Yearly Archives: 2015

Property Tax Relief for Low- and Middle-Income Property New Yorkers Must Remain a Priority

May 27, 2015. This report details the stark differences between the circuit breaker relief proposals advanced by the Governor and Assembly versus the flawed STAR rebate plan the Senate proposed. The report shows that both programs would provide some property tax relief but the circuit breaker credits are superior to STAR rebates in many ways. For example: Circuit breakers would address a serious shortcoming of the property tax—that payments are not linked to the taxpayers’ ability to pay. STAR rebates are the same regardless of income [...]

Anthony Troia2015-06-09T11:09:33-04:00May 27th, 2015|Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Media Coverage of Immigrant Main Street Businesses Report

Media coverage of our report on immigrant-owned Main Street businesses has been hard to keep up with. Below is a listing of what we've been able to track so far. The Wall Street Journal Immigrant Entrepreneurs Prosper on Main Street http://www.wsj.com/articles/immigrant-entrepreneurs-prosper-on-main-street-1421195826 01/13/2014 In the U.S. from 2000 to 2013, including in 31 of the 50 largest metro areas, immigrants accounted for all the growth in so-called Main Street businesses, according to a new study based on analysis of census data. Such firms are grouped [...]

Anthony Troia2015-05-14T14:37:26-04:00May 14th, 2015|FPI in the News|

Statement on Mayor’s Budget Commitment to Increase Wages for Low-wage Nonprofit Social Sector Workers

May 8, 2015. Contact: James Parrott, Deputy Director, Fiscal Policy Institute, 212-721-5624 "The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) and the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) applaud the Mayor for including in his Executive Budget a first-ever $11.50 per hour wage floor for the City's contracted social service workforce. FPWA and FPI have been advocating for this important commitment over the past year. This will mean a big earnings boost for 10,000 workers whose wages currently average less than $10.00 per hour. These front-line workers, many [...]

Anthony Troia2020-11-13T14:58:52-05:00May 8th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget|

Obama Official Promotes SBA’s Bilingual Approach

April 24, 2015. The head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Maria Contreras-Sweet, visited Nashville to promote an initiative aimed at helping immigrant entrepreneurs this week. An article in The Tennessean referred to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute's Immigration Research Initiative that examined the role of immigrants in Main Street business ownership, and highlighted Nashville as one of three case study cities, including a focus on the Conexión Americas program featured in the article. Contreras-Sweet visited Nashville and Conexion Americas four months after [...]

Anthony Troia2015-04-24T15:07:42-04:00April 24th, 2015|FPI in the News|

Real Living Wage NYC Educational Breakfast Forum

April 23, 2015, Manhattan. James Parrott delivered this presentation at the Community Church of New York for the Real Living Wage NYC Educational Forum, a gathering of New York City faith leaders committed to a "faith-based movement for racial and economic justice. Parrott uses the 2014 NYC Self-Sufficiency Standard as a basis for identifying a "real living wage" level for New York City.

Anthony Troia2020-12-21T14:48:16-05:00April 23rd, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Executive Actions on Immigrants Will Bring Increased NY Tax Revenue

April 16, 2015. A new 50-state study, Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that undocumented immigrants’ tax contributions would increase significantly under the Obama Administration’s executive actions and even more substantially under comprehensive immigration policy reform. The report is being co-released in New York by the Fiscal Policy Institute and is particularly relevant in connection with the hearing tomorrow, Friday April 17, on executive action at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The report’s key [...]

Anthony Troia2015-04-16T08:29:11-04:00April 16th, 2015|Blog, Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Summary of Selected Tax Provisions in 2015-2016 State Budget

April 14, 2015. The Final FY 2015-16 budget is more notable for the tax proposals that were left out than for what is included. In the FY 2015-16 Executive Budget, the governor proposed three major tax changes: a new property tax circuit breaker for low- and middle-income homeowners and renters, an education tax credit, and a modest reduction in taxes on small corporations. None of these changes were included in the final budget, however, property tax relief and the education tax credit are expected to [...]

Anthony Troia2020-10-27T13:09:40-04:00April 14th, 2015|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

New York City’s Recovery Finally Starts Generating Wage Gains

April 13, 2015. In this report, FPI's analysis shows that New York City's recovery is finally starting to generate wage gains. After years of wage and family income declines since the 2008-09 recession, several signs are emerging of real wage growth in New York City. The three major current government economic data sets all point to fairly widespread and firmly-established wage growth beginning in 2014. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) average private hourly earnings data show a 2.7 percent real gain for the six months [...]

Anthony Troia2020-11-13T14:58:52-05:00April 13th, 2015|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Media Coverage on the Yacht Tax Exemption

March 30, 2015. After the Fiscal Policy Institute issued a media release about the state budget including a sales tax exemption, some of the coverage by media outlets included: New York Times, March 30, 2015. "We were simply looking for things like property tax relief for regular folks and we found the yacht exemption. I think it is incredibly sad you have so many New Yorkers who are struggling and this government’s priorities are on a yacht tax credit." Ron Deutsch, FPI. New York Daily [...]

Anthony Troia2015-04-06T10:30:45-04:00March 30th, 2015|FPI in the News|

Initial Response to Budget Agreement on Revenue Bill: No Property Tax Relief and No Reform of Tax Credits; But Wealthy Get Sales Tax Exemption on Luxury Yachts

March 30, 2015. "It appears our legislative leaders couldn't agree to provide tax relief to struggling homeowners and renters through a middle class property tax circuit breaker but managed to find the political will to provide sales tax exemptions for people buying luxury yachts. This seems like a case of some seriously misplaced priorities," said Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. "We are also dismayed that the IDA tax credit reform proposal advanced by the Governor did not make it into the final [...]

Anthony Troia2015-04-10T13:07:44-04:00March 30th, 2015|Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Budget Savings from a Minimum Wage Increase

March 27, 2015. As negotiations over New York State’s budget draw to a close, Governor Cuomo and the legislature are trying to hammer out an agreement to raise the state’s minimum wage, which is currently just $8.75 and is currently scheduled to top out at $9.00 at the end of this year. Both Governor Cuomo and the Assembly have proposed measures to raise New York State’s minimum wage, including a higher minimum wage level for New York City in the Governor’s bill, or, in the [...]

Anthony Troia2020-11-13T14:58:52-05:00March 27th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget|

Comparison of the Executive, Assembly, and Senate Property Tax Relief Proposals FY 2015-2016

March 23, 2015. The governor’s Executive Budget proposal includes a significant new property “circuit breaker” that would provide relief to households (both owners and renters) whose property taxes are unreasonably high relative to their income. Circuit breakers address a serious shortcoming of the property tax—that payments are not linked to the taxpayer’s ability to pay. The State Assembly’s proposed budget also included the circuit breaker with an important modification—removing the link to the property tax cap. The Senate, in contrast, replaced the circuit breaker with [...]

Anthony Troia2015-03-24T11:11:19-04:00March 23rd, 2015|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|