Tax & Budget

Nobel Economist: Millionaires’ Tax Is Economically Preferable

January  2009. In a March 27, 2008 letter to Governor Paterson, Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver, Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz makes a compelling case that the millionaires' tax is "economically preferable" to raising regressive fees or cutting state spending. Also see: Voters Support Income Tax on Those Making $250K or More to Replace Budget Cuts, a Siena Research Institute poll released January 26, 2009 Closing state deficit requires prudence, by former budget director Dall Forsythe and Shanna Rose (Albany Times Union, December 10, 2008) [...]

2024-12-18T12:29:10-05:00January 26th, 2009|Blog, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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New York’s Underinvestment in Public Higher Education

January 15, 2009. After more than a decade of financial support falling short of growing enrollment, the executive budget calls for cuts to SUNY and CUNY - at the same time that more students seek post-secondary opportunities during the economic downturn. Governor Paterson's proposed 2009-2010 budget features reductions in state aid to CUNY and SUNY, despite a projected increase in enrollment for 2009-2010. This report details the context for the cuts - a decade of underinvestment - and makes the economic case for supporting public [...]

2025-04-04T14:27:43-04:00January 15th, 2009|Education, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget|
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FPI Reaction to the 2009-2010 Executive Budget

December 16, 2008. The governor's proposal hurts low- and moderate-income New Yorkers while requiring little from wealthy New Yorkers, and would would cause needless harm to the state economy. The lessons from 2003 show that New York can successfully close large budget gaps without these negative impacts. Press release >>

2024-12-18T12:29:11-05:00December 16th, 2008|Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Economists to Governor: Raise High-End Income Taxes To Help Close Budget Gaps

December 13, 2008. 120 economists from throughout New York State joined together this week to send a message to Albany: steep cuts in state spending will weaken the already struggling New York economy, and will hurt poor and middle income New Yorkers. In a letter to the governor, the economists urge him to take a balanced approach to closing the gap in the state budget between revenues and spending - an approach that includes raising taxes on high-income households.

2024-12-18T12:29:11-05:00December 13th, 2008|Blog, Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Testimony before the Assembly Ways and Means Committee hearing on the impact of the economic crisis on the state budget

November 13, 2008. Testimony submitted by FPI's Frank Mauro and Ronald Deutsch of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness. To avoid deepening the already threatening recession, the state must not rely solely on drastic cuts in state spending to close current and expected budget gaps. A balanced approach includes tapping the state's tax stabilization reserve fund (put together for this very purpose), surgical cuts in wasteful spending, and a high-end income tax surcharge like that used successfully in 2003 to close post-9/11 gaps.

2024-12-18T12:29:11-05:00November 13th, 2008|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Testimony|
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Maximizing the Value and Use of State Assets

November 6, 2008. Testimony of James A. Parrott before the New York State Commission on State Asset Maximization. To fulfill the commission's charge to "maximize the value and use of state assets," the state should carefully consider in-house design and prevailing wage standards when setting up new projects. Also, economic development subsidies should include strict accountability standards; the state should not act as project investor without receiving in return an ownership stake for the taxpayers.

2024-12-18T12:29:11-05:00November 6th, 2008|Economic Trends & Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Testimony on MTA Financing

September 15, 2008. Testimony of James A. Parrott before the New York State Commission on MTA Financing. Albany will have to make some tough choices to align the MTA's recurring spending needs with recurring revenues. It will not be easy to do this during a downturn, but it is imperative that the State and the City put in place a phased-in approach that stabilizes MTA finances for the long term.

2024-12-18T12:29:12-05:00September 15th, 2008|State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Bush Administration Rule Would Force Health Centers to Close

September 8, 2008. FPI and others urge Congress to block this hostile rule and provide temporary fiscal relief through Medicaid. The new rule would have wide-ranging negative impacts of the new rule; advocates ask for a one-year moratorium and for inclusion of a temporary increase to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) in the second emergency supplemental stimulus package. Press release and letter to members of Congress.

2025-04-04T14:27:44-04:00September 8th, 2008|Press Releases, Tax & Budget|
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Opinion in the Albany Times Union

The Times Union has provided a forum for opinion pieces from various sources: September 7, 2008. A taxing solution: A tax cap forces Mass. towns to think about spending, by Richard P. Tisei, leader of the Republican minority in the Massachusetts Senate, and Bay State's Proposition 2½ not without difficulties, by Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. July 20, 2008. A point/counterpoint pair of op eds on the proposed tax cap:  Cap pressures government, not residents, to perform, by John J. Faso, [...]

2025-04-04T14:27:44-04:00September 7th, 2008|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Short Term Tax Relief and Long Term Tax Reform: An Omnibus Bill Approach

August 15, 2008. Tax reform options are receiving little attention during the current property tax debate as elected officials, the media, advocates and the general public look for ways to deliver more immediate property tax relief. In this presentation, FPI's Executive Director Frank Mauro makes the case for the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Act. He argues that immediate relief is best provided by a well-targeted property tax circuit-breaker; and that to ease the pressure on the local property tax base over the longer [...]

2025-04-04T14:27:45-04:00August 15th, 2008|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|
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Déjà Vu All Over Again – Budget Balancing in Bad Times

August 14, 2008. Raising Revenue Needs to be Part of the Solution. Group press release >> "The lessons to be learned from New York’s fiscal policy choices during the last two recessions are clear. The balanced approach to the state’s budget that was adopted in 2003 worked much better than the deep service cuts of the early 1990s which prolonged and deepened the effects of that recession on New York State," said Frank Mauro, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute.

2024-12-18T12:29:12-05:00August 14th, 2008|Blog, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Latest IRS Data Reveal Fundamental Mismatch Between New York’s Income Distribution and Its Tax System

August 6, 2008. New data from the Internal Revenue Service bolster the case for a high-end income tax surcharge in New York. New York is one of ten states that have income distributions that particularly favor the wealthy few - while the progressivity of the state income tax has been weakened since the 1990s. With the state facing a budget deficit and political leaders seeking a way to pay for effective and immediate property tax relief, this is especially timely news. Press release with NYS [...]

2024-12-18T12:29:13-05:00August 6th, 2008|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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