Monthly Archives: June 2018

June 30, 2018. This article discusses the failure of the New York State Legislature to pass the package of economic development accountability and transparency reform bills during the legislative session. It appears no one outside Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration is pleased with the Democrat's economic development policies, except for the recipients of some of the billions of dollars in taxpayer funds awarded each year to boost employment. The criticism comes from the left and the right, from conservative think tanks and liberal fiscal watchdogs, and [...]

June 25, 2018. This op-ed by FPI's deputy director, David Dyssegaard Kallick and the Tent Foundation's executive director, Gideon Maltz, discusses the research on refugees that was co-released by both organizations. They discuss the findings of their research which include higher retention rates for refugee employees and recruitment benefits for employers who integrate refugees into their workforce. They highlight that Canada is doing a good job hiring refugees and that they hope America's experiences will motivate them to keep doing this work. While many countries [...]

June 21, 2018. In this op-ed, the author discusses the win-win for businesses and refugees when they are incorporated and supported in the workforce. The article discusses the return on investment that companies get from hiring refugees such as higher retention rates, expansion of their customer base, improvements to product development and the creation of new opportunities for business partnerships. The author acknowledges that refugees experience challenges to workforce integration such as obtaining a bank account and work permits and translating their work experience but employers can help [...]

June 20, 2018. In this op-ed, by Tina Hinh, a refugee to the United States who now works for the UN, discusses her pride of Houston where her family was resettled. She writes about her family's experience in a Malaysian refugee camp where the UN provided them with food and medicine and their invitation to the United States to resettle in Houston, Texas. She expresses her pride in Houston for being the most diverse city in the U.S. and of their welcoming community and her gratefulness [...]

June 19, 2018. A press release, featured in Payment Week, discusses Amplio Recruiting's year-round mission to hire and recruit refugees for employers. World Refugee Day is June 20th and this press release highlights Amplio Recruiting's efforts that are not limited to one day. The release goes on to discuss Amplio Recruiting's successes that include helping 300 refugees find jobs in 2017 and contributing $35 thousand to programs that provide job training for refugees. Amplio Recruiting has a goal to help 600 refugees find full-time jobs in [...]

June 19, 2018. FPI's policy analyst, Cyierra Roldan, and Deputy Director, David Dyssegaard Kallick, co-authored an article that was featured in Refugees Deeply, a platform of News Deeply. The article discusses their six month long research that included interviewing employers who hired refugees in Atlanta, Georgia, Phoenix, Arizona, upstate New York and central Nebraska. The research included three major findings. These findings were of the 29 employers interviewed, 73 percent reported a higher retention rate for refugees than for employees overall, employing refugees opens the doors for [...]

June 18, 2018. This article and corresponding radio clip discusses the bid rigging trial of a former associate of Governor Cuomo and two upstate development firms, who are accused of fraudulently obtaining lucrative taxpayer-funded state contracts, and the currently stalled-in-the-Assembly package of accountability and transparency reform bills. Multiple reform groups, including the Fiscal Policy Institute, want the Assembly to pass the package and restore the State Comptroller’s authority over reviewing the economic development contracts, and enact a public database, known as the "Database of Deals," of [...]

June 15, 2018. In this article, by Edwin López Moya, he discusses the efforts of Philadelphia to become a  welcoming city for immigrants. Specifically he talks about the successes of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians which provides support and training to foreign professionals to help them get credentialing and jobs in the United States. This helps these foreign professionals from having to accept low wage positions. The article acknowledges research that finds that immigrants contribute to the overall economy through entrepreneurship and revitalization. At [...]

June 14, 2018. This article discusses the package of accountability and transparency economic development bills stalled in the Assembly. The measures do have bipartisan support among the rank-and-file in the Assembly and were already approved, overwhelmingly, in the Senate. However, Assembly leadership continues to sit on the bills in the hopes that Governor Cuomo will come to an agreement on their necessity. Ronald Deutsch, director of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute, which also supports the anti-corruption measures, also thinks Cuomo ultimately is responsible for the logjam. “The [...]