EPI in the news

• Report: ICE Operations Detain 13,000 in Rio Grande Valley, Costing Region $180 Million and Straining Key Sectors

  The financial burden on local taxpayers is also mounting. Citing data from the Economic Policy Institute, the report notes that Rio Grande Valley taxpayers are projected to contribute over $300 million in federal taxes toward funding federal immigration enforcement operations.

  Rio Grande Guardian | September 25, 2026
• 7th District Q&A finds candidates sharply divided on what oversight of the president should look like

  Multiple sources including MIT’s Living Wage Calculator for Virginia, and the nonpartisan nonprofit Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Map have also shown that wages in Virginia are growing slower than the cost of living.

  Charlottesville Tomorrow | September 25, 2026
• Statement regarding Lassen County FY 2026-27 budget

  Lassen County is also a comparatively lower-cost area. The Economic Policy Institute’s 2026 Family Budget Calculator places Lassen tenth-lowest among California counties in modeled essential costs for a single adult without children. LCMPA acknowledges that reality. But a lower cost of living does not erase the need for competitive compensation, especially when the county faces persistent vacancies, recruitment barriers, rising workloads, and wage compression.

  Lassen County Times (CA) | September 25, 2026
• Reasons for Economic Optimism

  Elise Gould and Hilary Wething at the Economic Policy Institute have put together a must-read article that you should bookmark. It’s titled “Wage Suppression in 10 Charts,” and it helps to dimensionalize the cost that Americans have paid out of their paychecks for fifty years of trickle-down policies that invest in the wealthy and powerful corporations.

  I would argue that the most important chart in this series is the first one, which directly shows the cost that typical American workers are paying out of their paychecks: In 2022, incomes had shrunk by $30,676 annually when compared to what incomes would be, had inequality stayed constant from the late 1970s. EPI cleverly calls this $30,000 payment an “inequality tax.”

  The Pitch from Civic Ventures | September 25, 2026
• Millions of Americans Could Claim Social Security Early Under New Bill

  Research has also found that physical work can become an obstacle to remaining employed into a person’s 60s. An Economic Policy Institute and Schwartz Center analysis found that 31.6 percent of workers ages 55 to 64 were in physically demanding jobs, rising to 41.1 percent among those without a college degree.

  Newsweek | September 25, 2026
• Income Inequality in America (Part 2 of 2)

  Sources

  MINIMUM WAGE Economic Policy Institute, “The value of the federal minimum wage is at its lowest point in 66 years,” 2022.

  The EPI Family Budget Calculator, http://epi.org/resources/budget/

  Politizane (YouTube) | September 25, 2026
• ELECTION 2026: BOE candidates weigh academics, discipline, transparency, growth

  The Economic Policy Institute estimates that it takes $122,000 for a family of two adults and two children to live in Beaufort County. It estimates it costs a single adult about $64,000 to live here. That is a problem for a new teacher this year who is getting paid $62,587, especially when EPI estimates housing will take $19,000 of that salary.

  The Island News (SC) | September 25, 2026

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