Fiscal Policy Institute

Recent Work

Budget Breakdown: Fiscal Year 2026 Enacted Budget

The Enacted Budget, while it contains few significant new policy initiatives, allows state spending to recover some of the lost ground from a decade of austerity policies in the 2010s. The most important policy measure in the budget is a long overdue increase in unemployment insurance benefits that will better prepare the State economy for a possible recession (discussed in detail below). The bad news is that the Enacted Budget contains serious fiscal errors, including permanent tax cuts and one-time payments that will cost $3 billion in fiscal year 2026 alone.

State Ends Year with $6 Billion over Projections

New York State’s fiscal year 2025 ended on March 31 with good news for the State’s coffers: Total receipts for the year came in $6.0 billion higher than forecast as of January 2025, and a full $12.3 billion higher than forecast at the beginning of the fiscal year in May 2024. As we enter the final stage of budget negotiations, this additional revenue will allow the State to prepare for federal funding cuts by investing in the MTA, childcare, NYCHA, and other critical services and infrastructure.

Statement on First Quarterly Update to FY 2025 Budget

The First Quarterly Update to the State’s financial plan indicates the State remains on strong fiscal footing, with modestly higher revenue than projected in the Enacted Budget financial plan and lower spending than expected. Measured as a share of total state personal income, State spending is set to fall, and is on par with its fiscal year 2016 level.

Who is Leaving New York State? Part II: Social Characteristics

The Fiscal Policy Institute today released a new report in its state migration series, "Who Is Leaving New York State? Social and Labor Characteristics", which finds that affordability — and in particular housing and the cost of raising a family — are increasingly driving State population loss.

Enacted Budget Financial Plan Shows Healthy Fiscal Outlook

The fiscal year 2025 enacted budget totals $237 billion, an inflation-adjusted decline of 0.4 percent from fiscal year’s 2024 total budget. In non-inflation-adjusted terms (nominal dollars) this represents an increase from fiscal year 2024’s total budget of $231.6 billion.

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