INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana is in the middle of the pack when it comes to the overall financial well-being of its residents, according to a recent state-by-state analysis. But while the 2014 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard ranked Indiana 31st among the states for financial security, it also found more than 44 percent of Hoosiers are liquid-asset-poor, meaning they have little or no savings to cover emergencies.

According to a professor of economics at Indiana University Southeast, Eric Schansberg, Indiana is one of several states that impose income taxes on the working poor, and that's hurting those who have trouble making ends meet.

"If you're struggling to make it and your income is at the poverty line, I think one could reasonably argue that you shouldn't be paying taxes to the state; you need all the money you can just to get by," he declared.

The scorecard ranked Indiana 17th for policies that help struggling families.

One notable policy measure the report finds in Indiana is a state Earned Income Tax Credit. While the report recommends the state credit should be at least 15 percent of the federal credit and Indiana's is 9 percent, Schansberg said it still helps.

"The Earned Income Tax Credit can offset some of the amazing damage that FICA taxes do to the working poor," he said. "If you're at the poverty line you lose about $3000 per year to FICA taxes and no one seems to talk about that."

FICA refers to the taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare.

Schansberg said the scorecard does a good job of tallying the complex factors influencing poverty, and adds that those factors should be taken into consideration as state leaders make policy decisions.

"You start with education and health care and the Earned Income Tax Credit, and so anything that makes a substantive difference, from skills and education to the way we treat people once they get in the labor market, all of those would be big steps forward for Indiana," he said.

Across the country in general, the report found a continuing decline in economic mobility and widening wealth and income inequality.

The scorecard is at AssetsandOpportunity.org.




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Nevada now supports 1.5 million jobs, according to a new report.

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation's January 2023 economic report showed the number of jobs in the state is up 6% over the past year.

David Schmidt, chief economist for the department, said the state has continued to recover from the COVID-19 recession and is continuing to add jobs across various sectors. He noted the only exception is the leisure and hospitality industry, which is sitting at about 85% of the employment level it was pre-pandemic.

"We have also seen a shift in where jobs are," Schmidt pointed out. "We are growing in areas like transportation, warehousing and utilities. We are growing in the manufacturing industry. We are growing in construction and professional business services."

Schmidt emphasized the report also showed the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.5%, the highest unemployment rate of any state. Schmidt stated the high jobless rate and large number of available jobs reflects what he called an ongoing tight labor market.

Schmidt explained the report tells two stories: It shows the state's employment growth is strong, with the highest employment growth in the country over the last year, about one percentage point higher than Texas, which came in at 5%. Schmidt added many times unemployment is associated with a bad economy, but he thinks in Nevada's case it means people are engaged with the labor market and looking for the right gig.

"Nationally there is also this very high number of job openings relative to the number of people who are unemployed overall," Schmidt observed. "In Nevada that ratio is a little bit better than in most states. We only have about 20,000 more job openings than people looking for work."

Schmidt also pointed to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed in both Nevada and the U.S., more people are quitting their jobs versus being laid off.

He said the ratio between separations has never been so high, which tells him workers have more power and more ability to go after preferred wages, benefits and working conditions.


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Tacoma Art Museum workers are rallying Thursday outside the museum while the Board of Trustees meets, to call for recognition of their union from the Board of Trustees, again.

Workers went public with their union in October but could not include security workers in the union unless the museum voluntarily recognized them.

Carrie Morton, store manager at the museum, said the union is necessary because workers have not been involved in decision-making.

"We all deserve to have a safe place to work, we all deserve to have transparency in our workplace, and we all deserve to feel safe and protected and not have to worry about being punished for speaking out," Morton argued.

The Board of Trustees initially said it refused recognition because the museum is searching for a new executive director. Board members also say the union should be split in two because conditions for security workers are different from the rest of the museum.

Stephen Rue, lead preparator for the museum, said the security workers would be excluded from the union because of a section of the National Labor Relations Act passed in 1935. He pointed out the exclusion has its roots in a racist practice from the era.

"As a small museum with not that many workers, having one union to represent all is not only more efficient, but it's more equitable," Rue contended.

If the union is certified, it would be the first representing all workers in a museum in Washington state.


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As policymakers consider solutions to North Dakota's child care crisis, a state agency is moving forward with incentives they hope will compel more workplaces to help staff with care costs.

The Health and Human Services department is asking employers to participate in a pilot program. It offers matching funds when a business provides at least $300 in monthly benefits to an employee who has a child between zero and three years old and signed up for care at a licensed facility.

Kay Larson, early childhood section director for the department, said they hope removing the cost burden will prevent parents from taking long pauses in their careers.

"Families with young children often face the greatest economic pressure, and they're making critical decisions about how and if they can reenter the workforce," Larson observed. "And then they're considering that cost of tuition. "

According to Kids Count researchers, North Dakota families each year are paying between nearly $8,000 and nearly $10,000 on average for child care. The pilot program is being funded with federal pandemic relief aid. State lawmakers are considering a similar long-term initiative as they debate a range of child care proposals this session.

As for the current funding, Larson noted they anticipate it will last for at least the next couple of years.

"North Dakota set aside just over $9 million for this," Larson pointed out. "We're anticipating we can help over 1,000 infants and toddlers in this process."

In getting payments from both the state and their employer, she emphasized it could make a big dent in monthly child care costs for families. There are eligibility requirements for workers to receive cost-share subsidies. While employers can go as high as they want in offering monthly child care benefits, North Dakota's limit for matching funds is $300.


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