Topics

Support Independent Journalism. Donate Today!

Economy

From Voting Rights to Clean Energy, Georgia Voters Favor Democratic Policy Priorities in Senate Runoff

Executive Summary With control of the United States Senate hanging in the balance, new polling from Data for Progress and The Justice Collaborative Institute shows that a bipartisan majority of Georgia voters are more likely to support Senate candidates who embrace Democratic policy priorities on a broad range of issues, including health care, clean energy, […]

,

Georgia Voters Overwhelmingly Support Direct Stimulus Payments

Executive Summary A new poll from Data For Progress and The Justice Collaborative Institute shows that 87% of Georgia voters—including 84% of Republicans—support a direct federal stimulus payment to most Americans. For Peach State voters, direct financial payment should not be a matter of debate or compromise, and is instead an essential intervention in this time […]

,

Harm Reduction Practice and Innovation in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in San Francisco

Executive Summary Amid a significant spike in deaths among individuals experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, including a rise in overdose deaths, expanded harm reduction practices and substance use treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic have shown promising results in reducing death and harm from opioid use. The interventions include providing emergency shelters for higher-risk adults and […]

, ,

How Cities Can Protect Workers From Wage Theft

Executive Summary Addressing wage theft is an essential part of providing economic security for working people, and if done correctly with robust enforcement, local wage theft ordinances can provide significant protections. These ordinances are also popular among voters. New polling from Data for Progress and The Justice Collaborative Institute shows overwhelming bipartisan support for local […]

Voters Support Reviving the Federal Civilian Conservation Corps Jobs Program

Executive Summary At the height of the Great Depression, with national employment soaring to over 25%, President Franklin D. Roosevelt championed federal jobs programs that put Americans to work—part of the New Deal that used public works projects to ignite the economy and stem unprecedented job loss. Among those programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) combined […]

,

The Case for a Federal Job Guarantee Program

Executive Summary The coronavirus pandemic has brought the country to the brink of economic collapse. While the CARES Act provided some temporary relief, sustained economic recovery requires a plan to give unemployed workers an opportunity to support themselves and their families with dignity. New Deal-style federal jobs programs can help eliminate working poverty and create […]

,

The COVID-19 Budget Crisis Makes Federal Aid to States Critical

With states’ revenue streams drying up, state employees have been laid off and core services cut. This has increased the number of residents needing aid while reducing state aid available to vulnerable people when they need it most. This research and analysis is part of our Discourse series. Discourse is a collaboration between The Appeal, […]

,

Voters Demand Protection and Funding for the USPS

Executive Summary By substantial margins, nearly all segments of voters prefer the USPS be funded as an essential service like the military, rather requiring it to cover its own costs like a business. We asked voters whether they think either (a) that the USPS should be funded as an essential service similar to the fire […]

,

Voters Support Universal Broadband Internet to Close the Digital Divide

Executive Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role of fast and affordable internet service. With internet access, Americans across the country forced to stay home have been able to keep in touch with family and friends, schedule important virtual doctor’s appointments, work from home, and continue their education. But the pandemic has also […]

,

The Need for a Pandemic Merger Moratorium

Executive Summary During a pandemic, any greater consolidation of corporations is a risk to health, jobs, and small businesses. Instead of charging forward with more mergers during the coronavirus-created economic crisis, we should impose a moratorium until the Federal Trade Commission can determine that small businesses, workers, and consumers are no longer under the financial […]

Voter in Key States Support Expanded Unemployment Insurance

Executive Summary At the end of July, the expanded unemployment insurance (UI) benefit — passed as part of the “Coronavirus Aid and Relief Act” (CARES) — expired. In the month of July, expanded UI provided approximately 30 million unemployed Americans an extra $600 per week. The goal of this policy was to ensure that workers […]

Ending Dispossession Through Student Loan Collection – Policies & Polling

Executive Summary The student loan debt crisis is leading to tremendous dispossession of wealth and income from borrowers—and disproportionately from Black and Latinx borrowers, as well as women borrowers of all races, with Black and Latinx women faring the worst. Aggressive student loan collection practices, which may even involve arrest or threat of arrest, are […]

Voters Look to Guidance From the CDC and Local School Officials Over Trump on When to Re-Open Schools

Executive Summary The questions of whether, when, and how to safely open America’s schools have become the center of political fights over the coronavirus. President Trump has taken a hard line on opening schools — his administration is insisting that schools must fully re-open for in-person learning, and is threatening to cut federal funding for districts that […]

,

Congress Must Provide Real Aid To people in the Next Stimulus Package

Executive Summary Congress has the ability to provide comprehensive aid to households in the next stimulus package. At its core, the new legislation must provide recurring, inclusive, and long-term relief for individuals and families. This relief must not end at an arbitrary date by which Congress wishes the coronavirus will magically disappear. It must give […]

,

The Case for a Community Health Corps – Responding to COVID-19 With a Jobs Program to Build a New Infrastructure of Care

Executive Summary COVID-19 has caused intertwined health and economic crises: the virus threatens the health of millions of Americans, and the resulting economic harm is devastating, especially for working people and families. The burden of these crises has not fallen equally. Communities of color, especially Black and Latinx people, have borne the brunt of the […]

, ,

The Inclusive Value Ledger – Digital Dollars and Digital Platforms for Digital Public Banking

Executive Summary Since Facebook announced Libra, its proposed “global crypto-currency,” a bit over a year ago, central banks and monetary authorities worldwide have accelerated their efforts to develop central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Sweden and China, for example, were nearly ready to test their own proto-CBDCs even before last summer. Thanks to CBDCs’ promise to […]

The Case for Postal Banking

Executive Summary Income inequality in the United States is worse than ever, a divide deepened by the coronavirus pandemic and the government’s inadequate response. The mainstream banking industry has reinforced economic disparities by excluding the poor from financial services that would help them escape poverty. Private banks, though heavily subsidized by the federal government, are […]

A National Investment Authority: Financing America’s Future

Executive Summary The coronavirus pandemic has exposed deep structural flaws in the design and operation of the U.S. economic and political systems. At the same time, it presents a rare opportunity for innovative rethinking and remaking of both our private markets and our public institutions, so that they better serve the needs of the American […]

A Bailout That Excludes Immigrants Hurts Everyone

This research and analysis is part of our Discourse series. Discourse is a collaboration between The Appeal, The Justice Collaborative Institute, and Data For Progress. Its mission is to provide expert commentary and rigorous, pragmatic research especially for public officials, reporters, advocates, and scholars. The Appeal and The Justice Collaborative Institute are editorially independent projects […]

New York Voters Support Providing Equal Pay Protections for All Workers

Executive Summary New polling reveals bipartisan support for policies that will build a fairer economy for all workers and level the playing field for service workers who depend heavily on tips and the wider workforce. These results show that New Yorkers support changing the status quo and do not want the economy to simply return […]

Voters Support Raising The Minimum Wage For All Workers

Executive Summary The brutal economic fallout of coronavirus has not been felt equally. As is always true in times of economic crisis, it is the lowest-paid, least-protected workers who suffer most. As is especially true now, when the economic downturn is the result of orders to stay at home and close certain businesses, it is […]

,

The Case For A Temporary Merger Ban For America’s Largest Companies

Americans overwhelmingly support imposing a merger moratorium on large corporations and private equity firms. This research and analysis is part of our Discourse series. Discourse is a collaboration between The Appeal, The Justice Collaborative Institute, and Data For Progress. Its mission is to provide expert commentary and rigorous, pragmatic research especially for public officials, reporters, […]

Report: Emergency Action Plan

Executive Summary Forced in this moment to reflect on this new reality—and this new recognition of our shared vulnerability—the vast majority of Americans believe that many of our responses to this crisis have, so far, been woefully inadequate and left too many people behind. Indeed, while the virus poses a threat to us all, we […]

,

Majority of Americans support monthly cash assistance to offset pandemic damage to economy

Executive Summary New polling finds strong bipartisan support for recurring government payments to Americans, rather than a one-time payment. This research and analysis is part of our Discourse series. Discourse is a collaboration between The Appeal, The Justice Collaborative Institute, and Data For Progress. Its mission is to provide expert commentary and rigorous, pragmatic research […]

,

Voters Want Guaranteed Paychecks Through the Pandemic

Executive Summary Voters want the government to take common sense measures that meet the scale of the crisis and preserve the economy so that when the coronavirus is contained, economic life can resume as rapidly as possible. It’s time for lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to listen. This research and analysis is part of our Discourse […]

The Care Economy – Policies and Polling on Mitigating the Effects of the Coronavirus

Executive Summary We find popular support among likely voters for a package of proposals that will mitigate the effects of coronavirus, including free access to testing and vaccines, access to comprehensive care without premiums, copays, deductibles, or other costs, and paid sick and family leave. Overall, voters overwhelmingly support these policies. Free access to testing, […]

, ,