Type Archives - Page 5 of 56 - Fiscal Policy Institute

Ron Deutsch to Step Down as FPI’s Executive Director

Several weeks ago, Ron Deutsch informed the Fiscal Policy Institute’s (FPI) Board of Directors that he planned to step down as Executive Director on December 15, 2020. Mike Burgess, Chair of FPI’s Board of Directors, stated that “I have known and worked with Ron for over two decades, a time during which he has become such an effective and influential advocate for social and economic justice in various roles. Over the past six years, he has brought his passion and commitment to the Fiscal Policy [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T09:49:53-05:00November 11th, 2020|Press Releases|

Medicaid Cuts Would Put 554,000 Essential Workers in New York at Risk

October 14, 2020 Many of New York’s “essential workers,” people working in jobs deemed necessary throughout the COVID pandemic, rely on Medicaid for their own health care. They risk severe hardship if federal policymakers fail to provide appropriate increases in Medicaid funding or weaken protections for program enrollees, according to a new analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In New York State over half a million, 554,000, essential workers rely on Medicaid. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic led to a [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T09:54:20-05:00October 14th, 2020|Blog, Healthcare, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Pandemic Economics Demand A Diverse Response

October 14, 2020 In light of New Jersey's adoption of a millionaires tax to help fill a statewide revenue hole caused by the coronavirus, many asked what about New York? Like New Jersey, New York was hard hit by the pandemic, and its economy continues to suffer. Like New Jersey, New York has historic fiscal problems with a budget shortage of $14.5 billion this year, and in the tens of billions of dollars over the next several years. Like New Jersey, we continue to wait on the federal government [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T09:53:25-05:00October 14th, 2020|Economic Outlook, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Robust Rental Assistance Needed to Protect Tenants

August 2020 Download the full brief Governor Cuomo has extended the state’s limited eviction moratorium until September 4, 2020 but the application window for the state’s $100 million COVID Rent Relief program closed on August 6, 2020. Many of New York State’s renters require assistance above and beyond the programs and protections currently in place. The COVID Rent Relief program has limitations. It will only provide up to four months of rental assistance for those earning below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T09:55:55-05:00August 26th, 2020|Blog, Housing, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Generating State Revenue Essential for Post-Pandemic Recovery

Billionaire Mark-to-Market Tax Can Raise Over $5.5 Billion To Help Keep New York State Running New York can and must do more to address its budget crisis than wait for federal relief. While the economy has taken a hit, the state can raise enough tax revenue to avoid catastrophic budget cuts—to education, health care, and other crucial services—and add new programs to combat the coronavirus recession by helping those most in need. The Fiscal Policy Institute’s latest report explains how a new type of tax [...]

Anthony Troia2021-02-01T15:36:33-05:00August 12th, 2020|Must Read, Press Releases, Tax Policy|

New York Must Act Now to Support Excluded Workers

Workers and families left without support for months Read the full report: Unemployment Compensation for Excluded Workers: Helping New Yorkers, Boosting the Local Economy (Albany, NY) State unemployment benefits were expanded in significant ways for most New Yorkers who lost their jobs during the pandemic. However, tens of thousands of New York workers and their families were left adrift without federal or state assistance. The Fiscal Policy Institute’s new report shows that our state can act to create and fund a system to support these workers. [...]

Anthony Troia2021-04-06T09:51:57-04:00July 30th, 2020|Economic Outlook, Migration, Press Releases|

Memo of Support: Budget Equity Act

The Fiscal Policy Institute strongly supports S .8198A (Biaggi)/A.9100A (Gottfried) to create a more equitable balance of power within New York’s state government. As the legislation requires passage by both houses within two consecutive legislative sessions, FPI urges the senate and assembly to pass this legislation before August 3, 2020, and again in the 2021 - 2022 session so it can go before the voters in the 2021 fall election. The current provisions of the New York State Constitution, as interpreted by the Court of [...]

Anthony Troia2021-02-10T20:12:41-05:00July 23rd, 2020|Letters, State Budget|

Memo of Support: The Billionaire Mark-to-Market Tax Act

The Fiscal Policy Institute strongly supports the Billionaire Mark-to-Market Tax Act (S8277/A10414) that is expected to raise additional revenue for New York State to be used for multiple purposes, including supporting a fund that would provide weekly financial assistance to workers otherwise excluded from New York State Unemployment Insurance. Download the PDF.

Anthony Troia2021-04-06T09:52:54-04:00July 22nd, 2020|Letters, Migration, Tax Policy|

Unemployed Workers Set to Lose Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation

Unemployed New Yorkers are scheduled to receive their final Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) checks on July 26, 2020. FPUC was enacted as part of the CARES Act and the legislation set FPUC’s expiration for the end of July. The unemployment insurance (UI) expansions included in the CARES Act were quick and appropriate responses to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The expansions were intended to help tens of millions of workers across the nation who were laid off due to mandatory business shutdowns [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T10:06:58-05:00July 20th, 2020|Blog, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Federal Funding is Essential to Health Care Coverage for New Yorkers

Strengthening Medicaid and protecting health coverage for New Yorkers is critical to ensuring that our state can respond effectively to the coronavirus public health crisis and the current economic recession. The Urban Institute has projected that Medicaid caseloads could increase by as much as 1,204,000, or 22.5 percent, through FY 2021—an unprecedented spike. New York needs help to cover those who are newly unemployed and expected to enroll in Medicaid and offset extra Medicaid costs related to coronavirus. Without proper funding, the state will be [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T10:07:31-05:00June 20th, 2020|Blog, Fact Sheets, Healthcare|

New York State Unemployment Fact Sheet for June

New York State’s average unemployment rate for April and May 2020 stood at 14.9 percent. For the same time period last year, the average unemployment rate was 3.8 percent. In the 12 weeks between March 10 and May 30, 2020, New York State processed over 2.4 million unemployment claims, which is more than 12 percent of the state’s population. Unemployment claims have slowed in recent weeks, but many New Yorkers remain unemployed. As of June 13, the five most racially and ethnically diverse industries have also [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-21T15:27:18-05:00June 15th, 2020|Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce|

New York’s Public Sector Workforce Threatened by Lack of Federal Aid

New York’s public sector workforce is comprised of many of our state’s essential workers: nurses, teachers, firefighters, personal care aides, childcare workers, and more. In total, 24 major occupational groups – defined as having 10,000 or more workers – are part of the sector. A recent economic news release from BLS indicates that over 100,000 public sector workers in New York were laid off from their jobs between February and May of 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and declining state revenues. Characteristics of New [...]

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T13:37:56-05:00June 13th, 2020|Blog, Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce|

NYS Unemployment Factsheet for April

New York State’s April 2020 unemployment rate stood at 14.5 percent – up from 4.1 percent in March -and was the state’s largest recorded monthly increase since 1976 when the current record-keeping began. In the seven weeks between March 10 and April 25, 2020, New York State processed over 1.5 million initial unemployment insurance claims from residents, which represents more people than the entire population of the state of Maine. Look for more monthly factsheets covering unemployment in New York State. Read the factsheet here.

Anthony Troia2020-12-30T13:36:51-05:00June 13th, 2020|Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce|

In Solidarity

The Fiscal Policy Institute stands in solidarity with protesters voicing outrage over the recent murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the long history of violent abuse and killing of Black people at the hands of police in city after city, town after town, year after year. Black lives matter. Yet the history of racism built into our society actively harms Black people. We must do better for our state and our nation. In our research at the Fiscal Policy Institute, we consistently see [...]

Anthony Troia2021-11-04T12:52:04-04:00June 12th, 2020|Press Releases|

Local Government Reliance on Fines and Fees to Raise Revenues Hurts Residents and Communities

Across New York State, fines and associated fees are relied upon by local governments as a source of local revenue. Decreased aid from the state coupled with the 2-percent property tax cap, which was enacted in 2011 and restricts annual property tax increases to the lesser of 2-percent or the rate of inflation, has led to decreased revenues for local jurisdictions. To make up for budget shortfalls - which have worsened during COVID-19 - local governments may be tempted to raise additional revenue through fines [...]

Anthony Troia2021-03-23T09:42:05-04:00June 10th, 2020|Blog, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|