March 14, 2018. The Fiscal Policy Instituted participated in a press event with the Strong Nonprofits for a Better New York coalition yesterday morning in the Capitol. The coalition represents more than 350 nonprofits organizations across New York seeking to adequately fund a higher minimum wage and cost-of-living pay adjustments for the state’s contracted human services employees. The press event revolved around the inaugural induction of 38 female human service sector workers into its “Human Services Hall of Fame” as well as pushing legislators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to include these funding requests in his final budget. Over 80 percent of all human services workers are women, and almost half are women of color.
“Despite a majority having associate or bachelor’s degrees, nearly 60 percent of the human services workforce qualifies for public assistance,” said Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute Ron Deutsch.
“The governor has failed to deliver a cost of living increase to these workers for eight years and has chosen not to increase state contracts to reflect the rising minimum wage,” Deutsch said. “If he is serious about addressing the gender pay gap, he needs to start in his own backyard.”
The article in Politico New York.