On Friday, April 23rd, PPI Director of Social Policy Veronica Goodman spoke with Professor Maya Rossin-Slater, a paid leave expert at Stanford University about her latest paper, The Impact of Paid Family Leave on Employers: Evidence from New York, co-authored with Ann P. Bartel, Christopher J. Ruhm, Meredith Slopen, and Jane Waldfogel. Watch the full interview below.
Category: Uncategorized
Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan Joins PPI’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast for a Joint Episode with PPI’s Mosaic Economic Project
On this week’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast, Crystal Swann, Senior Policy Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and Mosaic Economic Project lead and Hilary Abell, Mosaic Economic Project Cohort member and co-founder of Project Equity, sit down with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), a trained engineer, entrepreneur and veteran.
Congresswoman Houlahan serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Small Business Committee. Additionally, she is the Chair and Founder of the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, is Co-Chair of the Women in STEM Caucus, and is a Whip in the New Democrat Coalition.
They discuss the role of women in the new post-COVID economy, removing barriers to childcare, supporting access to capital for women of color seeking to become entrepreneurs, expanding access to affordable health care and more.
“There’s a lot of different very good ideas on how to make healthcare more accessible, more affordable, and more portable for people. Those three things are issues one, two, and three in my community and many other communities. People – whether they are individuals who have health care, individuals who don’t have health care, entrepreneurs who are starting businesses or larger businesses who employ people – whatever one of those things you fit into, you all have issues with health care. So we need to be thinking about how to make our collective systems more efficient and more fair,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan on the podcast.
This podcast was in partnership with PPI’s Mosaic Economic Project. The Mosaic Economic Project is a network of diverse and highly credentialed women in fields of economics and technology. Mosaic programming focuses on upskilling, connecting, and advocating for cohort participants’ meaningful engagement in public policy debates, with a particular focus on engaging Congress and the media.
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The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.
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Media Contact: Aaron White – awhite@ppionline.org
Marshall for The Hill: Biden and New Deal nostalgia
It’s been 89 years since Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in the depths of the Great Depression. But nostalgia for FDR’s New Deal dies hard.
Giddy Democrats are hailing President Biden’s ambitious plans for COVID-19 and economic relief and for rebuilding America’s physical and social infrastructure – which together are estimated to cost more than $4 trillion – as the second coming of the New Deal. The White House is tweeting out FDR quotes and photos.
Farther left along the spectrum, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) complains that Biden’s “once-in-a-lifetime investment in America” isn’t nearly enough to finance her vision for a “Green New Deal” that would re-engineer the U.S. economy from the top down.
Hardly a day goes by without some idea monger (me, for example) calling for a new New Deal to solve this or that pressing national problem. And why not? It’s hard to think of a better model than FDR for the bold and inventive leadership our country needs now.
As a universal metaphor for “going big,” the New Deal works pretty well. As a governing blueprint for today’s Democrats, it’s less useful. The real history of the New Deal was forged in a very different America, and its lessons are just as likely to challenge as reinforce contemporary progressive shibboleths.
MOSAIC MOMENT: Uplifting Women in a Post-COVID World with Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan
On this week’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast, Crystal Swann, Senior Policy Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and Mosaic Economic Project lead and Hilary Abell, Mosaic Economic Project Cohort member and co-founder of Project Equity, sit down with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), a trained engineer, entrepreneur and veteran. Congresswoman Houlahan serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Small Business Committee. Additionally, she is the Chair and Founder of the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, is Co-Chair of the Women in STEM Caucus, and is a Whip in the New Democrat Coalition. They discuss the role of women in the new post-COVID economy, removing barriers to childcare, supporting access to capital for women of color seeking to become entrepreneurs, expanding access to affordable health care and more. This podcast was in partnership with PPI’s Mosaic Economic Project. The Mosaic Economic Project is a network of diverse and highly credentialed women in fields of economics and technology. Mosaic programming focuses on upskilling, connecting, and advocating for cohort participants’ meaningful engagement in public policy debates, with a particular focus on engaging Congress and the media. Learn more about the Mosaic Economic Project here.
Learn more about the Progressive Policy Institute here.
WEBINAR: Preventing Failure to Launch: Creating More School-to-Work Pathways, with Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01)
On Tuesday, April 27th, PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools project hosted a webinar with special guest Rep. Chris Pappas on creating more school-to-work pathways for our students and young adults.
Keynote Speakers:
Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01)
Jennifer Kemp, Director of Youth Services, U.S. Department of Labor; Office of Workforce Investment
Panel:
Veronica Goodman, Director of Social Policy at PPI
Tressa Pankovits, Associate Director of PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools project
Jeanne Russell, Executive Director of the Centers for Applied Science and Technology
Cate Swinburn, President of YouthForce NOLA
Ryan Craig, Managing Director of Achieve Partners
WEBINAR: Helping Women Return to the Workforce, with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
On Tuesday, April 27th, PPI hosted a webinar with special guest Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on policies to help women return to the workforce following the devastating effect of the pandemic on women’s labor force participation. Our panel included policy experts on labor, child care, and gender equity.
Keynote Speaker:
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Moderator:
Veronica Goodman, Social Policy Director, Progressive Policy Institute
Panel:
Chandra Childers, Study Director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Elliot Haspel, Author of Crawling Behind: America’s Child Care Crisis and How to Fix It
Rhonda V. Sharpe, founder & president, Women’s Institute for Science, Equity, and Race
Watch the event here.
PPI Hosts Event with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Helping Women Return to the Workforce Post-Pandemic
Today, the Progressive Policy Institute and PPI’s Mosaic Economic Project hosted a webinar with special guest Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on policies to help women return to the workforce following the devastating effect of the pandemic on women’s labor force participation.
The panel included esteemed policy experts on labor, child care, and gender and racial equity, including Chandra Childers, Study Director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Elliot Haspel, Author of Crawling Behind: America’s Child Care Crisis and How to Fix It, and Rhonda V. Sharpe, founder & president, Women’s Institute for Science, Equity, and Race.
“The pandemic recession threatens to erase decades of progress in women’s labor force participation, which hasn’t been this low since the 1980s. But we know that even before the pandemic, women and working mothers were not adequately supported and struggling to thrive. That’s especially true of Black and Hispanic female workers. As the White House and President Biden unveil the American Family Plan this week, we hope that policies to support women and working families are top of mind. We also thank Senator Gillibrand for being a tireless advocate for women and families throughout her time in Congress,” said Veronica Goodman, Director of Social Policy at PPI and moderator of the event.
The event covered a wide variety of roadblocks women face when returning to the workforce, including access to paid family leave, affordable child care, workforce development, and expanding apprenticeships and other educational and job training opportunities.
According to the Department of Labor, Black and Hispanic women workers were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, as they are overrepresented in low-paying service sector jobs, which were slower to hire workers back as communities reopen and recover from the pandemic. As of March 2021, almost 1.5 million fewer moms of school-aged children were actively working than in February 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Watch the event livestream here.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.
The Mosaic Economic Project brings together a network of diverse women who are experts in economics and technology – fields where women’s perspectives are grossly underrepresented. Mosaic trains, connects, hosts and advocates for the network’s participation in meaningful policy influencing conversations, with a particular focus on Congress and the media.
Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.
Follow the Mosaic Economic Project.
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Media Contact: Aaron White, Director of Communications: awhite@ppionline.org
PPI Hosts Event with Rep. Chris Pappas on Creating More School-to-Work Pathways for Students and Young Adults
Today, the Progressive Policy Institute and the Reinventing America’s Schools Project hosted a webinar with special guest Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01) on creating more school-to-work pathways for our students and young adults. Congressman Pappas was joined by Jennifer Kemp, Director of Youth Services at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workforce Investment, and an esteemed panel of experts in the subject.
Today’s high school students and young adults face a difficult job market. The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly hard on less educated workers without a college degree. The 10 million jobs lost by Americans at the pandemic’s onset disproportionately impacted young adults between the ages of 16-24 – especially Black and Hispanic workers. Some estimate that as many as 25% of our youth will neither be in school nor working when the pandemic ends.
Watch the event livestream here.
Panelists for this event included: Veronica Goodman, Director of Social Policy at PPI; Tressa Pankovits, Associate Director of PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools project; Jeanne Russell, Executive Director of the Centers for Applied Science and Technology; Cate Swinburn, President of YouthForce NOLA; and Ryan Craig, Managing Director of Achieve Partners.
“The Biden administration, Congress, state and local policymakers have the opportunity to revamp our education system for a 21st-century workforce by creating a more diverse set of career pathways for today’s students. Connecting students to work — such as through career and technical education and work-based learning opportunities — before they graduate high school can be key to their future economic success. We thank Congressman Chris Pappas and Jennifer Kemp of the Department of Labor for all of their work to connect America’s youth to employment,” said Veronica Goodman and Tressa Pankovits of PPI.
This event builds off of PPI’s new report, Preventing Failure to Launch: Creating More School-to-Work Pathways for Young Adults, which argues schools across the country should be incorporating school−to−work models into their curriculums in order to ensure that teens and young adults are set up for success in the workforce. Report authors Veronica Goodman, Tressa Pankovits, and Tess Murphy analyze a number of case studies to provide evidence showing that there are better models for helping students find their economic footing as they transition to jobs and adulthood.
Read the report here.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock.
The Reinventing America’s Schools Project inspires a 21st century model of public education geared to the knowledge economy. One model, charter schools, are showing the way by providing autonomy for schools, accountability for results, and parental choice among schools tailored to the diverse learning styles of children.
Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.
Follow the Reinventing America’s Schools Project.
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Media Contact: Aaron White, Director of Communications: awhite@ppionline.org
Infrastructure and Coronavirus Relief, a discussion from the perspective of the US Virgin Islands with Rep. Stacey Plaskett
On this week’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast, PPI President Will Marshall and Center for New Liberalism Policy Director Jeremiah Johnson sit down with Rep. Stacey Plaskett, Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large congressional district. Congresswoman Plaskett serves on the House Ways and Means, Agriculture and Budget Committees, and is a leadership member of the New Democrat Coalition.
They discuss the New Democrat Coalition’s 100 Days Agenda, and the need for continued coronavirus relief and recovery measures – especially for regions like the Virgin Islands. Additionally, Congresswoman Plaskett outlines the critical nature of the American Jobs Plan, and the need to invest in long-term resiliency measures like job training, infrastructure development and clean energy.
PODCAST: Rep. Stacey Plaskett Talks Infrastructure and COVID-19 Recovery on Radically Pragmatic
On this week’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast, PPI President Will Marshall and Center for New Liberalism Policy Director Jeremiah Johnson sit down with Rep. Stacey Plaskett, Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large congressional district. Congresswoman Plaskett serves on the House Ways and Means, Agriculture and Budget Committees, and is a leadership member of the New Democrat Coalition.
They discuss the New Democrat Coalition’s 100 Days Agenda, and the need for continued coronavirus relief and recovery measures – especially for regions like the Virgin Islands. Additionally, Congresswoman Plaskett outlines the critical nature of the American Jobs Plan, and the need to invest in long-term resiliency measures like job training, infrastructure development and clean energy.
Listen on Anchor.
Listen on Spotify.
Listen on Apple Podcasts.
PODCAST: The Reinventing America’s Schools Project Joins The Neoliberal Podcast
Can charter schools help improve America’s education system? Tressa Pankovits and Curtis Valentine from the Reinventing America’s Schools Project at PPI join the show to discuss charter schools and school choice. What’s the value in having local autonomy and experimentation in schools? How do you guard against potential downsides to charter schools? Ultimately, how can charter schools help improve outcomes for students?
Find more about the RAS Project here – https://www.progressivepolicy.org/category/projects/reinventing-americas-schools/
Learn more about the Neoliberal Project here – https://neoliberalproject.org/
Listen on Anchor.
Listen on Spotify.
Listen on Apple Podcasts.
Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett Joins PPI’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast
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Goodman for Newsweek: Let’s Multiply Non-College Career Pathways for Young Americans
Last year, when Kathryn Glover, 18, graduated from New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School, she found herself in a fortunate position not afforded to enough high school students: she had options. Kathryn had gained work experience through an engineering internship organized by a local nonprofit and had earned college credits through dual enrollment in her high school and the New Orleans Career Center program at the University of New Orleans. Her training had given her skills, such as 3D modeling, that could have landed her a well-paying job with a local employer right after her high school graduation.
Our education system should aim to provide more graduating high school students with the options that Kathryn had—to either pursue a college education or to start working with the prospect of a successful career.
PPI to Host Two Events with Members of Congress Tuesday
Save the Date!
On Tuesday, April 27, the Progressive Policy Institute will host two events with Members of Congress and diverse panels of experts on supporting women in the workforce and creating more opportunities for students and young workers.
In the morning, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) will keynote an event focused on policies that help women return to the workforce as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Later that day, Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01) will keynote an event with PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools Project on creating more school-to-work pathways for our students and young adults. Recently, PPI’s Veronica Goodman, Tressa Pankovits, and Tess Murphy published a report titled Preventing Failure to Launch: Creating More School-to-Work Pathways for Young Adults, which focused on four key themes across school-to-work models, including the importance of work-based learning that connects students to employers, re-designing curriculums to emphasize soft skills and social capital, increasing supportive or wraparound services to help students get across the finish line, and helping high-school students earn credits toward postsecondary education.
Information and registration links for both events are below:
Helping Women Return to the Workforce with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Terri Sewell
On Tuesday, April 27th, PPI is hosting a webinar with special guests Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Terri Sewell on policies to help the women return to the workforce following the devastating effect of the pandemic on women’s labor force participation. Our panel includes policy experts on labor, child care, and gender and racial equity.
Date/Time:
April 27, 2021 at 10:30AM ET
Keynote Speakers:
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Panel:
Veronica Goodman, Director of Social Policy at PPI
Chandra Childers, Study Director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Elliot Haspel, Author of Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It
Rhonda V. Sharpe, founder & president, Women’s Institute for Science, Equity, and Race
Kate Bahn, Director of Labor Market Policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth
Preventing Failure to Launch: Creating More School-to-Work Pathways with Rep. Chris Pappas
On Tuesday, April 27th, PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools project is hosting a webinar with special guest Rep. Chris Pappas on creating more school-to-work pathways for our students and young adults.
Date/Time:
April 27, 2021 at 1:00PM ET
Keynote Speakers:
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH)
Jennifer Kemp, Director of Youth Services, U.S. Department of Labor; Office of Workforce Investment
Panel:
Veronica Goodman, Director of Social Policy at PPI
Tressa Pankovits, Associate Director of PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools project
Jeanne Russell, Executive Director of the Centers for Applied Science and Technology
Cate Swinburn, President of YouthForce NOLA
Ryan Craig, Managing Director of Achieve Partners
Media interested in attending the events can RSVP through Aaron White, PPI’s Director of Communications: awhite@ppionline.org
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Bledsoe for Washington Post: Slashing emissions by 2050 isn’t enough. We can bring down temperatures now
Weinstein for Boston Herald: President should take cue from Moulton’s high-speed rail plan
President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan includes $80 billion for passenger rail but never mentions the term “high speed rail.” But don’t be fooled. The plan, if enacted would be the biggest investment in intercity rail in U.S. history, and the largest share of those dollars will go to fund high speed rail.
While the details remain scarce, here is where most of the money for high speed rail will come from.
First, $39 billion is proposed for Northeast Corridor modernization. Most funding that goes to the Northeast Corridor will significantly improve times for the Acela’s new lighter and faster train-sets.
How much time? The new trains can reach a top speed of 160 miles per hour (vs. 150 MPH for today’s trains) and can take curves at 30% higher speeds (due to higher tilting capability). However, without better rail infrastructure, these rail thoroughbreds will be racing in mud. Fortunately, the $39 billion proposed by the Biden administration is enough to upgrade key parts of the corridor (such as the B&P tunnel in Baltimore, built in 1873) and get the rest of the line in good condition. Together this would shorten the trip from Washington to NYC to 2 hours and 10 minutes and cut NYC to Boston by 45 minutes — making the Acela a true high speed train.
But the Biden plan doesn’t stop there. The president’s budget is also proposing $20 billion for intercity rail passenger rail, most of which will likely be invested in new high speed rail corridors in places like Texas, Florida and California.
While $20 billion is almost three times more than the Obama administration got for high speed rail, it still is only a fraction of what is needed. Congressman Seth Moulton, a former managing director with the Texas Central Railway, is the chief sponsor of legislation that would invest $205 billion in high speed rail, including one that would connect Houston to Dallas. While it is unclear if Congress is willing to fund that amount, the Biden administration should adopt three core strategies from the Moulton plan.