Social Policy

NYS Can Help Low-income Working Families with Children by Increasing its Earned Income Tax Credit

May 20, 2014. It comes as no surprise to working families that New York State’s tax system is fundamentally unfair. Low- and middle-income workers pay, on average, a much higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the highest income earners. According to analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the 40% of New York’s tax filers with the lowest incomes pay at least 10% of their income in state and local taxes and the 20% of households [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00May 20th, 2014|Social Policy, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Testimony at the New York City Council Education and Women’s Issues Committees

February 11, 2014. James Parrott testified before the New York City Council Education and Women's Issues Committees on Feb. 11, 2014, on the subject of Mayor deBlasio's Universal Pre-Kindergarten and After-School Proposals. Parrott supported the notion that there should be a dedicated funding stream to pay for these proposals financed by an increase in the top rate on the City's personal income tax. He examined the proposed increase in historical perspective, reviewed the issue of migration in response to local and state tax differentials, and [...]

2020-11-13T15:04:35-05:00February 11th, 2014|Economic Trends & Policy, Education, Labor Market & Workforce, Social Policy, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Testimony|
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Testimony at the Joint Legislative Public Hearing on the 2014-2015 Executive Budget Proposal – Human Services

February 4, 2014. Submitted by Carolyn Boldiston, FPI’s Senior Fiscal Policy Analyst. Testimony includes: recommendations for the 2014-2015 state fiscal year; review of actual and proposed reductions in human services spending; use of federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding in the 2014-2015 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, 2014|Social Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Almost 3.2 million New Yorkers to See a Cut in Food Assistance Beginning Today

November 1, 2013. Beginning today, almost 3.2 million people in New York will see their food assistance benefits cut as the federal government ends a temporary boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The New Yorkers affected by this cut—in what used to be known as the “food stamps” program—include more than 1.2 million children and over 1 million elderly and disabled individuals. Overall, New York residents will receive $332 million less in SNAP benefits in the 11 months from November 1, 2013 through [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00November 1st, 2013|Blog, Social Policy, Tax & Budget|
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The Taxpayer Costs of Low-Wage Fast Food Jobs in New York State

October 16, 2013. Fast food jobs are by far the biggest source of job growth in New York State and New York City in this recovery and over the past decade. But, with a median hourly pay of only $8.90 an hour in NYC, this growth in fast food jobs is one of the reasons that poverty has risen sharply during the recovery. NYC has a record number of working poor—one out of every 10 workers in NYC works, but can’t earn enough to lift [...]

2020-11-13T15:12:43-05:00October 16th, 2013|Blog, Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Social Policy|
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New York is Second to Massachusetts in Reducing its Uninsurance Rate Over the Past Decade

September 19, 2013. The percentage of New Yorkers without health insurance dropped for the second year in a row from 12.2 percent in 2011 to 11.3 percent in 2012 (+/- .5 percent) according to estimates released by the Census Bureau two days ago. Overall, the number of people without health care coverage across the state dropped to approximately 2.2 million people in 2012. Moreover, New York was one of only four states that had a statistically significant reduction in the share of people not covered [...]

2020-11-13T15:06:55-05:00September 19th, 2013|Blog, Healthcare, Social Policy|
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Investing in education will build a stronger New York economy

August 22, 2013. The best way for New York State to grow its economy is by expanding investment in a well-educated workforce, according to a new study published by Economic Policy Institute for the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN). EARN is a network of 61 state and local economic think tanks and 25 national partners founded by the Economic Policy Institute and several other state and national groups, including the Fiscal Policy Institute. In A Well Educated Workforce is Key to State Prosperity, Noah [...]

2020-11-13T14:56:15-05:00August 22nd, 2013|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy, Tax & Budget|
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Safe Patient Handling in New York State: An Estimate of the Costs and Benefits of Statewide Implementation

June 13, 2013. Nurses and other health care workers have among the highest rates of on-the-job injuries in New York as a result of moving and lifting patients. This report considers what can be done to reduce patient handling injuries in New York. A number of hospital and nursing home facilities around the country have invested in patient handling equipment that significantly reduces the physical strain on health care practitioners. This equipment results in considerable cost savings in reduced lost work time, reduced turnover and lower workers compensation costs, and means that the [...]

2020-11-13T15:06:55-05:00June 13th, 2013|Economic Trends & Policy, Healthcare, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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Nearly half of seniors, including a majority of elderly blacks and Hispanics, are on the cusp of poverty, a new Economic Policy Institute report finds.

June 6, 2013. In a new briefing paper released today by the Economic Policy Institute, the report finds that 52.0 percent of New York seniors are at risk. See FPI's press release below. Contact: James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist, 212-721-5624 (desk), 917-880-9931 (mobile) New report: http://www.epi.org/publication/economic-security-elderly-americans-risk 52% of New York seniors are economically vulnerable, the fifth highest among all states. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s Medicare proposals would put many more seniors at economic risk. Having to squeeze their dollars, 48.0 percent [...]

2020-11-13T14:27:58-05:00June 6th, 2013|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Social Policy|
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Federal tax credits for working families need to be protected and strengthened as part of tax reform efforts

April 10, 2013. With policymakers in Washington calling for federal tax reform, the Fiscal Policy Institute said it is essential that members of Congress consider the beneficial long-term impacts of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) as well as these credits’ short-run benefits. In emphasizing the importance of making the current temporary enhancements of these credits permanent, FPI pointed to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that pulls together and examines the body of [...]

2020-11-13T15:11:23-05:00April 4th, 2013|Must Read, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy, Tax & Budget|
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FPI on New York’s 2013-14 State Budget

February 12, 2013. We have updated the Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2013-2014 briefing book that was originally released at FPI’s 23rd annual budget briefing on January 29, and submitted testimony by Carolyn Boldiston on the implications for Human Services of the Governor’s 2013-2014 Executive Budget and testimony by Frank Mauro on Tax Issues related to the Legislature’s consideration of the Executive Budget. We have also completed an analysis, with the New York Women's Foundation, of the impact of the Governor's budget on women, children and [...]

2020-11-13T15:12:43-05:00February 12th, 2013|Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Testimony|
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Testimony at the Joint Legislative Public Hearing on the 2013-2014 Executive Budget Proposal – Human Services

February 5, 2013. Submitted by Carolyn Boldiston, FPI's Senior Fiscal Policy Analyst. Testimony includes: trends in public assistance participation and poverty in New York State, a review of New York's historical utilization of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, a review of the state's maintenance-of-effort spending, and recommendations for the 2013-2014 state fiscal year.

2020-11-13T15:12:43-05:00February 5th, 2013|Social Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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New poverty and income inequality data should be a call to action

September 21, 2012. Data released by the Census Bureau yesterday casts additional light on New York’s high poverty rate and its extreme income inequality. The poverty situation is particularly dire in the Upstate cities and among children. When those two factors are looked at together, alarm bells should be going off in policymakers’ offices. More than half the children in Rochester and Syracuse lived in poverty in 2011 and Buffalo (46.8%), Schenectady (50.8%) and Albany (37%) were not far behind. See Table 1 for the overall family and individual poverty [...]

2020-11-13T14:27:59-05:00September 21st, 2012|Blog, Labor Market & Workforce, Social Policy|
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Failure to support the Affordable Care Act and expand Medicaid in New York State would threaten 2011 progress in health care coverage

September 20, 2012. After years of watching the number of New Yorkers without insurance climb higher and higher, we are finally seeing the trend reverse, thanks to health care reform and Medicaid. The data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau underscores the urgency for New York to implement health care reform. According to the Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey data, overall health insurance coverage in New York increased slightly from 2010 to 2011, from 88.1 percent to 88.6 percent. Private health insurance coverage [...]

2020-11-13T15:06:55-05:00September 20th, 2012|Blog, Healthcare, Social Policy|
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Health insurance coverage up in New York

September 12, 2012. One piece of good news from the Census Bureau data released today is an increase in the percentage of people with health insurance in New York State and across the country in 2011. The share of New Yorkers without health insurance dropped last year, according to preliminary state Census Bureau figures. Roughly one in eight New Yorkers did not have health insurance coverage in 2011, a decrease of three percent from 2010. A similar, though less pronounced, change was seen around the [...]

2020-11-13T15:06:55-05:00September 12th, 2012|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Healthcare, Labor Market & Workforce, Social Policy|
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