Working + The Economy
What Nevada’s Question 2 means for the state’s minimum wage
Nevadans this November will have the opportunity to establish a $12 per hour minimum wage for almost all employees in the state. Currently, Nevada has a two-tiered minimum wage system: The minimum wage allowed for employees who are offered qualifying health insurance is $1 less per hour than the minimum wage rate allowed for employees […]
The Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for Nevada’s families
I worked hard for decades to set myself up for retirement. After a career in public service running Nevada’s unemployment insurance fraud program, I built a small business specializing in helping grieving families deal with personal property estates. During all these years, I paid into Social Security and Medicare. At 62, I want reassurance that […]
Some progress on economic fairness, and still a long way to go
It’s been a rough couple of years for American workers. First, working families were battered by a pandemic that caused massive unemployment, loss of health coverage and financial hardship for tens of millions of working people. The unemployment rate in Nevada hit 28% during the COVID-19 shut down which impacted many casino workers like myself. […]
America is in the middle of a labor mobilization moment
Labor Day 2022 comes smack bang in the middle of what is increasingly looking like a pivotal year in the history of American unions. The summer has seen a steady stream of workforce mobilizations. Employees at Trader Joe’s locations in Massachusetts and Minneapolis both voted to unionize. Meanwhile, restaurant chain Chipotle saw the first of […]
NV families to start getting USDA summer child food benefits this month
Starting this month, Nevada is set to begin distributing a popular federal free food funding program designed to replace meals children missed at school and child care because of pandemic-related closures. The state will distribute summer Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer payments, or P-EBT throughout September, October and November. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of […]
Student loan forgiveness proves that if government can’t help Americans, what good is it?
When President Joe Biden announced last week a student loan relief plan, many Americans reacted as though he had encouraged the overthrow of the government or stolen classified documents. Biden announced the U.S. Department of Education will cancel up to $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients. Pell […]
Child poverty estimates point to a record low in 2021
The U.S. government will likely report in September 2022 that for 2021 its most accurate measure of child poverty was the lowest on record. This was due, in large part, to generous government benefits. Our research suggests child poverty in 2021 would have been even lower had the government made it easier for families to […]
Vacation rentals enjoy record July
The addition of “hundreds of thousands of new listings online” in the last year allowed vacationers to spend more than 23 million nights in short-term rentals last month, according to AirDNA, a short-term rental data analyst. That’s up 18% from last year. The number of vacation rentals in the U.S. reached 1.39 million in July, […]
Nevadans react to Biden’s student loan forgiveness
Around 330,000 Nevadans are saddled with more than $11 billion in student debt. After President Joe Biden announced Wednesday he will cancel up to $20,000 in federal student debt for Pell Grant borrowers and up to $10,000 for individuals earning less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 as a household, some who have dealt with […]
Will Detroit remain the U.S. auto industry’s center amid the switch to EVs?
Nearly seven years ago, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said she had “no doubt that the auto industry will change more in the next five to 10 years than it has in the past 50 years.” She was prescient, to say the least. About the only thing that hasn’t changed is Barra, who still runs […]
UNLV study traces links between unaffordable housing and child mistreatment
A single mother in Nevada makes $10.50 per hour on minimum wage, or about $21,840.00 a year if she works full time. And then there’s the rent. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Las Vegas is by one estimate $1,372, and for a two-bedroom, $1,622 – $16,464 or $19,464 annually. Even at hourly […]
White House projections tout impact of climate, health law on Nevada
New projections released by the White House boast how clean energy tax credits and rebates, caps on insulin, and prescription drug pricing reform included in the Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for Nevadans. President Joe Biden signed the climate, health care and tax law Tuesday. Various provisions of the bill will start to take […]