What’s the future for fiscal federalism in New York?

December 28, 2016. The following op-ed by James Parrott appeared in City & State New York on December 28, 2016. With President-elect Donald Trump and a newly empowered, Republican-dominated Congress soon taking control of the federal budget, the potential for substantial cuts in domestic spending poses gargantuan challenges for New York state and city budgets. Roughly $57 billion in federal dollars flow into our city and state budgets annually. Medicaid accounts for approximately $35 billion, with another $14 billion in categorical funds flowing to the [...]

2020-10-27T13:08:48-04:00December 28th, 2016|Letters, State Budget, Tax & Budget|

Syrian Immigrants: Doing Well, and a Strong Receiving Community for Refugees

December 13, 2016. A new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress looks at how Syrian immigrants fare in the United States. After a political campaign season in which Syrians coming to the United States were met with harsh words and proposals, this report takes a calm look at how immigrants from Syria are faring in the United States. The findings are reassuring: Syrian immigrants are highly educated, disproportionately likely to be business owners, learn English, and become home owners [...]

2016-12-19T09:06:12-05:00December 13th, 2016|Blog, Migration|

Minimum-wage bump is good for all; Even businesses in low-paying industries will benefit

December 11, 2016. This op-ed by Lorelei Salas and James Parrott appeared on crainsnewyork.com and in the December 12, 2016 print edition of Crain's New York Business. When the state's minimum wage rises to $11 an hour from $9 on Dec. 31, workers at New York City businesses with more than 10 employees will see the largest percentage minimum-wage increase in 60 years. It will be a welcome and much-needed addition to paychecks for more than 800,000 low-wage workers struggling to make ends meet in [...]

Do Immigrants Present an Untapped Opportunity to Revitalize Communities?

Wednesday, October 19. As many cities across the nation experience population decline and an increase in vacant and distressed property, there is a need for economic and housing revitalization. New research from Welcoming Economies Global Network and Fiscal Policy Institute indicates that immigrants represent some of the brightest potential for revitalizing urban communities. However, experience suggests, that immigrants are often overlooked and underestimated by homeownership, community development, and affordable housing advocates, practitioners, and programs. This report, which includes an interactive tool, show that immigrants have strong rates of potential [...]

Testimony on the Report of the NYC Council Task Force on Economic Development Tax Expenditures

September 22, 2016. James Parrott, a member of the New York City Council's Task Force on Economic Development Tax Expenditures chaired by Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras, presented this testimony at a September 22 hearing on the Task Force report and recommendations for a rigorous, ongoing evaluation procedure.  He also urged the Council to convene a hearing on the Hudson Yards property tax breaks, the costs of which are rapidly rising. PDF of Testimony

New Census Data Show Improvement in Poverty and Incomes in New York State

September 19, 2016. New York has reason to be optimistic as poverty is declining and incomes are on the upswing, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. FPI notes that there were significant declines in the overall poverty rates for New York State and New York City in 2015 from 2014 (but no other significant year-over-year changes). The New York State poverty rate for 2015 was 15.4%, down 0.5% from 2014 (15.9%) resulting in approximately 90,000 fewer New Yorkers living in poverty. New [...]

Driver’s License Fees: Low, Medium, and High-Cost States

September 16, 2016. The cost of getting a driver’s license has become entwined with many different issues recently. It is relevant to discussions of allowing unauthorized immigrants to apply for licenses. It has come up in states that require people to show identification in order to vote and in discussions surrounding fees that are a barrier to getting a state-issued ID. And, some states have acted to reduce the burden for some groups by allowing free or reduced-cost licenses to homeless people, senior citizens, veterans, [...]

2019-07-25T17:43:10-04:00September 16th, 2016|Blog, Migration|

Opening Keynote by David Dyssegaard Kallick Promises Timely and Relevant Discussion

Friday, July 22. David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of the Immigration Research Initiative at the Fiscal Policy Institute since 2007, will be presenting at The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities's 2016 CUMU Conference's Opening Keynote. David Dyssegaard Kallick's keynote speech, titled "Can Immigrants Revitalize America's Shrinking Cities?" will take place on Monday, October 24th from 8:30-10:00 AM at the 22nd Annual CUMU Conference: Charting the Future of Metropolitan Universities in Washington, D.C. His speech will explain why institutions in urban and metropolitan areas are struggling with [...]

2020-12-21T14:48:16-05:00July 22nd, 2016|Economic Trends & Policy, Fact Sheets, Migration|

Shale Researchers Release Local Government Handbook and State Policy Report Card

July 5, 2016.  Last week, the Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia organizations that are part of the Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative (MSSRC), released two new reports: a handbook for local officials entitled Lessons from the Gas Patch: A Local Government Guide for Dealing with Drilling; and A Report Card on Shale Gas Policies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The new reports build upon The MSSRC’s December 2014 report, The Shale Tipping Point: The Relationship of Shale Drilling to Crime, Traffic Fatalities, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, [...]

New York State Leads Nation in Income Inequality

June 16, 2016. In Income inequality in the US by state, metropolitan area, and county, a new report published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) for the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN), Mark Price, an economist at the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, PA and Estelle Sommeiller, a socio-economist at the Institute for Research in Economic and Social Sciences in Greater Paris, France detail the incomes of the top 1 percent and the bottom 99 percent by state, metropolitan area, and county. “Great income [...]

Analysis of Refugee Groups Provides Evidence of High Levels of Integration Across Indicators

June 16, 2016. The Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress released a report that analyzes how four key refugee groups—Bosnians, Burmese, Hmong, and Somalis—in the United States are doing on key indicators of integration, such as wages, labor market participation, business ownership, English language ability, and citizenship. As the United States and other countries wrestle with how to handle the sharp rise in the number of people around the globe displaced by conflict and persecution, the long-term experiences of the four groups studied [...]

Testimony: Proposed $15 Baltimore Minimum Wage

June 15, 2016.  In testimony before the Baltimore City Council, James Parrott, says it would be sound public policy for the City of Baltimore to phase in a $15 an hour minimum wage. Considerable compelling and economically sound research supports the conclusion that businesses can accommodate such an increase. A higher wage floor would generate significant cost savings due to reduced turnover and there is room for modest price increases to ease the adjustment without jeopardizing overall employment levels or profitability. Businesses of all sizes [...]

Heights of Privilege

June 2, 2016. The following article by James Parrott appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of The American Prospect magazine. If you want to learn about the latest manifestations of inequality in urban America, read the real-estate sections of newspapers and magazines and check out the photo spreads on luxury condos in new residential skyscrapers. The palatial size, lavish finishes, and breathtaking price tags of these properties are advertisements of our new Gilded Age. In the area immediately south of Central Park in Manhattan now known as [...]

Nearly 1 million NYS workers will benefit from new Federal overtime rule

May 18, 2016. FPI applauds the White House and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez in announcing a new federal overtime regulation today requiring overtime pay for most salaried workers earning up to $47,476 a year (or $913 weekly). FPI’s James Parrott stated, “This will benefit an estimated 982,000 New York salaried workers with either additional pay for more than 40 hours a week, or by scaling back the long hours they work each week without any reduction in pay.” The Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, a [...]

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