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Jenkins, C., and S. Rhodes-Conway. Promoting Access to Healthy, Local Food: A Guide for Local Governments. COWS, 2012.
Within cities, residents face stark disparities in their access to fresh, healthy produce, with low-income communities often the most affected by this limited access. Inequitable access to food perpetuates poor health outcomes among low-income populations and undermines efforts to improve public health and promote community. The increase in diet-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers have put us on a path to change modern history: many children born today will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. In addition to nutritional and health impacts, the flow of food dollars out of some regions represents a significant loss for local economies. Our small farmers have been pushed to the limit of their livelihood.
This report by COWS’ Mayors Innovation Project looks at bright spots of innovation, where local policies promote and increase residents’ access to healthy food. While there is no single solution to address the problem of unequal access to affordable, healthy food, there are a range policy strategies that can help develop local food capacities, enhance public health, and improve urban economies.
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Dresser, L., J. Rogers, and S. White. Greener Reality: Jobs, Skills, and Equity in a Cleaner U.S. Economy. COWS, 2012.
Greener Reality takes stock of the green economy, looking at what works (and doesn’t) in related skill and credentialing initiatives and placing them in a broader context of human capital development, community resilience, and climate change. Defining equity, sustainability, and greater democratization as critical elements of a truly greener future, the paper considers the practical and political challenges to achieving these in the United States. This report builds on our earlier work in Greener Pathways and Greener Skills. Documents include Full Report and Executive Summary.
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Cociña, M., L. Dresser, E. Navot, and J. Rogers. The State of Working Wisconsin 2012. COWS, 2012.
The ninth edition of COWS’ biennial report, The State of Working Wisconsin 2012uses the best and most recent data available to refine our understanding of exactly how working people in Wisconsin are doing. This year’s Labor Day report finds too many workers in Wisconsin waiting for an economic recovery strong enough to produce jobs, higher family income, and a growing sense of security.
For the first time this year, COWS is also including an online supplement to the print version. The supplement provides more maps, more data, and interactive graphs on key economic and social indicators at the state and county level. The online supplement will be updated as new data becomes available and will provide access to figures and graphs on the Wisconsin economy as they come out.
Documents include Full Report, Executive Summary and a technical note that compares the CES and QCEW, two key sources of data on employment that have caused some recent controversy.
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,. Wisconsin’s Missing 64,000 Jobs: The Walker Record So Far. COWS, 2012.
This report details the discrepancy between Wisconsin’s current job numbers and those Wisconsin would have achieved had it mirrored national trends.
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, S. S. Building Public Support to Fund Preservation Work. SSTI and Iowa DOT, 2012.
The Iowa Department of Transportation asked SSTI for assistance building public support for a gas tax increase to fund critical repair and maintenance work. SSTI contracted with Spitfire Strategies, a strategic communications firm that works exclusively with nonprofits and foundations, to help Iowa craft effective messaging that would resonate with policymakers and key stakeholders.
Based on SSTI and Spitfire’s work in Iowa and recent polling, this paper outlines how transportation professionals can gain support for a “fix-it-first” approach to transportation policy. It highlights messages and tactics that have effectively garnered voter and policymaker support and presents lessons learned from the Iowa Department of Transportation.
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DocumentRogers, J. “Productive Democracy”. Renewing Democratic Deliberation in Europe, The Challenge of Social and Civil Dialogue, Peter Lang, 2012, pp. 71-92.
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Dresser, L. The State of Working Wisconsin - Update 2011. COWS, 2011.
The State of Working Wisconsin – Update 2011 provides data on the unemployed and underemployed in the state.
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This report summarizes some of the major changes included in the 2011-2013 Wisconsin budget affecting jobs, job quality, and economic development, along with a few other Governor Scott Walker initiatives.
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,. Under Attack: Wisconsin’s Middle Class and the Jobs Crisis. COWS, 2011.
Co-published along with Demos, the report shows that Wisconsinites are facing a lack of good jobs, declining access to benefits, higher costs to raise children and decreasing access to post-secondary credentials, among other challenges. According to the briefing paper, these trends — combined with 2011-13 cuts to education, public worker pensions, and corporate taxes — are squeezing Wisconsin’s workers out of the middle class and moving economic opportunity and security further out of reach.
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Governor Scott Walker promised in his campaign to “create” 250,000 jobs during his first term, and his press office and the media regularly measure progress towards this goal. However, this report shows that Governor Scott Walker should not get credit (or blame) for overall jobs numbers in Wisconsin. These numbers are almost entirely driven by the national economy.
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