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April 15, 1999. City Project used this brief (available in pdf) for its Alterbudget agenda. Living Standards in New York City - The Foundation of Quality of Life Any discussion of quality of life in New York City needs to consider what is happening to living standards. Indeed, a decent income that provides for basic human material needs - shelter, food, medical care, clothing, etc. - should be the starting point for gauging a community's "quality of life". In this sense, living standards are the foundation upon which "quality of life" rests. Over the last two years, New York City [...]

April 8, 1999. Over 500,000 are women. Press release: A new analysis by the Washington-D.C. based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities confirms that Social Security is our nation's most important safety net program. In New York State, for example, over one million elderly would be living in poverty if it were not for Social Security. This essential social insurance program lifts a over 800,000 elderly New Yorkers out of poverty. Social Security is particularly important to the economic well-being of elderly women, who represent over 500,000 of the elderly New Yorkers who do not live in poverty because of [...]

March 16, 1999 The Honorable John G. Rowland Governor of Connecticut 210 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 Dear John: Most states have not been spending all the federal dollars that have been allocated to them under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. According to our budget analysts, states have about $6 billion in unspent funds left over from fiscal years 1997 and 1998. My colleagues and I on the Committee on Ways and Means are fighting to save this money from those who would like to spend it on other priorities, but I want you and all [...]

March 10, 1999. This legislation, introduced in the U. S. House of Representatives by Congressman David Minge, is based on a plan developed by officials of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota. The legislation is intended to reduce the pressure that states and cities currently face to participate in the "Economic War Among the States" by having the federal government tax away the benefits that corporations receive in the form of state and local government subsidies. Main Sponsor: U. S. Representative David Minge (D-Minesota) Co-sponsors: Rep Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) - 10/19/1999 Rep Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) - 6/9/1999 Rep Earl [...]

March 8, 1999. This report from the Fiscal Policy Institute (revised in July 1999) outlines why and how to improve the economic situation of a hard-working but ignored population. Report below; also see press release. Working but Poor in New York Table of Contents Dedication Acknowledgements Executive Summary Working but Poor in New York Many New Yorkers Work but Remain Poor New York's Poverty Rate Has Remained High While the National Rate Has Dropped Steadily Most Poor Families Include a Worker Many Working Families Have Incomes Just Above the Poverty Line New York's Working Poor Defy Demographic Stereotypes The Situation [...]

March 8, 1999. Highlights of a report released today are given in this press release: According to a new report issued today by the Fiscal Policy Institute, New York State's economy is not working for low-income working families. The new study, Working but Poor in New York: Improving the Economic Situation of a Hard-Working but Ignored Population, found that more than one million New Yorkers live below the poverty level despite the fact that they are members of households with at least one worker. Even more shocking is the finding that more than a third of the state's poor families [...]

February 1999. An analysis by Michael Ettlinger of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, presented at FPI's budget briefing in Albany.

February 1999. The Fiscal Policy Institute's annual budget briefing. Below, text from the briefing book on the 1999-2000 executive budget. Also see Personal Income Tax Changes in New York State: Enacted 1995 Cuts and Proposed 2003 Cuts, which was presented at the briefing in Albany by Michael Ettlinger of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The 1999-2000 Executive Budget turns a blind eye to the major challenges and opportunities facing New York State, failing to even recognize them - let alone to address them. Instead it repeats misleading platitudes in an attempt to have New Yorkers view the state [...]

January 1999. A brief by Carolyn Boldiston. Over the last twenty-five years, the numbers of people that work and also care for children and parents have increased dramatically. To respond to this situation, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 1993 which finally required employers to provide leave to care for one's own serious health condition, including pregnancy, and to care for a new child or a seriously ill child, spouse or parent. While the FMLA protects an employee's job, seniority and health benefits during a maximum 12 weeks leave from work, it does not replace wages. [...]

January 1999. New from the Fiscal Policy Institute: this report sets forth and analyzed a plan for reforming New York State's system of financing its schools that covers the aid formula part of Justice's DeGrasse's requirements.  This plan was developed by FPI in an attempt to "operationalize" the Campaign for Fiscal Equity's "Statewide Fair Funding Principles for a Sound Basic Education." David Gaskell, Frank Mauro, Jennifer McCormick and Trudi Renwick wrote the report.

December 8, 1998. New from the Fiscal Policy Institute: The Fiscal Policy Institute today joined with two national organizations, Jobs with Justice and the National Priorities Project, and state and local organizations throughout the country, in recommending four practical strategies for closing the gap between CEO and worker pay. These groups also highlighted several ways in which federal and state government can assist working families in making ends meet and moving up the economic ladder. To underscore the need for these practical economic strategies, the Fiscal Policy Institute released a new report, Working Hard, Earning Less: The Story of Job [...]

November 1998.  A detailed analysis of spending on low-income children's programs in 13 states by Deborah A. Ellwood of FPI and Kimura Flores and Toby Douglas of the the Urban Institute.

July 13, 1998. By Frank J. Mauro, New York Daily News. One of a pair of point-counterpoint op eds; with 'pro' side by Governor George E. Pataki.

May 18, 1998. New from the Fiscal Policy Institute: Press release "The minimum wage increases that took effect in 1996 and 1997 did exactly what they were supposed to do: More than a half million New York workers got a raise, with most of the benefits going to low-income families," said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), a progressive think tank based in Latham, NY, that is supported by labor unions, foundations, religious organizations and a wide range of human service and good government groups. The federal minimum wage increased from $4.25 per hour to $4.75 [...]

March 29, 1998. Counterpoint: "Only businesses would benefit from the changes," by Frank J. Mauro, Times Union. One of a pair of op eds, with the opposite point of view taken by Daniel B. Walsh of the Business Council.

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December 1993. A report prepared for the Fiscal Policy Institute by Richard D. Pomp, the Alva P. Loiselle Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut's School of Law and the former Executive Director of New York State's Legislative Tax Study Commission.