How to Fund the MTA
Lawmakers must look to progressive revenue sources for MTA funding
Fixing Unemployment Insurance
Download the Memo Download the Report The Fiscal Policy Institute today released two publications on how to fix New York State's insolvent unemployment insurance system: a memo recommending tax changes, and a short report detailing the UI system’s chronic underfunding and low benefit level. Unemployment insurance (UI), which provides temporary income to laid-off workers, is one of the State’s most important economic stabilization policies. Unemployment can both throw workers into poverty and exacerbate recessions by [...]
The Staffing Crisis in Upstate Hospitals
FPI today released a report by Dr. Emily Eisner on the staffing crisis in Upstate New York's hospitals. The report finds that 90 percent of Upstate hospital shifts are current understaffed, and that an additional 5,000 Registered Nurses and 20,000 ancillary staff are needed to achieve safe staffing levels. As the report shows, chronic understaffing leads to a 14 percent rise in mortality risk for patients on the worst 10 percent of hospital units—about 280 additional patients death for every 100,000 hospitalizations.
Who is Leaving New York State? Part II: Social Characteristics
The Fiscal Policy Institute today released a new report in its state migration series, "Who Is Leaving New York State? Social and Labor Characteristics", which finds that affordability — and in particular housing and the cost of raising a family — are increasingly driving State population loss.
Fiscal Analysis: 2025 Revenue To Exceed Projections by At Least $4 Billion
The DOB’s assumed growth rates for State revenue are unusually low by historical standards, and are out of sync with most forecasts of U.S. economic growth over coming years. FPI expects State revenue growth in fiscal year 2025 will likely exceed current forecasts by at least $4 billion.
Tax Policy Brief: Fiscal Stability and Progressivity in the Personal Income Tax
New York State often faces calls for higher tax revenue, whether due to concerns over revenue shortfalls or a desire to increase public spending. This brief assesses the soundness of raising revenue through the Personal Income Tax, examining the fiscal stability of such revenue, fundamental fairness considerations, and responses to common arguments against raising the state income tax.
New: Expiring Tax Rates to Drive Down Expected Fiscal Year 2028 Revenue
By Andrew Perry, Senior Policy Analyst January 2024 Approximately $2.4 Billion of FY28 budget gap will be due to the Personal Income Tax and Corporate Franchise Tax surcharge expirations. In the fiscal year 2022 budget, New York enacted temporary increases to the personal income tax (PIT) and corporate franchise tax (CFT) rates. PIT rates were raised for tax filers with more than $1 million in annual income, and new brackets were created for filers with incomes over $5 million [...]
Who is Leaving New York State? Part I: Income Trends
A groundbreaking new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute, “Who Is Leaving New York State? Income Trends” reveals for the first time that the richest New Yorkers are far less likely to move out of New York than working and middle-class New Yorkers in normal, non-Covid years. While this pattern temporarily changed during Covid, when all households earning over $170,000 significantly increased their likelihood of moving out of state, migration trends reverted to normal in 2022.
Fiscal Year 2024 Enacted Budget Financial Plan Analysis
New outyear budget gaps in the fiscal year 2024 Enacted Budget Financial Plan reflect heightened pessimism about the state’s economic trajectory by the State’s Division of Budget (DOB). While all economic projections are highly uncertain, the State is well-equipped to weather economic turbulence if these projections do materialize.
Workforce Report: Labor Shortage Mitigation in New York’s Home Care Sector
New York State has been reported to be one of the states most at risk of incurring a shortage of healthcare workers over the next decade. With a quickly growing population of adults over the age of 65 (“older adults”) and a movement towards “aging in place,” the demand for home care workers will rise dramatically over the next decade.
Housing Costs, Not Taxes, Drive Migration out of New York
The typical family that moves out of New York State saves 15 times more from lower housing costs than they do from lower taxes. Of the top twenty largest county-to-county moves out of New York State, annual mortgage costs are on average $18,300, or 34 percent, lower outside New York.
Inequality in New York & Options for Progressive Tax Reform
A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds that New York State is home to the highest concentration of extreme wealth in the United States. New York State also has the greatest income inequality in the United States. In order to understand inequality, we need to look at both income and wealth. By both of these measures, New York is the most unequal state in the nation.
New York State Fines and Fees Revenue Lacks Transparency, Obscures Economic Harms
New York State relies on fine, fee, and surcharge revenue to fund government operations- including the functions of the courts and state agencies providing criminal justice, public safety, and victim services. This funding is generated via a complex set of state statutes, including penal, vehicle and traffic, environmental conservation, judiciary, and finance laws and is spent through the General Fund and a bevy of State Special Revenue Funds. No one state government entity or agency is charged with comprehensively reporting on the imposition, collection, and [...]
Excluded Worker Fund Will Benefit 290,000 Undocumented New Yorkers and Boost Local Economies
The New York State Excluded Worker Fund passed in this year's budget at last provides a meaningful level of assistance to undocumented workers who have been excluded from major federal pandemic assistance. The $2.1 billion fund creates two tiers of aid. Tier 1 is on a rough par with unemployment insurance, and provides $15,600 to undocumented workers who can meet its strict standards of proof of eligibility. Tier 2 pays $3,200, and is on a par with the three rounds of federal stimulus payments ($1,200, $600, [...]
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: New York’s Share of the Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund
Read the full report: The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: New York’s Share of the Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes $350 billion in aid for states, territories, and tribal governments for the purpose of alleviating the fiscal stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $350 billion, $195.3 billion is allocated for payments to states, $130.2 billion for city and county governments, $20 billion for tribal governments, and $4.5 billion for territories. These coronavirus fiscal recovery funds [...]