April 3, 2009. The most recent data available from the Census Bureau show that eight percent of Binghamton residents are foreign-born. Of immigrants living in Binghamton, 44 percent are white, 11 percent are black, 32 percent are Asian. In addition, 11 percent are Hispanic (can be of any race). Fact sheet prepared by FPI's Immigration Research Initiative.
March 27, 2009. The Omnibus Consortium (www.omnibustaxsolution.org) held a video press conference today to urge that this flawed program be replaced with a meaningful circuit breaker. Group press release >>
March 22, 2009. New York faces one of the largest budget deficits in the country for the coming year at $14.2 billion. The State's 2009-2010 fiscal year begins April 1, 2009. Two responses to addressing the crisis have dominated the policy debate. Both acknowledge the detrimental impact Wall Street revenue declines have had on the State's fiscal condition. But in other ways they diverge significantly. In the context of a deepening recession, which is the most sensible path to take? Press release (also below) Executive [...]
March 13, 2009. A presentation by James Parrott at Navigating the Fiscal Crisis: A Forum for Non-Profits, sponsored by the Bronx Forum, a partnership of the Bronx Borough President's Office, Hostos Community College, and Jewish Community Relations Council of NY/CAUSE-NY. Presentation >>
March 12, 2009. This testimony, presented by FPI executive director Frank Mauro to the New York State Senate Select Committee on Budget and Tax Reform, includes a discussion of the Omnibus Tax Reform Bill. The goal of the bill: to restore fairness to taxation with both short term relief and long term solutions.
March 4, 2009. Testimony before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Local Governments Public Hearing on Industrial Development Agencies, submitted by FPI executive director Frank Mauro. There is room for improvement in six areas: The usefulness of IDA hearings, Reporting on costs and benefits of IDA-supported projects, Ensuring that IDA benefits don't go to firms that break environmental, safety or other state laws, Coordination with all local governments affected by IDA decisions, Transmission and recording of PILOT payments to the local governments on whose behalf [...]
February 26, 2009. The National Association of County Administrators asked FPI's Frank Mauro and James Parrott to write the lead article for The Journal of County Administration, December 2008/February 2009. The article stresses that while the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides a significant lifeline to the states at a critical point in time, it will not completely eliminate the need for some painful budget balancing actions by state and local governments. The key challenge for the states is finding the mix of [...]
February 25, 2009. New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness and the Fiscal Policy Institute today praised Senator Jeffrey Klein's efforts to reform New York’s current inequitable tax system by increasing rates at the top of the income spectrum - adding, however, that the Senator's bill simply does not raise enough revenue to sufficiently offset the onerous budget cuts proposed by the Governor. Unfortunately, the middle income tax relief in this bill will not provide stimulus if spending cuts, are in effect, paying for those tax cuts. [...]
February 22, 2009. The Fiscal Policy Institute joined with the Alliance for Quality Education and other groups to publicize the grim truth about Governor Paterson's $2.5 billion in school aid cuts. Nearly two thirds of school districts face cuts in excess of $15,000 per classroom, and sixty districts face cuts over $30,000 per classroom. Education committee chairwomen Assemblywoman Nolan and Senator Oppenheimer joined education advocates in calling for school aid restorations; the organizations called for fair share tax reform. Release with 14-page district-by-district analysis.
February 4, 2009. Testimony presented by FPI executive director Frank Mauro to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees. The Executive Budget contains many proposals that will directly and indirectly cut jobs, exacerbating the recession in the state economy. There are other ways to close budget gaps - notably, an increase in high-end income taxes - that would do much less harm to the economy.
February 2, 2009. An op ed in the Gotham Gazette by Frank Mauro and James Parrott.
January 30, 2009. FPI researched and wrote this paper for the Rauch Foundation as a supplemental report to Long Island Index 2009, a study of how Long Island is faring as a region. The index includes reports on specific indicators selected to reflect region-wide impact and interests, and identifies emerging trends and gaps that should be addressed now to avoid future problems. FPI was also cited widely in another section of the Index, Long Island's Educational Structure. Read the paper - School Finance On Long [...]
January 27, 2009. Both fairness and sound economics should play a role in closing New York's budget gap. A column by James Parrott, FPI's deputy director and chief economist, in the Albany Times Union.
January 2009. In a March 27, 2008 letter to Governor Paterson, Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver, Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz makes a compelling case that the millionaires' tax is "economically preferable" to raising regressive fees or cutting state spending. Also see: Voters Support Income Tax on Those Making $250K or More to Replace Budget Cuts, a Siena Research Institute poll released January 26, 2009 Closing state deficit requires prudence, by former budget director Dall Forsythe and Shanna Rose (Albany Times Union, December 10, 2008) [...]
January 25, 2009. Peter Pollak of empirepage.com interviews David Dyssegaard Kallick.