A major supplier of compact fluorescent light bulbs to General Electric Co. requires many to work a 64-hour week that exhausts workers and violates Chinese labor law. Many workers at the plant in southern China, which is partly owned by GE, have no idea they are producing a product containing
Ohio is one of the most restrictive states in the country in its earnings requirements to qualify for unemployment compensation. Though the increase in the state minimum wage has allowed more workers to qualify, Ohio is one of only three states in the country where a minimum wage worker employed
Ohio is now the only one of the 50 states that reduces unemployment insurance by 100 percent of Social Security payments received by jobless workers. Thus, many older workers find when they lose their jobs that their unemployment insurance is reduced or cut to zero. Ohio Senate Bill 116, introduced
Foreclosures have become a major problem in Cuyahoga County, across Ohio and the nation. Policy Matters Ohio previously reported that the county has led the state in foreclosure filings per person. This August 2007 report documents the number of filings in the county by municipality in the first half of
A study by Policy Matters Ohio for the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners has concluded that a county living wage requirement would benefit a significant number of employees at county contractors. At the same time, Policy Matters found, a large majority of such employees already are paid $10 an hour
Ohio is now the only one of the 50 states that reduces unemployment insurance by 100 percent of Social Security payments received by jobless workers. Thus, many older workers find when they lose their jobs that their unemployment insurance is reduced or cut to zero. Ohio Senate Bill 116, introduced
Ohio’s foreclosure crisis, already severe, worsened substantially in 2006. In its annual report on the issue, Policy Matters Ohio finds that foreclosure filings in the state jumped substantially last year. According to data reported to the Ohio Supreme Court by common pleas court judges across the state, there were 79,072
Tax exemptions, deductions and credits often are overlooked in state budget deliberations. Yet the Ohio Department of Taxation estimated in 2005 that such tax expenditures, as they are known, would total $6.27 billion in fiscal 2006 and $7.12 billion this fiscal year. Though the major tax reform enacted in 2005
Ohio charter schools operated by White Hat Management received $100 million in state funding last fiscal year. Although more information is becoming available on the use of these funds, the full picture remains opaque a year after the Ohio General Assembly required companies that operate charter schools to provide a
Middle-Class Ohioans Would Pay More Under Flat-Tax Proposal Forty-five percent of Ohioans would end up paying higher taxes while only 30 percent would see taxes lowered, based on an analysis of the details available on gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell’s plan for a flat 3.25 percent income tax. Meanwhile, the richest
Policy Matters Ohio Research Director Zach Schiller testified Aug. 22, 2006 before the Ohio House Ways & Means Committee on tax reform. In his testimony, Schiller explained why further reductions in the state income tax are not in the interest of most Ohioans. Full Testimony
The number of Ohioans who lost their homes to foreclosure and sheriff sales continued to grow in 2005. Last year, foreclosure filings increased 8.5 percent, and the 63,996 filings represented one for every 71 Ohio households. In 61 of Ohio’s 88 counties, foreclosure filings have quadrupled over the last decade,
