Press Releases

$15 Minimum Wage Would Raise Earnings for 1.1 Million Immigrants

March 23, 2016. In a brief, the Fiscal Policy Institute states that gradually raising the New York State minimum wage from its current level of $9/hour to $15/hour by 2019 in New York City and mid-2021 in the rest of the state would give a much-needed raise to 1.1 million immigrant workers. In all, there are 3.2 million New York workers who will benefit from the phased-in wage increase, which would on average increase wages by $4,900 per year. These numbers reflect the workers who [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:00-05:00March 23rd, 2016|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Migration, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Wealthy New Yorkers Urge Governor Cuomo and Legislature to Enact 1% Plan for New York Tax Fairness

March 21, 2016. Some of the wealthiest New Yorkers have sent an open letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature urging passage of the “1% Plan for New York Tax Fairness” to replace the temporary ‘millionaires tax’ set to expire at the end of next year. The Fiscal Policy Institute’s 1% Plan calls for new tax rates ranging from 7.65% to 9.99% applied to new tax brackets starting at $665,000, the income threshold for the top 1% of New Yorkers. The [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:01-05:00March 21st, 2016|Press Releases, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

New York Economists Support a Statewide $15 Minimum Wage; Recent academic research shows it’s good for workers, businesses and the economy

March 14, 2016. More than 75 economists from throughout New York State joined together this week to send a message to Albany: a phased-in increase in the minimum wage to $15 by 2019 in New York City and by mid-2021 in the rest of the state is a prudent and much needed policy that would raise the incomes of struggling low-wage workers and boost their spending power without hurting the state’s economy. The economists’ statement cites a number of academic authorities in summarizing the case [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:01-05:00March 14th, 2016|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Letters, Press Releases|

Tax Breaks for Wealthy Contributors to Private or Public Schools?

March 2, 2016. The education tax credit proposals currently being discussed have significant drawbacks as outlined in FPI's new brief. Both the governor’s proposal and the senate’s represent misguided tax policy for a number of reasons: The PCEA represents a radical and unwise departure from existing state tax policy because it provides an unprecedented proportion (75 or 90 percent) of tax reduction relative to a contribution. It has the potential to lessen charitable contributions for a wide range of worthy causes. Because of how the [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:01-05:00March 2nd, 2016|Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Full Implementation of Obama’s Immigration Executive Actions Would Bring $82 Million in Tax Revenues to New York

February 24, 2016. A 50-state study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, co-released in New York by the Fiscal Policy Institute, finds that if President Obama’s executive actions on immigration were permitted to be fully implemented they would bring an additional $82 million in New York state and local tax revenue compared to not having the actions in place. The executive actions would add to the tax revenue in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia. Nationally, the report [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:01-05:00February 24th, 2016|Migration, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

A Fair Wage for Human Services Workers: Ensuring a government funded $15 per hour minimum wage for human services workers throughout NYS

December 9, 2015. A new report prepared by the FPWA, Human Services Council and FPI, documents the current state of the nonprofit sector providing State-funded human services and discusses the implications of the Governor’s proposed $15 an hour minimum wage. The groups support inclusion of the nonprofit sector workers in the wage increase and make the case for increased State funding in human service contracts. More than 200,000 human services workers across NYS are the driving force behind services like afterschool programs, child welfare, early [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:02-05:00December 9th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Property Tax Relief for Low- and Middle-Income Property New Yorkers Must Remain a Priority

May 27, 2015. This report details the stark differences between the circuit breaker relief proposals advanced by the Governor and Assembly versus the flawed STAR rebate plan the Senate proposed. The report shows that both programs would provide some property tax relief but the circuit breaker credits are superior to STAR rebates in many ways. For example: Circuit breakers would address a serious shortcoming of the property tax—that payments are not linked to the taxpayers’ ability to pay. STAR rebates are the same regardless of income [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:04-05:00May 27th, 2015|Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Statement on Mayor’s Budget Commitment to Increase Wages for Low-wage Nonprofit Social Sector Workers

May 8, 2015. Contact: James Parrott, Deputy Director, Fiscal Policy Institute, 212-721-5624 "The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) and the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) applaud the Mayor for including in his Executive Budget a first-ever $11.50 per hour wage floor for the City's contracted social service workforce. FPWA and FPI have been advocating for this important commitment over the past year. This will mean a big earnings boost for 10,000 workers whose wages currently average less than $10.00 per hour. These front-line workers, many [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:04-05:00May 8th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget|

Initial Response to Budget Agreement on Revenue Bill: No Property Tax Relief and No Reform of Tax Credits; But Wealthy Get Sales Tax Exemption on Luxury Yachts

March 30, 2015. "It appears our legislative leaders couldn't agree to provide tax relief to struggling homeowners and renters through a middle class property tax circuit breaker but managed to find the political will to provide sales tax exemptions for people buying luxury yachts. This seems like a case of some seriously misplaced priorities," said Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. "We are also dismayed that the IDA tax credit reform proposal advanced by the Governor did not make it into the final [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:04-05:00March 30th, 2015|Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

New York’s Top 1% See All Income Gains Since Recession

January 26, 2015. The incomes of the top 1 percent in New York State were nearly 50 times more than the bottom 99 percent in 2012, according to new analysis published by the Economic Policy Institute for the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN). The Fiscal Policy Institute is a founding member of the EARN network. In The Increasingly Unequal States of America: Income Inequality by State, 1917 to 2012, economists Estelle Sommelier and Mark Price update their analysis of IRS tax data—using the same [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:06-05:00January 26th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases|

Preliminary Analysis: Budget Takes One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

January 21, 2015. Ron Deutsch, Executive Director “The Governor’s proposal takes some positive steps forward to deliver targeted property tax relief and address poverty in the state. However, for every step forward we take two steps back if we don’t dramatically increase aid to our fiscally stressed schools and local governments and commit substantial resources to ending child poverty in our state.” James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist “To really help the poor and the middle class, we need to scrap the 2% spending [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:06-05:00January 21st, 2015|City Budget, Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

FPI Commends Governor Cuomo for Advancing Middle Class Circuit Breaker—Targeted Tax Relief Tied to Income Is the Most Effective Mechanism

January 14, 2015. Governor Cuomo just announced a $1.66 billion property tax credit program (commonly referred to as a “Circuit Breaker”) to help ease the burden on working class families who are paying too much of their income in property taxes. The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), working with our partners in the Omnibus Property Tax Consortium, has been calling for a targeted circuit breaker for years. “We are pleased that the Governor announced a circuit breaker proposal that targets relief to working and middle class [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:06-05:00January 14th, 2015|Blog, City Budget, Press Releases, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

New York City Taxes Ripe for Reform

January 13, 2015. The City of New York taxes its wealthiest residents much less than middle- and low-income residents, and state and local officials should fix three major City tax breaks that expire this year, according to a new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI). In a sweeping report that reviews decades of tax changes and trends, FPI pinpoints inequities, tallies the cost of broken tax breaks, and urges tax reforms that reflect today’s economy and current challenges. A report summary is also available. [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:21-05:00January 13th, 2015|City Budget, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Wage Standards are Key to Reversing the Erosion of Wages and Living Standards in New York City

December 16, 2014. Despite considerable growth in the New York City economy over the past two decades, very little of that growth has trickled down to the average worker and his or her family, according to our new report. Wage standards like the minimum wage and the living wage are critical in ensuring that there is a floor under the job market and that workers are adequately paid. Prevailing wage standards, however, are a key means to ensure that skilled labor provides a path into [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:22-05:00December 16th, 2014|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|