January 8, 2001. Testimony delivered at the Public Hearing of the Empire State Development Corporation on the New York Stock Exchange Project Held Pursuant to the Eminent Domain Procedure Law, Alexander Hamilton United States Customs House.

James A. Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist, Fiscal Policy Institute, testified:

My name is James Parrott and I am the Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI). FPI was established in 1991 and is a nonpartisan, non-profit research and… (read more)

August 2, 2000. A presentation by Frank J. Mauro, Executive Director, Fiscal Policy Institute, at the Syracuse University Continuing Education Program’s Summer Lecture Series, “The Role of Financial Incentives in State and Local Economic Development.”

Throughout our nation’s history, state and local governments have done much to facilitate the growth and development of the American economy. They built an impressive physical infrastructure and developed the nation’s human capital without which our private sector economy could not have prospered. In fact,… (read more)

July 25, 2000. Testimony by James A. Parrott before the City Council of the City of New York Labor Committee Hearing.

My name is James Parrott. Thank you for this opportunity to testify on the question of wages and working conditions in companies that receive economic development subsidies from the City. I am the Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI). FPI is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy research organization that deals with New York City… (read more)

June 27, 2000. A letter to the editor of the New York Times, by James Parrott:

Re ”Jobs Data for 1999 Paint a Rosier Picture for Upstate New York” (news article, March 2):

It may be a little premature for Gov. George E. Pataki to herald the turnaround of the upstate economy. At least 40 percent of the private job gain last year occurred in industries like retail and social services, where the average wages are 40 percent below the… (read more)

June 15, 2000.  A call for accountability from Buffalo News columnist Rod Watson.

OK, let’s make a deal. You give me mucho, mucho bucks  and I’ll give you . . . what? A promise? Sound good? Do you know of any business that does business like  that?

No, only government does business like that. So welcome to the  Adelphia Communications waterfront project.

New York State already has tossed $75 million of public money  into the pot, $50 million of… (read more)

March 6, 2000. William Tuthill reports in the Capital District Business Review:

New York state’s array of economic development programs, in which  millions of dollars are annually loaned or given to spur businesses and create jobs,  lack adequate means of measuring their own effectiveness, according to a  report by State Comptroller H. Carl McCall.

There are not enough tools in place to show whether funded projects  have resulted in the increase or retention of jobs, the report said. It… (read more)

January 7, 2000. This audit (Report 98-S-7) by the Office of the State Comptroller concluded that the ESDC does a poor job of tracking employment at companies that receive state subsidies, and that many companies have fallen short of the promises for creating or retaining jobs on which their subsidies were based.

May 25, 1999. Legislators and coalition of statewide organizations urge New York to join national move toward greater accountability in the granting of corporate subsidies. Group press release:

“State and local taxpayers should get their money’s worth from the billions in government subsidies that are given to businesses each year in New York State,” declared the Fair Budget Campaign at a press conference this morning at the Legislative Office Building in Albany. The Fair Budget Campaign is a cooperative project… (read more)

May 11, 1999. The Upstate Economy: Testimony delivered by James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist, Fiscal Policy Institute, Albany, New York.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the economic development challenges facing Upstate New York. The lagging performance of the upstate economies is a serious issue. Weak job growth for an extended period in the 1990s has restrained income growth and the resulting lack of job opportunities has, unfortunately but not unexpectedly, led many people to give… (read more)

March 16, 1999

The Honorable John G. Rowland Governor of Connecticut 210 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106

Dear John:

Most states have not been spending all the federal dollars that have been allocated to them under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. According to our budget analysts, states have about $6 billion in unspent funds left over from fiscal years 1997 and 1998. My colleagues and I on the Committee on Ways and Means are fighting to… (read more)