The Labor Center’s recent report Civil Service Vacancies in California 2022-2023 highlights the local effects of California’s statewide government staffing crisis. We found vacancy rates in several counties as high as 30% across wage levels and occupations. Similar vacancy rates have been reported in cities, school districts, and state agencies. As a result, Californians have had to…
Tag: services
The Great Recession, Families, and the Safety Net
The Great Recession caused significant hardship for many U.S. families. Safety net programs—some of which were expanded during the recession and its recovery—mitigated some of the worst effects, but were not available to all households and were insufficient to compensate for the depth of the downturn. What can policymakers learn from the adequacy of the…
Book review: DIY Detroit
Detroit is the urban question America has been asking itself for decades. Over the past century, the city has symbolized American prosperity and the power of unions; the stark gap between Black and white urban experience; the fiscal and economic failure of the postindustrial city; and now the dystopia of large-scale urban abandonment. The Detroit…
From the annals of state austerity budgets…
To the Editor: Thank you for your editorial about Illinois and Kansas as examples of states where policy makers do more harm than good (“Sorry Tales From Two Statehouses,” April 25). Illinois’ record 10-month budget impasse is eroding much of its educational and social service systems. According to a poll of 444 Illinois social service…
Crowdfunding for the Public Good Is Evil | WIRED
Important article about the slippery slope from an underpaid teacher crowdfunding for classroom supplies to a bankruptcy city crowdfunding to clean up its parks. Crowdfunding is great when it funds new products that aren’t getting supported by more conventional forms of investment: Public necessities, by contrast, are not awesome; they’re essential. Roads, health care, education:…