This report examines methods for cities to improve job quality in their communities by using city regulatory power to establish wage floors and other employment standards, regulating domestic-employee placing agencies, using city resources to enforce existing government employment regulations, implementing equal opportunity employment policies, using city proprietary interests, and curbing employers' practices that take advantage of immigrant workers. The policy recommendations in the report are based on the experience of cities around the country.

This report contains hundreds of specific policy reforms spanning eight broad areas of local government policy and responsibility: economic development and job creation; infrastructure; municipal revenue; job standards; housing; education; health; and civil rights. In each area, the report first describes the importance of taking action on it and the general goals of progressive policy. Second, the report describes key proven strategies for reaching those goals and identifies several specific steps that cities can take toward their effective implementation within those strategies, citing specific examples in each case.

Retrofitting the nation's public and institutional buildings for greater energy efficiency, financing these retrofits from the savings achieved, and requiring local-hire and job and advancement standards for those who do the work can provide the widespread high-road job creation needed in today's economy. Publicly controlled buildings are an obvious place to focus for a number of reasons. There are almost 140,000 entities in this sector in the United States, including state and local governments, school districts, colleges and universities, and medical institutions. We estimate that these entities control about 16.5 billion square feet of floor space and use about 3.87 quadrillion BTU a year, at a cost of about $40.7 billion. The estimated cost of upgrading this building stock is between $38.3 billion and $61.2 billion. Such upgrades would save approximately $8.1 billion dollars per year and create between 164,690 and 428,400 FTE. We discuss the financial structures that can be used, the barriers to doing this work, and the policies needed to overcome these barriers and create high-road jobs.

The ordinance establishes the Oakland Municipal Identification Card Program. The ordinance establishes Oakland's Municipal ID program to be administered by the office of the City Clerk. There are several advantages to the adoption of an Oakland Municipal ID which are detailed below, including: 1) improved public safety 2) increased civic and local commerce participation; and 3) greater access to City services. As written, all Oakland residents would be eligible for an Oakland Municipal ID Card upon presenting proof of identity and proof of residency in the City of Oakland.

Governments everywhere are looking for ways to create new, quality jobs, despite restricted budgets. Although many have enacted programs that facilitate energy efficiency retrofits for the residential and commercial sectors, retrofit of public buildings has garnered little policy attention.

The seemingly insurmountable problems of climate change, poverty, and a nation dependent on dirty or foreign sources of energy are among the most serious challenges facing our country. But like all challenges, these present an opportunity-the opportunity to address all three problems at once-by building a domestic energy economy based on efficiency and renewable energy and focusing the job creation and training efforts that accompany such an economy on low-income communities. As Green For All founder Van Jones says, "we can beat pollution and poverty at the same time."