston | August 26, 2026
• Trump and Vance Just Gave Maine Democrat Troy Jackson Two Big Gifts

  Public school teachers are still woefully underpaid, earning about a quarter less than comparable college graduates working in other professions. So find the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Economic Policy Institute in a review of 2025 federal data. The “teacher pay penalty,” as they call this income gap, was an estimated 25.2 percent last year. That’s actually an improvement from 2024, when it hit a record high of 26.9 percent—but a far cry from the early 1990s, when it hovered in the single digits before steadily plunging after the turn of the century. 

  The New Republic | August 26, 2026
• South Carolina runoff results plus the economic impact of deportations

  Later, we discuss the impact deportations are having on the economy. The Economic Policy Institute has developed a tool that shows how money spent on the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which enabled the Trump administration to pay for mass deportations, could have been used in other areas of our economy. The money is broken down by economic sector and geographic region. We’ll discuss the numbers in North Carolina and the greater Charlotte region.

  WFAE (Charlotte) | August 26, 2026
• “DAY AHEAD” – My Daily Editorial Note

  As schools reopen in more US communities this week, the cost crisis is further squeezing teachers. Just ask any teacher who had to his the store this month for classroom supplies…. The costs add up.

  A new report this morning from the Economic Policy Institute in DC argues there is also a teacher “pay penalty” that’s worsening nationwide. Their report found teacher salaries aren’t growing nearly as fast as wages in other professions. This was a topline finding of the study, “Teachers earned on average 74.8 cents on the dollar in 2025 compared with other college graduates—much less than the relative 93.9 cents on the dollar that teachers earned in 1996.”

  Scott MacFarlane Reports Substack | August 26, 2026
• North Carolina teachers spend an average of $1,632 of their own money on school supplies—a foundation just gave $2M so they won’t have to

  The Economic Policy Institute estimates teachers earn just 73 cents for every dollar made by similarly educated professionals. 

  Fortune | August 26, 2026
• Tom Tiffany’s anti-worker record includes votes weakening protections for sexual harassment victims

  Nearly a decade ago about 60 million American workers lacked access to protect their employment rights due to forced arbitration, which reduced employers’ liability for employment law violations, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

  Milwaukee Courier | August 26, 2026
• Women Absorbed All of July’s Job Losses. Here’s What the Number Doesn’t Tell You

  The report shows that women left the workforce, though it doesn’t record why. Yet, the forces that keep weighing on working women continue surfacing. Caregiving and the cost of child care were the No. 1 reason women left their jobs last year according to data by Catalyst, a nonprofit focused on advancing women in the workplace. On average, the annual cost of child care in the US is over $13,000. In Washington, DC is more than $28,000 annually for infant care, according to the Economic Policy Institute.  

  Inc. | August 26, 2026

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