Governance

December 10, 2018. This article discusses the work of advocates, community-based organizations (CBOs) and city officials on early preparation for the 2020 census given the challenges that will have to be faced including the possibility of a citizenship question. These advocates and CBOs are calling on the federal government for funding to help complete early preparation work that includes educating people on the importance of the census, efforts to reach hard-to-count communities and provide resources for census completion. Advocates argue that federal under-funding and the [...]

October 31, 2018. This article discusses the New York Counts 2020 coalition’s press conference which called on the New York State legislature to provide $40 million in the state budget to fund outreach for the 2020 Census. Shamier Settle, Policy Analyst at the Fiscal Policy Institute, introduced a report by the Institute detailing the cost analysis for statewide census education and community outreach. In 2010, 24 percent of New Yorkers did not return their census forms by mail, known as a “hard to count” population, [...]

August 2, 2018. This article discusses the pressures being placed on the Senate to return to Albany to take up a bill re-authorizing New York City to operate cameras in school zones to catch speeders and the call to tackle ethics reform. The two ethics reform bills that stalled in the Assembly before its session ended in June are aimed at boosting government transparency and oversight. One of these bills is the "database of deals", a policy supported by The Fiscal Policy Institute, which would permit the public [...]

July 18, 2018. With the wave of unprecedented public corruption scandals and criminal convictions in New York State government, it would make sense for a wave of accountability and ethics reform to follow. That is not the case. Governor Cuomo and legislators have failed to adopt any of the ethics reforms called for by government watchdog groups, including toughening oversight of state contracts, eliminating a loophole that allows companies to ignore campaign-contribution limits, and appointing an independent monitor for ethics and election laws. With the recent [...]

June 18, 2018. This article and corresponding radio clip discusses the bid rigging trial of a former associate of Governor Cuomo and two upstate development firms, who are accused of fraudulently obtaining lucrative taxpayer-funded state contracts, and the currently stalled-in-the-Assembly package of accountability and transparency reform bills. Multiple reform groups, including the Fiscal Policy Institute, want the Assembly to pass the package and restore the State Comptroller’s authority over reviewing the economic development contracts, and enact a public database, known as the "Database of Deals," of [...]

November 2, 2017. On Election Day, New York’s voters will have their first opportunity in 20 years to call for a state constitutional convention via ballot proposition. Nearly 100 Capital District voters packed the auditorium at the Guilderland Public Library last Tuesday night for a panel discussion titled “Would New York State Benefit from a Constitutional Convention?” The event, co-presented by the League of Women Voters of Albany County and the Women’s Press Club of New York State, was moderated by Susan Arbetter, host of [...]

A coalition of progressive groups including the NYCLU and Legal Aid Society announced its opposition to a ballot measure on Nov. 7 that asks whether New Yorkers should hold a convention to revise and amend the state constitution next year. Opponents such as Fiscal Policy Institute and New Yorkers Against Corruption, fear it could set the stage for rolling back protections and rights such as public-sector pension guarantees and legal protections for immigrants and the poor. “We have far more to lose than we have [...]

October 30, 2017. A group of progressive organizations, on Monday, gathered to voice their opposition to holding a constitutional convention, which voters will decide on Nov. 7. “We have far more to lose than we have to gain,” said Ron Deutsch, executive director of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute. “We think this is a recipe for disaster.”   Access full article HERE  

October 30, 2017. There is just over a week left until New Yorkers head to the polls. Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, and Susan Welber, Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society, weighed in on why they are urging a no vote on Ballot Question One, the Constitutional Convention Question.   Access to the full podcast can be found HERE.