Creating Good Jobs, a Citizen's Guide to Redistricting and More

Investing in America’s Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Economic Recovery and Fiscal Responsibility - Our Fiscal Security, a collaborative project of the Economic Policy Institute, Demos, and the Century Foundation, released this publication detailing a proposal that would address the nation's most pressing fiscal challenges, improve the nation's 10-year budget outlook, lead to a budget surplus by 2018, and substantially augment the level of investment in job creation and infrastructure. The authors emphasize, "[a] recession is not a time for fiscal austerity but rather a time for investing in jobs and the middle class. Our proposed policies work against the erosion of investment that we have seen over the past 30 years, modernize an antiquated and complex tax code, and achieve fiscal sustainability while preserving Social Security and other vital priorities."

A Citizen's Guide to Redistricting, 2010 Edition - The Brennan Center recently released the latest edition of its comprehensive primer on redistricting, which offers a description of the procedural and substantive rules governing redistricting in both state legislative and congressional districts in all 50 states.  The Guide also illustrates proposals for reform in the future, and is an excellent resource for novices and experts alike.

Creating Good Jobs in Our Communities: How Higher Wage Standards Affect Economic Development and Employment - A new report by the Center for American Progress (reported in the business journal Crain's New York) highlights 15 cities with contracting wage standards that had the same or stronger levels of employment and business growth as a comparable group of control cities without living wage laws tied to subsidized contractors. The 15 cities include: Ann Arbor, Michigan; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cleveland, Ohio; Duluth, Minnesota; Hartford, Connecticut; Los Angeles, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oakland,California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; San Antonio, New Mexico; San Francisco, California; San Jose, California; and Santa Fe, New Mexico.