Our latest e-news: The blog edition
Posted May 14, 2015 in eNews
The new Policy Matters Blog launched this spring as a new way to talk about issues important to you: Creating more and better jobs, ensuring a quality Ohio, making our communities more sustainable, and making our economy work for all of us.
Our staff bloggers have told you about Ohio’s bad tax policies, its sorry state of public transit and the fallout from big-energy’s grip on our lawmakers.
In case you’ve missed it, here are a few snippets:
Health and human services lose out — Ten years ago, lawmakers started chopping away at certain business taxes with the promise that lost revenue we depend on for parks, schools, and libraries would be replaced, writes senior project director Wendy Patton. That money hasn’t been replaced, leaving programs that protect children, elderly adults and public health deep in the hole.
The struggles of part-time faculty — Part-time faculty at colleges and universities work under difficult conditions, including poverty wages and no benefits or job security. On top of that, many are discouraged from pursuing jobless benefits they are entitled to, writes researcher Hannah Halbert
A tax break to nowhere — A proposed $350 million business tax break rests on a mistaken notion that scattering a tax cut across hundreds of thousands of business owners is likely to create jobs, research director Zach Schiller writes.
A disconnect to economic opportunity — A dearth of public transit funding in Ohio — and growing distance between people and jobs — denies many low-income residents job opportunities, writes researcher Amanda Woodrum. “Equal opportunity demands affordable and accessible transportation options.”
FirstEnergy lines up on the wrong side — An Ohio legislative committee is studying whether clean-energy standards benefit consumers, but the answer is already clear, says researcher Michael Shields. While FirstEnergy lobbies to have Ohio repeal its already-frozen clean-energy standards, the math is in favor of the efficiency and renewables investment.
Big trouble ahead with trade deal — Outreach coordinator Amelia Hayes blogged about the trade deal known as TPP — Trans Pacific Partnership — and how it could offshore more U.S. jobs.
Our goal is to make it easier for you to access our blog, so we will begin sending posts to you, our e-news subscribers, on a regular basis. If for some reason you wish not to receive them, you can opt out by e-mail here.
Thanks.
Amy Hanauer and the Policy Matters team