Blog

2017 Albany Annual Budget Briefing

On Tuesday morning, February 7, 2017, the Fiscal Policy Institute will present its twenty-seventh annual budget briefing in Meeting Room 7 of the Empire State Plaza Convention Center. Please note the venue change for this year’s briefing. A complimentary breakfast and check-in will begin at 8:30 a.m. Our presentation begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 10:00 a.m. We hope that you and/or members of your staff will be able to join us for what we are confident will be a useful and informative session. [...]

Anthony Troia2021-01-07T12:18:27-05:00January 20th, 2017|Blog, State Budget|

Syrian Immigrants: Doing Well, and a Strong Receiving Community for Refugees

December 13, 2016. A new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress looks at how Syrian immigrants fare in the United States. After a political campaign season in which Syrians coming to the United States were met with harsh words and proposals, this report takes a calm look at how immigrants from Syria are faring in the United States. The findings are reassuring: Syrian immigrants are highly educated, disproportionately likely to be business owners, learn English, and become home owners [...]

Anthony Troia2016-12-19T09:06:12-05:00December 13th, 2016|Blog, Migration|

Driver’s License Fees: Low, Medium, and High-Cost States

September 16, 2016. The cost of getting a driver’s license has become entwined with many different issues recently. It is relevant to discussions of allowing unauthorized immigrants to apply for licenses. It has come up in states that require people to show identification in order to vote and in discussions surrounding fees that are a barrier to getting a state-issued ID. And, some states have acted to reduce the burden for some groups by allowing free or reduced-cost licenses to homeless people, senior citizens, veterans, [...]

Anthony Troia2019-07-25T17:43:10-04:00September 16th, 2016|Blog, Migration|

Berkeley Report on Impact of $15 NY Minimum Wage Released

March 11, 2016. In a new report from the University of California at Berkeley, noted economist Michael Reich and colleagues take a comprehensive look at the likely impact of a $15 minimum wage in New York State. This report assesses the broad impact on businesses and the overall economy and employment levels from the proposed phased-in $15 minimum wage. The report makes a significant contribution to the minimum wage literature since it looks broadly across the economy and factors in both the impacts on workers [...]

Anthony Troia2020-11-13T14:58:51-05:00March 11th, 2016|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce|

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|

FPI Commends Governor Cuomo for Advancing Middle Class Circuit Breaker—Targeted Tax Relief Tied to Income Is the Most Effective Mechanism

January 14, 2015. Governor Cuomo just announced a $1.66 billion property tax credit program (commonly referred to as a “Circuit Breaker”) to help ease the burden on working class families who are paying too much of their income in property taxes. The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), working with our partners in the Omnibus Property Tax Consortium, has been calling for a targeted circuit breaker for years. “We are pleased that the Governor announced a circuit breaker proposal that targets relief to working and middle class [...]

Anthony Troia2015-01-16T09:26:09-05:00January 14th, 2015|Blog, City Budget, Press Releases, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Immigrants Are More Likely to Be Business Owners …but They’re Not “Super-Entrepreneurs”

January 14, 2015. Immigrants are entrepreneurial—that is by now well established. But how much more is not as widely understood. As I was working on a report about immigrant business ownership, Bringing Vitality to Main Street, released today by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas with the Fiscal Policy Institute, I dug into what the research shows. What I found is that there is broad consensus that immigrants are a little more likely to own businesses than their U.S.-born counterparts, but not a lot more [...]

Anthony Troia2015-01-16T09:27:20-05:00January 13th, 2015|Blog, Migration|

Interactive immigration graphic

This redirects the viewer directly to the link below. This page does not get displayed. This goes with the AS/COA report done by David.

Anthony Troia2015-01-13T17:47:33-05:00January 13th, 2015|Blog|

Acknowledgements for Bringing Vitality to Main Street

In the research and writing of Bringing Vitality to Main Street: How Immigrant Small Businesses Help Local Economies Grow, I am deeply indebted to so many people that the full page of acknowledgments has to be posted online. —David Dyssegaard Kallick, author, Bringing Vitality to Main Street: How Immigrant Small Businesses Help Local Economies Grow. Kate Brick policy manager at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA), was a valuable partner from beginning to end in the conception, design, and editing of this report. Former AS/COA [...]

Anthony Troia2015-01-14T08:50:45-05:00January 13th, 2015|Blog|

NYC Median Family Income Up for First Time since Great Recession

October 15, 2014. After five years of decline, median family income in New York City rose by 3.5 percent between 2012 and 2013 in inflation-adjusted terms, according to recently-published Census data.[1] This compares with increases of 0.9 percent at the national level and 1.6 percent for all of New York State, including the city. While the city’s increase far surpassed the nation’s and state’s, median family income in the city was still 5.2 percent lower in 2013 than it had been in 2008 at the [...]

Anthony Troia2020-11-13T14:27:56-05:00October 15th, 2014|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce|

FPI proposes a tax on the most expensive NYC pied-à-terre residential units

September 22, 2014. By James Parrott, FPI Deputy Director and Chief Economist. Introduction In the context of the continued global concentration of income and wealth, a growing number of ultra-luxury residences in New York City are being bought by people who are not full-time city residents. For many such owners, a Manhattan pied-à-terre is one among several residences they own around the world for occasional use. Some owners see it as an investment, or simply as a place to park a portion of their substantial [...]

Anthony Troia2020-10-27T13:09:41-04:00September 22nd, 2014|Blog, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Over one-third of New York City employees are paid less than $14 an hour; workers of color are twice as likely to be low-wage

June 17, 2014. The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) released a new data brief today showing the sector of employment and race/ethnicity for New York City workers paid less than $14 an hour. On an annual basis, $14 an hour would put a family $1,900 below the $31,039 poverty threshold for a New York City family. Altogether, 1.2 million New York City workers are paid less than $14 an hour, 36 percent of all public and private wage and salary workers. This includes part-time as well [...]

Anthony Troia2020-11-13T14:58:52-05:00June 17th, 2014|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Statement on New York City Budget Accounting Action

May 12, 2014. Today’s joint announcement by Mayor de Blasio and Comptroller Stringer clarifies a City budget accounting question regarding an obligation the City incurred in connection with the recent labor settlement with the United Federation of Teachers. The payments in question pertain to UFT members retiring after June 30, 2014 and cover wage increases for the first two years (2009 and 2010) of the recently settled contract. Officials of both the Mayor’s and the Comptroller’s offices have confirmed that the announcement is strictly an [...]

Anthony Troia2020-10-27T13:08:49-04:00May 12th, 2014|Blog, Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget|