The Urgent Need to Raise Unemployment Benefits
Unemployment insurance stabilizes the state economy during economic downturns, but New York’s UI system has been insolvent for decades and UI benefits are inadequate to keep workers out of poverty.
How to Fund the MTA
Lawmakers must look to progressive revenue sources for MTA funding
Fixing Unemployment Insurance
Download the Memo Download the Report The Fiscal Policy Institute today released two publications on how to fix New York State's insolvent unemployment insurance system: a memo recommending tax changes, and a short report detailing the UI system’s chronic underfunding and low benefit level. Unemployment insurance (UI), which provides temporary income to laid-off workers, is one of the State’s most important economic stabilization policies. Unemployment can both throw workers into poverty and exacerbate recessions by [...]
Statement on Climate Change Superfund Act
The Superfund is a fiscally sound mechanism for upgrading our statewide infrastructure in the face of urgent climate challenges, and FPI commends the governor and legislature for successfully working together to enact it.
Fact Sheet: Climate Change Superfund Act
Last month, both the Senate and Assembly of the New York State legislature passed the Climate Change Superfund Act (S.02129). The Act, first introduced during the FY 2022 budget cycle, would require the largest fossil fuel companies to pay a total of $75 billion — to be paid over 25 years in $3 billion annual increments — to New York State.
Impact of Payroll Mobility Tax on New York City Workers
Governor Hochul’s directive to the MTA to 'indefinitely pause' planned congestion pricing for New York City, and her proposed alternative revenue sources, are ill-advised tax and economic policy.
The Medicaid MCO Tax Strategy
The legislative one-house budgets come out firmly for higher Medicaid spending, restoring most of the governor’s cuts and offering significant rate increases. But how will they pay for it? The Senate and Assembly budget memos propose to raise $4 billion a year through an obscure mechanism: A tax on Medicaid managed care plans, the private insurance companies which administer most of the state’s Medicaid program.
Tax Policy Brief: Fiscal Stability and Progressivity in the Personal Income Tax
New York State often faces calls for higher tax revenue, whether due to concerns over revenue shortfalls or a desire to increase public spending. This brief assesses the soundness of raising revenue through the Personal Income Tax, examining the fiscal stability of such revenue, fundamental fairness considerations, and responses to common arguments against raising the state income tax.
Who is Leaving New York State? Part I: Income Trends
A groundbreaking new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute, “Who Is Leaving New York State? Income Trends” reveals for the first time that the richest New Yorkers are far less likely to move out of New York than working and middle-class New Yorkers in normal, non-Covid years. While this pattern temporarily changed during Covid, when all households earning over $170,000 significantly increased their likelihood of moving out of state, migration trends reverted to normal in 2022.
Latest Census Data Confirms New York Losing Residents to Neighboring States with Lower Housing Costs
New Census data revealed that New York State lost a net total of 244,100 people in 2022. The latest Census data, which details state-to-state migration patterns, confirms the Fiscal Policy Institute's prior findings: New Yorkers are primarily moving to neighboring states with a lower cost of living, and in particular, lower housing costs. Meanwhile, less than half of New Yorkers are leaving for low tax states. This data confirms State fiscal policy should focus on turning New York into a place where people can afford to live and raise families — from investing in universal childcare and high-quality public education to affordable housing and reliable public transit. Conversely, budget cuts or underfunding will only hinder New York's economic recovery. Increasingly unaffordable housing and childcare, combined with shrinking state services, will continue to drive both individuals and businesses out of our state.
FPI Statement in Response to State Spending Freeze Directive
In response to the State Division of the Budget directive to State agencies ordering a spending freeze at current levels next year, Fiscal Policy Institute Executive Director Nathan Gusdorf released the following statement.
Exempting Suburbs from Payroll Mobility Tax Would Cost MTA $200 Million
As the legislature currently contemplates a Payroll Mobility Tax (PMT) increase from 0.34 percent to 0.5 percent to fund the MTA, the Fiscal Policy Institute today released a new report, Who Should Pay the Payroll Mobility Tax? The Case Against Excluding Suburban Counties.
7 Fiscal Policy Recommendations as the Budget Approaches
With New York State’s fiscal year 2024 budget due April 1, 2024, the Governor and Legislature are nearing the end of negotiations on key policy priorities and the scale of new investments in public services. This brief provides an overview of FPI’s recommendations on major fiscal policy areas at issue in budget negotiations.
Overview of Fiscal Year 2024 Executive vs Legislative Budget Proposals
The fiscal year 2024 Executive Budget limits spending growth to 2.0 percent, with new spending concentrated in Medicaid and School Aid. In contrast, the Assembly proposes budget growth of 5.9 percent, reflecting additional investments in the MTA, SUNY and CUNY, and assistance for low-income renters, paid for through increased taxes on multimillionaires and corporations.
The Cost of New Property Tax Breaks for Local Government
Tackling New York State’s housing crisis is a central priority of the fiscal year 2024 executive budget. The budget proposes a suite of policy responses designed to create 800,000 new housing units, especially in the New York metropolitan area. Many of these measures, including required changes to local land use policy, are appropriately ambitious, given the urgency of the state’s housing shortfall.