Virginia’s Third District Congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott, a Democrat, joined the chorus of Representatives who voted against the recently pass legislation which allowed the Congress and the White House to avoid going over the fiscal cliff on New Year’s Day.

Scott said the legislation would add trillion of dollars to the existing federal deficit and may force legislators to cut the budgets of various social safety net programs supporting the poor and elderly to pay for the continuation of the Bush era tax cuts for people earning below $450,000.

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Not only does the legislation end the Bush era tax cuts for people earning above $450.000 a year, it also ends the federal tax holiday so there will be higher payroll taxes. There will be a delay in the automatic and drastic cuts to social programs or the defense budget for at least two months and it does not raise the debt ceiling, which President Obama wants the Congress to tackle on its next month.

It does extend the federal unemployment insurance for another year for some of the 12 million people still looking for work.

Scott outlined his position, highlighting that it adds some $3.9 trillion dollars to the national deficit.

“So how are we going to pay for all these new tax cuts,” Scott told the New Journal and Guide the day after the House voted to pass the bill.  ”The only option we have is to cut funding for Social Security, Medicaid, education, transportation and defense.”

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Dr. Wilhelmina Leigh, a senior research assistant at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies agrees that restructuring the Social Security and Medicare programs would be an option to bolster fiscal standing, but she does agree with privatizing it.

“I think that the Congressman took a principled plan,” said Leigh. “Once they revisit this issue they should consider raising taxes or changing how Social Security is funded and administered to strengthen it.”

Read more at the New Journal and Guide.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies collaborated with the Center on Race and Wealth at Howard University to host a discussion of how to develop and use indicators to measure economic mobility in Texas and in Mississippi on June 21, 2012. Click here to view the full webinar or here for the webinar slides.

By just about every measure, life is significantly better for African-Americans and Latinos in small and medium-sized cities and towns in the South and West, according to a recently released report by Urban Institute.

The Washington, DC-based think tank found that the "opportunity gap" that separates African-Americans and Latinos from whites is the largest in the Midwest and Northeast and the smallest in the South and West.

Its study examined factors such as residential segregation, the quality of public schools, neighborhood home values, employment rates and rates of home ownership.

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The panel drew its talking points from this exhaustive report "The Black Population: 2010," which aggregated nearly a years' worth of Census data.

"A lot of what that may be showing is upward mobility," said Dr. Roderick Harrison, of the growing number of black Americans moving to the suburbs. Harrison is a demographer who teaches at Howard University and senior research fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, DC.

"The declines in central cities reflect people moving out from cities like DC, from the poorest areas... to suburban communities that people may perceive to offer better education, safer neighborhoods, better amenities, etc."


Read more at WGXA-TV.

Conferences held by think tanks are par for the course in Washington, but the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies sponsored an afternoon of plenary sessions that set this effort apart from the pack.   
 
Policy experts, scholars and leaders in business, politics and civil rights gathered at the National Press Club to take part in the Joint Center’s African-American Economic Summit. It featured discussions focusing on ways to address economic inequalities, build an equitable economy in a competitive world, and devise policy solutions so that all Americans can succeed.

Ralph B. Everett, president and CEO of the Joint Center said, “We wanted to put some solutions on the table so people would have something to be hopeful for. It doesn’t feel good to rehash how bad things are so we wanted to give people something to work toward.”

Read more at BET.

This report presents the issues and recommendations identified during this effort. This report is written with an outside in perspective. It starts by laying out the issues affecting the industry and how these issues affect the MWDVBEs. It argues for developing a strong business case and consistent value proposition for engaging in supplier diversity. It then presents the current state of MWDVBEs. The report also addresses the effectiveness of supplier diversity programs and the challenges associated with aligning (in some cases, evolving) current efforts in dealing with the new industry realities.

Only Available in Hard Copy.

To order a hard copy of this publication, download the publication order form. [click here]

All prices do NOT include shipping and handling fees. Please see form for more details.

Date Published: March 2003
 

A supervisor's Guidebook for Supporting and Retaining New Workforce Entrants in Today's Multicultural Workforce

This book outlines methods for integrating entry-level workers into the workplace through a strong assimilation process. The assimilation process is designed to help them adjust to the organization's culture, understand job expectations, and build their skills. It also provides guidance in helping new employees develop successful work relationships and build basic business literacy, while providing continuous performance support.

Only Available in Hard Copy.

To order a hard copy of this publication, download the publication order form. [click here]

All prices do NOT include shipping and handling fees. Please see form for more details.

Date Published: October 2002
 

Price: $20.00

This manual aims to assist workforce development professionals in the assessment and management of cultural competence within their programs. It also aims to aid them assessing prospective employers to ensure effective job-placement relationships and comfortable environments where employees can best succeed.

Only Available in Hard Copy.

To order a hard copy of this publication, download the publication order form below.

All prices do NOT include shipping and handling fees. Please see form for more details.

Date Published: June 2002

Price: $20.00
 

The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (FMWA), which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, January 10th and taken up by the U.S. Senate the week of January 22nd, will raise the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour by 2009. The minimum would be raised in three steps: to $5.85 within 60 days of becoming law, then to $6.55 a year after that, and finally to $7.25 the following year.

How many workers might the Act affect if it is passed this year and if the minimum is then raised to $7.25 by 2009? How might the effects differ by race and ethnicity?

These important questions have no simple answers. Informative estimates can nevertheless be produced through analysis of the hourly wages that workers reported in the most recent Annual Demographic Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), which was conducted in March 2006. Workers who reported earnings between $5.15 (the current federal minimum wage) and $5.85 might be affected by the increase that the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 would implement within 60 days of its passage; those earning between $5.85 and $6.55, and between $6.55 and $7.25 might benefit from the second and third increases proposed in the Act. Workers who reported earnings greater than the proposed federal minimum wage of $7.25 by 2009 may also see their wages increase by that time, as some states implement planned increases in their minimum wages that exceed the federal minimum.

Dr. Algernon Austin of the Economic Policy Institute examines white-black differences in employment rates and the reasons why black males have a more difficult time in the job market. Dr. Austin defines a "new racism" and calls for consequent recognition and change.

Dr. Andre Brimmer looks back at how this economic crisis began and how it will challenge the Obama administration.