Meeting Basic Needs

Op-Ed: Protect Veterans’ Access to SNAP

November 9, 2018 Veterans Day reminds us of our duty to support Americans who have served our nation in uniform. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices they’ve made and to re-examine the ways we can help them when they return home and re-enter civilian life. As we support them, we can certainly all agree that no veteran should go hungry. Unfortunately, for too many veterans in New York and across the country, hunger remains a serious concern. That’s one of the reasons the [...]

2021-01-06T12:32:45-05:00November 13th, 2018|FPI in the News, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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Webinar: What New York’s Community Organizations Need To Know About Public Charge

Join FPI For A Webinar On: What New York's Community Organizations Need To Know About Public Charge Last month, the Department of Homeland Security publicized a proposed Public Charge rule that would punish immigrants going through official immigration processes and their families for applying for or receiving government benefits for which they are legally eligible. This would take away vital government assistance programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance from low-income immigrant families, including U.S. citizen children. Denying access to basic needs programs will [...]

2021-01-06T12:32:23-05:00November 9th, 2018|Blog, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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Press Release: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Helps Nearly 64,000 of New York’s Low-Income Veterans Put Food on Their Tables

November 9, 2018 MEDIA CONTACT Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of FPI 518.469.6769 | deutsch@fiscalpolicy.org Sherry Tomasky, Director of Public Affairs of Hunger Solutions New York 518.414.6769 | sherry.tomasky@hungersolutionsny.org PRESS RELEASE New York State Food Security Advocates Urge Congress to Protect Food Assistance for Veterans The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Helps Nearly 64,000 of New York’s Low-Income Veterans Put Food on Their Tables As the nation prepares to observe Veterans Day, Hunger Solutions New York and the Fiscal Policy Institute are calling on Congress to [...]

2021-01-06T12:32:01-05:00November 9th, 2018|Meeting Basic Needs, Press Releases, Social Policy|
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FPI Supports Calls to Protect SNAP

June 14, 2018. FPI’s Policy Analyst, Shamier Settle and Chief Economist, Jonas Shaende joined the Poor People’s Campaign and Rise & Resist at their rally against potential cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The House Agriculture Committee farm bill (H.R. 2) outlines cuts and discontinuation of SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) for a substantial number of low-income Americans. This proposal contains $20 billion in cuts to the SNAP program and provisions for expanded work requirements. There is little empirical evidence that such requirements [...]

2021-01-06T11:52:09-05:00June 15th, 2018|Blog, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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FPI Holds Webinar with Hunger Solutions New York About SNAP and the 2018 Farm Bill

May 8, 2018. The Fiscal Policy Institute and Hunger Solutions New York held a webinar regarding the 2018 Farm Bill and changes to SNAP on April 30, 2018. SNAP, otherwise known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, helps close the gap of food insecurity for people across New York and the rest of the country. The slides for the webinar are available here.

2021-01-06T11:36:51-05:00May 8th, 2018|Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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Interactive Maps: SNAP Participation Rates and SNAP Retailers

May 7, 2018. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP for short, is the country's largest and most effective nutrition program. In New York State, over 2.8 million people utilize SNAP every year, including 1.1 million children. More than $4.9 billion in SNAP benefits were spent at over 18,000 New York retailers in 2016. SNAP is a part of the Farm Bill, a piece of legislation which authorizes most federal policies governing food and agriculture programs. Approximately 80 percent of the Farm Bill is SNAP funding [...]

2021-01-06T11:35:41-05:00May 7th, 2018|Blog, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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Protest Outside Congresswomen Stefanik’s Office Targets Proposed SNAP Cuts

May 4, 2018. A small group of citizens protested outside U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s downtown office Thursday to urge her not to vote on the upcoming Farm Bill, which contains $20 billion in cuts in the SNAP program. Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, carried a sign that read, “SNAP Out of it Elise. Don’t Cut Food Stamps 4 Families.” SNAP refers to the formal name of the food stamp program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Deutsch, whose organization defines itself as a [...]

2021-01-06T11:34:48-05:00May 4th, 2018|FPI in the News, Meeting Basic Needs|
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What’s Going On In Your District? The Fiscal Policy Institute’s Congressional District Fact Sheets Are Here!

February 16, 2018. The beginning of the Trump administration initiated a tremendous wave of attacks on government poverty alleviation programs and services like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). New York State has the highest income equality of all the fifty states with over 2.8 million people living in poverty. These programs and services provide immense relief for lower-income, working families and lift millions of children out of poverty. The Congressional District Fact Sheets (CDFS) contain information about the importance of poverty alleviation and [...]

2021-01-06T11:13:53-05:00February 16th, 2018|Fact Sheets, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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Proposed EITC Expansion Is No Substitute for Proposed $15 Minimum Wage

March 18, 2016. The state’s EITC is an extremely important benefit to low- and moderate-income working families. There is considerable merit to Assemblyman Kolb’s proposed 50% enhancement to the state’s EITC, raising it form 30% to 45% of the federal EITC. However, the proposal is certainly not a substitute for raising the minimum wage. It is more appropriate to view the EITC and raising the minimum wage as complementary policies. See the complete brief issued jointly by the Fiscal Policy Institute and the National Employment [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00March 18th, 2016|Economic Trends & Policy, Employment, Unemployment & Job Quality, Meeting Basic Needs, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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No Permanent Extension of Business Tax Credits Without Permanent Extension of EITC/CTC Credits to Working Families

December 7, 2015. Senator Charles Schumer joined with leading anti-poverty advocates today to insist that Congress not permanently extend business tax credits without first making permanent tax credits to working poor families. The improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) that were enacted several years ago are extremely important to millions of working families across the country, including nearly 1.5 million children in 755,000 New York families. Yet these improvements are scheduled to expire in 2017—and if they do, [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00December 7th, 2015|Meeting Basic Needs, Press Releases, Social Policy|
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Extend Tax Credits to the Poor

October 12, 2015. The following op-ed by Ron Deutsch appeared in the Times-Union. Millions of Americans go to work each day, sometimes balancing multiple low-wage jobs, and yet they still struggle to make ends meet for themselves and their families. The fact is, far too many hardworking Americans slip into poverty each year. I see this firsthand in my role at the Fiscal Policy Institute. We do, however, have two powerful and effective tools that encourage work and help lift working families out of poverty [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00October 12th, 2015|Letters, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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Testimony: The Establishment of a New York City Retirement Security Board

June 23, 2015. James Parrott testified at a New York City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor on the establishment of a New York City Retirement Security Board. The case for a retirement security fund and program for private-sector workers can be summed up as follows: New York City’s population is aging, many private sector workers do not have employer-provided retirement coverage, and our tax system rewards those who have employer-provided retirement coverage but does relatively little to help those who don’t have such [...]

2020-11-13T15:14:17-05:00June 23rd, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy, Testimony|
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Op-ed: De Blasio’s welfare reform correction: Critics who claim we’re sliding back to the bad old are blind to reality

March 27, 2015. An op-ed by James Parrott, Daily News. Some see the slight increase in New York City's welfare rolls in recent months as cause for alarm, warning that we are on an inevitable slide back to bad old days of chronic government dependency. In fact, the uptick reflects a long overdue policy correction. Changes underway are about making temporary assistance "a leg up and not a hand out," which is exactly what welfare should be. Far from dismantling welfare reform, Mayor de Blasio [...]

2020-11-13T15:12:43-05:00March 27th, 2015|Letters, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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Testimony at the Joint Legislative Public Hearing on the 2015-2016 Executive Budget – Human Services

February 4, 2015. Submitted by Elizabeth McNichol, FPI Senior Fellow. Testimony includes: recommendations for the 2015-2016 state fiscal year; a summary and analysis of actual and proposed reductions in Human Services spending; use of federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding in the 2015-2016 Executive Budget; and, the impact of decline in the purchasing power of the monthly cash assistance grant.

2020-11-13T15:12:43-05:00February 4th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Employment, Unemployment & Job Quality, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Hundreds of thousands of low-income families would benefit from a New York minimum wage increase

July 17, 2014. David Neumark’s piece in the July 6 Wall Street Journal (“Who Really Gets the Minimum Wage?”) argues that because some low-wage earners are in high-income families, increasing the minimum wage isn’t a very effective way to reduce poverty. In particular, he cites research to the effect that “if we were to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 nationally, 18% of the benefits of the higher wages (holding employment fixed) would go to poor families [but] 29% would go to families with incomes [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00July 17th, 2014|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Employment, Unemployment & Job Quality, Meeting Basic Needs, Social Policy|
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