New State & Local Policies

An outgrowth of the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s “high-road” economic policy think-tank, the Center On Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), The American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange (ALICE) presents itself as an alternative to the corporate-backed ALEC and promotes economic fairness, environmental sustainability, and effective democratic government. Their website acts as a one-stop public library of model progressive state and local law on a wide range of issues that can be searched by policy area, topic, level of government, and year.

Local labor movements in a small but growing number of cities have embarked upon a long-term strategy to gain greater power in their regions. With revitalized central labor councils at the core, unions and allied groups are electing progressive champions, shifting the political debates to economic justice issues, and supporting the right of workers to organize. The Building Regional Power Research Project was established at Wayne State University to document and promote this work and contains a number of studies on efforts in different cities.

A nonprofit founded by Ralph Nader in 1968, the Center's primary focus is to empower citizens, especially students, to foster reform in areas such as environmental, consumer and worker health and safety issues.  The center has published numerous books, which are listed on the website, conducted a variety of projects and research, and frequently hosts conferences.  Nader and his organization encourage Americans to emphasize government and corporate accountability. 

Good Jobs First is a national advocacy organization that tracks corporate accountability legislation, including job quality standards (i.e., requirements that economic development subsidies lead to higher paying jobs), disclosure rules (i.e., requirements that the amount of the subsidies that each company receives be displayed in a form that is accessible to the public), and monitoring (i.e., requirements that part of the subsidy money be returned to the government if job employment and job quality commitments are not met). The website includes model legislation, as well as links to descriptions of state disclosure legislation.

This website, hosted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance, focuses on efforts to preserve independently owned retail establishments and resist the proliferation of big-box retailers. The site features articles on local disputes, as well as a number of economic impact studies that document the greater local economic multiplier effect of locally owned retail establishments.

The Levy Institute of Bard College serves as one of the leading academic research centers on issues of wealth and income distribution, as well as a wide range of other economic issues.

The Michigan Land Use Institute promotes local economic self-reliance that is consistent with conserving open land and protecting clean air and clean water. The website includes a wide variety of publications on smart growth, economic development, and related issues, both in Michigan and nationally.

The Office of Tax Policy Research at the University of Michigan Business School has two missions. First, to encourage and facilitate joint research on the tax system by economists and scholars of other disciplines; second, to serve as a liaison on tax issues among the academic, business, and policymaking tax communities. The Office draws on the substantial data resources and expertise already existing at the University of Michigan in these fields, and also involves scholars from outside the university.

This member directory, provided by TimeBanks USA, lists both member and non-member time banks across the U.S. along with contact information in one convenient location. A time bank is an institution where community members can “deposit” hours they spent working in the community in order to earn time when someone else works for them. This give-and-take approach to building communities breeds mutual value and respect that goes beyond the exchange of money.