EPI Research (Page 16 )

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  The Effects of the Proposed Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Increase

  September 2005

  In recent years, the movement to enact “living wages” or increases in the minimum wage has been active in states and cities across the country. Advocates of these wage hikes argue that the increases will help low-income families escape poverty. While emotionally compelling, this argument ignores the unintended consequences the proposed increase would create. Worse, the mandated increase confers its benefits overwhelmingly on employees who…

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  Raising the Minimum Wage: Another Empty Promise to the Working Poor

  August 2005

  Overview
  This paper provides a historical view of the effect of increases in the federal minimum wage on the working poor with a particular focus on the past 15 years. Since its inception in 1938, increases in the federal minimum wage have become an increasingly weak mechanism for addressing the problem of poverty in America. This continuing deterioration stems from the fact that fewer…

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  Employer Health Insurance Mandates and the Risk of Unemployment

  June 2005

  Overview
  As healthcare costs continue to rise, the growing number of uninsured Americans receives a great deal of attention from policy-makers. In response, state legislatures cross
  the country are experimenting with mandates requiring employers to provide health insurance to their employees. Last November, California voters narrowly defeated Proposition 72. This initiative would have required all employers with more than 20
  employees to…

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  Effective Tax Rates and the Living Wage

  May 2005

  Executive Summary

  Over the past decade, more than 110 ordinances
  have been passed mandating “living
  wages” for employees in businesses contracting
  with a locality and/or receiving financial
  assistance through tax breaks or economic
  development grants. The wage rates set by
  these ordinances often exceed the federal minimum
  wage by 150–200 percent. These original
  laws—which applied to very…

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  The Cost of Washington’s Health Care Responsibility Act

  February 2005

  Executive Summary

  The recently proposed Health Care Responsibility Act (HCRA) is a costly and inefficient attempt to address the problem of the uninsured in Washington. HCRA is a “pay or play” mandate on employers with more than 50 employees in the state. Under a pay or play system, employers have the option of “paying” a fee to the state to cover the cost of providing…

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  UPDATED: The Real ACORN: Anti-Employee, Anti-Union, Big-Business

  October 2004

  In the 18 months since the Employment Policies Institute’s May 2003 report exposed the hypocrisy
  of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), this group has continued its pattern of outrageous activities. As the 2004 presidential election season moved into full swing, ACORN (and their subsidiary Project Vote) has been implicated in several voter fraud cases in states across the nation.

  ACORN’s…