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This week, the Illinois General Assembly passed landmark clean energy legislation. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (SB 2408) is a historic law that combats climate change, creates middle-class careers in the clean energy sector, improves public health, and supports disadvantaged communities. The bipartisan legislation overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 83-33 in the Illinois House of Representatives (72% support) and 37-17 in the Illinois Senate (69% support). Governor Pritzker signed the bill into law on September 15, 2021.

Iowa law allows certain highway projects to bypass federal construction rules Chicago: As congressional leaders in both parties consider trillions of dollars in new infrastructure investment, a new report from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute finds that state-level accounting schemes … Continue reading New Study: State-Level “Federal-Aid Swap” Programs Hurt Workers and Fail to Save Money on Infrastructure

Chicago:  Minnesota’s unionized construction sector is no more costly than its non-union alternative—though it produces higher wages, greater equality, safer worksites, and less reliance on social assistance while training more than 90% of the state’s skilled trade apprentices according to … Continue reading Study: Union Construction Delivers Superior Value for Minnesota Workers, Economy, and Taxpayers—Without Increasing Project Costs

Study Comes as Biden Administration and Illinois Lawmakers Work to Strengthen Collective Bargaining La Grange, IL: States that have enacted so-called “right-to-work” laws underperform Illinois on a range of core economic metrics—including wages, income growth, workforce productivity, poverty, and workplace … Continue reading Illinois Outperforms “Right-to-Work” States on Key Economic Metrics

July 2021 Update: This position has been filled. For full details and to apply, click here: ILEPI Research Associate. The Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) is hiring! ILEPI seeks one (1) qualified candidate to employ as a full-time Research Associate. The duties … Continue reading ILEPI is Hiring a Research Associate

View this article online as a PDF here. A May 6, 2021 article by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy titled “Do Construction Wages Fall after Ending a Prevailing Wage Mandate?” claims that the repeal of Indiana’s prevailing wage law, … Continue reading Blue-Collar Construction Worker Wages Fell After Indiana Repealed Its Prevailing Wage Law

Child Care Burdens Linked with Growing Economic and Career Hardships for Women Chicago:  A new survey of more than 1,000 working mothers who were employed in March 2020 finds that child care burdens associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have deepened … Continue reading Survey: Nearly Half of Illinois’ Working Mothers Lost Jobs or Are Working Fewer Hours One Year Into Pandemic

Clean Energy Projects Can Reflect Local Standards of Compensation without Impacting Installation Costs

Pandemic’s “essential” workers face especially steep pay penalties in RTW states

W-2 Equivalent Wages Average $12.30 to $13.62 – and Only 14% of Riders Tip in Chicago Drivers working for transportation network provider (TNP) services – such as Uber, Lyft, and Via – in the City of Chicago have relatively low … Continue reading RELEASE: The Average Uber & Lyft Driver Earns Less than Minimum Wage in Chicago

New study says 1-in-5 construction workers in the Upper Midwest are illegally misclassified as independent contractors or paid off the books La Grange, IL:  With public budgets increasingly strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, new research by the Illinois Economic Policy … Continue reading Construction Wage Theft Costs WI, MN, and IL Taxpayers $362 Million Per Year

Union agreements don’t just benefit members, they strengthen communities in era of uncertainty La Grange, IL:  An analysis of eight construction industry collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in the Chicago metropolitan area details how unionization extends benefits far beyond the paychecks … Continue reading Study: Collective Bargaining Boosts Economy and Strengthens Public Budgets