Jobs and Income, Maine’s Economy Employment trends threaten the economic security of working families As if employment opportunities for low-income workers weren’t bleak enough―low-wages, no retirement savings, no health insurance―now these workers face a complete breakdown of the traditional employer-employee relationship […] Jody Harris Posted December 30, 2015 Tags Economic Security, Economy, Job Quality, Jobs
Jobs and Income, Maine’s Economy Shop ‘til you drop ― It’s no holiday for retail workers Too many Mainers today work too few hours for too low pay. The data show over and over and over how part-time, low-wage, and benefit-less jobs trap […] Jody Harris Posted December 2, 2015 Tags Incomes, Job Quality, Wages
Education New high school equivalency test providing opportunity for hundreds of Mainers Over 400 Mainers who would have been passed over by the traditional GED received their high school diplomas in 2014. That’s 400 more Mainers who now have […] Jody Harris Posted August 6, 2015 Tags Education
Maine’s Economy Legislators can help working families by overriding bonds release bill veto “Governor LePage has it all wrong when he says LMF is only for the rich. LMF very specifically helps working families. In particular, it keeps farm lands in […] Jody Harris Posted June 30, 2015 Tags Bonds, Revenue
Jobs and Income Protecting Mainers from unscrupulous debt collectors “There has been an explosion of debt collection companies known as debt buyers in recent years. Debt-buyers buy old debt that creditors have written off as uncollectable. […] Jody Harris Posted June 29, 2015 Tags Consumer Protection
Maine’s Economy Retirement crisis: Mainers in part-time and low-wage jobs face living out their retirement years in poverty “One-third of workers in America have no retirement savings and those who have savings, do not have enough to live comfortably. Of those closest to retirement (age 55-64), one […] Jody Harris Posted June 24, 2015 Tags Infrastructure, Jobs
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget A crumbling road is not the route to economic growth “If the governor and legislature want vibrant downtowns and a thriving economy, they must invest in our roads and highways. If they don’t want our downtowns to […] Jody Harris Posted June 4, 2015 Tags Budget, Economy, Infrastructure, Revenue
Maine’s Economy Testimony in Favor of LD 933 – An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Task Force To End Student Hunger in Maine The Maine Center for Economic Policy particularly supports the community eligibility working group. This community eligibility program allows high-poverty schools to offer nutritious breakfasts and lunches to […] Jody Harris Posted May 5, 2015 Tags Food Insecurity
Maine’s Economy Debt buyers drain over $7 million out of Maine consumers The Center for Responsible Lending reports that, because of weak protections in Maine law, Maine consumers will pay $7.3 million to just one out-of-state company, Encore Capital, […] Jody Harris Posted May 1, 2015 Tags Consumer Protection, Wages
Education Education committee fails Maine college students Maine’s neediest college students will get no relief from the crushing costs of a college education. In fact, this week the legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education […] Jody Harris Posted April 10, 2015 Tags Education, Higher Education, Student Debt
