|
EARN friends,
It’s been a hot muggy summer here in Washington, D.C. – I know I’m not the only one looking forward to fall and cooler weather! We’ll keep this EARN Notice short and sweet, as many folks are on leave enjoying well-deserved vacations and recharging after busy legislative sessions.
EARNCon is around the corner. We’re excited about the prospect of seeing many of you in Detroit, MI, from October 4 – 6, 2023. Early bird discounted registration is open until August 4, so don’t forget to register now. We will be featuring sessions on leveraging federal funds to create good jobs and advance racial and gender equity, winning economic justice for children and families, and responding to right-wing attacks on public education, among many other issues. We are also thrilled that Heather Boushey from the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors will be joining us as a featured speaker. If you have any questions or concerns about registration or the conference, please email [email protected].
A very warm thank you to the Good Jobs First’s team, who led us through a robust discussion during our most recent EARNTalk on how to use their research tools and databases to track the subsidies that many states and localities have provided to corporations, in addition to federal subsidies, without any guarantees to create good-paying jobs. We provided a link to the virtual discussion below.
For those of you who have been closely tracking how ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds have been spent (and there are many of you out there doing so), don’t forget to take a look at recent ARPA SLFRF spending data that was recently released from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Cliff notes: less than 50% of SLFRF has been spent to date. For more information, take a look at EPI Senior State Policy Coordinator Dave Kamper’s blog analyzing the new SLFRF spending data.
We also want to share EPI economist Ben Zipperer’s latest report highlighting the value of passing the newly introduced federal bill, Raise the Wage Act. Zipperer’s analysis finds that “raising the federal minimum wage to $17 by 2028 would impact 27,858,000 workers across the country, or 19% of the U.S. workforce. The increases would provide an additional $86 billion annually in wages for the country’s lowest-paid workers, with the average affected worker who works year-round receiving an extra $3,100 per year.”
We also anticipate having some great EARN Learning Community events in September, so please be on the lookout for invites in your email inbox. Until then, rest and recharge. We’ll see you soon.
Warmly,
Michael Schoettle
EARN Deputy Director
|
