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
New York Should Fund Programs that Support Immigrant Integration
Our state budget is the opportunity to improve the lives of immigrant New Yorkers by investing in immigrant integration. While Governor Cuomo continues to stress that New York is a welcoming state for immigrants, unfortunately he failed to include any funding in his executive budget for critical programs to help protect immigrants from federal attacks, cut funding for some programs, and eliminated it for others. There is still time for these issues to be addressed as the governor, the assembly, and the senate negotiate a final budget. For refugees, New York has been a real leader: $2 million that has been [...]
New York’s 4.5 Million Immigrants Will Look to Governor Cuomo’s Leadership to Protect Them Against Federal Attacks
We welcome Governor Cuomo’s focus on the diversity of New York in his State of the State address. The governor was clear that our state was and is comprised of a wide variety of peoples who are all working to create a better future for themselves and our state. We also commend the governor for acknowledging the difficulties immigrants face obtaining employment. His proposal to make occupational licensing possible for some immigrants is a small but welcome step. The measure would remove an exclusion from licensing for security guards, notaries, real estate brokers—among other occupations—that currently prohibits immigrants who are [...]
Pay Your Way into the USA: DHS’s proposed fee increases create an immigration “wealth test”
Would you pass the federal administration’s wealth test? Here’s what you need to know and how you can help. The federal administration is trying to make it harder for people who are not affluent to enter the United States or obtain citizenship by instituting a “wealth test” to limit immigration. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to eliminate fee waivers for citizenship, lawful permanent residency, employment authorization, and many other applications to make it harder for immigrants who may work low-wage jobs to obtain legal status. DHS has proposed increasing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fees [...]
Only Wealthy Immigrants Need Apply: The Chilling Effects of “Public Charge”
In August 2019, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule on the “public charge” ground of inadmissibility for immigrants whose application for a green card is processed in the United States. The rule applies a similar test to people seeking to extend or change their temporary status (such as student or employment visas) in the United States. Although scheduled to go into effect on October 15, the rule has been blocked temporarily by several federal courts. If the new public charge rule goes into effect, it will make it much more difficult for low- and moderate-income families to [...]
“Public Charge” Chill Continues Regardless of Injunction
FPI Finds Widespread Negative Effects of the Attempt to Rewrite Immigration Policy For Immediate Release: Tuesday, November 19, 2019 Media Contact: communications@fiscalpolicy.org, 518-786-3156 “Public Charge” Chill Continues Regardless of Injunction FPI Finds Widespread Negative Effects of the Attempt to Rewrite Immigration Policy Read the report: www.fiscalpolicy.org/publiccharge2019 (Albany, NY) The Trump administration continues to drastically remake US immigration policy through a radical reinterpretation of the “public charge” rule. In the Fiscal Policy Institute’s report released today - “Only Wealthy Immigrants Need Apply: The Chilling Effects of Public Charge” - FPI shares an updated analysis of the fiscal and [...]
Join Us for Tax Justice NY!
You are invited to FPI's new FREE event"Tax Justice NY: Moving from Austerity to Prosperity" in Albany on Monday, December 9th, from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm in Meeting Room 5, Empire State Plaza. Our state’s tax policy is a tool we can all use to eliminate existing racial, ethnic, and gender inequities and increase economic equality for all New Yorkers. We are excited to partner with state and national advocacy organizations to bring these informative and energizing panel discussions to Albany in preparation for the 2020 state legislative session. 11:30 am - 11:55 am "Surveying the 2020 Landscape" New York State needs to commit to ensuring that its residents have [...]
Our Federal Tax Policy Can Strengthen NYS Communities
We can use federal tax policy to help struggling New Yorkers and support local communities with the Working Families Tax Relief Act (WFTRA). More than 6.5 million New York State residents would directly benefit from WFTRA's tax credits and tax reductions to boost incomes - especially helpful as most workers have seen their wages stagnate. WFTRA would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for families with children and strengthen it for workers not raising children. The legislation would also make the Child Tax Credit (CTC) refundable, allowing children in families with lower incomes to fully benefit from the program. FPI [...]
There Are About 11 Million Undocumented Immigrants in the U.S., Not Twice As Many
On July 11, 2019, the Trump Administration released an executive order that requires the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services to collect citizenship data using administrative records for the federal administration to determine the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States. This executive order was in response to the federal administration’s failed attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census that was blocked by the Supreme Court. In order to justify the executive order, the Trump Administration cited a 2018 study from three [...]