State must correct UC fund policy
The Toledo Blade As one of every 11 Ohio workers remains jobless, it’s essential that the state operate a solvent, efficient system of unemployment compensation. Timely payment of jobless benefits helps keep families out of poverty and injects needed cash into the state’s economy. But a new report warns that Ohio’s unemployment insurance trust fund […]
Economic Policy Institute turns 25, Amy Hanauer featured in film
This year marks the Economic Policy Institute’s 25th year of championing American workers and their families. EPI celebrated this milestone on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in Washington, D.C., by honoring Paul Krugman, Ray Marshall, and the leaders of Wisconsin’s labor community. Representatives from the Economic Analysis Research Network (EARN), including our own Amy Hanauer, took part […]
Healthy UC fund essential
The Akron Beacon Journal In August, Gov. John Kasich and Republicans in charge of the state legislature let pass an opportunity to collect $176 million from the federal government. There were strings attached, the state required to modernize its unemployment compensation system, say, by extending benefits to part-time workers or to those in approved job […]
Amy Hanauer Debates on Issue 2
Our own Amy Hanauer joined the WKYC debate with Keith Ashmus over Issue 2, discussing worker compensation, employee healthcare and pension, and the Issue’s financial impact on Ohio’s workers. Watch Amy in this Between the Lines with Tom Beres clip
James O’Keefe’s Newest Target Appears To Be A Small, Progressive Economic Think Tank
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Among members of Washington D.C.’s think tank community, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is known as a den for unbending liberals. The group works to stake out a progressive pole in the national debate. But in the age of President Obama, its influence has been limited. Despite having had an alum in […]
Census report shows Greater Cleveland families are feeling the sting of a lost decade
The Cleveland Plain Dealer Some economists are referring to the last 10 years as the “lost decade” and no doubt tens of thousands of Greater Clevelanders feel something critical has been missing. That something is income. A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau confirms that the region is deeply embedded in a gloomy national […]
Kasich Approves More Than $240M Packages to Retain Jobs: State’s Recent Incentive Deals Raise Questions About Effectiveness, Transparency, Conflicts
COLUMBUS
Census: Local Families Losing Income
The Cincinnati Enquirer Families in Greater Cincinnati and NorthernKentucky are losing income, putting manyhousehold earnings below where they werein 1999. Latest U.S. Census Bureau numbers showthat the region’s median income in 2010was $51,572 – down nearly 6 percentfrom 2007, before the recession ravagedthe workplace. Incomes, which areadjusted for inflation, were down in everynearby county except […]
Ohio to Start Paying Off Loan for Jobless Aid
Mansfield News Journal Ohio plans to start paying back a $2.6 billion federal loan taken out during the recession to replenish a fund that pays unemployment benefits, though payments could have been smaller had the state accepted additional stimulus money. The state this month plans to pay $370 million, representing $70 million in interest and $300 million […]
Report Says Ohio Led U.S. in Pay Drops in Past Decade
The Toledo Blade A report from a liberal Cleveland think tank shows Ohio workers had the largest hourly wage cuts in the nation during the past decade. Policy Matters Ohio says that median hourly wages in the state declined 86 cents to $15.16 in 2010, down from $16.02 in 2000. Ohio was one of only 10 […]
10 States Where Wages Declined Last Decade
Huffington Post The past decade has largely been one of erosion for the U.S. economy: jobs lost, homes foreclosed on, gains in equality erased. And according to a new report from Policy Matters Ohio, wages too have declined in no less than 10 states, once adjusted for inflation. “The first decade of the new millennium,” […]
Report Warns of Impact of Federal Budget Cuts
Columbus Dispatch A report from an Ohio think tank warns that federal funding cuts could have “harsh” consequences for the state of Ohio, which relies on federal dollars for nearly a third of its budget. The report by Policy Matters Ohio finds that many of the programs the state has relied on during tough economic […]