As the Trump administration attacks long-standing U.S. workers’ rights and protections, a series of new Economic Policy Institute briefs show how state policymakers can step in to protect and expand unemployment insurance (UI), workplace nondiscrimination protections, and workplace health and safety standards.

In light of the Trump administration’s anti-growth economic policy and a softening labor market, policymakers must act with urgency to fortify UI programs, which suffer from long-standing weaknesses that undermine their effectiveness as a safety net. The Trump administration has also signaled it aims to weaponize UI systems to advance its mass deportation agenda. Although all workers in the U.S. with legal status are eligible for UI benefits, Trump’s Secretary of Labor issued letters warning state governors against granting UI benefits to noncitizen workers, including those legally authorized to work.

The Trump administration has also undermined workplace health and safety standards, including by blocking or delaying long-overdue standards on serious hazards like silica dust and heat exposure. Further, the administration has limited key functions of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), underscoring the importance of state action to protect and expand nondiscrimination protections.

The policy briefs are part of EPI’s “Holding the Line” series that provide state solutions to the U.S. workers’ rights crisis. The first installment in the series outlined how state policymakers can boost minimum wage standards, protect and expand overtime pay coverage, strengthen child labor standards, and improve wage payment standards to prevent wage theft.