Category: Badgett

M.V. Lee Badgett, economics professor and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA), is quoted in a press release regarding a $40,000 grant received by the CPPA.

Creative economy grant to spur CPPA’s Springfield initiatives
August 19, 2010

Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) has been awarded $40,000 by the UMass President’s Creative Economy Initiative to help create a center dedicated to alleviating poverty and inequality in Springfield and other western Massachusetts cities.

“CPPA is delighted by this award,” according to M.V. Lee Badgett, professor of economics and CPPA director. “It not only provides support for an important CPPA initiative, it signals the President Office’s commitment to developing strong cooperative relationships with the people of Springfield.”

Fred Rose, a lecturer at CPPA whose doctorate from Cornell University is in city and regional planning, developed the proposal that garnered the award. Previously, Rose was a lead organizer for the Pioneer Valley Project, a coalition of labor groups and religious organizations that works for social change in Springfield.

“Springfield is the sixth poorest city in the nation, which obviously hinders its development” notes Rose. “In addition, Springfield lacks the kind of community-based development agencies that have played leading roles in other communities.”

“At the same time,” Rose adds, “Springfield has many assets–including its incredible diversity, reforms promoted by the Finance Control Board, and a renewed commitment at the state level.”

The goal of CPPA’s new center is to “fill gaps in the existing economic development landscape of Springfield,” explains Rose. “UMass has the potential to play a positive role in the city’s revitalization.”

CPPA’s grant will enable it to explore the best strategies for organizing the new center this year, as well as identify other potential funding sources and formulate new projects and research that respond to authentic community needs and opportunities.

Contact: Susan Newton (snewton@pubpol.umass.edu or 413.577.0478)

Lee Badgett, economics professor, director of the Center for Public Policy & Administration and research director at the Williams Institute, is cited in an article about changes to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).   The U.S. Department of Labor has ruled that FMLA will now allow employees to take unpaid leave to care for children of same-sex partners.  Badgett’s study concludes that up to 100,000 children in 50,000 families could be affected by the ruling. (Gltnewsnow.com, 6/23/10)

Lee Badgett, economics professor and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, says it’s unclear whether there will be a public backlash if a federal judge overturns California’s ban on same-sex marriage. She points to a recent Gallup poll that shows a statistical increase in the number of people who say gay and lesbian relations are “morally acceptable” or “morally wrong.” The difference in the latest poll has increased and seems to indicate that the number of people who find gay and lesbian relations “morally wrong” is declining over time. (Keennewsservice.com, 6/27/10)

During the trial over the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst economics professor and director of the center for public policy and administration, testified that same-sex couples prefer marriage over domestic partnerships, citing the fact that just 2,077 couples chose partnership while 18,000 chose marriage in 2008 when marriage was legal. (Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Mercury News, Yahoo, 1/19/10)

UMass Amherst economist Lee Badgett testified during a trial on California’s same-sex marriage ban that gay marriage does not undermine traditional marriages.  In Massachusetts, same-sex marriages have been allowed since 2004, with no affect to marriage and divorce rates for straight couples, according the statistics she cited.  “I don’t think we need to wait any longer to see what the impact will be. I think we know,” Badgett said. “Everything I’ve looked at leads me to the conclusion that there is no impact.”  (Associated Press, 1/20/2010)

M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst economics professor and director of the center for public policy and administration, testified today in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial.  This case is challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8,  the California referendum that, in November, 2008, overturned a state Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex couples to marry.  (Law Dork, 1/15/2010)

M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst Economics Professor & Director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, was recently quoted in an article on same-sex marriage titled, “Marriage was the story of the year in 2009.”  (DC Agenga, 1/4/2010.)

According to Badgett, the advancement of same-sex marriage is striking particularly in states that already allowed relationship recognition.  “I think the main thing that we learned is that states are ready to legalize same-sex marriage and it happened in several places that have civil unions or domestic partnerships,” she said. “Legislators realized, [at] the request of their constituents, that those statuses were not the same.”