March 24, 2014. The 2014-2015 New York State Budget Tax Brief compares the tax proposals in the Assembly and Senate budget resolutions with those in the Executive Budget. The major proposals are analyzed and their impacts discussed.
March 11, 2014. In his review of NYC Mayor Bill deBlasio’s first budget, FPI’s James Parrott notes the new mayor’s progressive change in direction compared to prior City budgets. Not surprisingly, the major new initiative included in the Preliminary FY 2015 budget is full funding for the UPK/afterschool proposal scheduled for launch in the fall of 2014. The briefing summarizes trends in state and federal aid, and analyzes projections for tax revenue growth. Parrott describes the municipal labor contract situation as a challenge but not [...]
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 [...]
February 10, 2014. Executive Director Fred Floss testified before the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees on the Governor’s 2014-2015 Proposed Budget and Financial Plan. Floss noted the proposal for FY2015 is contractionary, since it cuts $2 billion in expenditures and only reduces taxes by $480 and will therefore be a drag on economic growth in New York State. He also commented on a number of tax proposals including the property tax freeze, corporate tax reductions and the estate tax proposal. If implemented, [...]
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.
January 22, 2014. In his budget message, Governor Andrew Cuomo rightly touts his strong record of leadership in Albany. However, when it comes to the state budget, the governor’s approach is out of focus and falls far short in making the essential public investments to expand opportunities for the millions of New Yorkers in poverty or still struggling to pull away from the Great Recession of 2008-09. The question is whether the Governor’s approach to the budget is the right set of proposals for a [...]
January 6, 2014. Governor Cuomo in unveiling his tax proposals today has identified a key issue in growing the state’s economy—reducing the property tax burden on New Yorkers, and we agree. The Fiscal Policy Institute has long proposed a circuit breaker as a solution to the burden of high property taxes on moderate and lower income families and to ensure that retirees are not forced out of their homes. What the governor could have added is that creating strong, stable, middle class neighborhoods promotes a [...]
December 20, 2013. Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo accepted the final report of the New York State Tax Relief Commission that he had appointed earlier this Fall. This commission, which was co-chaired by former Governor George Pataki and former State Comptroller H. Carl McCall, had been charged by Governor Cuomo with identifying ways to provide property and business tax relief to New York's homeowners and businesses. Today, the Fiscal Policy Institute joined with six of New York’s leading progressive groups in releasing a report analyzing [...]
December 19, 2013. The Board of Directors of the Fiscal Policy Institute announced today that it has appointed Frederick G. Floss, professor of economics and finance at Buffalo State College, as FPI’s new Executive Director. Floss is the Fiscal Policy Institute’s third executive director. He succeeds Frank J. Mauro who led FPI for the past 20 years. “Fred Floss brings an excellent combination of knowledge, skills and experiences to the leadership of FPI and to the discussion of the key fiscal and economic issues facing [...]
November 14, 2013. Statement from Ron Deutsch, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, and Frank Mauro, Executive Director, Fiscal Policy Institute. Any discussion of fair taxation in New York must acknowledge that our state has the greatest income inequality in the nation and that our tax system is partially to blame. We are experiencing record child poverty rates and levels of hunger and homelessness that are unprecedented. Too many of our residents are suffering and struggling to make ends meet and today’s report by [...]
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 [...]
September 4, 2013. Statewide tax reform groups and activists from across New York State gathered at the State Capitol today to urge the Governor and the State Senate to “shed a little sunshine” on the tax reform debates that have left many New Yorkers “out in the cold.” The NYS Senate (through its Finance Committee, and its Investigations and Government Operations Committees) is holding “Invitation Only” hearings across the state to “Review Existing Tax Policy and Discuss Reform Initiatives” and the Governor’s Tax Reform and [...]
September 4, 2013. In testimony before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, Frank Mauro, FPI’s Executive Director, expressed support for a thorough review of the tax system from a number of perspectives. He indicated that back in December 2011, Governor Cuomo and the legislative leaders joined in calling for a thorough review of the fairness of the New York tax system and agreed that fairness is one important basis for evaluating the workings of any tax [...]
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 [...]
July 9, 2013. A news article in Newsday covers the release of the new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and Fiscal Policy Institute regarding immigration status change and possible tax revenue for states. David Dyssegaard Kallick, immigration research director at the Fiscal Policy Institute, said there is no better alternative than for all those immigrants to become taxpayers. "As long as we make sure we don't create a new undocumented population, legalizing the people already here is the right thing to do," [...]