ProGov21 Policy Library

Type Model Law

Year -

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source -

Policy Areas Economic Justice

This model ordinance requires every “covered employer,” or contractor that enters into a city contract where the annual value of payments is $25,000 or more, to pay their employees no less than a living wage. Beginning at $10.55 per hour, each year the living wage shall be adjusted...

“The Forgotten Ones”—The Economic Well-Being of Early Educators During COVID-19

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level State

State(s) California

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

This report provides a closer look at the well-being of California's early educators during the COVID-19 public health crisis, using data collected from the 2020 California Early Care and Education Workforce Study. Key findings show that educators' low wages leave them vulnerable...

Racial Wage Gaps in Early Education Employment

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

Early educators are some of the lowest-paid workers in every state, which especially burdens African American and Hispanic women in this profession. This report analyzes the racial disparities that exist in early education employment. Findings show that African American early educators...

The Work of Art: A Survey of Milwaukee’s Artists and Creatives

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level County

State(s) Wisconsin

Source Wisconsin Policy Forum

Policy Areas Community Development, Economic Justice

The arts are an important sector of Milwaukee's local economy, providing a wide range of educational and cultural opportunities while employing thousands of individuals. Using survey data, this report outlines the characteristics of artists in Milwaukee County, the challenges they...

Frequently Asked Questions for San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO)

Type Ordinance

Year 2017

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source City of San Francisco

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Children & Families

The San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (SF PPLO) requires employers who have employees working in San Francisco to provide Supplemental Compensation to employees who are receiving California Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits to bond with a new child, so that the employees...

Raising the Floor Milwaukee: Better Wages and Labor Standards for Low-Wage Workers

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2013

Level City or Town

State(s) Wisconsin

Source Oakland City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This report examines the decline of Milwaukee's economy over the past 30 years and evaluates the city's current challenges including high unemployment, low job quality, extreme racial inequality, and central city economic isolation. The report recommends overcoming these challenges...

Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2009

Level County, City or Town, State

State(s) Pennsylvania

Source The Reinvestment Fund

Policy Areas Food, Economic Justice

The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) is a statewide financing program designed to attract supermarkets and grocery stores to underserved urban and rural communities (i.e. food deserts). This brief outlines FFFI's, financing structure, results, and special initiatives,...

Invest, Democratize, Organize: Lessons on Building More Equitable Cities From Nashville and Raleigh-Durham

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2018

Level City or Town

State(s) North Carolina, Tennessee

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Community Development, Housing

Citywide development that uses traditional business practices, which have historically benefitted from and perpetuated racialized inequality, can threaten to displace the most disadvantaged communities. This report provides tools and resources for groups that are advocating for more...

Unmasking Corporate Interference

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Democracy & Governance

Using local and state associations, massive corporations and their overwhelmingly white, male leadership are driving forward a strategy to keep wages low and rents high by stripping away local democratic power. This report focuses on five states—Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Louisiana,...

Los Angeles on the Edge Part I: An Analysis of Health and Income Data from the U.S. Census Bureau

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2009

Level County

State(s) California

Source Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Health

This report analyzes health and income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It finds that 2.2. million L.A. County residents lack health insurance; L.A. County is characterized by extremely high levels of income inequality; real median income for L.A. County residents has remained stagnant;...

Child Poverty in the U.S.: What New Census Data Tell Us About Our Youngest Children

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2013

Level County

State(s) All States

Source Mayors Innovation Project

Policy Areas Children & Families, Health, Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Education

Almost 22 percent of children are poor. In 2012, over 16 million children in the U.S. were living in poverty according to the official measure, defined as living in families with income under $19,090 for a family of three. This is almost identical to figures for 2011, but an increase...

We Need Major Reform that Prioritizes the Needs of our Child Care Workforce

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2021

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

This infographic argues that subsidized child care is ineffective until the early care and education system is reformed to ensure educators earn fair wages and benefits. Although subsidies have the potential to help low-income families afford child care, tax credits primarily benefit...

2006 Chicago Big Box Living Wage and Benefits Ordinance

Type Ordinance

Year 2006

Level City or Town

State(s) Illinois

Source Chicago City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This ordinance requires all large retail employers to provide employees an hourly compensation package with a total value of no less than the sum of the living wage rate and the benefits rate for each hour that the employee works on the premises of a large retailer. Beginning on July...

Gender Wage Gap Remains Wide in Year Two of the Pandemic: The 2021 Weekly Gender Wage Gap by Race, Ethnicity, and Occupation

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2022

Level Other

State(s) All States, Wyoming

Source Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Policy Areas Economic Justice

As the economy recovered from COVID-19 and many women and men returned to paid employment, deep gender and racial/ethnic gaps in both employment and pay persisted. This fact sheet models wage gaps across gender, race, and ethnicity in 2021, and outlines the role occupational segregation...

From Unlivable Wages to Just Pay for Early Educators

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

Teaching in early care and education (ECE) programs is one of the lowest-paid occupations in the United States. This report summarizes recent research on wage standards and assesses existing initiatives intended to address the problem of low wages in ECE. It concludes that educators...

Essential but Unprotected: App-based Food Couriers in New York City

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town

State(s) New York

Source Los Deliveristas Unidos

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Health, Data & Technology

This report contains the findings from a participatory action research project that examined the working and living conditions of delivery workers engaged by digital platforms (also known as apps) to deliver restaurant food orders to consumers in New York City. Findings show that...

Coming Together for Loudoun County: Collective Bargaining Strengthens Communities and Families

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level County

State(s) Virginia

Source The Commonwealth Institute

Policy Areas Economic Justice

A review of county employee salaries reveals that many public employees in Loudoun County cannot afford to live in the county they serve. This brief highlights how collective bargaining could bring their pay closer to private sector pay levels and also reduce racial and gender pay...

2010 Hartford Ordinance 06-10, 3-22-10 Living Wage

Type Ordinance

Year 2010

Level City or Town

State(s) Connecticut

Source Hartford Court Of Common Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This ordinance requires employers to pay their employees no less than the living wage for work on contracts awarded by the City....

How State and Local Governments Can Strengthen Worker Power and Raise Wages

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2017

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source Center for American Progress

Policy Areas Economic Justice

This report highlights policy mechanisms that state and local governments can use to raise wages at an industry or sectoral level and to support worker organizations. Recommendations include, but are not limited to, using wage boards to establish industry-wide pay standards, partnering...

Educator Expectations, Qualifications, and Earnings: Shared Challenges and Divergent Systems in ECE and K-12

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2017

Level State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

While there is wide agreement across states and types of schools that K-12 teachers should obtain a bachelor's degree, no consensus exists within the early care and education workforce. This report analyzes how this lack of consensus has led to disparities in minimum qualifications...

Preempting Progress in the Heartland: State Lawmakers in the Midwest Prevent Shared Prosperity and Racial, Gender, and Immigrant Justice by Interfering in Local Policymaking

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source EARN

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance

Across the midwest, conservative state lawmakers have increasingly used preemption—a tactic whereby a higher level of government limits or eliminates the power of a lower-level government to regulate an issue—to reduce the policy tools and power available to local lawmakers. This...

10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2012

Level City or Town, State

State(s) All States

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Public Safety, Health

The U.S. economy is headed towards greater inequality as middle-class jobs are becoming increasingly scarce, while low wage jobs are growing. This report details ten proposals to strengthen the economy for the long term by creating “good” jobs and addressing the economic insecurity...

The Crisis in Milwaukee’s Service Industry

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2022

Level City or Town

State(s) Wisconsin

Source COWS

Policy Areas Economic Justice

Milwaukee's service industry jobs offer low wages, inadequate and unpredictable hours, and poor benefits packages. This report calls attention to the crisis in low-wage service work by highlighting the average wages in key service occupations in Milwaukee, while outlining how these...

Building Resiliency: The Role of Anchor Institutions in Sustaining Community Economic Development

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2013

Level County

State(s) All States

Source Mayors Innovation Project

Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Education, Health, Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, Children & Families

Chester, Pennsylvania, a small, formerly industrial city located on the Delaware River, not far from Philadelphia, exemplifies the problems and possibilities faced by older manufacturing cities across the United States, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. Chester's problems of...

2000 Santa Cruz Living Wage Ordinance 25

Type Ordinance

Year 2000

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Santa Cruz City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance requires city service contractors to pay workers a living wage. Each year the city council will review and extend the living wage by at least an amount which corresponds to the cost of living increase as measured by the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area Consumer...

ProGov21 Policy Library

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