EARN in the South

EARN in the South, launched in 2017, was created in collaboration with southern members of EARN and grassroots organizations that expressed a desire for closer partnerships, greater information and strategy sharing among states in the region, and a shared economic narrative and strategy for policy change that is grounded in, and responsive to, the unique historical and political climate of the South. The collaboration between EARN members and grassroots organizations aims to advance pro-worker economic, racial, and gender justice policies throughout the region through deep cross-state collaboration between EARN members and grassroots organizations led by, representing, and building power with, directly affected communities – particularly women and Black and Brown people. The EARN in the South cohort is made up of the EARN organizations and their grassroots partners in thirteen Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Read about the Agenda for a Thriving South: A shared vision statement by Southern members of the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN). 

Alabama Arise, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Every Texan, Florida Policy Institute, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Invest in Louisiana, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, OneVoice Mississippi, North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, North Carolina Justice Center, Oklahoma Policy Institute, The Commonwealth Institute, Think Tennessee, and the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Advocates for Women’s and Kids’ Equality (AWAKE Tennessee), Barred Business, Greater Birmingham Ministries, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, Mississippi NAACP, Fight for $15, National Domestic Worker’s Alliance- NC, New Virginia Majority, RaceMatters, and UE Research.

EARN in the South Partnership Fund

Publications

People-Powered Prosperity

The most prosperous states are anchored by an educated and healthy workforce and offer opportunities for people to innovate and contribute. Moving into the 2018 statewide elections and subsequent governor’s administration, Georgia leaders can seize a golden opportunity to chart a better economic course. People-Powered Prosperity details a new vision for how state lawmakers can pursue that strategy and ways they can responsibly pay for it. The report outlines a public investment plan aimed at four strategic goals, which include eight specific policy recommendations such as targeted funding hikes for public schools and an ambitious ramp-up of assistance to help families afford child care. We also present a case to show how Georgia can afford to raise $1 billion in new annual revenues as a meaningful down payment on the strategy, a shared investment of reasonable scope.

Laying the Foundation: A Wealth-building Agenda for Georgia Women

  • October 19, 2017
  • Melissa Johnson

Building and growing the wealth of women is a necessary concern for Georgia lawmakers striving to keep the state growing and prospering. Women are a majority of Georgia’s adult population and are the primary or co-breadwinners in more than half of Georgia households with children. Women help shoulder the weight of well-being for Georgia’s families, businesses and the economy as a whole now more than ever. This report offers three strategic policy solutions Georgia can pursue to strengthen the financial foundation for the state’s women: paid family leave, support for homeownership and increased entrepreneurship.

How to Build An Economy that Works for All: Raise the State Minimum Wage

North Carolina needs an economy that works for all and ensures broadly shared prosperity. That means creating jobs that pay workers enough to afford the basics for themselves and their families—enough to buy groceries, pay the rent, put gas in the car, and keep their children in day care. Unfortunately, the jobs that paid decent wages are largely vanishing, as low-wage service jobs replace the manufacturing positions that once provided generations of North Carolinians with vital pathways to the middle class. This trend has only accelerated since the end of the Great Recession.

Raising the minimum wage in North Carolina provides a critical antidote to the ongoing boom in low-wage work. The state’s current minimum wage is identical to the nation’s wage at $7.25 an hour. But our elected officials have the opportunity to join a growing list of state governments— including Arkansas, Nebraska, Alaska, South Dakota, New York, and California—that have recently acted to raise the wage floor for employers within their jurisdictions. These states have recognized that the current national minimum wage simply doesn’t pay enough to make ends meet, and that by raising their own wage floors they can help workers and boost their overall economies. Joining this movement will benefit North Carolina’s businesses, help workers, and boost the state’s overall economy.