Last week, the Same Day Registration Act was introduced by Senator Russ Feingold (S.1986) and Congressman Keith Ellison (H.R. 3957) requiring states to provide for same day registration (SDR).
Since the Spring of 2007 and continuing into the Summer of 2009, Public Works: The Demos Center for the Public Sector and the Topos Partnership have collaborated on a Ford Foundation-funded effort to create a new public conversation on the role of government in the economy. This effort has included a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research efforts, spanned a period of dramatic change in the national economic landscape, and built on earlier research conducted by Topos principals concerning the public's view of government and public understandings of low wage work.
New York — Dramatic increases in low-income voter registrations at public assistance agencies have occurred recently in five states that have taken steps to improve their compliance with a requirement of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), according to a new report by Demos, a non-partisan public policy and research center.
Washington, DC — Today, thousands of Americans are gathering on the streets of Chicago to march against financial service industry excess that has cost the American taxpayers trillions of dollars, destabilized the economy and undermined the stability of millions of US households.
In response to the public outcry against excesses in the financial services industries, dubbed "The Showdown in Chicago", the following statement was issued from Heather McGhee, director of the Washington DC, Office for the public policy and research center Demos:
Those most likely to be harmed by higher borrowing costs are consumers who are relying on their credit cards to carry them through the economic downturn. According to Demos, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization, most low- and middle-income households with high debt-stress levels -- the ratio of a family's credit card debt to their annual income -- use their credit cards to pay for unavoidable expenses, such as medical expenses or to cover household essentials after a job loss, not for discretionary items.
Demos Democracy Program Counsel Allegra Chapman's testimony before the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature on the benefits of Same Day Registration.
Even before the Great Recession of 2008, today's young adults were on track to have the dubious distinction of being the first generation in a century not likely to end up better off than their parents. Stagnant wages, job insecurity, the decline in employer sponsored health insurance and retirement benefits, rapid increases in the cost of basic expenses, soaring debt, and minimal savings have diminished the prospects for opportunity and mobility.
In a recent report from the Heritage Center for Data Analysis (2008) titled Welfare Reform a Factor in Lower Voter Registration at Public Assistance Offices, authors Muhlhausen and Tyrrell argue that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)--passed in 1996 as part of Clinton's Welfare overhaul-- is an important cause of the decline in the number of individuals who have registered to vote in public assistance agencies.
Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in 1993 in order to increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in federal elections. To help meet this goal, Section 7 of the NVRA requires state public assistance agencies to provide voter registration services to applicants and clients. Recent research has indicated that the number of voter registration applications from public assistance agencies has de- clined 79 percent since initial implementation of the law in 1995.
New York, NY —A growing number of young students are turning to more affordable community colleges for their higher education, but only an alarming two out of five finish a degree within six years of enrollment, according to a new report published today.
To increase postsecondary success among low- to moderate-income students, we must reform financial aid and provide additional financial supports to help students cover the cost of living expenses.
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk will become the 60th Democratic vote in the Senate and the first new Massachusetts senator in a quarter-century on Friday, unless a state court intervenes.
State Republicans are fighting the appointment, but Republicans in Washington indicated they would not intervene.
Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Thursday named Kirk the temporary replacement for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D), who died last month.
Brenda Wright, Director of Democracy Program at Demos, has posted some insights at the American Constitution Society's blog on the big campaign finance case, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, to be argued before the Supreme Court tomorrow. Here's her take...
Arguments Heard Today Suggest Precedents Limiting Corporate Political Influence Under Threat
Washington, DC — Today's argument in Citizens United v. FEC suggests that the Roberts Court is poised to sweep aside century-old restraints on corporate domination of the political marketplace — unless the wisdom of the Court's newest member proves persuasive when the decision is ultimately written.
Americans have put themselves on a budget. In the first quarter of 2009, the personal savings rate hit to 5.2 percent. And in a recent National Foundation for Credit Counseling survey, 57 percent of Americans said they're spending less than a year ago.
That moderation could outlast the recession, a good thing to most economists and consumer experts.
