Small Business Wage Boost

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti’s Small Business Wage Boost program is an employee retention program designed to address the gap between the current working wage and a livable wage, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Small businesses throughout the City of Scranton can apply for up to $50,000, disbursed over two years, to raise their employees’ wages closer to the state average.

In the program’s first year, Scranton used ARPA funding to fully fund the gap between the current wage and elevated wage. In year two, the City and business will share the responsibility of funding the higher wage. By the third year, the goal is for businesses to fully support their employees’ new wages. The Wage Boost program is an innovative approach to address a minimum wage in Pennsylvania that lags behind the needs of 21st century workers. By helping small businesses raise employees’ wages, it’s a win-win-win for the city: businesses can retain employees who might leave for other better paying jobs, employees can keep up with the cost of living, and the city retains tax-paying businesses.

Impact:

The program was announced to the community in October 2022. Across two rounds of funding announcements, nine businesses have received between $25,000 and $50,000 in wage boost grants to be used over the course of the next two years. A third round of applications opens late summer 2023. The program’s impact is seen in the potential economic mobility of the employees receiving higher wages, a reduction in turnover for employers, and the ongoing success of the businesses that have tapped into the program.

Connecticut Pension Reform

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

The Connecticut State Comptroller, Sean Scanlon, oversees the municipal pension plan covering workers in 107 of Connecticut’s 169 towns. To address major financial challenges that resulted in costs going up for towns and cities in the plan by 75% in the previous 5 years, the office convened a working group of Democrats, Republicans, labor, and management to tackle the issues. Over six weeks of in-person collaboration, the working group developed and reached an agreement on a series of win-win reforms that both labor and management could support and that would save millions this year and $740 million over the next 30 years.

Impact:

Scanlon believes that the data and numbers will demonstrate the effort’s impact. Towns began realizing some savings on July 1, 2023 but the bulk of savings will begin in 2025 and happen over the next 30 years.

Community Safety Housing Subsidy

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Atlanta City Councilmember Amir Farokhi championed the Community Safety Housing Subsidy program to address the rising cost of living in Atlanta and the challenge of attracting and retaining police and fire first responders. He hopes to combat these obstacles by setting aside $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to offset the cost of first-responder personnel living within the city limits. Moreover, the program seeks to facilitate neighborly and voluntary interactions between first responders and those they protect for the purpose of reducing crime, building trust, and increasing public safety.

Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis and are intended for monthly rent assistance. Recipients are required to be on active duty and complete 1 hour of unpaid community service per month. The amount of rental assistance will be on a sliding scale from $250 to $850 based on yearly income.

Impact:

The program started accepting applications in 2023 and will measure its impact on several metrics including:

 1) More first responders choosing to live in the City

 2) Reduced attrition among first responders who are in year 1-10 of their service

 3) An increase in applications to public safety positions

 4) Increased trust in public safety officials and departments

 5) Reduction in crime.

Anti-Doxxing Legislation to Protect Privacy and Free Speech

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

New legislation, sponsored by Oregon Representative Janelle Bynum will provide a cause of action to recover damages for disclosure of private information such as personal contact data or social security numbers. Known as Doxxing, or publicly sharing information with the intent to intimidate or silence an individual or organization, this nefarious tool can stem public discourse and threatens individual privacy. With the support of a broad coalition of stakeholders ranging from journalists, constituents, to law enforcement personnel, Btnym narrowly tailored the bill to provide effective deterrence against doxing without chilling free exercise or other first amendment rights.

Impact:

The cause of the action is novel, and lawyers are just learning how to use this as a tool to protect privacy rights. Bynum hopes the doxxing cases that are just now being filed will strike a balance to ameliorate the impact of aggressive doxxing activity while also protecting free speech.

Juneteenth Bill

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Alabama Representative Jeremy Gray proposes adding Juneteenth as a state holiday; and deleting repetitive language and making non-substantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to the current style.

Impact:

Juneteenth would be a recognized state holiday in Alabama, helping recognize and celebrate the rich history of African Americans in the state.

Providence’s Early Learning Infrastructure Support Program

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley is building up the city’s early education infrastructure through the Early Learning Infrastructure Support Program. This new program will invest $1.9 million from both the general budget and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), to offer technical support, planning grants, and construction grants to childcare providers and centers. This initiative is an investment in the early learning economy, supporting minority- and women-owned business owners in Providence who were essential during the COVID-19 quarantines. The planning and construction grants prioritize facility improvements that will improve the safety, quality rating and capacity of both home- and center-based providers

The program also tackles issues like staffing shortages and insufficient reimbursement rates. LISC assists providers in identifying areas for facility improvement, safety enhancements, and quality rating upgrades. Ultimately, the Early Learning Infrastructure Support Program enhances childcare quality, safety, and capacity, benefiting families and advancing Providence’s goal of universal Pre-K access in high-quality facilities.

 

Impact

On July 13, 2023, Providence announced over $1 million in grants to 16 home-based and 8 center-based facilities. Reporting includes details on how each project tackles health and safety concerns, upgrades quality ratings, and boosts capacity. For instance, adding a backyard fence improves safety, advances quality ratings, and allows home-based providers to accommodate more children.

Improving engagement with home-based providers was a priority. After a three-month application period with dual language support (English and Spanish), LISC received 45 applications from home-based providers, a significant increase compared to previous rounds.”

Pathways in Technology: Early College High School Program

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff secured funds in the 2024/2025 biennial state budget to create a pilot program within a high school in two districts to expand access to college courses and technology internships by encouraging schools to partner with their local community college and a state-located business. This program is specifically targeted to the most needy districts in the state. These students will take a course load that allows them to graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree. Furthermore, the internships they participate in allow them to gain invaluable experience and prepare them for the workforce, should they choose to enter it immediately or after completing a baccalaureate degree. In order to enable the most needy districts to apply to participate, the two costs for administering the program are paid for by the state.

 

Impact:

Senator Duff sees the program as a way to bring together local community college leadership and large local businesses in the technology field in support of students.

 

Inequity Analysis of City of Las Vegas Fines & Fees

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Las Vegas City Councilmember Brian Knudsen is leading the assessment and update of code enforcement fines and fees related to equitability based on location and population. Knudsen aims to address the negative impacts of fines and fees on residents, particularly in neighborhoods with high code violations. The proposed study focuses on homeowners who violate property codes and aims to understand the root causes of high violation areas and the inequities associated with fines and fees. The city plans to analyze data before, during, and after the implementation of the SHIFT Program (Safe Home Improvements Funding and Training program), which provides funds and resources to assist eligible households in bringing their homes into compliance with municipal codes. The city has identified neighborhoods with high code violations and inequities, such as high numbers of a particular ethnicity, elderly homeowners, and disabled homeowners. The study aims to achieve a reduction in code violation debt, increased participation in the SHIFT program, and culturally competent financial education for communities in need, thus lowering the average overall debt in underserved areas of the city.  

 

Impact:

The study was selected for being funded through the National League of Cities via their CAFFE (Cities Addressing Fines and Fees Equitably) grant. The study is currently underway looking into how the SHIFT program will be used, and will aid in counting overall citation amounts in identified areas of high code violations. Coupling this with policy changes to eliminate double permit fees for those not in code compliance will ultimately lead to consumer savings in underserved areas.

Creating a Diverse STEM Workforce by Leveraging Federal CHIPS Funding

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

To directly address the gender, social, and racial gaps in STEM education and careers, Oregon Representative Janelle Bynum advocated for two new grant programs focused on leveraging federal CHIPS funding to build a diverse workforce for the future. The first grant ($1.2 million) went to Portland non-profit Self Enhancement Inc. to build a pipeline of diverse students who will be ready to gain employment in Oregon’s expanding semiconductor industry. The second grant ($2 million) went to Building Blocks 2 Success, which will create a semiconductor workforce pipeline by offering summer programming and college preparation for students intending to major in STEM fields at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

These grants, in addition to over $200 million from the Oregon CHIPS act, go above and beyond what other states are doing and will work to ensure that the lucrative semiconductor careers of the future are more equitably distributed and incorporate individuals who are often left out of economic development. Especially considering the Supreme Court’s recent decision on affirmative action, investing in students who will attend HBCUs is more important than ever to address the STEM education and career gap.

Impact

In the short term, Oregon will evaluate the success of these investments by seeing how much federal CHIPS funding comes to our state. This effort will help create a state economy hospitable for future generations to succeed and will help new cohorts of STEM professionals attain the economic and social securities that will bring diverse families and communities to new levels of prosperity and opportunity.

 

Paid Family and Medical Leave Policy for Maine

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

The Guaranteed Paid Family Leave plan, sponsored by Maine Representative Kristen Cloutier, will provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year to all eligible employees in the private and public sector. The plan permits employees to take leave to care for any individual with whom they have a significant personal bond that is or is like a family relationship regardless of biological or legal relationship. Employees can take paid leave immediately after starting employment.

Paid family and medical leave will help Maine workers, particularly working women, meet their personal and family health care needs, while also fulfilling work responsibilities. To pay for this program while keeping track of who gets helped, the state will impose a 1% contribution rate, split evenly between the employer and employee.

Impact:

The state of Maine will keep track of how the program is affecting businesses and whether they are adapting well to implementation of the program over time. Additionally, Cloutier built in strong accountability provisions to monitor the sustainability of the fund and allows for the contribution rates to be adjusted as necessary.

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