Federal Funding is Essential to Health Care Coverage for New Yorkers
Strengthening Medicaid and protecting health coverage for New Yorkers is critical to ensuring that our state can respond effectively to the coronavirus public health crisis and the current economic recession. The Urban Institute has projected that Medicaid caseloads could increase by as much as 1,204,000, or 22.5 percent, through FY 2021—an unprecedented spike. New York needs help to cover those who are newly unemployed and expected to enroll in Medicaid and offset extra Medicaid costs related to coronavirus. Without proper funding, the state will be unable to treat at-risk patients, keep families healthy, or provide life-saving care. Download the Factsheet [...]
Legislators Unite for People-Centered Recovery with Statement of Principles
Over 100 New York State Senate and Assembly members, along with statewide unions, the Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Strong Economy for All Coalition, called for no state budget cuts without raising revenue. The coalition has released a signed statement of principles calling for a balanced state tax policy where everyone pays their fair share and a post-pandemic economic recovery plan centered on the best engine for recovery for individual New Yorkers and their communities. Read the full Statement of Principles here. Press Release: One hundred New York State Senate and Assembly members today released a signed pledge to refuse to [...]
The Fiscal Policy Institute’s Three-Point Plan for Re-Building New York
May 27, 2020. The Fiscal Policy Institute today warned state legislators and the governor that New York’s financial and social woes will only worsen if they attempt to return to an austerity budget model. The pandemic's public health crisis and subsequent economic downturn deepened an existing budget shortfall and with the deficit projected to be at least $13 billion, the state faces an extraordinary fiscal challenge. There is no simple solution to this crisis which will require bold innovation from our state leadership. Read the Policy Paper: Minimizing Risks While Maximizing Our State's Potential Statement from Ron Deutsch, Executive Director, Fiscal Policy Institute: "Austerity budgeting may seem sensible, but it would do more harm [...]
Unemployed Workers Set to Lose Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
Unemployed New Yorkers are scheduled to receive their final Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) checks on July 26, 2020. FPUC was enacted as part of the CARES Act and the legislation set FPUC’s expiration for the end of July. The unemployment insurance (UI) expansions included in the CARES Act were quick and appropriate responses to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The expansions were intended to help tens of millions of workers across the nation who were laid off due to mandatory business shutdowns ordered to protect public health The Retail and Accommodation and Food Service industries, which represent [...]
New York’s Public Sector Workforce Threatened by Lack of Federal Aid
New York’s public sector workforce is comprised of many of our state’s essential workers: nurses, teachers, firefighters, personal care aides, childcare workers, and more. In total, 24 major occupational groups – defined as having 10,000 or more workers – are part of the sector. A recent economic news release from BLS indicates that over 100,000 public sector workers in New York were laid off from their jobs between February and May of 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and declining state revenues. Characteristics of New York’s Public Sector Workforce • Nearly 1.3 million workers comprise New York State’s public sector [...]
Local Government Reliance on Fines and Fees to Raise Revenues Hurts Residents and Communities
Across New York State, fines and associated fees are relied upon by local governments as a source of local revenue. Decreased aid from the state coupled with the 2-percent property tax cap, which was enacted in 2011 and restricts annual property tax increases to the lesser of 2-percent or the rate of inflation, has led to decreased revenues for local jurisdictions. To make up for budget shortfalls - which have worsened during COVID-19 - local governments may be tempted to raise additional revenue through fines and fees. Reliance on fines and fees as a source of revenue – and separated [...]
Refugee Resettlement Agencies Are Providing Essential Services During COVID-19
Now more than ever, refugee resettlement agencies are providing essential services to refugees and also to a number of other community members, to help protect everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the Fiscal Policy Institute showed how refugee resettlement agencies are anchor institutions in their communities, providing services for some of the most vulnerable community members, jobs for local residents, and a productive use for buildings that in some cases might otherwise be vacant. The importance that refugee resettlement agencies have to local communities is highlighted further due to the COVID-19 pandemic as these agencies give crucial [...]
1.2 Million New Yorkers Excluded from the CARES Act
Undocumented immigrants are being affected by COVID-19 like all other New Yorkers, but unlike others they are being systematically excluded from federal economic assistance programs. The $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act included financial support for many families and businesses through this difficult period. But, despite the efforts of some members of Congress, the CARES Act very specifically excluded undocumented immigrants, and in some cases as collateral damage they excluded the children and spouses of undocumented immigrants, even if they are U.S. citizens or green card holders. The Fiscal Policy Institute has previously written about [...]
Strengthen Medicaid and Protect Health Coverage for New Yorkers
May 20, 2020 This time last year, New York celebrated its lowest rate of residents without health insurance to date at 5 percent. A historic low that is a continuation of nearly a decade of decline in people who lack health insurance, this record-breaking success set New York apart from the national trend of rising uninsured rates. The public health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic threatens past success in reducing the rate of the uninsured in New York State. We must strengthen and protect the Medicaid program because the pandemic and recession will cause an unprecedented increase [...]
Unemployment Insurance Taxes Paid for Undocumented Workers in NYS
May 14, 2020 In the midst of a pandemic, there has been a growing call for undocumented immigrants, who make up five percent of the New York State labor force, to be covered by some form of unemployment insurance. What is often overlooked in discussions of unemployment insurance is the extent to which undocumented immigrants are already part of paying into the existing system, even when they are excluded from collecting benefits. Undocumented immigrants face the same challenges as other workers. It does not serve the public interest to make it financially impossible for undocumented immigrants to stay home when [...]
New York’s Unemployment System Depends on Continued Federal Assistance
May 11, 2020 Following the Great Recession, New York's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund only achieved a positive fund balance for the first time in fiscal year 2016. On January 1, 2020, the balance stood at $2.65 billion, but the fund was nearing insolvency according to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor. Since the COVID-19 pandemic mitigation began eight weeks ago, over 1.7 million New York residents have filed for unemployment, which is roughly 5 percent of the nation’s total filings and represents more people than the entire population of the Bronx. As jobless claims grew, the state was [...]
New York Can Do More for All New Yorkers, Regardless of Immigration Status, Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 29, 2020. In response to the economic and health hardships that the COVID-19 pandemic has created for individuals and families, state and federal governments have created relief programs to provide financial, safety and medical assistance. However, these relief programs do not apply to everyone. Many programs exclude undocumented immigrants who have also been laid off from jobs due to nonessential business closures. Undocumented immigrants are also experiencing the same financial and health hardships that the rest of us experience, which warrants the need for the same type of economic and medical support. A recent report from the National Immigration [...]
Undocumented and Unemployed
Orders for non-essential workers to stay at home and the ripple effects of the coronavirus have been felt throughout the New York economy. Over one million New Yorkers have filed for unemployment insurance since the middle of March when the coronavirus impact was first felt. Yet, one group is left behind by both the state’s existing unemployment insurance system and the federal government’s temporary enhancements to that system: undocumented immigrants. There are an estimated 530,000 undocumented immigrants in the New York State labor force. They face the same economic downturn as everyone else. And there is the same logic for [...]
Fines and Fees: Raising Revenue at the Community’s Expense
As New York State looks toward restarting the economy in the wake of COVID-19, a new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) warns local governments not to rush to build revenue through the use of fines and fees – a long-standing, inequitable source of funding primarily drawn from low-income communities and communities of color. Between 2010 and 2017, 31 city governments, out of 62, in New York State reported an increase in expected fine revenue in their annual budgets, with a median increase of 25 percent. A 2017 study by political science researchers Michael Sances and Hye Young You [...]
FPI Comments on Federal Reserve Action
April 17, 2020 Recently, the Federal Reserve took a welcome step forward for states struggling in the wake of the pandemic by creating a new way to lend money directly to states and municipalities. Through the Municipal Liquidity Facility, New York and other states struggling with a sudden drop-off in much-needed revenue can now access the funds needed to cover essential services. While this is helpful in the short-term, states will need to borrow until their revenues recover. And that would require the facility to be expanded: loan terms -- which are now up 24 months -- should be extended, loans must be [...]
Press Release: Spotlight on New York’s Essential Workers
April 8, 2020 Overlooked, Underpaid and Indispensible Read the report: https://fiscalpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Essential-Workers-Brief-Final.pdf (Albany, NY) Today the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) released a new report spotlighting New York's essential workers who are on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the new analysis, there are 2.2 million “essential workers” in New York State. Twenty-two percent of these essential workers support their families on low incomes, with family incomes of less than 200 percent of the poverty level. Statement from David Dyssegaard Kallick, Deputy Director, Fiscal Policy Institute: “The pandemic has brought some long-overdue recognition to the workers that we rely on every day to support us. [...]
NY’s Best Prescription? An Accurate Census Count
While the coronavirus is upending our daily lives, we must not let this public health crisis derail our state’s census participation. New York must have an accurate count because it will affect our lives for the next 10 years - including the resources our state has to combat the next health threat or climate crisis. All New Yorkers should complete a census form - either by mail, phone, or online. More information on completing the census is available from the Census Bureau. Learn more by reading FPI's new brief An Accurate Census Count is Our Best Prescription as well as Funding A [...]
Federal and State Relief Should Help All: Immigrants Should Not Be Left Behind
During this time of crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, federal and state governments need to ensure that all of us, regardless of immigration status and the job we hold in society, are safe, healthy, and have access to critical services. No one should be left to struggle on their own during a global pandemic. As a society, we want to encourage everyone who is sick to stay home from work and have access to medical care if they need it. Now is the time to protect all community members by providing access to Medicaid, unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, the Temporary [...]
We Must Boost New York’s Fighting Chance
New York State is dealing with a pandemic that demands sudden and unusual changes in our everyday lives. The need for societal change including social distancing and restricting public gatherings to protect our health is clear. The question is what will be the economic cost of our necessary public health policy and how will we pay for it? Explore these pressing issues with us in our new brief: At the time of this writing, our state is trying to reach the short-term goal of sufficiently “flattening the curve” of infection to keep hospitalization rates within our state's healthcare capacity. That is [...]
Investing in Refugees: New York Must Continue to Lead
The New York State Enhanced Services to Refugees Program began in 2017 as a remarkable response to the federal government’s retreat from refugee resettlement. New York did what no other state would: provide flexible state funds to support the state’s strong network of resettlement agencies through a difficult time, and help them reframe their focus on integration. New York State allocated $2 million for NYSESRP in fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020. Because of continued federal cuts in support for refugee integration, New York for Refugees—the coalition of 16 agencies resettling refugees, the Fiscal Policy Institute, and the New York Immigration [...]
FPI’s 2020 State Budget Presentations
Our state budget is an opportunity to define our values and choose our future. Will our actions reinforce inequity and inequality or can we pull together to create a more just New York for all? FPI took a look at the proposed executive budget and shared our thoughts in two presentations, one in Albany and one in New York City. If you missed those informative events, you can still take a look at what was presented. Financial Plan Economic Development Education Health Care Housing Human Services Immigration Local Governments