Saturday Stats
Posted July 22, 2023 in eNews
$700M: Late last month, Ohio and Intel reached an agreement on how the tech giant would be held accountable for the promises it made to secure state funding related its two semiconductor fabrication plants in New Albany. The agreement covers $600 million in public funding — but it leaves out another $700M for infrastructure and a water-reclamation facility. That means the state won’t have any way to claw back that part of its investment if Intel tries to cut and run. In his latest blog post, Research Director Zach Schiller writes about this and other holes in the deal.
7,000: Cleveland’s City Council recently passed a paid parental leave policy for 7,000 municipal workers, providing up to 12 weeks of 100% paid leave to welcome a new child into their home. (An additional 20 hours of leave is available prior to the child’s arrival.) The move is thanks in no small part to the work of the Ohio Municipal Paid Leave Initiative and its leader Abby Westbrook, with whom we partnered for this work. Check out our press release celebrating this win for working people in Cleveland!
6,400+: By collecting signatures from more than 6,400 registered Cleveland voters, volunteers for the Participatory Budgeting Cleveland campaign got PB CLE on the November ballot! Not only is Participatory Budgeting a great idea for the people of Cleveland — it also strengthens democracy! Learn more and, come November, be sure to vote for PB CLE!
~2.3M: On average, about 2,300,000 people watch Meet the Press each week. If you were one of them, you would have seen our own Senior Researcher Michael Shields advocating for a fair return on all work. You can watch / read the full story here — or just skip right to the part with Mike.
3 in 10: Although Ohio has had some good employment news lately, a close look at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that our recovery hasn’t been spread evenly around the state. Michael Shields and summer intern Bryce Springfield report on jobs and wages in 11 metro areas and the state as a whole in the latest edition of “Still working for too little in Ohio.” Among their findings: Of the 10 most common jobs in Ohio, three pay so little that the typical worker would qualify for — and likely rely on — food aid to feed a family of three.
14: In March, the Ohio Senate passed a bill that would allow employers to schedule children as young as 14 for work as late as 9:00 p.m. on school nights, beyond the 7:00 p.m. limit maintained by federal law. For more on how that will hurt kids, see this recent op-ed from Michael Shields. At the time of this writing, S.B. 30 has been passed by the Ohio Senate and sent to the House for a vote. If it passes, Gov. DeWine can veto it; urge him to do so by signing this petition.
2: Are you interested in using research to make Ohio more vibrant, sustainable, equitable and inclusive? If so, apply here to join the Policy Matters team! In fact, why not invite a friend? That’s right, we’re hiring two new researchers in various policy areas: state budget and tax; climate, health and community sustainability; and work and wages.
Action items:
Sign the pledge to vote NO on Issue 1!
Learn how to vote early!
Apply to join our research team! (And tell your friends!)
Sign the petition urging Gov. DeWine to S.B. 30 if it reaches his desk.
Take a deeper dive into the issues that matter most to you with customized updates on our work.
Tune in to What’s Good Ohio!?, our new, limited-run podcast with Ohio Voice.