Category: Uncategorized

Bledsoe for The Hill, “Dems should offer own plan to destroy GOP tax nightmare”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

House Republicans have passed a grotesque tax giveaway to the richest 1 percent that will only exacerbate America’s biggest economic and political problem: the massive income inequality that inhibits broad-based growth and is leaving more and more Americans out of the middle class.

What’s more, the Republican tax bills squander essentially all the money needed for investments that would actually grow the economy to the benefit of all Americans; namely, rebuilding our antiquated infrastructure to be competitive in the digital economy.

Republican Senators have replicated these mistakes in legislation that has passed the tax-writing Finance Committee, adding repeal of a key element of the Affordable Care Act, to boot. They have now pledged to push the bill through the full Senate as early as this week and into an expedited conference with the House to be signed into law by Trump before Christmas.

Continue reading on The Hill.

How to Modernize and Strengthen NAFTA

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

If there is one thing that negotiators from the United States, Mexico and Canada agree on, it is that NAFTA should be updated and improved to the mutual benefit of the three partners. The question is how to do so. To grapple with that question, the University of California and Tecnológico de Monterrey, the largest not-for-profit private university in Mexico, in partnership with the Progressive Policy Institute and COMEXI (the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations), convened a gathering of high-level North American government and business leaders, diplomats and trade scholars at the university’s Washington, D.C. conference center on September 21, 2017. Negotiators from the U.S., Mexico and Canada convened in Washington on October 11th to resume talks on modernizing and strengthening the 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The impetus for these talks comes from

President Trump, who has fiercely criticized NAFTA and is demanding changes aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits and “bringing back” U.S. manufacturing jobs. The Trump Administration wants to wrap up an agreement on a modified treaty by the end of the year.

That’s an ambitious timetable, considering the White House’s lengthy list of negotiating objectives — and concerns in Canada and Mexico that President Trump views trade as a zero-sum game. The unspoken question hovering over the talks is this: Can Trump find a way for America to “win” in trade without Mexico and Canada losing?

Marshall for The Daily Beast, “Here’s How Democrats Can Win, Not Just Resist”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Democrats—who’d had little to celebrate since Donald Trump’s shocking election a year ago—are exulting in last week’s sweeping victories in Virginia and New Jersey, the first signs that the party can spin Trump’s abysmal public approval ratings into electoral gold.

Yet there’s also a danger of over-interpreting these odd-year election results. New Jersey is a deep blue state, and a combination of demographic change and political pragmatism in Virginia has made Democrats ascendant once again in the Old Dominion. More fundamentally, however, the party can’t engineer a political comeback solely on the strength of an anti-Trump message.

That’s because Democrats’ core dilemma – their lack of competitiveness across America’s broad midsection – is structural. It started before Trump burst onto the political scene and reflects deep cultural and economic changes that have left rural and working class voters feeling forgotten and left behind.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast.

Gerwin for US News, “Trump the NAFTA Terminator”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

The president is making moves to terminate NAFTA without considering the economic and legal repercussions.

Donald Trump has few positive achievements as president. But the man famous for firing people has certainly shown a knack as a terminator: Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership and terminated a variety of other Obama administration initiatives.

Now, Trump is seemingly set on terminating NAFTA, which he’s derided as “the worst trade deal ever.” Congress must stop Trump before he kills again.

Congress has been remarkably mute on Trump’s threats to NAFTA, even though the Constitution empowers Congress “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations” and much of the president’s authority on trade is based on laws passed by Congress. It’s time for Congress to use its powers – and broader influence – to prevent Trump from damaging U.S. trade, destroying jobs and sowing economic uncertainty by recklessly withdrawing from NAFTA.

Continue reading at U.S. News.

Langhorne for The 74, “Taking Away $250 Tax Deduction for School Supplies Speaks Volumes About How We Value Teachers”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

When I was a teacher, I didn’t have a “cute” classroom. My colleague upstairs designed a reading space for students, complete with comfortable seats, a special carpet, and twinkle lights.

I was lucky if my posters stayed on the wall (which, often they didn’t because of the school’s erratic temperature changes).

Regardless, most students loved my class as much as they loved my colleague’s. I think they actually developed an affectionate spot for the chaos of the room. Some generously told me that it mirrored the personality of my energetic teaching.

Despite outward appearances, both my colleague and I spent hundreds of our own dollars, as well a lot of our free time, to make our classes fun and welcoming places where students wanted to go to learn.

My colleague’s expenses were obvious. She created a place where children want to go to read. That’s money well spent.

My expenses weren’t so obvious. You couldn’t tell from looking around my classroom, but it was also money well spent. No amount of colorful paper or pretty lights would have helped me keep a tidy and cute classroom, but I too purchased things to keep my students engaged in learning. These were my hidden costs of teaching.

 

Continue reading here.

Yarrow for the Baltimore Sun, “Early childhood care undervalued in Md.”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

When my son, now in college, started school in Maryland, he went to a private preschool, and only half-day public kindergarten existed. As for most young children in the United States, then and now, public early childhood education was unavailable.

Full-day kindergarten is now the norm, and 35 percent of Maryland’s 4 year olds are enrolled in public preschool, with another 15 percent in private pre-K. But the state still lags behind the national average, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Because low-income children generally have less access, they are less “school ready” by kindergarten, generally perpetuating lifelong disparities. For a state that prides itself on its public education and is also among the nation’s wealthiest in per capita income, it is inexcusable that Maryland lacks free or affordable early childhood care and education.

Continue reading at The Baltimore Sun.

Osborne and Langhorne for US News, “The Best Hope for School Integration”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Could charter schools and school choice be the best hope for integrating our public schools by race and income?

Charter schools are public schools operated by independent organizations, usually nonprofits. They are freed from many of the rules that constrain district-operated schools. In exchange for increased autonomy, they are normally held accountable for their performance by their authorizers, who close or replace them if they fail to educate children. Most are schools of choice, and unlike magnet schools in traditional districts, they are not allowed to select their students. If too many students apply, they hold lotteries to see who gets in.

Not everyone acknowledges the potential of public charters and school choice to spur integration in America’s schools. Last summer, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten went so far as to label the school choice movement “the only slightly more polite cousin of segregation.”

In most charter schools, teachers choose not to unionize. Union memberships have shrunk as charter sectors have grown, so it’s no surprise that teachers unions hate charter schools and, by extension, school choice.

But as is often the case, Weingarten’s words were about 180 degrees from the truth. Traditional districts without public school choice often reflect the racial segregation that exists in their neighborhoods. In contrast, charters and school choice offer several avenues to integrate our schools.

Continue reading here.

Rotherham for US News, “A Tale of Two Zinkes”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Interior, it landed pretty well. Zinke was a well-regarded former Navy SEAL and congressman known as a champion of protecting public lands and for being attentive to native issues. As opposed to some Trump nominees where defections of Republicans complicated the Senate math, Zinke was confirmed with a bipartisan 67 Senate votes – a landslide in the Trump-era.

During his Senate confirmation, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a pro-public lands conservation group, said, “Both Zinke and President-elect Trump have identified themselves as conservationists in the model of Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican who helped create America’s priceless public land heritage.”

That was then.

Now, Zinke finds himself in political trouble that ranges from just plain odd to possibly illegal. And, in the crucible, he hasn’t turned out to be the defender of public lands many hoped for.

 Continue reading at U.S. News & World Report. 

Bledsoe for The Hill, “Trump is isolated on climate. Ignore him at negotiations.”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

As ministers from 195 countries travel to Bonn, Germany for annual climate negotiations to begin Nov. 6, momentous decisions await.

Convincing major-emitting nations to increase the pace of emissions reductions, gaining hundreds of billions in new private and public investment in clean energy, protecting vulnerable populations and finalizing key rules of the Paris Agreement will all be debated.

The backdrop? Increasingly deadly, hugely expensive climate change impacts now manifest in the U.S. and around the world and what scientists believe is a rapidly shrinking window of time to prevent far worse.

Within this urgent context, little effort should be spent worrying about or currying favor with Donald Trump or his appointees. Everything we’ve learned about Trump since he took office suggests it’s a fool’s errand to attempt to convince him to take more responsible action regarding climate change.

Continue reading at The Hill.

PPI & Republican Main Street: New Workplace Flexibility Bill is a Win-Win for Employers & Working Families

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

WASHINGTON – Following the introduction of H.R. 4219, the Workflex in the 21st Century Act, Republican Main Street Partnership and the Progressive Policy Institute today released statements in support of the new legislation. Introduced by Rep. Mimi Walters (CA-45), the bill provides American businesses and their employees with greater choice, flexibility and predictability for the schedule and structure of their workplace.

“To balance the demands of work, family, and the curveballs life throws at you, PPI has long supported flexible work arrangements for workers, including paid parental, family, and medical leave. The Workflex in the 21st Century Act grants both part-time and full-time employees the paid leave and workflex benefits they need, like compressed and predictable work scheduling and telework, while providing employers with the flexibility they need to administer these benefits,” said Progressive Policy Institute President Will Marshall.

“For employers looking to attract a talented workforce, the legislation creates a voluntary program of compensable leave based on employment size and the amount of time an employee has spent with the company. Under this voluntary approach, employers would be obliged not only to provide generous leave but also to offer their employees more flexible work arrangements. In return, companies could avoid rigid, one-size-fits-all mandates that make it difficult to create the nimble, responsive workplaces today’s economy demands. This proposal would not relieve any company of the responsibility to offer paid leave; companies that don’t opt-in would continue to be subject to state mandates.

“The collaborative Workflex approach is thus a win-win solution for workers and employers, and as such deserves the support of pro-growth progressives.”

“Since starting the Women2Women Conversations Tour in 2014, I have heard from families across the country who are looking for a sustainable work-life balance that is supported in the workplace,” said Sarah Chamberlain, President and CEO of Republican Main Street Partnership. “As modern life demands more of our time and attention, workplace flexibility is an innovative and common sense solution for families nationwide. Workflex is a responsible approach and a welcome step for employees and employers alike.”

The Workflex in the 21st Century Act would help employees strike a better work-life balance. Studies have shown that employees want a workplace that supports both their personal and professional responsibilities. Employers who choose to adopt a workflex plan would be required to provide paid leave to all employees and offer all employees the option to participate in at least one of six flexible scheduling options, such as telework or predictable scheduling. Importantly, paid leave can be used as employees see fit: there are no restrictions. For more information on this legislation, please click here.

###

Osborne featured on The 74, “9 Inspiring Case Studies of Cities and Educators Rethinking Classrooms for the 21st Century”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

This summer, The 74 launched a special series of articles, profiles, and videos — as well as an exclusive microsite — based on the new book Reinventing America’s Schools: Creating a 21st Century Education System by the Progressive Policy Institute’s David Osborne. In it, Osborne spotlights some of the country’s most innovative cities in rethinking their school systems, and lays out a road map for improving the nation’s education system.

Continue reading at the 74. 

Osborne featured on MinnPost, “A new way we can organize the public school system”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Both major Twin Cities public school districts are facing some tough realities right now: relatively new leadership faced with multimillion-dollar budget deficits and declining enrollment.

Many families within the districts’ boundaries are exercising school choice by open-enrolling their children in suburban districts or enrolling in charter schools. Since federal and state funding follows students, that means the Minneapolis and St. Paul Public School districts are feeling the financial strain of trying to maintain program and building expenses built for a larger student population.

As district leaders face some tough budgetary decisions in the coming months, local education reform groups are hoping to glean some insight from David Osborne, a nationally renowned education reform expert. In his new book, “Reinventing America’s Schools,” Osborne looks at how other large, urban districts that have had to make major changes turned to the charter school sector for inspiration and collaboration. He’ll be presenting his findings on Nov. 8 at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event —  which is sponsored by Progressive Policy Institute, Education Evolving and Ed Allies — will include a reception and panel discussion with local education leaders.

Continue reading at MinnPost.

Soaring Construction Costs Threaten Infrastructure Push

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised a massive infrastructure program financed primarily by the private sector. Trump’s 2018 budget proposed leveraging $200 billion in direct federal spending into $1 trillion in infrastructure investment through private sector incentives.

However, President Trump recently retreated from this campaign pledge that private sector funding would be a cornerstone of his infrastructure plan, raising questions as to whether the plan would be financed through increased federal spending or if state and local governments would be forced to foot most of the bill. Unfortunately, this approach is likely to limit the scope of the initiative to a fraction of what Trump has described, as federal, state, and local governments continue to deal with the reality of limited budget resources. In any case, there’s a large obstacle to any ambitious infrastructure plan – soaring construction costs.

Bringing down the astronomical cost of construction in the United States, which turns even the simplest infrastructure projects into enormous fiscal burdens, would help make the infrastructure upgrade that America so badly needs more affordable.

Kim for The American Interest, “One of These Governors Could Save the Democrats in 2020”

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

State-level Democratic leaders are showing how populism and pragmatism combined can energize liberal turnout while still winning crucial swing-state support.

Under a clear blue sky in late summer, with the peaks of the Gallatin Mountains as a backdrop, Montana Governor Steve Bullock mingles with guests at a private event on a ranch just outside Bozeman. Holding a plate piled high with barbecue, Bullock is half a head taller than most of the people here. He is genial and relaxed, in jeans and battered brown shoes. His nametag reads, “Governor Steve.”

A young mother brings over two little girls in flowered sundresses, and Bullock immediately drops down to eye level. A few minutes later, the girls leave with their mother, smiles on their faces, their votes no doubt locked up for 15 years hence when the girls will be old enough to cast a ballot. In half the conversations that swirl around Bullock, there are joking references to 2020 and hints about the Governor’s ambitions. It’s an open secret here that the Bullock might be running for President.

Just this past fall, Bullock won re-election over GOP challenger billionaire Greg Gianforte by four percentage points—50 percent to 46 percent—in a state where only 35 percent of voters chose Democrat Hillary Clinton for President and Donald Trump won by 20 points. That victory is Bullock’s calling card into the Democratic presidential sweepstakes, along with the prairie populist credentials he has burnished. As the state’s Attorney General, he endeared himself to sportsmen by authoring a state opinion guaranteeing access to public lands. He also took on the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, defending the state’s ban on corporate spending (he lost when the Court reaffirmed its decision).

Continue reading at The American Interest. 

The Next Ten Million Jobs–How to Read Tomorrow’s Employment Projections

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Tomorrow (October 24th), the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the latest version of their ten-year employment projections.  They will likely project job growth of roughly ten million jobs over the next ten years.

Generally what gets the most attention is the BLS list of the fastest growing occupations, and those are certainly interesting.  But as part of our The Next Ten Million Jobs project, we suggest that the job projections should really be sorted into three buckets. The first bucket consists of jobs in the health and education sector, both private and public. The previous set of  BLS projections, released in 2015,  suggested that 48% of net new job growth over the next decade would come from health and education. That’s stunning. Will the new projections be higher or lower, and can we afford to pay for all these health and education jobs?

The second bucket consists of jobs in the tech sector, such as computer systems design and software publishing. The last set of projections pegged those industries at roughly 6% of future job growth. We think that is greatly understated,  and expect that number to rise. Moreover, the tech job growth can be found outside of the traditional tech hubs, as our report shows.

Finally, the third bucket consists of tech-enabled jobs in physical industries such as ecommerce, manufacturing, and agriculture. Here the previous set of projections did very poorly. For example, the BLS predicted that the warehouse and storage industry would expand by a very meager 28K jobs by 2024.  Instead warehousing jobs have soared by 200K jobs over the last 3 years alone, riding the wave of ecommerce fulfillment centers. Moreover, the BLS does not have a separate projection for electronic shopping companies.

We believe that tech-enabled jobs in physical industries are going to be an extremely important source of job growth over the next ten years–but these are not broken out in the BLS projections.  What’s more, these jobs are going to mainly benefit states that have been left behind behind by the digital revolution. 

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Press Release: New PPI Report Offers Pragmatic Alternative to “Free College” Proposal

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Free credentials would help millions of Americans without four-year degrees reach the middle-class debt free & close labor force “skills gap”

WASHINGTON —The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) today released a new policy report by senior fellow Anne Kim, “Forget ‘free college.’ How about ‘free credentials?,'” proposing greater federal support of high-quality occupational credentialing opportunities as an alternative to a “free” four-year degree. The report finds that federal support of such programs—including the extension of federal Pell grants—would help close the “skills gap” and provide an equally viable and debt-free path to middle-class mobility and economic security.

“The single-minded focus on college diminishes other, equally viable paths to middle-class security – such as in health care, information technology, advanced manufacturing, and other skilled professions – that require specialized occupational ‘credentials’ but no four-year degree,” writes Kim.

“If progressives truly want to expand opportunity, they should reverse the lopsided bias toward college, both in politics and in policy, rather than reinforcing it. In particular, federal and state policymakers should embrace the role that high-quality, short-term credentialing programs can play in boosting workers’ skills and wages.”

Kim argues that current higher education policy is heavily tilted toward a monolithic view of postsecondary education – as a single block of time in the life of a young adult between the ages of 18 and 22 with a four-year degree as the optimal outcome. It’s a framework that fails to acknowledge the needs of both students and employers in today’s rapidly changing economy. And it sends the wrong message to the millions of Americans who opt out of college – not because they can’t afford it but don’t want it or need it to achieve their aspirations. As pollster Pete Brodnitz of Expedition Strategies puts it, insisting on college as the ideal path is “essentially telling people they have the wrong dream.” “A lot of people want jobs that involve trades or skills,” says Brodnitz, “not a liberal arts education.”

The report finds that many of the jobs that require a credential, but no college degree, pay salaries that comfortably put workers into the middle class. Such “middle-skill” jobs can pay as much as $90,420. Importantly, Kim notes, quality credentialing programs can also be a valuable postsecondary alternative for older and nontraditional students for whom a commitment to full-time or part-time coursework in a traditional college setting may be unrealistic, impractical, or unnecessary. And because they typically take weeks or months to earn, not years, credentials can help workers who’ve been displaced rapidly redeploy themselves into new careers with demonstrated employer demand.

###