Paid Sick Days

Morning Must Reads: One Bidder? What Could Go Wrong?

The Keystone Research Center does not oppose the use of private contractors to provide services to federal, state and local governments as a matter of philosophy.

On pragmatic grounds, we DO support good governance, including carefully assessing the costs and benefits of privatization. Too often privatization is a goal in and of itself and good governance — careful weighing of pros and cons — isn't even in the vocabulary of privatization advocates.

Morning Must Reads: 40 Million American Workers Get No Paid Sick Leave

The New York Times comes out strongly in favor of paid sick leave legislation in New York City. Looking at you, Philadelphia.

Third and State This Week: Strong Revenue Growth in PA, Rising Student Loan Defaults, and Morning Must Reads

This week, we blogged about rising rates of student loan defaults, Pennsylvania's strong revenue growth early in the fiscal year, and rising poverty in the wake of recessions. We also started each day with the "Morning Must Reads," highlighting the must-read economic news and opinion of the day. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • On higher education and unemployment, Sean Brandon blogged about the rising number of student loan defaults as young college grads find jobs harder to come by in this economy. 
  • On poverty and recessions, Chris Lilienthal shared a chart showing how the recessions of the last 30 years have driven up poverty rates in their aftermath.
  • On state budget and taxes, Michael Wood wrote about a new Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center analysis showing that state revenue collections in the first two months of 2011-12 are running well ahead of the same two-month period last year. Mike also shared a chart showing that July-August tax collections have outperformed the same two-month period in the last five fiscal years. September revenue collections will provide a much better idea of what to expect in future months.
  • Lastly, Mark Price greeted you each daybreak with the "Morning Must Reads," highlighting current economic news and opinion. This week, Mark highlighted articles on paid sick leave, public sector employment losses, the challenges of local economic development, local area unemployment rates and the bupkis Congress is doing to spur economic recovery. 
More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

Morning Must Reads for September 26, 2011

Posted by Mark Price on September 26, 2011 6:04 am
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Good Monday morning! Do you know where your weekend went? Me Neither.

Public support for family care, particularly generous in Nordic countries, tends to improve women’s ability to combine paid and unpaid work, explaining why Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland are each ranked higher than the United States on the Newsweek/Daily Beast list. But the rankings would change considerably if policies relevant to mothers were factored in. For instance, consideration of early childhood education and paid leaves from work would move France up from its 12th position on the list and move the United States way down.

Third and State This Week: State Budget, Marcellus Jobs and a Paid Sick Leave Update

Posted by Third and State on July 1, 2011 3:48 pm
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This week, we blogged about the Pennsylvania budget, a setback for a paid sick leave bill in Philadelphia, a recent report on how many Pennsylvania jobs have been created by the Marcellus Shale boom and more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • This week, Pennsylvania enacted a 2011-12 state budget, with deep cuts to schools, health care and human services, while leaving most of a $785 million surplus on the table. Sharon Ward had an overview of the budget and also posted this media statement calling it a budget that does less with more.
  • On paid sick days, Stephen Herzenberg blogged about Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter's veto of a bill that would have allowed every worker in the city to earn paid sick days.
  • On the Marcellus Shale, Stephen wrote about a recent Keystone Research Center policy brief on the actual job contribution of the Marcellus boom and the attacks it generated from the natural gas industry and its allies. Chris Lilienthal blogged about several key points state lawmakers should keep in mind as they consider enacting a Marcellus Shale impact fee.

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

Philadelphia Mayor Vetoes Paid Sick Leave Bill

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on June 29, 2011 1:57 pm
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Some bad news out of Philadelphia Tuesday — Mayor Michael Nutter vetoed legislation that would have allowed every worker in the city to earn paid sick days.

As Lonnie Golden, a professor of economics and labor studies at Penn State Abington, and I wrote in an op-ed earlier this month, a paid sick days law would be good for business, good for the economy and good for public health in Philadelphia.

The Benefits of Paid Sick Days

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on June 8, 2011 2:09 pm
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In recent weeks, I've written here and here about legislation before Philadelphia City Council that would allow every worker in the city to earn paid sick days.

To round things out, I am now passing along an op-ed I co-authored with Lonnie Golden, a professor of economics and labor studies at Penn State Abington, that was published last week in The Philadelphia Daily News urging City Council to pass the paid sick days bill. Post a comment to let me know what you think.

Paid Sick Days Can Help Make Philadelphia a High Road City of Opportunity

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on June 1, 2011 10:29 am
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Last week, I wrote that when you look at the positive benefits and the low costs of Philadelphia’s proposed paid sick days legislation, it could end up paying for itself.

As I wrote that, I could almost hear a collective gasp from neoclassical economists: “If it paid for itself, employers would already do it!”

Using NFIB Economist’s Estimates on Paid Sick Days: It’s Not Cricket

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on May 26, 2011 12:42 pm
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As a kid living near Manchester in the north of England, my first love was cricket. The sport (it is a sport) comes up nowadays when I use the phrase “it’s not cricket” — as in, it’s not acceptable, it’s not done.

In a report circulated to Philadelphia City Council and the media (but not online that I can find), Dr. William Dunkelberg estimated the cost to employers of enacting paid sick days legislation in Philadelphia. Even if you oppose paid sick days, you shouldn’t use the Dunkelberg estimates because, well, “It’s not cricket.” The estimates are so transparently inflated that folks who live in a fact-based world shouldn’t use them.

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