Media clips

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• Democrats courted fight for $15. The movement wants them to deliver.

  Though the CBO also found that a $15 minimum wage would lead to job losses — a conclusion disputed both by left-leaning think tanks like the Economic Policy Institute and by some literature on existing wage hikes — the losses would likely not be steep enough to offset the economic gains generated by giving workers a wage that keeps their lights on.

  New York Magazine March 2, 2021
• Bernie Sanders to force Senate vote on minimum wage hike after ‘disappointing’ ruling

  The Economic Policy Institute has found that the minimum wage, if adjusted for inflation, should have exceeded $15 by 2020. It has not been raised since 2009.

  The Independent March 2, 2021
• United States: Pandemic impact on people in poverty

  As part of the American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years. The minimum wage has been frozen at $7.25 since 2009. Researchers at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimate that a $15 minimum wage would raise pay for nearly 32 million workers while reducing government expenditures on public assistance programs between $13.4 and $31 billion.

  Human Rights Watch March 2, 2021
• Column: What would a $15 minimum wage in U.S. mean in retirement? Plenty

  A $15 minimum wage would translate into a raise for nearly one-third of Black Americans and one-quarter of Latinos, according to the Economic Policy Institute bit.ly/3qZXZVI. The group’s research also indicates that only 10% of minimum wage earners are teenagers.

  Reuters March 2, 2021
• Pro-Union parade draws more than 50 people

  The Economic Policy Institute recently released a report that indicates that Montana has outpaced its right-to-work neighbors in income growth and larger economic growth in the last decade and the benefits that proponents of right-to-work bills tout just aren’t there.

  It said these laws have not boosted employment in states that have adopted them and no causal impact on job growth or unemployment has been found, despite significant study.

  It also said that in recent years, private-sector job growth in Montana has outpaced that of its right-to-work neighbors.

  “Although the phrase ‘right-to-work’ implies some expansion of workers’ rights or a guarantee of employment, RTW laws do neither of these things,” the report says, “They were designed to subvert the growth in unions by restricting unions’ resources and making it harder for workers to negotiate and enforce contracts with employers.”

  Havre Daily News March 2, 2021
• Jeff Immelt, who got over $200 million when he left GE, on high CEO salaries: The ‘good ones are probably worth more’

  The average CEO of a large public firm earns about 320 times as much as a typical worker, according to a report released in 2020 by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). CEO compensation has continued to surge and could rise again despite the pandemic, according to the report. CEO pay for the top 350 firms in the U.S. surged 14% in 2019 to $21.3 million. From 1978 to 2019, CEO pay increased by 1,167%.

  CNBC March 2, 2021
• How much aid do state and local governments really need?

  On top of all that, they argue, the goal shouldn’t just be to restore the pre-pandemic status quo but to “build back better,” as President Biden put it — meaning that state and local investment plans should be updated. “They’ll need to hire back teachers, health care workers, and others to support a robust recovery,” CBPP said in its report. “Restoring that level of job loss will require some $40-50 billion alone.”

  Read more at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the Economic Policy Institute, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities or The New York Times.

  The Fiscal Times March 2, 2021
• $15 minimum wage good for veterans, working people

  A $15 an hour minimum wage would help veterans and everyday Montanans. In 2017, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that 1 in 5 veterans nationally would also benefit from a higher minimum wage.

  Senator Tester has an opportunity to help not just caregivers and Veterans, but so many families in Montana by supporting a $15 an hour minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage could mean an average of $233 more a month for affected workers in Montana, according to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute. This wouldn’t put money in the bank, but it would lower our stress if we had a little bit to fall back on. If we need repairs to our home or truck, we could meet the challenge.

  Great Falls Tribune March 2, 2021
• Report: COVID stimulus could soften wyoming budget shortfall

  Wyoming and other states facing steep budget shortfalls could bounce back as early as next year if the federal government invests big in COVID recovery, according to new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.

  President Joe Biden’s plan includes sending money to states and local governments, funding vaccine distribution, supporting small businesses, expanding child tax credits and $1,400 checks for qualifying workers.

  Josh Bivens, research director at the Institute, said the pandemic has hit some states harder than others.

  “Two of the things that characterize states with particularly big problems are if they are dependent on tourism, or if they are big energy producers,” Bivens explained. “All else being equal, that tends to mean they are in a worse position, and the latter definitely describes the Wyoming economy.”

  …

  Bivens contended not investing big now could mean that jobs won’t return for several years.

  He pointed to the slow economic recovery after the Great Recession, which he attributes in large part to a lack of sufficient federal assistance to states and local governments.

  “That recovery was just agonizingly slow,” Bivens argued. “It took us 10 years to get back down to the low unemployment rate we had in 2007. We really want to get back to the January 2020 unemployment rate quickly, we could be there by early 2022 if we do this aid at scale.”

  Public News Service March 2, 2021
• A $15 federal minimum wage would give 19 million women a raise — but it might not happen anytime soon

  Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 — the proposal that was included in the latest stimulus bill — would have boosted pay for some 32 million workers across the U.S. according to analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute and the National Employment Law Project.

  Of those, nearly 60%, or 19 million workers, are women, according to the same analyses.

  CNBC March 2, 2021
• March 2, 2021
  March 2, 2021
• CSPAN2 — U.S. Senate

  Contrary to popular misconceptions, most minimum wage workers are not teenagers according to the Economic Policy Institute. 59% of workers who would benefit from the federal minimum wage are women…two-thirds of them are the sole or primary bread winners of their family that count on the minimum wage. Nearly one in four workers who would receive a raise under a $15 minimum wage are Black or Latina women.

  C-SPAN March 2, 2021
• Jobless claims decline as coronavirus cases ease

  There is lag in the reporting of those numbers, but drops in one program may reflect movement into a different program, rather than a return to the work force, said Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist and the director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

  New York Times March 1, 2021
• MSNBC’s Ali Velshi

  Costco announced last week it would raise minimum wage for US workers to $16 an hour. There are many misconceptions about minimum wage, who actually benefits from it. The Economic Policy Institute lays it out like this, many people think we’d be bettering the lives of teenagers who work part time after school who want extra spending money. That’s not the reality. The people who would benefit from $15 an hour are, on average, 35 years old, 59% are women, 28% of them have children, 54% of them work full time, and the majority are essential and frontline workers.

  MSNBC March 1, 2021
• MSNBC’s Ali Velshi

  I think it will pass if it doesn’t have it in it, but that’s a big loss for the country because if you raise the minimum wage as we’ve proposed and as the overwhelming majority of Americans support you are giving a raise to 32 million people, according to the Economic Policy Institute and you’re also helping directly the lives of children.

  MSNBC March 1, 2021
• The $15 minimum wage debate clarifies the partisan economic divide

  Cites productivity-pay chart.

  New York Magazine March 1, 2021
• Low-wage tax penalty risks sparking contract labor boom

  “The proposals to use the tax system aren’t anybody’s first choice for doing some kind of effective wage increase for low-wage workers,” said Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank that’s backed boosting the wage floor to $15 per hour.

  Bloomberg Tax March 1, 2021
• $15 minimum wage hopes dimmed for millions

  The measure would have given a pay raise to some 32 million workers, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.

  The Balance March 1, 2021
• $15 federal minimum wage in doubt as some lawmakers seek compromise

  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., dismissed the $10 proposal as “legislated poverty.” The Economic Policy Institute estimated the Romney-Cotton plan would only benefit 3.2% of the workforce, compared to more than 20% of workers who would see a raise if the federal minimum wage is increased to $15 per hour.

  Sinclair Broadcast Group March 1, 2021
• How raising minimum wage to $15 per hour could affect workers and small businesses

  Yet it’s “profoundly wrong” to characterize the minimum wage increase to $15 per hour as only benefitting teenagers, says Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist and director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

  That’s because there are many full-time, adult hourly employees who are earning just above the minimum wage, but still earning less than $15 per hour. Only about 1 in 10 of those who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage are teenagers, Shierholz says.

  In fact, EPI’s research shows that more than half of those who would benefit from a $15 federal minimum wage are workers between 25 and 54, the majority of whom are women. Over a quarter of those workers have children.

  “Raising the minimum wage is long overdue. Workers today who are paid the current federal minimum wage are paid more 30% less in inflation-adjusted terms than their counterparts were paid 53 years ago,” Shierholz says.

  CNBC March 1, 2021
• Economists say $11 vs. $15 minimum wage weighs politics against worker benefits

  But the calculator also showed that a lower minimum wage would not lift as many Americans out of poverty. An $11 or $12 wage increase would only reduce poverty by as many as 120,000 and 320,000 people, respectively.

  “Any of these lower targets would leave many more families in poverty and dramatically reduce the number of people who would get a pay increase,” said Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

  Zipperer pointed to a CBO analysis from 2019 that found a $12 minimum wage by 2025 would result in 11 million workers having higher earnings and 0.4 million fewer people in poverty. A $10 wage hike would mean 3.5 million people with higher earnings but essentially a zero reduction in poverty.

  “An $11 minimum wage today would represent essentially no improvement in living standards for the lowest-wage workers over the past 50 years,” Zipperer said. “This is completely unjustified given that the economy’s productivity has doubled over that time period. In fact, had we increased the minimum wage in line with productivity growth over that period, it would be over $20 today.”

  Newsweek March 1, 2021
• AOC calls GOP’s $10 minimum wage pitch ‘legislated poverty’ as Democrats push for $15

  The Economic Policy Institute has found that the minimum wage, if adjusted for inflation, should have exceeded $15 by 2020. It has not been raised since 2009.

  The Independent March 1, 2021
• Progressives vow to fight Manchin and Sinema holding up stimulus over $15 wage

  Progressives have also disputed Manchin’s claim that the lower wage hike would be better for his state, as some pointed to an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report, which says that the minimum wage hike proposal would help lift the wages of about 255,000 workers in West Virginia and would especially benefit people of color.

  Truthout March 1, 2021
• Bernie Sanders: US sick of subsidizing ‘starvation wages’ at Walmart and McDonald’s

  A recent Congressional Budget Office concluded 27 million Americans would be affected by an increase in the minimum wage to $15, and that 900,000 would be lifted out of poverty. But the CBO also said the increase would lead to 1.4m job losses and increase the federal budget deficit by $54bn over the next 10 years. The Economic Policy Institute, and others, have called the report “wrong, and inappropriately inflated”.

  The Guardian March 1, 2021
• Workers making COVID test kits exposed to COVID

  In January alone, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, temporary jobs rose 80,900 to a total of 2.7 million, highlighting explosive growth.

  “Typically, temp work bounces back,” says Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, explaining the typical pattern during recessions. Temp jobs are traditionally the first to go, but also the first to return once the economy improves.

  The American Prospect March 1, 2021
• What Biden’s minimum-wage plan means for restaurant workers

  Prior to the pandemic, 3.9 million U.S. workers earned tips, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank. Almost 80% of those worked in states that didn’t require them to be paid the full minimum wage, before tips. More than 60% of tipped workers were restaurant wait staff and bartenders.

  Wall Street Journal March 1, 2021
• Congress weighs raising federal minimum wage to $15 an hour

  Supporters said it would help close the gender and race pay gaps, and would likely raise wages for 27 million Americans.

  “Income inequality would shrink and nearly a million people would be pulled out of poverty,” said Heidi Shierholz, Senior Economist and Director of Policy at the Economic Policy Institute.

  WPXI-TV March 1, 2021
• A $15 minimum wage isn’t just about justice. It’s good economics

  The Economic Policy Institute, a progressive research group, predicts that if the minimum rises to $15, nearly one-third (31%) of African Americans and one-quarter (26%) of Latinos will receive a pay increase.

  The Guardian March 1, 2021
• More workers just became eligible for unemployment, including those who didn’t return to work over safety concerns

  “There have been tons of workers in this pandemic who’ve been denied benefits because they’ve been offered a job that’s actually not safe,” Heidi Shierholz, the director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told Insider.

  She added: “One of the key things this does is just makes it very clear that if you get offered a job that is not safe because of COVID risks, you can still get PUA. And I just think that that’s super meaningful.”

  Business Insider March 1, 2021
• Stimulus checks to Americans earning over $50K won’t boost economy before pandemic ends: Expert

  Heidi Shierholz, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist to Barack Obama‘s secretary of labor, is a strong advocate for stimulus payments and believes their benefits are crucial for struggling Americans as well as the nation’s economic recovery—even if their full contributions to the economy take time to materialize. Shierholz was one of 120 economists who signed an open letter urging Congress to adopt Biden’s plan to deliver $1,400 checks last November.

  “One thing that’s tricky is the stimulus payments have happened…in combination with increases in unemployment insurance and so it’s hard to untangle [the individual effects of each policy],” Shierholz told Newsweek. “It’s hard to separate the two, but those direct payments to people have had a big impact on the economy.” She referenced research conducted by organizations like the Urban Institute, which showed that last year’s stimulus payments and expanded unemployment insurance benefits prevented millions of people from entering poverty.

  Newsweek March 1, 2021