Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Lift Georgia’s Economy with a Higher Minimum Wage February 23, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe This month I spoke to a state senate committee about the merits of Senate Bill 15, legislation that could boost Georgia’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour from its current effective rate of $7.25. The senate bill is similar to a proposal GBPI described in 2014 in our report “Better Pay for Honest Work.” Our […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Raise Georgia’s Minimum Wage to Expand Middle Class, Strengthen Economy November 12, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 2 Comments on Raise Georgia’s Minimum Wage to Expand Middle Class, Strengthen Economy Over the last few months I’ve found myself tipping a little extra at my favorite local restaurants and dishing out some extra courtesy when I buy from my favorite neighborhood shops. It’s not because I’m any nicer than the next person or that I recently came into newfound wealth. It’s because since this summer I’ve […] Read more »
Author Library Policy Areas Reports Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Better Pay for Honest Work November 12, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Raise Georgia’s Minimum Wage to Expand Middle Class, Strengthen Economy Georgia’s economy is increasingly tilted toward the types of jobs that don’t pay workers enough to make ends meet or keep their families out of poverty. They are food servers at local restaurants. Retail clerks selling products they can’t afford. Home health aides helping the […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Rising Inequality Makes Tax Shift Strategy Even Riskier September 18, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe The widening gap between rich and poor makes it harder for state lawmakers to fully fund education, health care and other vital services, more so in states like Florida and Tennessee that rely mostly on sales taxes. That’s one of the main findings of a new study from Standard & Poor’s, a widely-respected, independent agency. […] Read more »
Alan Essig Author Blog Worker Justice Marriage Equality is Good for Business in Georgia August 29, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Alan Essig Creating marriage equality in Georgia is not just a matter of basic justice and fairness, but according to a just-released study by the Williams Institute in the UCLA School of Law, the state’s economy would also benefit. Revenue from same-sex wedding planning and spending by out-of-state guests on goods and services will add $78.8 million […] Read more »
Author Library Policy Areas Reports Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice State of Working Georgia 2014 August 27, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Workers Squeezed by Tough Labor Market, Shrinking Paychecks Georgia’s economy has improved markedly since the darkest days of the Great Recession, but workers and their families remain pinched from the lingering fallout. Unemployment remains high, wages are depressed and many workers are stuck in low-quality jobs. African-Americans and Georgians with fewer years of education are […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Georgia Workers Deserve an Economy That Works for Them August 27, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 2 Comments on Georgia Workers Deserve an Economy That Works for Them Like many Georgians I grew up in a family hanging on tightly to the middle rungs of the economic ladder. My father drove old cars until they literally fell apart on the road, and my mother clipped coupons religiously from the Sunday paper. My older sister and I slept under a mountain of blankets in […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Taifa Smith Butler Worker Justice Keep Working Families Top of Mind for Georgia’s Future August 7, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler A worker who earned $32,000 to $58,000 a year when the recession hit in 2007 was much more likely to lose a job than workers at the high and low ends of the spectrum. That’s because mid-wage industries lost the most jobs during the recession, as GBPI documented in a recent report. During Georgia’s slow […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Price to Get Top Business Climate Rank Could be Economic Inequality July 24, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe When states like Georgia rate well as places to do business, the same factors used in those rankings also appear to create a climate for economic inequality, according to a new report. The new analysis finds states that tend to rank well on business climate indexes, like the ones published by Forbes Magazine and the […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Georgia’s Middle Class Workers Left Out of Recovery July 17, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Industries in Georgia that pay a middle-class wage fell furthest during the Great Recession but are faring the worst during the economic recovery. Georgia’s mid-wage industries comprised 52 percent of private sector job losses during the recession, but only 15 percent of gains during the recovery. Cuts to state and local budgets worsen the problem […] Read more »
