Amazon raises its minimum wage
Move comes in response to reports on inadequate pay at the online retailer Amazon announced today that it was raising the minimum wage it pays U.S. workers to $15 effective Nov. 1. “This much-needed step is a response to researchers and activists raising pointed critiques about Amazon’s inadequate pay,” said Zach Schiller, research director of […]
Short-term rentals need responsible regulation
Growth in short-term rental platforms like Airbnb presents opportunities and challenges for cities around the globe. As we did previously when the issue emerged in Cleveland, Policy Matters Ohio supports responsible regulation and taxation of this business. In Cincinnati and elsewhere, that includes: Limits on rentals, such as a 90-day annual cap for how much […]
Research shows overincarceration damages communities
As the debate around Issue 1 intensifies, Policy Matters Ohio is releasing a survey of peer reviewed studies which show that prison can hurt families and communities, and leave people worse off than before they served their time. The two-page literature review, written by criminologist Donald T. Hutcherson, Ph.D., and Policy Matters Director Amy Hanauer, […]
Tax-payer subsidized for-profit college leaves Ohio students in the lurch
The future of 230 Ohio college students hangs in the balance. The school, the for-profit Harrison College, suddenly closed earlier this month, after receiving hundreds of thousands in state tax dollars. Without offering an explanation, on September 14 Harrison College announced on its website it would cease all operations on September 16. Harrison manages campuses […]
Most Ohioans oppose Trump fuel efficiency standards freeze
Washington, D.C. — A report released today from the Consumer Federation of America shows 81 percent of Ohioans support the current national fuel economy standards under attack by the Trump administration. In August, the Trump Administration proposed a freeze on the full implementation of the standards, which would create a fleet of vehicles that average […]
Opportunity Zones mix potential and risk
New program could enhance poor communities or drive inequality Depending on how it is implemented, a new program created under last year’s Trump tax bill could be a boon for Ohio’s poor communities or for wealthy investors and developers. The federal tax bill allows states to identify up to 25 percent of low-income, high-poverty census […]
Tax break review committee fails to finish job
Lax oversight of billions of dollars in tax expenditures More than two months after its first report was due, the Ohio General Assembly’s Tax Expenditure Review Committee (TERC) has yet to submit any filing on its examination of a subset of tax breaks that cost state and local government $5.5 billion a year. Policy Matters […]
New census data confirm policy action needed: Ohio poverty rates and median income still not recovered
While many rightly celebrate what is in some ways a hot economy, new Census data shows that 1.58 million Ohioans (14 percent) lived in poverty last year. The rate improved slightly from 2016 (14.6 percent). In 2017, a family of four earning less than $24,300 a year fell below the federal government’s poverty line. In […]
New census data confirm that policy matters
Ohio’s uninsured increase with attacks on Medicaid; Food aid, tax credits both reduce poverty As state and federal lawmakers find new ways to make it harder for people to access health care, the number of uninsured Ohioans increased by 42,000 last year, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The rate of […]
CEO pay at big Ohio companies is often 200 times that of a typical worker
First-time reports show wide disparity in pay Data covering 44 of Ohio’s 100 largest employers show their CEOs usually make more than 200 times what their companies’ typical workers earn in a year. The information is contained in reports to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission required for the first time this year and described […]
Labor Day report: equity, wage gains elusive despite job growth
Wage increases and equity elude Ohio’s working families nine years into economic recovery, even as low unemployment and strong job growth should be pushing wages up. This year’s State of Working Ohio report finds a 4 cent increase in Ohio’s median hourly wage for 2017, a decline from the 3 percent growth rate in 2015 […]
Ohio Issue 1 would redirect over $136 million a year from incarceration to treatment and victim services
Ohio Issue 1, just certified and approved for the November 2018 Ohio ballot, would reduce incarceration and redirect over a hundred million dollars a year from prisons to treatment, community safety and victim services, according to a new analysis released today by Policy Matters Ohio. Issue 1: Reducing incarceration, improving communities finds that that Issue […]