Matt Unrath
@mattunrath.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at USC Price School of Public Policy.
www.mattunrath.com
www.mattunrath.com
Reposted by Matt Unrath
"California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office warned that the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act could strip hundreds of millions of dollars a year in #CalFresh food aid from low-income Californians and shift billions in costs to state and counties."
www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...
www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...
California legislative analyst warns SNAP cuts will strain, family state budgets
Federal Big Beautiful Bill will slash CalFresh benefits, drop thousands from aid and shift billions in costs to California and counties.
www.sacbee.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:28 AM
"California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office warned that the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act could strip hundreds of millions of dollars a year in #CalFresh food aid from low-income Californians and shift billions in costs to state and counties."
www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...
www.sacbee.com/news/local/a...
Reposted by Matt Unrath
To be useful in my government-shutdown time off, I've worked on public-use analogs to tools that have been useful at work.
jrothbaum.github.io/survey_kit/ - a package for complex survey data, handling nonrespresentative samples in surveys/polls, properly handling missing data, etc.
jrothbaum.github.io/survey_kit/ - a package for complex survey data, handling nonrespresentative samples in surveys/polls, properly handling missing data, etc.
Survey-Kit
jrothbaum.github.io
November 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
To be useful in my government-shutdown time off, I've worked on public-use analogs to tools that have been useful at work.
jrothbaum.github.io/survey_kit/ - a package for complex survey data, handling nonrespresentative samples in surveys/polls, properly handling missing data, etc.
jrothbaum.github.io/survey_kit/ - a package for complex survey data, handling nonrespresentative samples in surveys/polls, properly handling missing data, etc.
Reposted by Matt Unrath
Come join us at the @capolicylab.bsky.social as our new policy director in Sacramento!
Please share with your networks: The California Policy Lab is hiring a policy director to amplify our policy impact in Sacramento. We're looking for a seasoned policy professional with deep experience in California state government. First review date is Oct. 10th: capolicylab.org/careers/poli...
September 29, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Come join us at the @capolicylab.bsky.social as our new policy director in Sacramento!
Reposted by Matt Unrath
Reposted by Matt Unrath
“a university, non-profit, or media outlet that engages in union-busting in 2025 is making a strategic mistake, prioritizing limited short-term benefits over the big picture.”
www.acslaw.org/expertforum/...
www.acslaw.org/expertforum/...
September 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
“a university, non-profit, or media outlet that engages in union-busting in 2025 is making a strategic mistake, prioritizing limited short-term benefits over the big picture.”
www.acslaw.org/expertforum/...
www.acslaw.org/expertforum/...
Reposted by Matt Unrath
It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.
August 2, 2025 at 2:18 AM
It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.
Reposted by Matt Unrath
From @hshierholz.bsky.social: Trump's firing of BLS commissioner is undemocratic and economically dangerous. Between illegal firings, starving data agencies of resources, and now political intimidation, the US looks set to run into the next economic downturn flying blind
www.epi.org/press/trumps...
www.epi.org/press/trumps...
August 1, 2025 at 8:08 PM
From @hshierholz.bsky.social: Trump's firing of BLS commissioner is undemocratic and economically dangerous. Between illegal firings, starving data agencies of resources, and now political intimidation, the US looks set to run into the next economic downturn flying blind
www.epi.org/press/trumps...
www.epi.org/press/trumps...
👇👇👇
For six months, I've said that threats to economic data have been more collateral damage than intentional harm.
No longer.
Firing the head of the BLS is five-alarm intentional harm to the integrity of US economic data and the entire statistical system.
No longer.
Firing the head of the BLS is five-alarm intentional harm to the integrity of US economic data and the entire statistical system.
August 1, 2025 at 7:21 PM
👇👇👇
Reposted by Matt Unrath
A timely and trenchant piece by Suresh Naidu. When future generations sift through the wreckage of our era, they’ll find it strewn with the institutional and personal failures of leaders both great and small.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
Opinion | Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves
www.nytimes.com
July 24, 2025 at 3:16 AM
A timely and trenchant piece by Suresh Naidu. When future generations sift through the wreckage of our era, they’ll find it strewn with the institutional and personal failures of leaders both great and small.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
Reposted by Matt Unrath
I hope Pope Leo continues to speak against starvation and barbarity in Gaza and U.S. bishops continue to defend those targeted for arrest and internment here. The Church has a unique, non-ideological voice on behalf of the dispossessed and displaced, like Jesus himself was.
July 24, 2025 at 1:44 AM
I hope Pope Leo continues to speak against starvation and barbarity in Gaza and U.S. bishops continue to defend those targeted for arrest and internment here. The Church has a unique, non-ideological voice on behalf of the dispossessed and displaced, like Jesus himself was.
BLS and Census are planning to put the CPS online within a few years to help address these nonresponse issues, but currently have nowhere near the funding they need to test the new internet instrument or study how that transition will impact official statistics.
The Bureau also needs additional funding to start addressing declining response rates and other problems that increasingly threaten the reliability of survey data, such as the unemployment rates used to track the economy. (5/7)
July 15, 2025 at 9:37 PM
BLS and Census are planning to put the CPS online within a few years to help address these nonresponse issues, but currently have nowhere near the funding they need to test the new internet instrument or study how that transition will impact official statistics.
Do you remember when child poverty fell to a record low in 2021 thanks to the expanded CTC?
It turns out that the SPM for kids was just as low in 2020 thanks to historically generous unemployment benefits. We missed it because UI is so under-reported in the CPS ASEC.
It turns out that the SPM for kids was just as low in 2020 thanks to historically generous unemployment benefits. We missed it because UI is so under-reported in the CPS ASEC.
July 15, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Do you remember when child poverty fell to a record low in 2021 thanks to the expanded CTC?
It turns out that the SPM for kids was just as low in 2020 thanks to historically generous unemployment benefits. We missed it because UI is so under-reported in the CPS ASEC.
It turns out that the SPM for kids was just as low in 2020 thanks to historically generous unemployment benefits. We missed it because UI is so under-reported in the CPS ASEC.
Reposted by Matt Unrath
Senate Parliamentarian advises several more GOP provisions violate the Byrd Rule, including the provision to mandate states cover a portion of SNAP benefits.
June 21, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Senate Parliamentarian advises several more GOP provisions violate the Byrd Rule, including the provision to mandate states cover a portion of SNAP benefits.
Reposted by Matt Unrath
Powell says he is concerned about the impact of cuts at the statistical agencies. High-quality statistics are "a huge public good," he says. "I hate to see us cutting back on that... I would want to continue investing in that for the good of the general public."
#EconSky
#EconSky
June 18, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Powell says he is concerned about the impact of cuts at the statistical agencies. High-quality statistics are "a huge public good," he says. "I hate to see us cutting back on that... I would want to continue investing in that for the good of the general public."
#EconSky
#EconSky
Reposted by Matt Unrath
Military style ICE raids in our communities. David Huerta was beaten and dragged away.
Because he saw them and stood up for justice. Because he’s not afraid.
Neither are we.
On MONDAY let's #FreeDavidHuerta, #FreeThemAll
11:00 AM @ Grand Park in Downtown LA (200 N Grand Ave)
Because he saw them and stood up for justice. Because he’s not afraid.
Neither are we.
On MONDAY let's #FreeDavidHuerta, #FreeThemAll
11:00 AM @ Grand Park in Downtown LA (200 N Grand Ave)
June 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Military style ICE raids in our communities. David Huerta was beaten and dragged away.
Because he saw them and stood up for justice. Because he’s not afraid.
Neither are we.
On MONDAY let's #FreeDavidHuerta, #FreeThemAll
11:00 AM @ Grand Park in Downtown LA (200 N Grand Ave)
Because he saw them and stood up for justice. Because he’s not afraid.
Neither are we.
On MONDAY let's #FreeDavidHuerta, #FreeThemAll
11:00 AM @ Grand Park in Downtown LA (200 N Grand Ave)
Reposted by Matt Unrath
If you use Stata and parquet files, I developed a stata plugin that could help: ideas.repec.org/c/boc/bocode.... You can read/write parquet files directly from stata (Caveat: tested on windows and linux, but not mac)
PQ: Stata module to read, write, and manage Parquet files in
pq provides commands for working with Apache Parquet files in Stata. Parquet is a columnar storage file format designed to efficiently store and process large datasets. This package allows Stata users
ideas.repec.org
May 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM
If you use Stata and parquet files, I developed a stata plugin that could help: ideas.repec.org/c/boc/bocode.... You can read/write parquet files directly from stata (Caveat: tested on windows and linux, but not mac)
Reposted by Matt Unrath
I was curious how the Medicaid cuts the House passed stacked up historically. That's a big lift, but @standorn.bsky.social did the numbers.
It's the largest on record, twice the size of the early 1980s Reagan cuts. Same is true for SNAP. Here's my write-up:
mikekonczal.substack.com/p/the-house-...
It's the largest on record, twice the size of the early 1980s Reagan cuts. Same is true for SNAP. Here's my write-up:
mikekonczal.substack.com/p/the-house-...
The House Just Passed The Biggest Medicaid Cut in U.S. History, Twice the Size of Reagan's Cuts
So much for realignment. New analysis from UnidosUS shows the House’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are unprecedented, twice as large as anything under President Reagan,
mikekonczal.substack.com
May 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I was curious how the Medicaid cuts the House passed stacked up historically. That's a big lift, but @standorn.bsky.social did the numbers.
It's the largest on record, twice the size of the early 1980s Reagan cuts. Same is true for SNAP. Here's my write-up:
mikekonczal.substack.com/p/the-house-...
It's the largest on record, twice the size of the early 1980s Reagan cuts. Same is true for SNAP. Here's my write-up:
mikekonczal.substack.com/p/the-house-...
Reposted by Matt Unrath
The reconciliation bill passed by the House GOP yesterday alters the social safety net in many significant ways that are easy to miss if you blink.
Let’s take, for one, SNAP, a program where the federal government currently pays 100% of benefits.
Let’s take, for one, SNAP, a program where the federal government currently pays 100% of benefits.
May 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The reconciliation bill passed by the House GOP yesterday alters the social safety net in many significant ways that are easy to miss if you blink.
Let’s take, for one, SNAP, a program where the federal government currently pays 100% of benefits.
Let’s take, for one, SNAP, a program where the federal government currently pays 100% of benefits.
Reposted by Matt Unrath
Not a good idea to convert the leaders of the federal statistical agencies into political appointees. It would undermine trust.
Send in your comment today to object to this change in the federal civil service. This article has the link.
#econsky
Send in your comment today to object to this change in the federal civil service. This article has the link.
#econsky
A proposed rule would reclassify 50,000 federal employees as “Schedule Policy/Career." @ericagroshen.bsky.social, senior economic advisor at #CornellILR, spoke to ILR’s Center for Applied Research on Work about the possible impacts of this change.
www.ilr.cornell.edu/carow/carow-...
www.ilr.cornell.edu/carow/carow-...
May 8, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Not a good idea to convert the leaders of the federal statistical agencies into political appointees. It would undermine trust.
Send in your comment today to object to this change in the federal civil service. This article has the link.
#econsky
Send in your comment today to object to this change in the federal civil service. This article has the link.
#econsky
Reposted by Matt Unrath
IRS Direct File is clear-cut government success story, a shining example of efficiency and social value
Every year it will save Americans billions of dollars and hundreds of millions of hours in tax preparation costs
So of course Trump and Musk want to kill it
Every year it will save Americans billions of dollars and hundreds of millions of hours in tax preparation costs
So of course Trump and Musk want to kill it
The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS' Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to AP sources.
Trump administration plans to end the IRS Direct File program for free tax filing, AP sources say
The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program. That's the electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free.
bit.ly
April 17, 2025 at 2:07 AM
IRS Direct File is clear-cut government success story, a shining example of efficiency and social value
Every year it will save Americans billions of dollars and hundreds of millions of hours in tax preparation costs
So of course Trump and Musk want to kill it
Every year it will save Americans billions of dollars and hundreds of millions of hours in tax preparation costs
So of course Trump and Musk want to kill it
April 11, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Matt Unrath
In a nuts-and-bolts sense, I think I have a good sense of how this happens. But in a much more important sense, it’s incomprehensible that schools are still taking this stance when democracy is on the line
Great piece on our union battles here at USC, where our employer is fighting democracy in the most extreme, reactionary way possible (arguing that the NLRB shouldn't even exist). If you have a job in America, this affects you too.
USC Follows Amazon and Musk’s SpaceX in Calling Labor Board Unconstitutional
To block a union that would represent 2,500 faculty members, the private university echoed a corporate argument.
capitalandmain.com
April 11, 2025 at 4:54 AM
In a nuts-and-bolts sense, I think I have a good sense of how this happens. But in a much more important sense, it’s incomprehensible that schools are still taking this stance when democracy is on the line
Hard to overstate how mean and misguided this is.
JUST IN: The Census Bureau is ending its telework and remote-work agreements for unionized federal workers and requiring a full return to office for telework employees by April 21 and a return for remote employees within 60 days, according to emails shared with @npr.org
March 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Hard to overstate how mean and misguided this is.
Reposted by Matt Unrath
NEW: The Census Bureau hasn't been recruiting and retaining enough interviewers for three key surveys, including the source of the monthly job report, and lacks a plan for building up a field representative staff, the bureau's internal watchdog, Commerce OIG, finds
www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/O...
www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/O...
March 15, 2025 at 1:01 AM
NEW: The Census Bureau hasn't been recruiting and retaining enough interviewers for three key surveys, including the source of the monthly job report, and lacks a plan for building up a field representative staff, the bureau's internal watchdog, Commerce OIG, finds
www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/O...
www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/O...