EARN Notice
A monthly newsletter from the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN)


** EARN Notice December 2025
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Greetings EARN community,

Inspired in part by the energy, ideas, and hope on full display at this year’s EARNCon, I’ve started updating my menu of mental mantras as the new year approaches. A few top new candidates already in rotation include “Resistance is everywhere,” “Solidarity kills fear,” and “All you (pseudo)fascists are bound to lose.”

End-of-year signs all around us suggest we should approach 2026 as a moment to call for bold state and local action to chart a new path forward by raising wages ([link removed]) , strengthening worker rights ([link removed]) , fortifying public services, and taxing the rich ([link removed]) .
* Lawless attacks on migrant workers ([link removed]) and families are being met with fierce, coordinated community resistance ([link removed]) —from Los Angeles to Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and thousands of communities large and small in between—while ICE’s public approval ([link removed]) ratings continue to plummet.

* Last week a bipartisan majority in the House voted to restore federal employee collective bargaining rights ([link removed]) , repudiating Trump’s use of executive action to strip union contracts ([link removed]) from nearly a million federal workers. It’s the first Congressional attempt to reverse a Trump executive order, an action that just months ago seemed unimaginable amid the darkest days of DOGE’s chaotic reign in the White House.

* Americans are more likely to side with labor and against big business ([link removed]) than at any time in the past 60 years. As economist Aaron Sojourner notes, it’s a shift so stark that its implications are mentally difficult to catch up with: “For people whose instincts about economic and political conflicts between unions and big business were honed more than a decade ago, it’s time to update your understanding.”

Some states took initial steps this year ([link removed]) to strengthen basic rights under threat from federal attack, build worker power, and tackle economic inequality. And workers and advocates are maintaining this momentum into the final days of 2025 in states across the country: pushing Utah’s legislature to reverse course ([link removed]) on their wildly unpopular attempt to strip public employees’ union rights, convincing Ohio’s Republican governor to veto damaging child labor legislation ([link removed]) , preparing for a statewide expansion of public-sector collective bargaining in Virginia
([link removed]) , and more.

The human, institutional, and economic damage wrought by the authoritarian project unfolding in all three branches of federal government remains devastatingly real. But so is growing hunger for a new; vision to repair and replace it with a more just, equitable world. There’s much more to do in 2026, and we can’t wait to join you there in the struggles ahead. Until then, on behalf of EPI and the EARN team: thank you for all you do, and we wish you a healthy, hope-filled conclusion to 2025.

In solidarity,

Jennifer Sherer
Deputy Director, State Policy & Research / EARN
Director, State Worker Power Initiative


** New Publications
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[link removed]
Maine's Opportunity to Lead on Clean Energy and Good Jobs ([link removed]) (November 7)

[link removed]
Income Inequality in Oregon Remains Sky-High, and Congress Just Added Rocket Fuel ([link removed]) (December 9)

[link removed]
A Tax Plan for Universal Childcare in New York City ([link removed]) (December 11)

[link removed]
Benefit-cost Analysis of a Paid Family and Medical Leave Program in West Virginia ([link removed]) (December 11)


** Upcoming EARN Events
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EARN 101: Wednesday, February 11th at 3pm ET
This is a great opportunity for new staff and interns to learn about the network, resources we provide and how we work with an array of partners (union, grassroots, state and local government) to advance worker power and racial and gender justice. The webinar will include a demo of some of our data resources and offer guidance on how staff can take advantage of EPI's and the network's deep well of expertise.
Register here ([link removed])

Unions 101: Wednesday, February 18th at 3pm ET
This webinar will discuss what unions do, who today’s union members are, and why state labor policy matters for racial, gender, and economic justice and democracy. Whether you’re new to working with unions or have years of experience, we invite you to bring your questions, ideas, and experience to this interactive Zoom workshop to discuss the roles unions play in the workplace and economy, how state policies shape workers’ union rights, and opportunities to deepen labor partnerships in state issue campaigns--especially at a moment of intense federal attacks on workers and their unions.
Register here ([link removed])

Save the Date: EARNCon 2026
September 30-October 2, 2026
in Washington D.C. More details to come. In the meantime, let us know what you want to learn about at EARNCon 2026! If you attended EARNCon 2025 please share via the feedback survey here ([link removed]) . Otherwise, please feel free to reach out at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .


** Recent EARN Events
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Holding the Line: State solutions to the U.S. worker rights crisis: In this webinar, hosted on December 3rd, 2025, speakers shared an overview of EPI's ([link removed]) Holding the Line series ([link removed]) , discussed urgent federal threats to worker rights and unions, and opportunities for states to respond by shoring up--and even strengthening--state labor standards, worker protections, and pathways to unionization. Guest speakers shared concrete strategies already being used in their states to safeguard worker rights and build worker power despite escalating federal attacks.
Webinar Recording ([link removed])
Passcode: Hold1ngtheL!ne

EARNCon 2025: What were a few of your “favorite things” about EARNCon? Every year, we hear from attendees that EARNCon is “my favorite conference” or “the best conference I’ve ever attended.” Your feedback on what made EARNCon your favorite is critical to helping us shape future conferences and to helping conference sponsors understand the EARN network’s impact in advancing progressive state economic policy. So: if you haven’t yet filled out the EARNCon feedback form, please do so here ([link removed]) (and of course if EARNCon wasn’t your favorite conference this year, we want to hear about that too!)


** What We're Reading
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* U.S. House of Representatives votes to restore collective bargaining rights in rare bipartisan rebuke to Trump ([link removed]) . December 12th. Published by our friends at EPI Action.
* How Florida lost track of 30,000 students, a 'cautionary tale' for vouchers ([link removed]) . December 8th. Published by The Washington Post.
* Democrats Make a Fresh Push to Win State Legislatures ([link removed]) . December 10th. Published by The New York Times.

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