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Progress Report
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News, events, and must-read analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute.
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** Republicans Are Blaming Mental Health for School Shootings After Refusing to Fund It
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By Arielle Kane, PPI's Director of Health Policy
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ([link removed]) has blamed the recent Uvalde shooting on the shooter's mental health problems. "We as a state, we as a society need to do a better job with mental health," the governor said last Wednesday ([link removed]) in the aftermath of the shooting. "Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge. Period. We as a government need to find a way to target that mental health challenge and to do something about it."

I don't think anyone would argue that someone who murders defenseless young children is right in the head. But setting aside the mental state of this particular teenager, if Gov. Abbott believes that mental health is the problem, why hasn't he done more to improve it?

Gov. Abbott has been governor since 2015, and since then, there have been roughly 13 mass shooting events ([link removed]) in his state. Yet he has done nothing to expand access to mental health care. Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country, with 17.3 ([link removed]) percent of its population without health insurance. This is roughly twice the national average. Furthermore, Texas also has the most uninsured children in the country—roughly 1 million. Mental Health America rated the state dead last ([link removed]) for overall access to mental health services.

But Gov. Abbott hasn't just failed to expand access to health coverage; he has actively cut it. In April he slashed $211 million ([link removed]) from the Department of Health and Human Services and redirected it to border security, and this despite the fact the state has a record surplus ([link removed]) , in part from federal funding allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Worse, there has been an easy solution available to Gov. Abbott the entire time he has been in office: Texas could expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and reduce the number of uninsured Texans by almost 1.5 million adults ([link removed]) , roughly a third of the uninsured population. Though many children are already eligible for health insurance but not enrolled, as the state enrolled their parents, it would also cover their children.
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NEW PPI REPORT:

U.S. App Economy Update, 2022
By Michael Mandel, PPI's Vice President and Chief Economist & Jordan Shapiro, PPI's Economic and Data Policy Analyst
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The unprecedented challenge of the pandemic stressed crucial business and infrastructure systems in every country. Almost overnight, huge swathes of economic activity that relied on face-to-face interactions were forced into virtual mode. Individuals and businesses were suddenly dependent on the internet, their smartphones, and their mobile applications for critical daily activities like work, shopping, and communication with loved ones. The App Economy, already important, became an increasingly indispensable part of the real economy.

For the most part, the infrastructure of the global “App Economy” performed well under the strain. Existing mobile applications were able to respond to soaring demand without significant outages. App developers were able to quickly create new apps to meet the human and economic needs of the pandemic, and get them onto the Apple App Store, Google Play, and other app stores. Publishers launched 2 million new apps in 2021 alone. At both small and large companies, finding workers with App Economy skills — the ability to develop, maintain, and support mobile applications — became essential. Remote work and sales were critical to keeping businesses going. Even as the pandemic ebbs, many jobs and economic interactions are still remote, placing an increased premium on mobile communications. Health organizations have learned about the usefulness of telehealth apps. Banks and other financial companies are consolidating branches and doing more business remotely. Airlines and other transportation
businesses rely on apps to communicate directly with their customers. And many restaurants, while thankful to be open for in-person patrons, still do much of their business by delivery.

In the United States, as in other countries, the increased prominence of the App Economy was reflected in the growing number of jobs that required App Economy skills. We have been estimating the number of U.S. App Economy jobs since 2012, using detailed data on job postings as our major tool for analysis. Our latest estimate, as of January 2022, was 2.564 million App Economy jobs, including a conservative estimate of spillover jobs. That is up 14% from 2.246 million as of April 2019, and up 8% from an estimated 2.417 million as of February 2020. In this updated report, we also estimate App Economy jobs by operating system, and provide estimates of App Economy jobs for leading states. These state estimates are based on a new methodology that takes account of remote work.
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** America's pre-existing social condition: A permissive gun culture
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By Arielle Kane, PPI's Director of Health Policy
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Last week I sat down to write about the 1 million American lives lost to COVID-19 over the past two years. But on that Friday, I happened to be standing outside my home with my dog when a man was gunned down right in front of me. And then in the week after, there were multiple mass shooting events, including a racially motivated grocery store rampage and another incomprehensible elementary school shooting. I realized that I needed to address another plague: gun violence.

When the COVID pandemic first started to wreak havoc on our country in 2020, Americans ran out and bought 22 million guns — a 64 percent spike over 2019 ([link removed]) . This led to record gun homicides and non-suicide-related shootings that claimed approximately 19,300 lives, a 25 percent increase from 2019 ([link removed]) , and injuring tens of thousands more. While official data aren’t yet available, this trend continued into 2021 and 2022.

Gun violence is a result of many interacting factors — poverty, trauma, a lack of education, discrimination and – of course – American’s effortless access to firearms. And during the COVID pandemic, increased psychological distress, erosion of social networks, high unemployment and record increases in gun sales led to a pandemic of violence. Altogether, the nation tallied roughly 93,000 ([link removed]) injuries and deaths (including suicides) from gun-related violence between Jan. 1, 2019, and March 31, 2021.

Gun violence isn’t just a tragedy for its immediate victims and their families. Its effects radiate throughout affected communities. Witnessing someone get gunned down in the street also leaves emotional, physical, legal and financial scars. ([link removed]) This week I’ve found myself jumping at any loud noise. Sitting outside on the porch, I wondered if the regular sounds of a city – construction or a car’s wheels driving over a metal plate in the road – were gun shots.
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** The Latest from PPI's Policy Experts
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Paul Bledsoe, PPI's Strategic Advisor: Are high energy prices displacing climate action in Congress?
⮕ E ([link removed]) &E News ([link removed])

Ed Gresser, PPI's Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets: 1 in 25 of all humans ever have accessed the Internet
⮕ PPI's Trade Fact of the Week ([link removed])

Michael Mandel, PPI's Vice President and Chief Economist: Europe App Economy Update, 2021
⮕ PPI's Blog ([link removed])

Will Marshall, PPI's Founder and President: Will Republicans Protect America's Children?
⮕ PPI's Medium ([link removed])

Ben Ritz, Director of the Center for Funding America's Future: New CBO Report Underscores The Need For A Deficit-Reducing Reconciliation Bill
⮕ Forbes ([link removed])

Ben Ritz, Director of the Center for Funding America's Future: States Should Use Surpluses To Fight COVID, Not Worsen Inflation
⮕ Forbes ([link removed])
Listen Up
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RAS REPORTS:

Backlash Against the U.S. Department of Education

May 8-14 was National Charter Schools Week, and instead of celebrating the quality education that public charters provide to millions of students, the Department of Education is working to undermine the ability of these schools to function. As hundreds of parents and students descended on Washington to make their voices heard, PPI's Reinventing America's Schools Co-Director Tressa Pankovits went to the White House to hear from some of these advocates. Tressa recaps her conversations on the latest episode of RAS Reports.

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THE NEOLIBERAL PODCAST:

Streets of Gold ft. Leah Boustan and Ram Abramitzky

How do immigrants to America today compare to immigrants in the past? Are immigrants really able to come over and quickly find success? Are immigrants today assimilating at a different rate than previous generations? Economists Leah Boustan and Ran Abramitzky join the show to discuss all this and more in their new book, Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success. We discuss how today's immigrants compare with the past, how the second generation differs from the first, and what the modern political discussion around immigration really needs.

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