Upstate New York Cities Welcome Refugees and Immigrants – Some Media Stories
Last updated August 28, 2017. During these times where executive orders from Washington are not promoting a welcoming climate for immigrants, refugees and asylees, cities in upstate New York choose to do the opposite. Upstate cities are topics in many newspapers that highlight their welcoming, supportive and caring attitudes and actions toward refugees and immigrants. The news articles listed below illustrate how cities such as Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica help, welcome and support, their refugee friends, neighbors and community members and embrace their city's diversity. Albany West Hill a Refugee Haven: Nonprofit Organization Helping to Revive Area By Amanda [...]
Over 80 Upper-Income New Yorkers Urge Governor Cuomo and Legislature to Extend and Expand the Millionaires’ Tax
March 21, 2017. The Fiscal Policy Institute and Responsible Wealth released a letter signed by over 80 wealthy New Yorkers urging Governor Cuomo to extend and expand the millionaires' tax, currently in place but set to expire at the end of this year. Signers include Eileen Fisher, Abigail Disney, Steven C. Rockefeller, George Soros, David A. Levine, Dal LaMagna, Lewis B. Cullman, among other notable names. All signers, many members of the Responsible Wealth project, are residents of New York State with annual incomes of $650,000 or above, putting them in the top 1% of earners in the state. PDF of [...]
March 2017 NYC Budget Presentation
In his briefing on Mayor deBlasio’s Preliminary FY 2018 NYC Budget, James Parrott highlights the following: Cautious in face of an uncertain Washington: Federal aid is 1/3 of State budget (which is 18% of City budget); 8-10 % of City budget; 64% of NYCHA budget; and nearly half of the Health and Hospitals budget. State budget better this year, but still challenges: Governor proposed to extend millionaires tax, but it should be enhanced; threat to CFE-settlement determined school aid; handful of negative budget impacts for NYC. Before Trump’s budget outline and the proposed American Health Care Act (Trumpcare), the preliminary City budget looked [...]
2017 Budget Forum, Elmira, NY
March 8, 2017 - Fiscal Policy Institute Holds Information Session ELMIRA, N.Y. (18 NEWS) - The Fiscal Policy Institute, a group affiliated with the labor movement offered an information session on the state budget at Catholic Charities in Downtown Elmira on Wednesday. One major issue discussed was the millionaires' tax, which is set to expire at the end of this year. State legislators can let it expire, extend it as is, or expand it. The Fiscal Policy Institute claims expanding the millionaires' tax would largely affect downstate taxpayers, but would benefit upstate taxpayers. They said expanding the tax could providing [...]
Economic and Tax Contributions of Undocumented Immigrants in NY
Tuesday, March 2. As the Trump Administration talks about a program of mass deportation - or, who knows, perhaps not? - the question of what contribution undocumented immigrants make to the New York economy is more important than ever. This new report finds that unauthorized immigrants are responsible for $40 billion, or three percent, of New York's economic output, and make up five percent of the labor force. They also pay taxes—a total of $1.1 billion in state and local taxes in New York. The report also has regional profiles of unauthorized immigrants in New York City, Long Island, the [...]
Policy Brief: Federal Funding Cuts Could Cause Significant Budget Woes For NYS
February 23, 2017. New York State faces gargantuan budget challenges if the current federal administration is successful in pursuing the many cuts in funding to states proposed thus far. In its most recent policy brief, the Fiscal Policy Institute points out that over one-third of New York’s All Funds budget is comprised of federal funds and billions in additional funds are also sent to local governments, schools, and transportation. Altogether, over $70 billion in federal aid flows to the state and its local governments. The policy brief discusses the importance of federal funding and details the broad range of programmatic [...]
New York State Economic and Fiscal Outlook FY 2018
February 7, 2017. In its 27th annual New York State budget briefing book, the Fiscal Policy Institute analyzes and comments on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s FY 2018 Executive Budget. This year’s New York State budget negotiations take shape against a worrisome backdrop. The president and congress are threatening to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, make drastic cuts to programs that help millions of New Yorkers, and create a hostile environment for the states four million immigrants. The state has an important role to play to help make life better for all New Yorkers—perhaps, as the Simon and Garfunkel song had it, [...]
2017 State Budget Briefing in NYC
On Thursday afternoon, February 16, 2017, the Fiscal Policy Institute will present its New York State budget briefing in New York City at Community Service Society (CSS). Check-in and refreshments will begin at 2:30 p.m. Our presentation begins at 3:00 p.m. and ends at 4:00 p.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. You can RSVP online here. The briefing will examine various aspects of the governor’s Executive Budget including such topics as: Income Inequality in New York State: Income inequality [...]
Expanding Access to Driver’s Licenses: How Many Additional Cars Might Be Purchased?
January 31, 2017. If a policy was implemented allowing all age eligible immigrants, regardless of immigration status, to obtain a license, the Fiscal Policy Institute estimates that 97,000 additional cars would be purchased and registered in about a three year period, a one percent increase in the total number of vehicles in the state. An innovative analysis compares the vehicle ownership rates in households that include an unauthorized immigrant with other immigrant households. The comparison adjusts for household income, number of adults per household, and the "take-up rate" for unauthorized immigrants getting licenses. Click here to view the full brief and the [...]
Take-Up Rates for Driver’s Licenses
January 31, 2017. How many unauthorized immigrants actually get licenses when driver's license policies are expanded to allow them to apply? The Fiscal Policy Institute looks at the experience of five states and the District of Columbia, and finds that, based on these examples, between 25 percent and 50 percent of unauthorized immigrants over the age of 16 obtain a license in the first three years. PDF of Brief
Immigrants Help Syracuse Grow
January 27, 2017. Immigrants contribute to the economy of the Syracuse metro area, helping it to grow. Immigrants make up 5.5 percent of the population of metro Syracuse, 6.2 percent of the labor force, and an impressive 6.9 percent of total economic output. And, immigrants are a much more diverse group than most people realize. The largest country of birth for immigrants in metro Syracuse is China, with people born in China making up seven percent of immigrants. Canada may be no surprise as a country of birth for the foreign born, but the next largest countries of birth are Ukraine, India, Italy, [...]
Congress’ top 2017 priority should be poverty alleviation by EITC Expansion
January 27, 2017. As part of a campaign launched earlier this fall, and in recognition of EITC Awareness Day, over 60 New York-based organizations representing hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the state sent a letter to Senator Schumer urging him to stand strong in his support for expanding the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for working adults not raising children in the home. This expansion would help 1.1 million workers (466,000 of whom are actually taxed into – or deeper into – poverty) in New York State, and 7.5 million workers across the country. The letter underscores the critical [...]
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. You can RSVP online here. The briefing will examine various aspects of the governor’s Executive [...]
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 invested in their communities. Refugees come under different circumstances than the immigrants who came before [...]
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, or people recently released from incarceration. The fee charged for a driver’s license varies substantially [...]
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 and business operating costs, and considers the interaction between these forces. The report concludes that [...]
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 findings about New York: Undocumented immigrants in New York State contribute significantly to state and [...]
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 New Yorkers. This is a step in the right direction. We urge the Governor to [...]
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 likely. Specifically, immigrants are about 10-15 percent more likely to own businesses than their U.S.-born [...]
Interactive immigration graphic
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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 policy manager Richard André was also a key part of the initial framing of the research, [...]