EPI in the news

• Overtime rule supporters fear Trump administration would turn back clock on wage gains

  According to recent analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, if the courts allow the rule to go into effect it would benefit working people in every state, including 130,000 salaries workers in Arkansas covered under the new threshold. Data from the left-leaning think tank also shows that 30.6% of Arkansas’ salaried workforce will directly benefit from the new overtime rules, pushing the state’s total share of the salaried workforce covered under the new threshold to 44%. Additionally, more than 100,000 people will benefit by getting a job doing the work that overworked people used to do for free. Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the left-leaning think tank, believes the federal injunction by Mazzant will likely be overturned. “It is really poorly, reasoned, factually inaccurate opinion that won’t stand up to review,” he said. “This is an extreme and unsupportable decision and is a clear overreach by the Court.”

  Arkansas News Bureau | December 2, 2016
• Report: Don’t expand charters without examining consequences

  Large urban school districts such as Philadelphia should account for how charter growth might harm traditional district schools when granting new charters, according to a report released Wednesday.

  The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute paper examined 11 school districts — including Philadelphia — that experienced dramatic charter growth since 2000. It recommends districts take a more holistic approach when approving charter schools. Instead of simply considering academic outcomes, the report said, districts should examine how new schools might alter a city’s education landscape.

  Philadelphia Public Schools Notebook | December 2, 2016
• Why A Trump Crackdown on Visa Programs Could Benefit Foreign Students

  In the past, Indian IT outsourcing firms have been the top recipients of H-1B visas. According to Economic Policy Institute, the top 10 sponsors received more than 25,000 visas, accounting for nearly 30% of the total quota in 2014.  Among these firms, half of them have their headquarters in India. Some companies have been exploiting policy loopholes by filing several applications for the same employee to increase the chance of getting visas—squeezing out small firms who do not have the capacities to do so.

  Forbes | December 2, 2016
• Millions of workers in limbo after rule expanding overtime pay eligibility is put on hold

  The timeline for when the court will reach a final decision depends on what the department does next, legal experts say. If the Labor Department challenges the injunction as expected, some consumer groups said they are worried that the rule advocated by President Obama may not survive under the next administration. One scenario is that the Labor Department under President-elect Donald Trump could decide to drop the case, putting an end to the rule, says Ross Eisenbrey, vice president for the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. As a result, Eisenbrey said, the institute is researching options for becoming a party in the lawsuit so that it could continue the case even if the Labor Department drops out. “That shouldn’t be the end of the matter,” he said.

  The Washington Post | December 1, 2016
• Pause on Overtime Overhaul Leaves Employers, Workers in Limbo

  In the state of New York, close to a million salaried workers would’ve gotten a raise or shorter hours under the new rules, according to Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute. “The rule was going to, by Department of Labor’s calculation, put an extra $1.2 billion into workers’ wallets next year,” said Eisenbrey. Now, those workers have to wait for the courts to act.

  WNYC | December 1, 2016
• New study links Pa. charter school growth with loss of district resources

  An Economic Policy Institute paper out this week has linked rapidly growing charter schools in some urban districts to a lack of resources and budget shortfalls in traditional school systems, leading to greater inequities for children overall. The report released Wednesday, by Bruce D. Baker, professor in the Department of Educational Theory, Policy and Administration at Rutgers University, focused on public school districts that have experienced the largest shifts of students to charters — public schools run by private entities — including Philadelphia and Chester Upland.

  Pittsburgh Post Gazette | December 1, 2016
• How the Fight for $15 movement could survive the Trump era

  Whatever happens at the federal level, the minimum wage movement and the slogan “Fight for $15” have proven successful at changing minimum wage laws at the state and local level, says Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute who studies minimum wage increases. “It’s been pushing companies to increase their low-skilled and entry-level wages and also changed the conversation about national policy,” he tells The Christian Science Monitor… Those new laws are buttressed by a growing number of studies that compare data from similar, neighboring counties with different wage laws, and turn up little negative effect on employment. Those studies, says Dr. Zipperer, “provide intellectual heft to the movement.”

  The Christian Science Monitor | December 1, 2016

More EPI in the news →