New State & Local Policies

RESEARCH RESOURCES

Building Regional Power Research Project
www.laborstudies.wayne.edu/power.html
Local labor movements in a small but growing number of cities have embarked upon a long-term strategy to gain greater power in their regions. With revitalized central labor councils at the core, unions and allied groups are electing progressive champions, shifting the political debates to economic justice issues, and supporting the right of workers to organize. The Building Regional Power Research Project was established at Wayne State University to document and promote this work and contains a number of studies on efforts in different cities.

Center for Budget & Policy Priorities
www.cbpp.org
The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debate over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates. Through its State Fiscal Analysis Initiative, the Center now provides policy research and support in 29 states.

Good Jobs First, (Washington, D.C.)
www.goodjobsfirst.org
Good Jobs First is a national advocacy organization that tracks corporate accountability legislation, including job quality standards (i.e., requirements that economic development subsidies lead to higher paying jobs), disclosure rules (i.e., requirements that the amount of the subsidies that each company receives be displayed in a form that is accessible to the public), and monitoring (i.e., requirements that part of the subsidy money be returned to the government if job employment and job quality commitments are not met). The website includes model legislation, as well as links to descriptions of state disclosure legislation.

Grassroots.org
www.grassroots.org
Grassroots.org serves as an information clearinghouse with links to hundreds of groups involved in education, environmentalism, humanitarian relief, health promotion, reducing homelessness, crime control, political freedom, government reform, consumer protection, youth development, and other like-minded issues.

High Road Service Center
www.highroadnow.org
The High Road Service Center, a web-based research project of the American Legislative Issue Campaign Exchange (ALICE) coalition, aims to share policy ideas, highlight both positive and negative local developments, and build consensus around model legislation and core principles. The website concentrates on three areas: high wage jobs, environmental sustainability, and democratic accountability.

Hometown Advantage
www.newrules.org/retail/index.php
This website, hosted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance, focuses on efforts to preserve independently owned retail establishments and resist the proliferation of big-box retailers. The site features articles on local disputes, as well as a number of economic impact studies that document the greater local economic multiplier effect of locally owned retail establishments.

Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
www.ctj.org/itep/index.htm
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is the research arm of Citizens for Tax Justice. ITEP provides policymakers, advocates, and the public with timely information regarding state and federal tax regulations and how they affect taxpayers at different income levels.

Levy Institute
www.levy.org
The Levy Institute of Bard College serves as one of the leading academic research centers on issues of wealth and income distribution, as well as a wide range of other economic issues.

Living Wage Resource Center
www.livingwagecampaign.org
Hosted by ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), the Living Wage Resource Center contains a wealth of resources on past and present living wage campaigns across the United States, as well as resources on how to organize a living wage campaign in your community.

Michigan Land Use Institute
www.mlui.org
The Michigan Land Use Institute promotes local economic self-reliance that is consistent with conserving open land and protecting clean air and clean water. The website includes a wide variety of publications on smart growth, economic development, and related issues, both in Michigan and nationally.

National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce
www.directcareclearinghouse.org
The National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce is a project of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI), a nonprofit organization based in the South Bronx, New York. PHI’s work is guided by the belief that creating quality jobs with living wages for direct-care workers is essential to providing high-quality, cost-effective services to long-term care consumers. The website tracks best practices in the industry and policy innovations at the state level.

Office of Tax Policy Research
www.bus.umich.edu/otpr
The Office of Tax Policy Research at the University of Michigan Business School has two missions. First, to encourage and facilitate joint research on the tax system by economists and scholars of other disciplines; second, to serve as a liaison on tax issues among the academic, business, and policymaking tax communities. The Office draws on the substantial data resources and expertise already existing at the University of Michigan in these fields, and also involves scholars from outside the university.

Walmart Subsidy Watch
www.walmartsubsidywatch.org
This website, organized by Good Jobs First, tracks the more than $1.2 billion Wal-Mart has received in tax breaks, free land, infrastructure assistance, low-cost financing and outright grants from state and local governments around the country. An interactive map allows the website user to determine how much subsidy his or her state has provided.