Yearly Archives: 2015

A Fair Wage for Human Services Workers: Ensuring a government funded $15 per hour minimum wage for human services workers throughout NYS

December 9, 2015. A new report prepared by the FPWA, Human Services Council and FPI, documents the current state of the nonprofit sector providing State-funded human services and discusses the implications of the Governor’s proposed $15 an hour minimum wage. The groups support inclusion of the nonprofit sector workers in the wage increase and make the case for increased State funding in human service contracts. More than 200,000 human services workers across NYS are the driving force behind services like afterschool programs, child welfare, early [...]

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00December 9th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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No Permanent Extension of Business Tax Credits Without Permanent Extension of EITC/CTC Credits to Working Families

December 7, 2015. Senator Charles Schumer joined with leading anti-poverty advocates today to insist that Congress not permanently extend business tax credits without first making permanent tax credits to working poor families. The improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) that were enacted several years ago are extremely important to millions of working families across the country, including nearly 1.5 million children in 755,000 New York families. Yet these improvements are scheduled to expire in 2017—and if they do, [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00December 7th, 2015|Press Releases, Social Policy|
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Business profits in New York State have grown much faster than wages since 2001

December 1, 2015. In a new analysis, the Fiscal Policy Institute finds that business profits per worker in New York State increased by 61% from 2001-13, while labor compensation per worker has risen by only 34%, and the typical worker received wage increases of 25-29%, much less than inflation. James Parrott, the Institute’s Deputy Director and Chief Economist stated: “These data confirm once again that most workers in New York have not been sharing in the fruits of the state’s economic growth over the past [...]

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00December 1st, 2015|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Fact Checking the Empire Center-American Action Forum Analysis of NY’s Proposed $15 Minimum Wage: Flawed Methods Produce Erroneous Results

November 19, 2015. James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute, and Paul Sonn, General Counsel and Program Director of the National Employment Law Project, released this policy brief fact checking the Empire Center/American Action Forum report Higher Wages, Fewer Jobs. The report predicts significant job losses if Governor Cuomo’s proposal to increase New York’s minimum wage to $15 is enacted. The Empire Center/American Action Forum report uses outdated economics that ignores both the troubling gap between wage and business profit growth [...]

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00November 19th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Extend Tax Credits to the Poor

October 12, 2015. The following op-ed by Ron Deutsch appeared in the Times-Union. Millions of Americans go to work each day, sometimes balancing multiple low-wage jobs, and yet they still struggle to make ends meet for themselves and their families. The fact is, far too many hardworking Americans slip into poverty each year. I see this firsthand in my role at the Fiscal Policy Institute. We do, however, have two powerful and effective tools that encourage work and help lift working families out of poverty [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00October 12th, 2015|Letters, Social Policy|
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FPI-NELP Response to NYS Business Council Statement on Gov. Cuomo’s $15 Minimum Wage Proposal

October 8, 2015. The New York State Business Council’s statement on the Governor’s proposal to raise New York’s minimum wage to $15 by 2021 leaves out several “inconvenient” truths: 1.     A phased-in minimum wage increase will boost the purchasing power of roughly 3 million low-wage New York workers, pumping that increased consumer spending into local businesses and jobs all across the state. Above all else, small businesses need customers; a minimum wage increase will provide them. 2.     A higher wage floor benefits businesses because workers [...]

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00October 8th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Need for Federal Action to Address Puerto Rico’s Fiscal, Debt and Economic Crisis

September 25, 2015. James Parrott testified before the New York City Council today regarding three resolutions calling on Congress and the President to take action to address the Puerto Rican fiscal-debt-economic crisis. The resolutions deal with the issues of bankruptcy authority, Federal health care financing, and amending the Jones Act that has significantly raised shipping costs to and from Puerto Rico. Parrott’s testimony discusses the importance of Federal action given the governance constraints imposed on Puerto Rico by its status as a “territory,” and he [...]

2015-10-07T13:06:59-04:00September 25th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Governor Cuomo’s Call for Raising New York’s Minimum Wage to $15 Statewide

September 10, 2015. FPI and the National Employment Law Project have again teamed together on a background brief supporting Governor Cuomo's announcement today proposing a statewide $15 minimum wage. The brief includes demographic data on the 3 million New York workers who would be directly affected by the proposal, along with a summary of the economic arguments in support of a higher New York minimum wage.

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00September 10th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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The Importance of a $15 Wage Floor for New York’s Nonprofits

August 17, 2015. This op-ed by James Parrott, FPI's deputy director and chief economist, and Jennifer Jones-Austin, CEO and executive director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, appeared in City & State. New York’s leaders should build on the historic recommendation of the Fast Food Wage Board appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and begin moving toward an across-the-board $15-per-hour wage floor. A growing number of major cities around the country have already enacted, or are considering, a $15 floor. Legislation has been introduced in Washington [...]

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00August 17th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Letters|
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Testimony: The Establishment of a New York City Retirement Security Board

June 23, 2015. James Parrott testified at a New York City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor on the establishment of a New York City Retirement Security Board. The case for a retirement security fund and program for private-sector workers can be summed up as follows: New York City’s population is aging, many private sector workers do not have employer-provided retirement coverage, and our tax system rewards those who have employer-provided retirement coverage but does relatively little to help those who don’t have such [...]

2020-11-13T15:14:17-05:00June 23rd, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Social Policy, Testimony|
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Addressing the Unintended Consequences of the Property Tax Cap

June 10, 2015. In 2011 New York established a property tax cap for school districts, counties and municipalities. New York should proceed cautiously before making the cap permanent in order to gather more information on the impact of the cap. Increasing state funding of services like education, healthcare or providing targeted property tax relief such as a circuit breaker credit would be more effective and efficient ways to address high property taxes. But short of eliminating the cap, here are some ways to mitigate some [...]

2015-06-10T10:49:31-04:00June 10th, 2015|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Comments Provided to the New York Fast Food Wage Board

June 1, 2015. FPI played an important role in the efforts to convince the New York Fast Food Wage Board in June and July 2015 to recommend a $15 wage floor for 136,000 workers in large fast-food chains. FPI materials include the following: Testimony at the Buffalo hearing of the Fast Food Wage Board, June 5, 2015 Supplemental comments to the Fast Food Wage Board, June 26, 2015 Op-ed, “Boosting the Wages of Fast-Food Workers Will Help the Economy,” in the July 20, 2015 Albany [...]

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00June 5th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Letters, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Testimony|
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Testimony on Increasing the Minimum Wage in the Fast-Food Industry

June 5, 2015. James Parrott presented testimony to the New York State Department of Labor Wage Board hearing on increasing the minimum wage in the fast-food industry. Fast-food is a highly profitable and fast-growing industry. Fast-food employment has risen across New York, adding significantly to the growing problem of low-wages that are far from adequate in allowing a worker to meet basic family budget needs. A significant portion of fast-food workers are trying to raise families, but more than two out of every five workers [...]

2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00June 5th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Testimony|
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New Americans on Long Island: A Vital Fifth of the Economy

June 2, 2015. There are 526,000 immigrants living on Long Island, making up 18 percent of the region’s population and 20 percent of the economic output of Long Islanders, according to a study released today by the Fiscal Policy Institute, New Americans on Long Island: A Vital Fifth of the Economy. Half of immigrants overall (51 percent) work in white-collar jobs, the study found, and the large majority (61 percent) live in families earning over $80,000 a year. Immigrants represent significant numbers of the people [...]

2015-06-02T08:03:11-04:00June 2nd, 2015|Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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