By the State’s account, it currently provides enough UPK funding to provide a UPK seat to every four-year-old in the State. Nevertheless, the program remains far short of universal, with incomplete coverage of four-year-olds outside of the state’s major cities and limited provision for three-year-olds across the state.
The Superfund is a fiscally sound mechanism for upgrading our statewide infrastructure in the face of urgent climate challenges, and FPI commends the governor and legislature for successfully working together to enact it.
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.
Much recent reporting has focused on the growth of CDPAP in isolation, but this perspective exaggerates home care growth by ignoring the role of agency-model home care, which accounts for 44 percent of all Medicaid-funded home care in New York.
State housing policy relies heavily on two federal programs that support housing affordability: the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and Housing Choice Vouchers (also known as “Section 8” vouchers). These two programs underpin most affordable housing construction in the US and play an important role in the provision of affordable housing in New York State.
New York spends more on Medicaid long-term care than most states, but this higher spending is driven primarily by higher enrollment, particularly among seniors, rather than by higher per-enrollee spending. This high enrollment reflects policymakers’ decision to make long-term care, particularly home care, relatively accessible for working- and middle-class seniors.
The “City of Yes” proposal would increase the housing supply in New York City by approximately 100,000 units by 2039. Without increased housing supply, New York City is at risk of economic stagnation and possible decline.
Childcare in New York State is unaffordable for many families, yet inadequately supports its workers. The State’s childcare costs are the third highest in the U.S., putting a strain on family budgets across the income distribution. The Bronx and Brooklyn have the costliest childcare as a share of family income of any county in the U.S.
A Primer for State and Local Policymakers
My name is Emily Eisner, and I am an Economist working with the Fiscal Policy Institute. I am testifying in support of the “City of Yes” plan. The City must pass the zoning reforms included in City of Yes, and, in addition, the City must increase investment in housing affordability through expanded fiscal measures. These two sets of policies — zoning reform to allow for increased supply, and fiscal support for housing affordability — work together.
Public school funding is allocated to local school districts based on formulas specified in state law, primarily through a formula known as Foundation Aid. This brief explains the State’s rules that govern public school funding.
Last month, both the Senate and Assembly of the New York State legislature passed the Climate Change Superfund Act (S.02129). The Act, first introduced during the FY 2022 budget cycle, would require the largest fossil fuel companies to pay a total of $75 billion — to be paid over 25 years in $3 billion annual increments — to New York State.
The housing deal currently under consideration in budget negotiations (as publicly reported) would create new tax incentives for affordable housing developers, weaken certain tenant protections passed in 2019, and impose a watered-down version of “Good Cause Eviction” with significant exemptions and loopholes.
Support for local school districts is New York’s largest single spending program, accounting for more than one-quarter of State spending. After fast spending growth over the last three years, the fiscal year 2025 executive budget aims to curb school aid spending growth. The legislative budget proposals would roll back the executive budget’s proposed cuts to school aid and provide additional support for public higher education. This funding would preserve the current scope of New York’s education system, rather than representing transformative new investments.
The Senate’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal makes substantial progress toward a comprehensive, ambitious housing package. The policies included address the overall supply of housing using a combination of tax incentives for housing, changes to zoning regulations that will allow for more housing construction, and direct spending on new housing development. The Senate also allocates funds for legal services to support tenants and low-income homeowners. Finally, the Senate proposes the creation of the New York Housing Opportunity Corporation (NYHOC) to purchase and develop new affordable housing in the state.
