Blog

Brent Kramer, PhD, Senior Economist Kramer@fiscalpolicy.org August 3, 2017   ALBANY, New York – In today’s post-Great Recession environment, student loan debt has reached all-time highs, and more young adults are living at home longer, and are unable to purchase homes, cars, and other assets because of persistent unemployment or underemployment. Many young would-be workers are forgoing the job market altogether, and returning to school or taking unpaid internships in hopes of breaking into their respective fields. Eight years after the Great Recession, college graduates [...]

August 1, 2017. We’re pleased to announce some staff changes at the Fiscal Policy Institute. Kendra Moses recently joined FPI as Operations Manager. Kendra comes to us from Greater Adirondack Home Aides, where she was Chief Financial Officer and Consumer Directed Medicaid Program Director. Melissa Krug was hired as FPI’s new Poverty Policy Analyst. Melissa was a Center for Women and Government fellow at FPI through the budget season working on poverty issues. David Dyssegaard Kallick has been promoted to Deputy Director of FPI. He will also continue as director of [...]

June 16, 2017. An editorial featured in the Observer-Dispatch cited FPI's and the Center for American Progress's co-released report, "Refugee Integration in the United States." The op-ed is not only an invitation to celebrate World Refugee Day with those in Utica, but it also discusses how Utica is a city that refugees have helped rebuild by contributing to the local economy and tax rolls and reversing population decline. There is little question that refugees are making significant contributions to our communities across the nation - [...]

May 11, 2017. FPI and a coalition of other organizations are calling on Governor Cuomo to sign a bill for "clean contracting" in response to the bid-rigging scandal last year. The coalition calls on the Governor to restore the power to State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for all state contracts exceeding $250,000, an end to non-academic contracting by state-controlled non-profit organizations, the creation of a comprehensive “database of deals,” and a prohibition against state authorities, corporations, and affiliated non-profits doing business with their board members. “How [...]

May 2, 2017. An editorial discusses the deportation case of Martin Martinez, an undocumented immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, has a working permit, but also has two drunken driving convictions from over a decade ago. The author discusses sanctuary cities and argues how they try to distinguish between serious and minor crimes, and that new deportation policies make it difficult to fight crime. In the article, the author also argues that there are human and fiscal costs, and cites FPI's [...]

April 26, 2017. In an article discussing the findings of a 50-state report by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and co-released in New York with FPI, David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of FPI's Immigration Research Initiative, was quoted. The Trump administration is sending mixed messages about whether those granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status by the Obama administration will be deported or allowed to stay and work legally. David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, said he believes one consideration should be [...]

April 25, 2017. What will happen to immigrant youth who as children were brought to the United States without legal status and were temporarily shielded from deportation by a 2012 executive order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA? The Trump Administration is projecting very mixed messages about the present and future of these young people. To help shed some light on how DACA has allowed these young immigrants to contribute to our country and our state, a new report shows the state [...]

April 14, 2017. In an article highlighting the significant contributions that immigrants make to the economy through business ownership, the author discusses their role in the creation of fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses. This article cites a co-released report by the Americas Society/Council on the Americas and the Fiscal Policy Institute, Bringing Vitality to Main Street. Just consider: Of the Fortune 500 companies, 90 were founded by immigrants, a 2011 report showed. And it’s not just the billion-dollar blockbuster companies that are [...]

April 11, 2017. An article featured in Crain's New York Business draws attention to the hearing scheduled for April 25, at 6:30 p.m. at LaGuardia Community College's Little Theater, where wage theft, discrimination, scheduling problems, health and safety hazards, access to paid sick leave, and freelancer payment problems will be addressed and how the city government can help to protect workers against these issues. The article argues that employers are using the fear created by immigration policies to take advantage of their workers. This article cites [...]

April 7, 2017. An article highlighting a protest against an immigration crackdown on Tom Cat Bakery, located in Long Island, that was threatened with criminal charges if they continued to hire workers with out proper working credentials, quoted FPI's data. This data came from FPI's Working for a Better Life report. Immigrant food workers will march on Trump Tower Saturday to protest an immigration crackdown on Long Island City's Tom Cat Bakery, whose baguettes are served by top restaurants around the city. Elected officials including [...]