Labor Market & Workforce

April 7, 2019. This article exposes the state's income gap problem by focusing on Saratoga County which has the distinction of being the fastest growing county but also the one with the greatest income disparity Upstate. Prompted by the Economic Policy Institutes's report "The New Gilded Age," the author Wendy Liberatore quotes their data, checks in with local community homeless and housing providers, and the Rev. Peter Cook, Executive Director for the New York Council of Churches, who detail the hardships that accompany the income disparity. [...]

February 1, 2019. In a short rebuttal in regards to the minimum wage and whether it will negatively impact businesses, the author cites several studies that support the economic viability of enacting a higher minimum wage. In one research study, Dube, Lester, and Reich in a study “Minimum Wage Effect Across State Borders,” studied the effect of one state raising minimum wages while a bordering state did not raise its minimum wages and found no adverse effect on employment. A study by the Fiscal Policy Institute [...]

January 1, 2018. This article discusses the sitcom, “Kim’s Convenience,” which is a realistic portrayal of the life of immigrants. The article goes on to discuss how the show takes place in Canada and is based on the life of the Kim family who arrived in the country with no language skills, business connections and educational credentials, and they did what so many immigrants in the U.S. and Canada do in real life, start a business. The author highlights that the sitcom is not like so many [...]

June 21, 2018. This article discusses the benefits of paid sick leave and how Albany county government can work on expanding paid leave benefits to more county workers. While many employers in Albany County do offer paid sick leave, about 40 percent of employees living in Albany County do not get even a single day of paid sick leave, according to Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, based in Albany. First, there is a need for paid sick days in Albany County. [...]

April 29, 2018. Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and a state-based coalition of diverse service providers met on  Monday on the steps of City Hall in New York to denounce the proposed budget cuts by the Trump administration. The coalition submitted a letter on behalf of nearly 80 service providers asking members of Congress to fully fund these programs and defend them from budget cuts. The coalition includes FPWA, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, Fiscal Policy Institute, Human Services Council of New York, United Neighborhood Houses, UJA-Federation of [...]

March 14, 2018. The Fiscal Policy Instituted participated in a press event with the Strong Nonprofits for a Better New York coalition yesterday morning in the Capitol. The coalition represents more than 350 nonprofits organizations across New York seeking to adequately fund a higher minimum wage and cost-of-living pay adjustments for the state's contracted human services employees. The press event revolved around the inaugural induction of 38 female human service sector workers into its "Human Services Hall of Fame" as well as pushing legislators and Gov. [...]

By Michelle Jackson, New York Daily News April 20, 2017 Gov. Cuomo recently announced a comprehensive study of New York’s gender wage gap, including at least four public hearings to develop recommendations for tackling this problem. We appreciate the sentiment, but if the governor truly wants to address this issue, he should start in his backyard — by looking at his own policies of setting wages barely above the poverty line for social assistance workers under contract with New York State. Through these contracts, the state [...]

March 28, 2017. By Alyssa Plock A collaboration of reporting from Investigative Post, ProPublica, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism shows that despite billions in subsidies, upstate job growth remains sluggish. Today three guests join Susan Arbetter to analyze the subsidy issue: Jim Heaney, Founder, Editor and Executive Director of Investigative Post, Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, and EJ McMahon, Founder and Research Director of the Empire Center for Public Policy.

This is the first part of a series that runs through Thursday. The full lineup of stories, columns and radio interviews can be found here » March 28, 2017 Gov. Andrew Cuomo has sunk a lot of taxpayer money – $25 billion by his estimate – into recharging upstate’s moribund economy. The governor has increased spending on subsidy programs to record levels, launched bold policy initiatives and crisscrossed upstate to announced projects he has frequently described as “game-changers.” “Economic success is shared all across the state. [...]

By Ron Deutsch and Reg Foster, Commentary Published, Albany Times Union 5:25 pm, Wednesday, March 15, 2017 A young woman juggling an entry-level administrative job and classes at a community college; a divorced dad working 40 hours a week as a custodian to help support his two kids; a veteran trying to make a living back home after serving our country overseas: They, and millions of other hard-working Americans, struggle to make ends meet because their jobs pay low wages. In fact, 466,000 workers in New [...]