Economic Trends & Policy

“Legislature Supports $2.1 Billion in Aid to Excluded Workers; Report Shows $3.5 is Needed”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2021 Media Contact: communications@fiscalpolicy.org, 518-786-3156 “Legislature Supports $2.1 Billion in Aid to Excluded Workers; Report Shows $3.5 is Needed” Read FPI’s report: Unemployment Compensation for Excluded Workers: $3.5 Billion Needed for 2020 and 2021 (Albany, NY) – New York State may be on the brink of providing unemployment benefits to workers who are currently excluded from the state’s unemployment insurance fund. The New York State Assembly and Senate both support a fund of $2.1 billion to extend benefits to undocumented [...]

New York lawmakers propose tax increases on the rich. Here’s who would pay up

The New York State Senate passed its one-house budget resolution which includes raising the tax rate on those earning over $1 million a year. The Assembly supports this tax reform as well. "Big challenges require bold action and demand a combination of transformative vision and concrete commonsense response," said Jonas Shaende, chief economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Albany.  "The Legislature’s proposals show their willingness to consider a broad array of measures to ensure New Yorkers’ health and well-being." Read the Gannett article which appears in lohud and [...]

Tax opponents wonder if they still can count on Gov. Cuomo

As the state budget process progresses, both houses released their one-house budget proposals which include increased taxes for top earners and corporations. Critics contend these tax reforms are not needed due to federal aid. Advocates point out the long-standing need for tax reform to set the state on the right course. "The legislature’s proposals recognize the need for support to ensure all New Yorkers can live, work, access health care, and receive a sound education," the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute said. Read the Newsday article [...]

Denied COVID economic relief, N.Y.-based immigrant and excluded workers plan hunger strike

Advocacy organizations and state lawmakers have been urging the state to create a COVID relief fund for undocumented workers and others excluded from federal aid since the start of the pandemic. The majority, 54%, of New York City residents working in essential jobs during the pandemic are immigrants, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. Read: "Denied COVID economic relief, N.Y.-based immigrant and excluded workers plan hunger strike" NY Daily News

2021-03-16T15:30:06-04:00March 15th, 2021|FPI in the News, Migration, State Budget, Tax & Budget|

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 [...]

The American Rescue Plan and the New York State Budget

The year 2021 began under the threat of a historic state budget shortfall of $15 billion. Compounded by municipal and county-level fiscal stress, it imperiled funding for public services and employees – a terrible risk as New York continued to experience the social, emotional, and fiscal impacts from the pandemic. The governor’s proposed Executive Budget featured an “if-then” scenario that reflected a minimum level of $6 billion in federal aid and assumed a remaining $9 billion difference. At the same time, the governor requested $15 [...]

Legal Status for Undocumented Essential Workers: New York Gains

The Biden-Harris administration is being urged to grant legal status to the roughly 5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States who served as essential workers during the Covid pandemic. This is simply the right thing to do for people who have lived in this country for years and served heroically during a time of need. In this case, doing the right thing would also have economic benefits for immigrants who would newly have work authorization and for government revenues that would increase as well. [...]

2021-03-09T10:03:30-05:00March 9th, 2021|Blog, Migration|

Economists Push Biden On Path To Citizenship For Undocumented Immigrants

FPI joined a letter from economists urging the Biden Administration this week to include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in upcoming legislation. The letter highlighted that such an action would benefit the nation as a whole. Benefits would include increasing jobs, productivity, boost wages, and tax revenue. The group of more than 60 signatories includes former Obama economic advisor Jason Furman, Eileen Appelbaum of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and David Kallick of the Fiscal Policy Institute. Read the Forbes article [...]

Biden Urged to Legalize Migrants as Part of Infrastructure Plan

FPI joined with more than 60 economists to urge President Biden to create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the soon-to-be-released economic and infrastructure plan. Such an action not only benefits those individuals, but the experts also explain that this action would help our economy by raising wages and increasing productivity and tax revenue. The economists, including President Barack Obama’s former top economist Jason Furman and David Kallick of the Fiscal Policy Institute, which champions liberal economic policies, made the proposal in a [...]

2021-04-06T09:56:44-04:00February 12th, 2021|Economic Trends & Policy, FPI in the News, Migration|

After the Applause: Legal Status for Essential Workers

In the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic last spring, Americans embraced a new concept: Essential Workers. In many areas, we applauded for them every night at 7pm: they kept us going through this difficult period, and we knew they were taking a risk to their own health in doing it. We also knew that many of those workers are undocumented. In recognition of the service they provided to this country during a time of crisis, congress and the president should act today to give those [...]

2021-02-12T16:14:55-05:00February 12th, 2021|Blog, Migration|

NYS Enhanced Services for Refugees: Now Is the Time to Expand

The New York State Enhanced Services to Refugees Program (NYSESRP) began in 2017 as a response to the federal government’s retreat from refugee resettlement. New York State was first in the nation to provide state funding to support refugee integration, a valuable investment in the refugees and asylees who call New York home. New York for Refugees—a coalition of refugee serving agencies, the Fiscal Policy Institute and the New York Immigration Coalition—seeks $5 million in the 2021 budget to expand NYSESRP and grow support for [...]

2021-02-10T18:17:16-05:00February 10th, 2021|Blog, Migration|

Military Coup in Myanmar Reverberates in California, Indiana, New York, and Texas

Over the past week, the military in Myanmar, the country also known as Burma, overthrew the democratically elected government and arrested the top civilian leaders. The United States state department condemned the action, saying “the military must reverse these actions immediately.” These actions are being watched closely, and in horror, by Burmese communities in the United States. To help understand what this means in Burmese communities in the United States, the Fiscal Policy Institute presents here data showing that of the 151,000 people born in [...]

2021-02-05T14:24:49-05:00February 5th, 2021|Blog, Migration|

Concrete Gains for New Yorkers from Federal Immigration Proposal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 1, 2021 Media Contact: communications@fiscalpolicy.org, 518-786-3156 Concrete Gains for New Yorkers from Federal Immigration Proposal Removing Barriers for Immigrants Boosts Earnings and Tax Revenue Read the report:  A Pathway to Citizenship: Doing Well by Doing Good (Albany, NY) A new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) in conjunction with the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows the ways New York State would benefit if undocumented immigrants could gain work authorization and apply for citizenship, as is being proposed [...]

2021-03-31T14:53:36-04:00February 1st, 2021|Migration, Press Releases|

Arts Central to New York City’s Recovery

As New York looks to restart our economic engine after the pandemic, the arts and culture play a critical role, especially in New York City. Governor Cuomo underscored that connection in his State of the State and New York State budget announcements. "Cities are by definition centers of energy, entertainment, theatre, and cuisine. Without that activity and attraction, cities lose much of their appeal. What is a city without social, cultural, and creative synergies? New York City is not New York without Broadway.” The coronavirus [...]

2021-01-19T12:19:29-05:00January 19th, 2021|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, State Budget|

Long Island’s Immigrants are Integral for its Economic Recovery

County Executive Steve Bellone's editorial in the Long Island Press pointed out the contributions that immigrants make to the area, including the boost they provide to the economy. The Long Island immigrant community is a vital part of our workforce and economy as a whole, with more than half working in white-collar jobs as of 2015. Immigrants make up 18 percent of the combined population of Nassau and Suffolk counties, generating 20 percent of total economic output, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. Learn more [...]

Go to Top