January 15, 2014. Crain’s New York Business quoted FPI’s James Parrott in a news article on a report by the Business Council of New York State’s Progressive Policy Institute that touted the supposed economic benefits to the state from the Governor’s business tax cut proposals announced on January 6.
January 8, 2014. NY Times editorial on Cuomo’s State of the State address. James Parrott quoted.
June 24, 2013. A condensed version of 21st Century for All paper on the city budget and the city budget process by James Parrott featured in an Op Ed “The City Budget Should Be a Force for Good” published by The Chief-Leader.
June 23, 2013. A Gannett News Service article on the NYS legislature’s adoption of a somewhat revised version of Governor Cuomo’s “Tax-Free New York”. Appeared in Ithaca Journal, Elmira Star-Gazette, Poughkeepsie Journal, and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
June 19, 2013. Von Diaz reports on FPI’s analysis of the economic effects of immigration reform.June 16, 2013. A story by Reflejos on the FPI report about the economic impact of immigration reform.
June 14, 2013. The Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service blog “Redefining Welcome” interviews David Dyssegaard Kallick about FPI’s recent report on immigration.
June 13, 2013. A Journal-News analysis of new Census data showed that Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam all saw a significant growth in the non-white share of the population, “some of the largest ethnic shifts in the Northeast.”
June 11, 2013. WTEN-10 story on Tax Free zones.
June 11, 2013. A Times Union story on Tax-Free NY.
June 11, 2013. A story in the Legislative Gazette about coalition opposed to Tax-Free NY.
June 6, 2013. The Polish-language paper Super Express features a story about the Fiscal Policy Institute’s report on immigration reform.
May 31, 2013. Rebecka Schumann, in the “Fighting Words” section of International Business Times, argues that we can’t afford the NYS DREAM Act, but in the process assumes a cost that is 365 times higher than the reality.
May 31, 2013. The California state controller’s op-ed on why immigration reform matters, citing some research of the Fiscal Policy Institute, appears on the Calaveras Enterprise web site.
May 27, 2013. A story in the Daily News about a potential $7.8B fiscal cliff in NYC. James quoted.
May 7, 2013. The Blog of the Competitive Enterprise Institute opines that conservatives who are stuck in the “47 percent” frame of mind are way off base on immigration.
April 28, 2013. A story in the Post Standard on NY’s minimum wage tax credit.
April 22, 2013. Media Matters highlights the errors of Lou Dobbs on immigration.
April 18, 2013. A special issue of The Nation: The Gilded City—Bloomberg’s New York quotes FPI in many cases and uses data from FPI’s report. In Welcome to the Gilded City of New York, the Editors set the framework and uses data from FPI’s Pulling apart: The continuing impact of income polarization in New York State.
In Bloomberg by the Numbers, Aileen Brown cites several pieces of FPI research on the increase in business tax expenditures, the decline in city funding for human services, the decline in median wages, and other measures of well-being in NYC. In “Interactive Map: Bloomberg’s New York”, graphic artist Susie Cagle also draws heavily on FPI research.
April 12, 2013. A story in VOXXI highlights the impact of Latino entrepreneurs in the new economy.
April 12, 2013. Number of millionaires in NY rebounded in 2010. Story by Joe Spector, Ithaca Journal.
April 3, 2013. In an opinion piece in the Austin Statesman, Antonio O. Garza makes the economic case for immigration reform.
March 31, 2013. Commentary by Thomas V. Murphy on silive.com.
March 27, 2013. In this AP story, Michael Gormley points out that New York taxpayers will be paying for the new minimum wage tax credit. Utica Observer-Dispatch
March 27, 2013. An article in the Post-Standard points out the faults of the new minimum wage tax credit.
March 27, 2013. A story about how incentives in the new minimum wage law could backfire.
March 18, 2013. Colorlines magazine reports a disturbing New York City Police Department policy of investigating the victims of domestic violence.
March 18, 2013. The New York World writes about the Office for New Americans.
March 15, 2013. Assemblymember Jose Peralta talks with Karen DeWitt on WMHT’s New York Now about the New York State DREAM Act, citing the Fiscal Policy Institute’s analysis of the costs and benefits.
March 15, 2013. The National Journal report on how immigration has offset a decline in the U.S.-born population.
March 13, 2013. Albor Ruiz writes in the Daily News about the NYS DREAM Legislation.
March 13, 2013. Immigration Reform forum in Patchogue hosted by David Dyssegaard Kallick. Patchogue Patch.
March 13, 2013. An article in the Brooklyn Ink talks about a community jobs center.
March 12, 2013. A Fox News online opinion piece linking immigration reform to St. Patrick’s Day.
March 11, 2013. DREAMers: Undocumented unafraid and unapologetic. Story by Josefa Velasquez.
March 7, 2013. Why Comprehensive Immigration Reform Should Matter to Every American. Story in Highbrow Magazine.
March 4, 2013. Immigration coalition sets sights on education goals. Story in Legislative Gazette.
February 27, 2013. New York Dream Act Would Cost Typical Taxpayer Less Than a Doughnut. A Univision News story by Ted Hesson.
February 27 ,2013. Fiscal Policy Institute Releases DREAM Act Calculations. Story in the Legislative Gazette.
February 14, 2013. Wage wars: weighing an increase to minimum wage. Inc. story.
February 5, 2013. US cities in decline embrace US immigrants. A Financial Times story by Anna Fifield.
January 29, 2013. Growing number of states look at minimum wage hikes. A USA Today story by Emma Beck. James Parrott quoted.
January 29, 2013. Statement from Speaker Silver on raising New York’s minimum wage. FPI/NELP report mentioned.
January 28, 2013. As Mayor Loses Cool, Unions Look to Future. Story in The Chief Razzle Dazzle. James was interviewed.
January 21, 2013. The Observer-Dispatch ran and AP story by Michael Gormley entitled: Dream Act would provide aid to illegal immigrants.
January 12, 2013. Fiscal Policy Institute’s Mauro Reflects on His Career. Capital Tonight story on YNN. Video
January 7, 2013. Director of FPI to retired. A brief story by Ian Benjamin, Troy Record.
December 28, 2012. CNBC looks at issues facing small businesses in the New Year, including a reference to FPI’s report on immigrant business owners. Story.
December 9, 2012. Baltimore Says, ‘Immigrants Welcome’. An NPR story byLauren Silverman and Acacia Squires. David Kallick is quoted.
November 19, 2012. Report finds growing income disparity in NY state. A story by Karen DeWitt, North Country Public Radio.
November 19, 2012. An ABC/Univision on the economic effects of immigration reform. Story.
November 16, 2012. Report calls for raising the minimum wage. A story by Karen DeWitt, Innovation Trail.
November 15, 2012. A report by WNET (Channel Thirteen) focused on FPI’s Pulling Apart report, featuring a chart and write-up of the report.
November 15, 2012. The San Francisco Chronicle writes about a California nonprofit group that helps low-income immigrants start their own businesses with technical assistance, microfinancing, and networking support.
November 12, 2012. Towards an intelligent immigration policy–a conservative argument for immigration reform, from The National Review, cites FPI’s work.
November 12, 2012. GMA ran this story on filipina designer Josie Natori putting her success in context using FPI’s report on immigrant business owners.
November 2, 2012. With 9/11 as a guide, here are five ways to consider Hurricane Sandy’s economic impact. A PDF of the story by James Parrott as it appeared in Quartz.com.
October 29, 2012.Immigrant Jobs Keep New York City Running During Sandy. A story by ABC News.
October 15, 2012. New York’s Rising Jobless Rate Poses Test for Cuomo. A story reported by Danny Hakim.
October 15, 2012. Why Hofstra Is the Perfect Place To Talk About Immigration. A story by ABC news.
September 20, 2012. If New York Is Adding So Many Jobs, How Come Unemployment Keeps Rising? A story reported by Ilya Marritz for WNYC.
September 20, 2012. Tracking the City’s Poor. Anjali Athavaley of the Wall Street Journal writes about new data on poverty from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. PDF
September 20, 2012. Income declines as property taxes soar: Census data show similar 3-year results statewide. A story by Joseph Spector in the Poughkeepsie Journal. PDF
September 17, 2012. Immigrants Can’t Save U.S. Cities by Themselves. An PDF
September 13, 2012. Top 1% are 288 times richer than you! A new post on hlntv.com covers the Economic Policy Institute’s recent release of the 12th edition of The State of Working America. Taking up the measurement of income inequality, the article also mentions a report that FPI released December 2010, Grow Together of Pull Farther Apart? PDF
September 10, 2012. Christie Talks of a Comeback, but Jobs Data May Say Otherwise. New York Times columnist Michael Powell cites FPI’s James Parrott in a piece about Chris Christie. PDF
September 6, 2012. Study: Colorado Immigrant Owned Businesses Generate $684 Million In Earnings. A post on the DailyMarkets.com blog. PDF
September 5, 2012. New York is creating jobs faster than the rest of the country, but not fast enough. An editorial from the Daily News. PDF
September 4, 2012. How Immigrants Are Changing US Businesses. CNBC.com story.
September 4, 2012. Union Jobs Plummet in the Private Sector: Patrick McGeehan mentioned this year’s edition of The State of Working New York in a New York Times story. PDF
September 2, 2012. Report: New York Adds Low-Paying Jobs During ‘Tepid’ Recovery. A story reported by Daniel P. Tucker for WNYC. PDF
September 2, 2012. Study: State slow to get jobs back, Growth held to low-paying areas. An article by Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette. PDF
August 31, 2012. Experts skeptical of Ritchie’s tax-cutting figures. An article by Brian Amaral, Watertown Daily News. PDF
August 31, 2012. Labor Day: Shines Light on NY Workers With Fewest Protections. A story reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY. PDF
August 31, 2012. Hidden power of immigrant entrepreneur. By Sougata Mukherjee, Editor of the Triangle Business Journal, for the Boston Business Journal.
August 28, 2012. An article by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov news blog. PDF
August 21, 2012. Gillibrand, Jeffries Visit Brooklyn to Push For Higher Minimum Wage. Local electeds gather in Bed-Stuy to announce their support of a bill in Congress to raise worker pay: an article by C. Zawadi Morris, Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Patch. PDF
August 19, 2012. Lies, damned lies, and jobless statistics: 10% unemployment? Bogus number masks city’s true job growth. By Greg David, Crain’s New York Business.
August 17, 2012. Immigrants and business. An op ed by David Kallick, Guest columnist, Charlotte Business Journal.
August 9, 2012. Social Security and Medicare programs speak to American values. An op ed by Dr. Brent Kramer and Dr. Susan Birns from the Berkshire Eagle. Kramer is an adjunct assistant professor of economics at the City University of New York and a research associate at FPI. Birns is professor of Sociology/Anthropology/Social Work at MCLA and board president of the Elizabeth Freeman Center. PDF
July 24, 2012. Report: NYS gets A for effort, D for equity in education spending. A story by Daniel P. Bader, Utica Observer-Dispatch. PDF
July 24, 2012. NY’s min-wage job cost. A story by Carl Campanile, New York Post. PDF
July 23, 2012. Communities in Crisis: Jones, Kink and Mauro Talk Budget Cut Impact. The financial struggles faced by local governments have let to layoffs and other cutbacks. But some argue that the problems cannot by solved by cuts alone. Liz Benjamin of YNN’s Capital Tonight interviews Nikki Jones of the Alliance for Quality Education, Michael Kink of Strong Economy for All, and Frank Mauro of FPI.
July 20, 2012. Advocates Push for Paid Sick Leave in New York. A digest by Maggie O’Neill, citytowninfo.com. PDF
July 20, 2012. Is Paid Sick Leave Good for Business? By Caroline Winter, Bloomberg Businessweek. PDF
July 19, 2012. Unemployment returns to recession level: Job gains for the city were not enough to prevent the unemployment rate from hitting double digits, according to state data released Thursday. An article by Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business. PDF
July 19, 2012. One In Six Small Business Owners Is An Immigrant, Report Finds. EGP News Report. PDF
July 18, 2012. Hudson Yards and New York’s love-hate relationship with Mayor Bloomberg. By Joan Gralla, Macroscope blog, Reuters. PDF
July 17, 2012. Immigration Daily, a digest from ILW.com.
July 16, 2012. ‘Day of Action’ for workers. By Lisa Colangelo, New York Daily News. PDF
July 7, 2012. State Dream Laws and Obama Dream Act Portend a shift in U.S. Immigration Policy. A column by Moises Apsan, jornal.us News Service.
July 2, 2012. Get started: Immigrants punching above their weight in small business ownership, health-care job market booming. By By J.D. Harrison, On Small Business blog, washingtonpost.com.
July 1, 2012. Immigrants and Small Business. An editorial from the New York Times.
Immigrants are known as entrepreneurial people, for obvious reasons: those with the ambition and energy to uproot themselves and build new lives in a distant land are well equipped to build businesses and the economy, too. That is the common wisdom, anyway, which a new study from the Fiscal Policy Institute strikingly confirms. The study, based on census data, looks at owners of small businesses across the country and paints a broad and detailed picture of immigrant entrepreneurship.
The study found that there were 900,000 immigrants among small-business owners in the United States, about 18 percent of the total. This percentage is higher than the immigrant share of the overall population, which is 13 percent, and the immigrant share of the labor force, at 16 percent. Small businesses in which half or more of the owners were immigrants employed 4.7 million people in 2007, the latest year for which data were available, generating $776 billion in receipts. They accounted for 30 percent of the growth in small businesses – those with fewer than 100 employees – between 1990 and 2010.
Immigrant entrepreneurs are concentrated in professional and business services, retail, construction, educational and social services, and leisure and hospitality. They own restaurants, doctor’s offices, real-estate firms, groceries and truck-transportation services. More of them come from Mexico than any other country, followed by Indians, Koreans, Cubans, Chinese and Vietnamese. California has the highest percentage of immigrants among small-business owners at 33 percent, followed by New York (29 percent), New Jersey (28 percent), Florida (26 percent) and Hawaii (23 percent).
The study did not look at immigrants’ legal status, but because it covered only incorporated firms, not off-the-books operations, it presumably included few, if any, business owners without papers.
By rousingly affirming the centrality of immigration in the American economy, the study exposes a fault line running through the Republican Party, which mythologizes small-business owners while treating immigrants with hostility bordering on fury. There is no shortage of conservative business owners who celebrate the immigrant contribution to America — Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch are two — but Republican leaders, including the party standard-bearer, Mitt Romney, have allied themselves with extremist efforts to limit immigration and hound and harass millions of unauthorized immigrants out of the country.
In G.O.P. strongholds like Arizona – and Alabama, home to sleepy small towns where Latino-owned bodegas and laundries are among the only signs of economic life downtown – anti-immigrant policies are threatening to strangle economic growth. If Republicans started believing their own rhetoric about small-business owners, they would see immigration not as a sea of troubles but as a deep well of capitalist energy, waiting to be fully tapped.
June 24, 2012. City Controller John Liu’s 1% tax relief solution lifts unfair burden for 99%. A column by Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News.
June 24, 2012. Young New Yorkers hurt by falling wages, high unemployment and a larger share of college costs. By Catherine Curan, New York Post.
June 24, 2012. U.S. economy has international flavor. By Melissa Topey, Sandusky (OH) Register.
June 20, 2012. Blacks Miss Out as Jobs Rebound in New York City. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times. The Times story was highlighted on The Grio by NBC News, June 21.
June 19, 2012. Budget Breakdown: Watchdog Groups Say Biggest Budget Problems Easy To See, Hard To Tackle. Reported by Bobby Cuza for NY1 News.
June 19, 2012. South Florida leads nation in immigrant small business owners. By Marcia Heroux Pounds, Sun Sentinel.
June 19, 2012. Report: One in six U.S. small business owners are immigrants. By Sheryl Jean, Dallas Morning News.
June 18, 2012. One in six U.S. small businesses owned by immigrants. By Terry Brodie, Toronto Globe and Mail.
June 18, 2012. Foreign-Born Small Business Owners Contribute To Pittsburgh Economy. By Katie Zak, 90.5 essential public radio.
June 18, 2012. Immigrants in Denver more likely to own small businesses than U.S. natives. By Sam Levin, Westword.
June 18, 2012. Study: Colorado immigrant-owned firms made $684 million in earnings. VOXXI News.
June 18, 2012. Amerykańskie biznesy Polaków. By Aleksandra Slabisz, Dziennik (Polish Daily News).
June 17, 2012. With Taxi Deal Blocked, the City’s Budget Is in Flux. By David W. Chen, New York Times.
James A. Parrott, the deputy director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, said that Mr. Bloomberg had good reason to assume that the medallion revenue would flow into city coffers, once Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and lawmakers had agreed to authorize the sale. But Mr. Parrott accused the mayor of not looking hard enough at increasing revenue from the city’s highest earners – a step advocated by one possible mayoral candidate, John C. Liu, the city comptroller. That could raise $600 million to $1 billion annually, Mr. Parrott estimated.
June 17, 2012. Spending growth has slowed in state: Ranks in lower 25 for 2 budget years. By Jerry Zremski, Buffalo News.
June 16, 2012. Econ crushing NY’s middle class. By Catherine Curan, New York Post.
June 16, 2012. Young NY Immigrants Welcome Obama Policy. At the Manhattan office of the New York Immigration Coalition, a group of activists and students directly affected by the new policy gathered to watch Obama announce the plan. By Mathew R. Warren, Channel 4 NBC New York.
June 16, 2012. ‘Soñadores’ neoyorquinos celebran. By Carolina Ledezma, El Diario / La Prensa.
June 15, 2012. Immigrants Outpacing the Rest of Us in Small Business Ownership. By Josh Sanburn, Time Business.
June 15, 2012. Report: One third of California small businesses owned by immigrants. By Steven E.F. Brown, San Francisco Business Times.
June 15, 2012. Immigrant small-business ownership growing, nearly 1 in 5 in U.S. By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times.
June 15, 2012. 1 de cada 8 inmigrantes en Oregon son empresarios. Reported by Sandra Pérez, Univision Portland.
June 15, 2012. 3 Things You Should Know About Small Business. By Laurie Kulikowski, The Street.
June 15, 2012. Study finds immigrants are more likely to own Denver small businesses. By Allison Sylte, Denver Business Journal.
June 14, 2012. Immigrants Own Nearly One in Five U.S. Small Businesses. By Jane Morse, IIP Digital (U.S. Dept. of State.) Also posted on Payvand Iran News, June 19.
June 14, 2012. Migrants Keep Small-Business Faith: Newcomers to the U.S. Are Increasingly Opening Firms Beyond Major Cities, Energizing Local Economies. By Miriam Jordan, Wall Street Journal.
June 14, 2012. Immigrants’ Role in the Small Business Economy Grows. By John Tozzi, Business Week.
June 14, 2012. Study: Immigrants own 18% of U.S. small businesses. By Alan Gomez, USA Today.
June 14, 2012. Immigrant women more likely to own businesses in U.S. than women born in the country, new study reveals. By Lydia Warren, (Daily Mail) mailonline.com.
June 14, 2012. Study: America Land of Opportunity for Many Immigrants. By Kate Rogers, FOX Business.
June 14, 2012. Colorado’s immigrant businesses generate $684 million yearly, study says. By Kevin C. Keller, Denver Post.
June 14, 2012. Immigrant-Owned Small Businesses Add to CO Economy. Reported by Kathleen Ryan, Public News Service – CO.
June 14, 2012. Study: Immigrants More Likely To Open A Small Business Than American-Born Workers. Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW – CBS Philly.
June 14, 2012. Region: A third of Inland small-business owners are immigrants. About one-third of Inland small businesses are started by people not born in the U.S, notes an analysis of census data. By David Olson, Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise.
June 14, 2012. One-third of California small businesses owned by immigrants. Los Angeles Times.
June 14, 2012. Report: Immigrants own nearly a tenth of small businesses. By Andy Giegerich, Portland Business Journal.
June 14, 2012. One in Eleven Oregon Small Businesses are Immigrant-Run. By Claude Offenbacher, KLCC.
June 14, 2012. Immigrants chasing their business dreams. 11% of metro area small-business owners are immigrants. By Allie Shah, Star Tribune (Twin Cities, MN).
June 14, 2012. More Minnesota business owners are immigrants. Study finds rise Twin Cities, state over 20 years. By Chris Newmarker, Finance & Commerce.
June 14, 2012. Immigrant business owners thriving in D.C. area, report says. By Brian Hughes, Washington (DC) Examiner.
June 14, 2012. Immigrants outpacing the general population in owning small businesses. Study: Nearly one half of small businesses in New York City are owned by immigrants. By Phyllis Furman, New York Daily News.
June 14, 2012. Immigrants Make Big Impact through Small Business. By Jorteh Senah, WNYC.
June 14, 2012. Almost 1 in 5 Small U.S. Businesses Owned By Immigrants. By Frank Bass – Bloomberg News.
June 14, 2012. Hispanos en EEUU se están quedando con negocios. Casi uno de cada cinco propietarios de pequeños comercios en Estados Unidos son inmigrantes. El Diario.
June 14, 2012. Boom in Immigrant Small Business Owners in NYC: Report. By Amelia Harris, Wall Street Journal. Also,
Fox-Philadelphia, Fox-Phoenix and New York Post.
June 14, 2012. Immigrants almost 1/5 of US business owners. Associated Press, for The (Columbia, IN) Republic, New England Cable News, Corning Leader, Utica Observer-Dispatch, Long Island Business News and more.
June 14, 2012. Immigrant-Owned Small Businesses Contribute More to Economy Than You’d Think. By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact. Also posted to Hispanically Speaking News, June 19.
… a new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) finally quantifies the value of immigrant small businesses to the U.S. economy.
Using data from the Survey of Business Owners and the American Community Survey, the report compiles a treasure trove of entrepreneurial information that highlights the enormous role which immigrants play as small business owners.
June 14, 2012. Got jobs? New York City does. The city economy continued its remarkable run, adding 14,100 private-sector jobs in May, according to data released Thursday. But unemployment ticked up. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
June 11, 2012. New York DREAM Act Immigration Reform Would Cost Taxpayers Less Than a Slice of Pizza. An op ed by MinKwon Center Youth, policymic.com.
June 9, 2012. How Banks Could Return the Favor. By Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times.
James A. Parrott, deputy director and chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute in New York, criticizes these deals along with officials who don’t try to get out of them.
“Government officials need to acknowledge that they made a mistake when they signed up for these ill-conceived, high-risk financial bets,” Mr. Parrott said. “But that mistake is woefully compounded when they then impose austerity
rather than stand up to the banks.”
You know the score. Once again, it’s Wall Street 1, Main Street 0.
June 7, 2012. Report: Transit Fares High and Rising? Blame Bailed-Out Banks. By Jim O’Grady, WNYC .
June 6, 2012. NY1 Online: Debating The City Budget With Fiscal Experts. Hosted by NY1’s Errol Louis, FPI’s James Parrott and Carol Kellermann of the Citizens Budget Commission discuss city budget issues and developments.
June 5, 2012. Report: Wage snafu adds billions to project costs. A Columbia University white paper charges that a misapplication of the law sets a prevailing wage at developments that don’t require it. Critics disagree. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
June 5, 2012. Study Questions Impact of Wage Law. By Ted Mann, Wall Street Journal.
June 3, 2012. How Much Can $1.25 Change Someone’s Life? By Laura Nahmias, City & State.
June 2, 2012. Jobless benefits cut in NY; 750K residents hit. By Catherine Curan, New York Post.
May 29, 2012. NY Senate Feels Some “Summer Heat” about Minimum Wage. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
May 28, 2012. Experts: Suffolk budget gap needs drastic measures. By Laura Figueroa, Newsday. PDF
May 27, 2012. Pittsburgh’s new immigrants equal brain gain. By Christine H. O’Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
May 27, 2012. Mind the income gap: Rich-and-poor divide continues. A letter to the editor by James Parrott, Crain’s New York Business.
May 25, 2012. Advocates want Gov. Cuomo to create tax reform commission. By Adam Shanks, Legislative Gazette.
May 24, 2012. Report: 880,000 Workers In NY Would Benefit From Higher Minimum Wage. By Joseph Spector, Gannett News Service.
May 24, 2012. Wage Bill Would Benefit Bronx More than Other Counties, Report Says. By Patrick Wall, DNAinfo.com.
May 22, 2012. Omnibus members question Cuomo’s tax plans. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union Capitol Confidential blog. Also see: Groups Urge Tax Reform, by Joseph Spector, Albany Watch blog; includes a video of Ron Deutsch of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness talking about the proposed tax reform commission.
May 22, 2011. The minimum wage, tax cuts, and the New York legislature. By Jeremy Moule, Rochester City Newspaper News Blog.
May 21, 2012. Liberals Call for Cuomo to Champion Higher Wage. By John Eligon, New York Times.
Because of the way the Cuomo administration has distributed federal social welfare dollars, “there’s much less money left over for a range of support services,” said Carolyn Boldiston, a senior analyst at the Fiscal Policy Institute.
May 18, 2012. Economists skeptical of city’s record job gains: improvement is undeniable, but may have been exaggerated by seasonal adjustments thrown off-kilter by warm weather and the recession, experts say. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
May 16, 2012. Speaker Silver, Assembly Majority Announce Approval of Minimum Wage Bill. Legislation includes provision that would ensure minimum wage is adjusted for inflation annually. Saugerties Post-Star.
May 11, 2012. Honor Mom by raising the minimum wage. An op ed by Ana Oliveira, Albany Times-Union.
According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, the additional money flowing into local businesses as a result of low-paid workers spending their higher wages in their local communities would create 7,500 jobs across the state.
Women are small business owners, too, and the evidence from around the country is clear that modest minimum wage increases, as proposed, do not hurt small businesses or reduce total employment. In the years following the last
increase in New York’s minimum wage, jobs kept growing in low-wage industries like retail and restaurants.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Skelos should step forward to join Silver on legislation to raise the minimum wage.
On Mother’s Day, we salute our moms for their hard work and the sacrifices they make for us. There’s no better way to honor New York’s working moms than to raise the minimum wage.
May 11, 2012. Making it in America. By Alexandra Nikolchev, for Need to Know on PBS.
May 11, 2012. Job Growth Soars in NYC, But for Whom? By John Farley, Metrofocus (WNET and WLIW).
May 7, 2012. As City Faces Cuts, Study Finds Non-Profit Sector Is Largest Private Employer. Reported by Ailsa Chang, WNYC.
May 5, 2012. Squeezing government: Across Broome County, tough decisions are being made. By Steve Reilly, Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin.
May 4, 2012. The Fight for a Minimum Wage Increase in New York State. By Rubén Díaz Jr. and Jeffrey D. Klein, Huffington Post. This op-ed appeared in El Diario La Prensa on May 3. 2012: La lucha por el aumento del salario mínimo en Nueva York.
May 3, 2012. A Look at Nassau and Suffolk County’s Layoff Casualties. By Fran Berkman, longislandpress.com.
Frank Mauro, executive director of the nonprofit Fiscal Policy Institute, says such deep cuts in the public municipal sector may actually be doing more harm than good on Long Island’s local economy, further exacerbating already tough fiscal times for the middle-class.
“That kind of action creates a downward spiral in economic activity,” he explains. “People have less income, they consume less… Austerity doesn’t stimulate the economy. It takes demand out of the economy.”
May 2, 2012. State Legislature Battles Over Minimum Wage Increase. By Igor Kossov, Gotham Gazette.
May 1, 2012. New York on $15,000 a Year. An editorial from the New York Times.
May 1, 2012. Increasing class divide puts stress on NYC social relationships. By Sheila Anne Feeney, am New York.
May 1, 2012. Should the Mayor Veto the Living Wage Bill? By C. Zawadi Morris, bed-stuy.patch.com.
April 30, 2012. Assembly hears from the working poor: Gov. Cuomo steps into minimum wage fight. By Amanda Verrette, Legislative Gazette.
April 25, 2012. At a minimum, have a debate. An editorial from the Albany Times Union.
Here’s how a higher minimum wage creates jobs, as economist James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute explained to the Assembly Labor Committee on Monday:
Industries that pay such low wages tend to serve small markets, often no bigger than a neighborhood. It’s not as if there’s competition for these services in other states. Nor are retailers or people in the restaurant business about to relocate to where wages are lower.
Instead, when the minimum wage inches higher, productivity tends to increase, the research suggests. Prices might go up slightly, but more typically businesses cover those costs by retaining workers longer, thus spending less to train replacements.
April 19, 2012. New York State Minimum Wage Must Be Raised to $8.50. An op ed by Lou Gordon, Director, Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONY).
April 16, 2012. Students Push For DREAM Act. By Jonathan Camhi, Gotham Gazette.
April 13, 2012. In 2009, 24,201 Millionaires Worked In NY And Lived Elsewhere. By Joseph Spector, Politics on the Hudson blog.
April 12, 2012. $5M state tax deal helps investment giant BlackRock: Budget treats BlackRock as corporation, not a bank, to save millions. By Jimmy Vielkind, Albany Times-Union.
April 11, 2012. Dreaming Of College, Waiting For Access. An op ed by Maryann Sinclair Slutsky of Long Island WINS. This column (also featured on the Long Island Wins website) ran in all 18 Anton Community Newspapers.
April 11, 2012. New York should pass its Dream Act. An op ed by Carl Hayden in Newsday. Hayden is former Regents chancellor and former chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees.
April 9, 2012. ‘New York Now’ gets three sides on the budget. By Casey Seiler, Albany Times Union, Capitol Confidential. (Segment starts at 5:24.)
April 9, 2012. Undocumented Youth to Walk from NYC to Albany to Lobby for NYS DREAM Act. By Von Diaz, Feet in 2 Worlds.
April 8, 2012. As tide of illegal immigrants goes home, will US economy suffer? The illegal immigrant boom has fizzled; and as Mexican migrants go home, the question is whether it will drain the labor pool and hurt the US economy. By Lourdes Medrano, Christian Science Monitor. (Reposted by the Minneapolis Post.) This article, together with Home again in Mexico: Illegal immigration hits net zero is part of the cover story project for the April 9 issue of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly magazine.
April 8, 2012. Weighing New York City exceptionalism. An excerpt from Greg David’s new book, Modern New York: The Life and Economics of a City, which will be published this week.
April 6, 2012. Policy Experts Analyze State Budget. Experts on state policy and fiscal issues – including FPI’s Frank Mauro – analyze the recently passed budget, compare it to past years, and discuss the future of on-time state budgets. Is this year’s budget an expansion of Cuomo’s agenda or a reassertion of power by the legislature? Introduced by Matt Ryan and (segment starts at 5:24) moderated by Casey Seiler, WMHT’s New York NOW program.
April 4, 2012. How much from lottery sales goes to education? Reported by Lori Chung, YNN. Also posted to Rochester YNN.
April 4, 2012. Michael Green’s pay draws questions. By Jon Campbell, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
April 3, 2012. For Most, New York DREAM Act Would Cost Less Than a Latte. A column in the Huffington Post by Ted Hesson of Long Island WINS.
April 2, 2012. New York Tops London as City With Most Global Clout, Index Shows. By Henry Goldman, www.bloomberg.com.
Apirl 2, 2012. New York on top, but Asian cities gaining. therealdeal.com.
April 1, 2012. New York state keeps its welfare promise – sort of. An op ed by Carolyn Boldiston, Poughkeepsie Journal.
March 31, 2012. Field of Dreams. A column in the Huffington Post by Vanessa Perez, Professor at the City University of New York.
March 29, 2012. City’s Jobless Rate Continues to Rise Faster Than Job Creation Rate. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times City Room blog.
March 29, 2012. Jobs paradox: Despite gains, unemployment rises. Continuing a trend, private-sector jobs in New York City jumped 65,200 last month, to 3.2 million, while the jobless rate climbed to 9.6%. By Jeremy Smerd, crainsnewyork.com.
March 29, 2012. NYPost Editorial Attacks Proposed Minimum Wage Increase. Media Matters blog.
March 28, 2012. The budget’s discontents rally at Capitol. By Rebecca Melnitsky, Albany Times Union, Capitol Confidential.
March 27, 2012. Oversight urged for private development agencies: Local development units need review, groups say. By Mareesa Nicosia and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, The Journal News.
March 26, 2012. Why New York Needs a DREAM Act. An op ed by Ruben Diaz Jr., Bronx Borough President, in the Huffington Post. This post is the English version of an op-ed that was published in the March 23, 2012, edition of El Diario La Prensa; link below.
March 24, 2012. Not-So-‘Mad’ Ideas About Taxes. By Ginia Bellafante, New York Times.
March 23, 2012. El NY Dream Act debe ser realidad. An op ed by Rubén Díaz Jr., Bronx Borough President, El Diario La Prensa. An English version was published by the Huffington Post on March 26; link above.
March 22, 2012. Cuomo Seeks Law for Private Investment in New Tappan Zee Bridge. By Freeman Klopott and Martin Z. Braun, Bloomberg.
March 21, 2012. Why Andrew Cuomo needs to get on the Dream ticket: It’s time for New York’s governor to stop sitting on the fence and back immigration reform granting aid to undocumented students. By Rodrigo Camarena, guardiannews.com.
March 20, 2012. Council Pressures Cuomo to Back State Dream Act. By Denise Blostein, WNYC News Blog.
March 20, 2012. How’s the economy looking? Depends on what you make. By Erik Ortiz and Rachel Hawatmeh, am New York.
March 20, 2012. Public pension ‘millionaires’ club: Potential payouts over 30 years add to debate over tax costs. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
The leader of a think tank critical of Tier VI noted that Taxpayers United’s project appears to be little more than a math exercise that focuses on the highest earners.
“This doesn’t tell you anything about the overall affordability of the system,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, which contends that rising pension costs borne by taxpayers are the result of the 2008 Wall Street meltdown that depleted the state’s pension funds.
Mauro said the group is “trying to use an egregious example to do things that hurt middle-income workers.”
March 19, 2012. NYFF’s ‘Counter-Budget’: close corporate tax loopholes. By Rebecca Melnitsky, Albany Times Union, Capitol Confidential.
March 19, 2012. Fiscal Policy Institute reports benefits of DREAM Act. By Kristine Itliong, Washington Square News (NYU).
March 16, 2012. State Pension Reform Passes. By Kristen Meriwether, the Epoch Times.
March 16, 2012. Immigrant children topic of education forum. By Victor Manuel Ramos, Newsday.
March 15, 2012. Hundreds rally for NYS “Dream” act. Reported by WMHT’s Marie Cusick for North Country Public Radio.
March 14, 2012. Thousands to Press for NY DREAM Legislation. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
March 13, 2012. Dream Act for New York. An editorial in the New York Times.
It’s hard to see why Mr. Cuomo should be hesitant to support these measures. It shouldn’t be the expense; a new study by the Fiscal Policy Institute found that the Dream Act would add roughly $17 million, or only 2 percent, to the cost of the Tuition Assistance Program. Students with college degrees make a state more attractive to businesses, earn more and pay more in taxes. Giving a boost to the dreams of undocumented young people is not only the decent thing to do, it’s also a wise investment.
March 13, 2012. New York budget transfer provision give increased power to executive branch. In Albany, lawmakers continue to debate Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget for the year. This plan includes what’s called transfer authority provisions,
which would authorize the governor to transfer funds, at any time and without prior approval of the legislature. Critics say this language erodes the democratic process and could affect many policies in the coming year, including those pertaining to hydrofracking. The clip includes comments by Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, Professor Gerald Benjamin, Roger Downs of the Sierra Club and Frank Mauro from the Fiscal Policy Institute. Reported by Jim Krivo, Free Speech Radio News. MP3, 5:55.
March 13, 2012. Debate rages over New York raising its minimum wage by $1.25 an hour. By Teri Weaver, Syracuse Post-Standard.
March 11, 2012. Jobs jump. Now the bad news. Crain’s.
March 10, 2012. Opponents duel over state pension payouts: Figures vary by when the sample is taken as talks continue on Tier VI plan. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
March 9, 2012. The Uncertain Cost of Helping Illegal Immigrants Go to College. By Kirk Semple, New York Times City Room blog.
Now the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization in New York City, has taken a stab at the math and on Friday it published its estimates.The report, called “The New York Dream Act: A Preliminary Estimate of Costs and Benefits,” estimates that opening the state’s Tuition Assistance Program to all students who meet the funding criteria, regardless of immigration status, would increase tuition assistance expenditures by about $17 million per year, or 2 percent.
March 9, 2012. Fiscal Policy Institute: Tier VI amounts to a 40 percent cut. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union Capitol Confidential blog.
New tax cap in NY proves difficult for some towns in Ulster County, Northern Dutchess. By Patricia Doxsey, Kingston Daily Freeman.
“My position is the cap can hurt people, hurt services, and it doesn’t provide the public the relief it needs,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
“I think the problem is even if they can stay within the tax cap, it doesn’t mean a homeowner’s taxes will only go up by 2 percent,” Mauro said
March 7, 2012. Income Inequality in the Big Apple. Income inequality and the death of culture in New York City. The battle between the 99 percent and the one percent began before Occupy Wall Street protesters filled Zuccotti Park. By Christopher Ketcham, March/April 2012, Utne Reader.
February 27, 2012. When is a temporary tax increase really temporary? By Josh Goodman, Stateline.
In New York late last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo coupled a partial extension of a temporary income tax increase on high-income earners with tax cuts for the middle class. The end result is that the state will collect more revenue than it would have if the taxes had expired, but that everyone will pay lower rates than they did the year before. “What he did was called a tax cut by some people,” says Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, “and a tax increase by some people.”
February 27, 2012. NY1 Online: Supporters, Opponents Debate Governor Cuomo’s Pension Reform. Hosted by NY1’s Errol Louis, James Parrott and Lillian Roberts of District Council 37 pointed to problems with rushing through the Governor’s proposal to create a new tier in the pension plan with a higher retirement age, much higher worker contribution rates, more stringent vesting requirements and an optional defined contribution plan. Carol Kellerman of the Citizens Budget Commission and Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York City spoke in support of changing the pension plan.
February 21, 2012. Bare Minimum Wage: Big business lobbyists work to prevent any rise in workers’ paychecks. By John Stoehr, The American Prospect.
February 17, 2012. Study: Wage bill would benefit 1M New Yorkers. More than 350,000 New York City residents, and a total of 1 million statewide, would get a raise if the minimum wage were $8.50, a liberal think tank found. By Ali Elkin, Crain’s New York Business.
February 17, 2012. Group Says Increase In Minimum Wage Would Benefit 1 Million Workers. By Joseph Spector, Politics on the Hudson blog.
February 16, 2012. Think tank examines joblessness, race. Unemployment is much worse for blacks and Hispanics than for whites, but all New Yorkers would be helped by government outlays, the Fiscal Policy Institute reported. By Ali Elkin, Crain’s New York Business.
February 16, 2012. Liu’s State of the City. Text of City Comptroller John Liu’s State of the City speech, posted by David King, Wonkster blog, Gotham Gazette.
The economic divide has indeed grown wider and wider. According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, nearly 80 percent of the income growth in New York City in recent years went to the wealthiest 5 percent of our taxpayers.
February 13, 2012. Higher taxes for corporations in Assembly bill. By Anthony Mancini, Legislative Gazette.
February 13, 2012. Minimum-Wage Rolls Drive Albany Debate. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
February 13, 2012. Minimum Wage Increase Debated. Reported by Chris Caya for WNED-AM, Buffalo.
February 12, 2012. N.Y. minimum wage doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. An op ed by Frank Mauro, Poughkeepsie Journal.
February 9, 2012. Port Authority Vows Reforms After Audit Shows WTC Costs Soar. Promise comes on heels of audit showing World Trade Center rebuilding costs ballooned to $4 billion. Reported by Andrew Siff, NBC New York.
February 8, 2012. Deal Beneficial to Hotel Union Is Seen by Some as Special Case. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
February 8, 2012. Transfer Authority: The Governor and the New York State Budget. WBAI Evening News. Andrea Sears of WBAI interviews FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro about the provision that Governor Cuomo has included in his 2012-2013 State Operations and Capital Projects appropriations bills proposing to give unprecedented powers to the Governor’s Budget Director to redirect funds from many state agency appropriations to other agencies and public authorities, even off-budget public authorities. The interview with Mauro is 6.5 minutes long and starts at 3:28 of this clip from the WBAI Evening News. It follows a related interview with Roger Downs of the Sierra Club.
February 3, 2012. As Fiscal Cloud Lifts, Mayor Offers a Budget Free of Tax Increases or Broad Layoffs. By David W. Chen, New York Times.
February 2, 2012. Stringer Calls for Tax Cut. By Michael Howard Saul, Wall Street Journal.
February 2, 2012. US: Structural Series: Immigration Reform. FXstreet.com.
February 1, 2012. Turn the minimum wage into a living wage. An op ed by Susan Weber, Albany Times Union.
The Fiscal Policy Institute estimated in 2004 that the annual budget for a three-person household would be $41,600. Two full-time, minimum-wage earners would earn only $30,000, not accounting for taxes withheld.
This is neither fair nor sustainable.
Rather than talk about a minimum wage, consider the concept of “a living wage.”
January 31, 2012. Tax Expert Looks at NY Corporate Rates. Following the overhaul of the personal income tax code in December, progressive groups have turned their attention to corporate taxes. And they’re pointing to a new report that says some large companies are paying a lower rate than middle-class families. Liz Benjamin of YNN’s Capital Tonight interviews Matthew Gardner, the author of that report.
January 31, 2012. Advocates: Close the loopholes please. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union – Capitol Confidential.
January 31, 2012. Tax Expert Calls For Closing NYS Tax Loopholes. North County Gazette.
January 31, 2012. Making sense of a few cents’ raise: Silver’s proposal is a big deal for workers, employers. By David Robinson, Tom Precious and Emma Sapong, Buffalo News.
January 30, 2012. Assembly sets minimum-wage goal at $8.50. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver unveiled a bill Monday to push the state’s $7.25-an-hour minimum wage up 17% and index it to inflation. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
January 30, 2012. Minimum wage debate pits business against labor, but does little for most New Yorkers. By Colby Hamilton, WNYC’s The Empire blog.
January 29, 2012. With Focus on Income Inequality, Albany Bill Will Seek $8.50 Minimum Wage. By John Eligon, New York Times.
The Fiscal Policy Institute, which has been supportive of minimum wage increases, argues that people who earn the minimum wage tend to spend all the additional money they receive, which pumps money into the economy. The extra spending will create jobs and benefit the mom-and-pop shops that opponents of an increase say will be most hurt by a higher minimum wage, said James A. Parrott, the chief economist at the institute.
“They’re going to be spending more money in local communities, where they live,” Mr. Parrott said.
January 16, 2012. Economic view shaky as Cuomo prepares NY budget. AP for the Wall Street Journal.
January 12, 2012. New York’s Leaders Join the Quest for Tax Fairness; Governor Cuomo Emphasizes the Need to Close Loopholes. A column by Frank Mauro published by 99% New York.
Delivering on this objective will require an unbiased review of the litany of tax breaks that have enacted over the years in the name of economic development. Which ones actually create jobs and which ones do not? Which ones should be retained intact, which ones should be repealed, and which ones should be reformed? A year of careful study makes sense for a fundamental restructuring of the tax code but the most egregious loopholes, that stick out like sore thumbs, should be closed now and not a year from now.
January 11, 2012. Proposed D.C. Law Could Make College Applications Mandatory. By Sayre Quevedo, Huffington Post.
January 10, 2012. Rick Scott says New Yorkers pay twice as much as Floridians in state taxes. Politifact Florida “Truth-O-Meter.”
January 9, 2012. Groups argue corporate tax rate fix could mean billions for NYS. Reported by Steve Ference, YNN.
January 9, 2012. Coalition Wants Corporate Tax Loopholes Closed. By David King, Wonkster blog, Gotham Gazette.
January 8, 2012. Support payment of good wages for Joplin. An op ed by Timothy P. Green, Springfield (MO) News-Leader. Green serves in the state senate.
January 6, 2012. Raise N.Y.’s minimum wage. An op ed by Dan Cantor and Camille Rivera, Albany Times Union.
January 6, 2012. Our Shadow Population (Part I): What do we know about the immigrants who live here? By Jim Marquardt, Sag Harbor Express.
January 5, 2012. Cuomo Pledges Construction and Revitalization for NY. Reported by Mike Clifford for Smithtown Radio.
January 4, 2012. Cuomo Finishes First Year Strong But Biggest Challenges May Lie Ahead. Reported by Bob Hennelly, WNYC.
January 1, 2012. Brooklyn blooms again, but not for all. Atlantic Yards project caps a decade of growth for borough, yet some areas remain mired in poverty. By Patrick Wall, Crain’s New York Business.
January 1, 2012. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Saga Continues: Despite death knell business as usual. By Heide B. Malhotra, The Epoch Times.
December 30, 2011. In 2012, New York State Budget Almost Set, But Deficit Remains. Also in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (January 2). By Cara Matthews, Gannett News Service.
The Fiscal Policy Institute is recommending the governor and Legislature undertake corporate-tax reform and close business-tax loopholes and “preferences,” Mauro said. That could be done before a new commission that’s being created to review the tax code completes its work, he said.
“I don’t think you have to wait for a commission to close some of the most egregious loopholes and preferences,” he said.
December 24, 2011. N.Y. delegation divided on upstate job creation. By Brian Tumulty, Journal News.
December 23, 2011. Business Council to Occupiers: ‘More prosperity for everyone.’ By Adam Sichko, The Business Review.
December 18, 2011. Monroe’s harmony between county executive, legislators a rarity. By David Andreatta, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
December 13, 2011. Recession hit the rich, study of the 1% finds. If 2007 was the best of times for the city’s highest earners, 2009 was a downer, as their average income fell 42%, according to an analysis by the Independent Budget Office. Their tax burden was modestly higher than their share of city dwellers’ income. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
James Parrott, chief economist of the left-leaning Fiscal Policy Institute, said that when residential property and sales taxes were included, the top 1% actually pay less than their share of taxes. Mr. Parrott authored a report last December on income inequality in the city that showed the top 1% earned 45% of the income but paid just 34% of the combined personal income, residential property and sales taxes in 2007.
December 12, 2011. Experts debate new tax brackets. By Jordan Lipschik, Legislative Gazette.
December 11, 2011. Albany tax deal squeezes the city and puts the mayor in a pinch. Bloomberg gets no help in dealing with his own budget; the rich, MTA get hit. By Jeremy Smerd, Crain’s New York Business.
December 8, 2011. Not Enough to Meet Social Needs. By James Parrott, New York Times. Also, A Millionaire at $220,000 a Year? by Bridget Crawford, Pace Law School. Part ofTaxing the Rich, New York Style.
December 7, 2011. New York City Needs a Real Living Wage. By Margaret S. Chin, Huffington Post. Margaret Chin serves on the New York City Council.
December 7, 2011. The Capitol Pressroom: A Conversation with FPI’s Frank Mauro on New York State’s business-related tax expenditures. Hosted by Susan Arbetter.
December 7, 2011. Cuomo Tax Plan: “Good Start, But Not Enough.” Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
James Parrott, deputy director and chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, says the tax plan takes a stab at creating more progressive tax brackets, but his group had proposed an alternative he says would have generated more than double the yearly revenue.
December 6, 2011. NY aims to raise taxes on rich, give middle-class a cut. New York’s millionaires will pay higher taxes while 4.4 million middle-class and upper-income New Yorkers will get tax cuts, under a reform plan the governor and legislature unveiled on Tuesday. By Joan Gralla, Reuters.
Middle-class taxpayers are expected to save a total of $690 million.
Millionaires can look forward to the expiration of the new top rate on December 31, 2014. The temporary top rate is about half of the more than 15 percent rate the wealthy paid in the 1970s, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
December 6, 2011. Cuomo, Legislature agree on middle-class tax cuts. By Michael Gormley (Associated Press) for the Wall Street Journal. Also in the Watertown Daily Times and the Saratogian.
Frank Mauro of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute said Cuomo’s plan “is certainly going in the right direction.” He said the tax rates have leveled for incomes over $500,000 a year. More brackets at higher incomes mean more opportunities to tax wealthier New Yorkers at a higher rate.
December 6, 2011. Cuomo, lawmakers agree on new taxes, spending. A lightning-fast deal struck on Tuesday between Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos adds three more years to the millionaire’s tax for $2 million earners. Others will get a tax cut. By Jeremy Smerd, crainsnewyork.com.
“If you pay for tax cuts for the middle class by taking money from the top, that will boost spending and help out the economy,” said James Parrott, chief economist of the liberal Fiscal Policy Institute. “It’s an approach that we would pursue, and in fact we’ve been saying this for a long time.”
December 6, 2011. Tax proposals, side by side. By Jimmy Vielkind, Capitol Confidential.
The last column shows a proposal floated last night by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a labor-backed think tank. It would leave untouched the rates for those of us earning less than $200,000 but roll back taxes for folks making between $200,000 and $665,000. It then raises taxes as high as 9.99 percent on New Yorkers reporting over $100 million in income.
December 6, 2011. Fiscal Policy Institute Proposes Higher Taxes at $665,000. By Joseph Spector, Politics on the Hudson.
The group proposes New York enact a one percent increase on income-tax rates—from 6.85 to 7.85 percent – for those earning more than $665,000, which is the top 1 percent of earners, according to the state.
That increase, coupled with another one percent increase at $1 million, and one half of one percent increments at $5 million and $10 million, the state could generate between $4.4 billion and $5.1 billion per year, the group claims.
“New York State is at a crossroads,” the report states. “Our tax structure is scheduled to change in a way that will render state revenues inadequate for the budget years ahead.”
December 4, 2011. Fairer taxes, more jobs: Gov. Cuomo needs to look out for the unemployed. An op ed by James Parrott and Frank Mauro, New York Daily News.
New York is in a state of inequality. But we can balance the budget, provide real middle class tax relief and a boost to job creation, all through sensible income tax reform.
December 4, 2011. Tax cap springs leaks: Towns call law unsustainable amid capital projects, pension hikes. By Elizabeth Ganga and Akiko Matsuda, Journal News.
December 2, 2011. New Jobs Aren’t Always Good Jobs. By David Callahan, Policy Shop, a Demos blog.
December 1, 2011. As tent cities fade, Occupy turns to specifics. By Amy Westfeldt (Associated Press), cbsnews.com. Also posted to Yahoo News.
The influence of money in politics is one of the greatest factors behind the gap between the superrich and the poor, said James Parrott, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute in New York, which published a report last year on economic disparity [Grow Together or Pull Further Apart? Income Concentration Trends in New York, December 13, 2010].
December 1, 2011. Cuomo hedges on millionaire’s tax. An editorial from the Journal News.
Cuomo, whose approval ratings have hovered near and above 70 percent for months, would lose stature among business leaders for abandoning his pledge on taxes.
But it would hardly mark the end of Cuomo’s political world; in one poll after another, large majorities of voters have backed higher taxes on the rich. More impetus came Tuesday, in a report from the Fiscal Policy Institute … The wealthiest 1 percent accounted for 35 percent of the state’s income in 2007; about 31 percent in 2008.
December 1, 2011. Latest dispatch from The Weasel Zone: Pay-raise proposal in Mount Vernon. By Phil Reisman, Journal News.
December 1, 2011. New York Lost 250,000 Middle- and High-Wage Jobs Since 2008: Report. www.insurancejournal.com.
November 30, 2011. Study says NY state needs half-million new jobs. By Ted Phillips, Newsday.
November 29, 2011. No Money for a Living Wage? But Fat Abounds. By Jim Dwyer, New York Times.
New jobs, low pay: Study finds high-paying jobs vanish in state while low-wage ones appear. By Chris Churchill, Albany Times-Union.
November 29, 2011. Report: New Yorkers Face Smaller Incomes, Fewer Opportunities. By Karen DeWitt, WXXI.
November 29, 2011. NYS seeing low-paying jobs replacing high-pay ones. By Holly McKenna, Reuters.
November 29, 2011. State’s health care crisis grows. By Jeremy Smerd and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh,< Crain’s Insider.
November 29, 2011. Report: Wages, job opportunities take hit in New York. By Joseph Spector, Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin. Also in the Elmira Star-Gazette and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
November 29, 2011. New York Jobs Gained Since 2008 Mostly Offer Low Pay, Study Says. By Henry Goldman, bloomberg.com. Also on businessweek.com.
November 29, 2011. Hijos de inmigrantes prometen cambio en Suffolk: Hispanos de Long Island reflexionan sobre su participación política. A column by Zaira Cortés, El Diario / La Prensa.
November 28, 2011. Does New York’s pension system need a change? By Melissa Daniels, Gates-Chili and Henrietta Post.
November 18, 2011. One Set of Facts, One Unavoidable Conclusion. An op ed by Maryann Sinclair Slutsky, Plainview-Old Bethpage Herald. (Also ran in other Anton Community Newspapers on Long Island.) Slutsky is the campaign director of Long Island Wins.
November 15, 2011. Tax reformers ready to fight, criticize cap. By Meghan E. Murphy, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
November 14, 2011. Tax cap opponents shift tactics – They call for “circuit breaker” that would shift how schools, governments are funded. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
November 14, 2011. Council’s wrong on immigrants. A letter to the editor by David L. Mejias, Newsday. Mejias is a former Nassau County legislator.
November 13, 2011. Pension time bomb: Police, teacher pension costs ballooning across LI. By< Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
November 11, 2011. As Schools Sacrifice, TV Shows Flourish. By Gina Bellafante, New York Times. Also in the Albany Times Union.
Parents protesting a plan to repeal the state’s “millionaires’ tax.” Photo: Chang W. Lee.
November 9, 2011. NY misses budget deadline, cites economic turmoil. By Michael Gormley (Associated Press), Wall Street Journal. Also in the Journal News and the Troy Record.
Mauro, however, is more concerned by the governor’s missed deadline on Oct. 31 to provide an updated midyear financial plan. It would track the revenues and spending of the first six months of the fiscal year that began April 1 under Cuomo’s first budget.
“I don’t think that there is a justification for not doing as much of the quarterly update as you can,” Mauro said. “If they don’t want to do their forecast now, that’s one thing. But the quarterly updates and financial plan serve other purposes. They provide information that is more up to date on what actually happened.”
November 9, 2011. Governor holds off on releasing state finances at legal deadline. By Tom Precious, Buffalo News.
November 9, 2011. Bensonhurst Native Optimistic Despite Unemployment. By Keldy Ortiz, Brooklyn Ink.
November 9, 2011. For an Immigrant, a Shrinking Business and a Maze of Obstacles. By Patrick Wall, City Room blog, New York Times.
November 8, 2011. Rebooting the American Dream: The Role of Immigration in a 21st Century Economy. A new report from the Immigration Policy Center:
There is plenty of evidence that immigration helps to fuel the U.S. economy, just as it has throughout our history. Immigrants continue to play an important role in the economy as workers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers, and consumers. However, most observers agree that our current immigration system is outdated and dysfunctional, making it more difficult for the U.S. to compete in the global marketplace. The last time Congress made significant changes to the employment-based immigration system was 1990, when the Immigration Act of 1990 created the five-tiered employment-based immigration system and the numerical limits used today.
Our immigration system needs to be updated and overhauled, but inflamed rhetoric often obscures reform efforts. The first step in reforming our immigration system is to understand the basic facts surrounding the debate.
This report seeks to answer some basic questions about the role of immigration in today’s economy.
November 5, 2011. “Millionaires’ tax” would hit fewer on LI. By Yancey Roy, Newsday.
Community and union leaders rally against state legislative proposal to give tax break to millionaires in Hicksville, Oct. 18, 2011.
Photo: Howard Schnapp.
November 4, 2011. Research Roundup: Corporate Tax Dodgers, Economic Realities for Young Adults, and More. Progressive States Network. Includes a citation of FPI’s report on immigrants amounting to half the small business owners in New York City.
November 2, 2011. PEF members to vote Thursday on revised contract. By Nick Reisman, ynn.com.
November 2, 2011. 2013 contenders mourn the little-noted, long-remembered commuter tax. By Dana Rubinstein, Capital New York.
November 2, 2011. Grit and Optimism in Coping with the Recession’s Lasting Trauma. By Michael Copley, Brooklyn Ink.
November 1, 2011. Bill Focuses on Cost of Keeping Firms in City. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
November 1, 2011. Extend New York’s millionaire’s tax. An op ed by Lisa Tyson, Newsday.
October 31, 2011. Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus rallies at City Hall to extend tax on the wealthy. Legislative Gazette.
October 31, 2011. Low-Wage Industries See Gains From City’s Jobs “Recovery.” Reported by Courtney Gross, NY1.
October 31, 2011. Long Island should take page from Ohio city’s ‘Welcome Dayton’ immigration-friendly plan. Time to dispel some prejudiced myths: More than three-quarters of immigrants living in NYC suburbs own their own homes. A column by Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News.
October 27, 2011. Cuomo needs to get smart on surcharge. A column by Rod Watson, Buffalo News.
October 27, 2011. Destacan aporte de inmigrantes en Long Island. El Diario / La Prensa.
October 27, 2011. Menos trabajo en el estado, pero más gente en NYC. El Diario / La Prensa.
October 27, 2011. Immigrants Thrive in Long Island – Former Tension Hotspot, Report Says. By Andrew O’Reilly, Fox News Latino.
October 27, 2011. Study Finds That Immigrants Are Central to Long Island Economy. By Meredith Hoffman, City Room blog, New York Times.
October 27, 2011. Long Island Sees Upswing in Immigrants. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
October 27, 2011. New Report Details “Robust” Impact of Immigrants on Long Island Economy. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY, for smithtownradio.com.
October 27, 2011. Immigrants fuel LI economy. By Claude Solnik, Long Island Business News.
October 25, 2011. Call for tax reform gains allies. NYSUT United.
October 25, 2011. Thanks Jerry. By David King, Wonkster blog, Gotham Gazette.
October 23, 2011. Many LI government retirees earn 6 figures. By Yancey Roy, Newsday.
October 21, 2011. NOAH says ‘pay your fair share.’ Niagara Gazette.
October 20, 2011. Anti-Immigrant Groups Launch Media Campaign Pitting Immigrants Against Unemployed Americans. By Solange Uwimana, mediamatters.org.
October 19, 2011. Millionaires Tax Would Only Nick Small Biz. By Jeremy Smerd and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Crain’s Insider.
But James Parrott, deputy director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, said that of 880,000 individual tax returns reporting small-business earnings or losses in 2008, only 0.7% had adjusted gross incomes of $1 million or more. Partnership income is reported separately.
October 19, 2011. Express Train to NY Economic Recovery? By James Brierton, smithtownradio.com.
October 18, 2011. For a New York Dream Act. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa.
October 18, 2011. In 2009, Millionaires Steeply Declined In New York. By Joseph Spector, Gannett News Service. Also in the Journal News.
Some leaders of the movement, called “99 New York,” debunked the decline of millionaires in 2009, saying other statistics and the state’s own estimates show that incomes for the rich have grown since then.
“2008 and 2009 were both years when there was a decline in the number of high-income returns both nationally and in New York. And in 2010, the recovery began,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute based in Albany.
Mauro pointed to statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis that showed New York had the fourth highest growth in earnings in the country in 2010.
October 17, 2011. US budget dilemma as taxes on rich expire. By Matt Kennard and Shannon Bond, Financial Times.
Advocates of the surcharge argue that the additional revenue it raises is necessary to offset the cuts the state has made to close its budget gap. Next year’s deficit is estimated at $2.5 billion.
“Some of that $5 billion you would get if you extended the tax would significantly moderate further cuts in the budget and would allow some restoration of past cuts or make resources available for job creation investments and infrastructure,” said James Parrott, chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
October 16, 2011. Retirements surge for New York state workers, teachers. By Joseph Spector, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Also in the Ithaca Journal (10/14).
October 13, 2011. How Small Business are Showing their worth in NYC. An editorial in the Carib News.
October 12, 2011. Workforce Program Helps People Find Jobs, Not Careers. By Daniel Charles Defraia, Gotham Gazette.
October 10, 2011. NYPD spent $1.9M in overtime on protests. By Meghan Barr (Associated Press) for CBS News. Also in the Albany Times Union (Protests cause NYPD cost to rise: City has spent close to $2 million on patrols on Wall Street, most of it in overtime, 10/11), the Kingston Daily Freeman, and other news outlets.
October 9, 2011. Top colleges offering plans to make New York City a high-tech mecca. By Rachel Monahan and Rich Schapiro, New York Daily News.
October 6, 2011. Down to Business: New push for ‘living wage’ sparks debate. By Marlene Kennedy, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
October 6, 2011. Immigrant mojo. Associated Press for the New York Post.
October 6, 2011. Defending Public Higher Education in New York. By Manny Jalonschi, The Indypendent Indyblog.
October 5, 2011. Speaker Christine Quinn Faces Challenge To Living Wage Bill. Reported by Courtney Gross, NY1.
October 5, 2011. Opinion: Immigrants Are the Lifeblood of New York City – Nearly half of New York City’s small businesses are owned by immigrants. By Gabe Pressman, NBC News.
October 5, 2011. Immigrants are the powerhouse that makes New York City work. An editorial from the New York Daily News.
File this under Things You Probably Could Have Guessed After Just Looking Around: A new study confirms that immigrants are the very economic backbone of New York.
October 5, 2011. Big Apple Immigrants Are Big on Entrepreneurship. By Emily Maltby, Wall Street Journal In Charge blog.
October 5, 2011. Half of NYC’s small-biz owners are immigrants. By Terry Brodie, Toronto Globe and Mail.
October 5, 2011. Immigrants Dominate Small-Business Ownership In New York City. By Alicia Ciccone, Huffington Post.
October 5, 2011. New Alabama immigration law is bad for the bottom line. A column by Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News.
October 5, 2011. Half of NYC’s small-business owners are immigrants. Associated Press for the Wall Street Journal.
October 4, 2011. Immigrants Play Key Role as City Entrepreneurs, Study Finds. By Patrick Wall, New York Times City Room blog.
October 2, 2011. Immigrants drive small business in NYC: 48% of New York entrepreneurs are foreign-born, analysis of census data shows; city considers how to assist those with imported expertise who help keep the local economy rolling. By Cara S. Trager, Crain’s New York Business.
September 30, 2011. Brooklyn Leads Boroughs in Job Growth, Chamber Notes. By Carly Liebman, Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
September 29, 2011. 5 States Which Have Lost the Most Jobs to China. By Ed Rodfree, thenewsburner.com
September 26, 2011. Staten Island Gets a Boost from City Jobs. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
September 26, 2011. Job creation, here and now. An op ed by David R. Jones, Crain’s New York Business.
September 23, 2011.City fares better, except when it doesn’t.
By Jeremy Smerd and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Crain’s Insider.
September 22, 2011. One in Five New York City Residents Living in Poverty. By Sam Roberts, New York Times.
September 22, 2011. Household Incomes in City Fall 5%: Nearly One in Three Children Living in Poverty, Data Show. By Joseph De Avila and Sumathi Reddy, Wall Street Journal.
September 22, 2011.
City’s poverty rate jumps past 20%: Median family income also plummets as new census data show 2010 was a miserable year for the city’s poor and working class. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
September 21, 2011. Obama’s Buffett tax and NYC. By Greg David, Crain’s New York Business.
September 18, 2011. Budget Busters. A letter by James Parrott, New York Post.
September 18, 2011. Mayor’s Office Reviews Bloomberg’s Tenure: Annual Report evaluates performance over three terms in office. By Tara MacIsaac, Epoch Times.
September 14, 2011. Can Obama’s Plan Erase New York’s Jobs Deficit? By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section. This column was mentioned in the September 23 issue of the NYC Workforce Weekly (page 3).
September 13, 2011. A Poorer State. By Gail Robinson, Gotham Gazette’s Wonkster blog.
September 12, 2011. New York: dying or thriving? By Jeremy Smerd and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Crain’s Insider.
September 10, 2011. John Liu: Obama’s Jobs Plan Would Deliver “Significant Benefits” To NYC. By Christopher Robbins, Gothamist.
September 9, 2011. President Obama’s proposed jobs plan unlikely to help New Yorkers in long run: experts. By Rich Schapiro, New York Daily News.
September 6, 2011. New York fiscal health at stake in federal job-creation strategies. By Brian Tumulty, Elmira Star-Gazette. Also: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, September 7.
September 5, 2011. It’s a bleak Labor Day for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who have no work to celebrate. An editorial in the New York Daily News.
September 4, 2011. For workers, hopes higher on Labor Day. A column by David Robinson, Buffalo News.
September 2, 2011. U.S. Employers Added No New Jobs In August. By Lyneka Little and Bill McGuire, ABC News.
Two years after the reported “recovery,” 1.4 million, or one in every seven, New York workers is unemployed, underemployed or has given up looking for work, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
“Half of New York’s unemployed have been out of work for more than six months, and 29 percent have been jobless for a year or more,” according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
September 1, 2011. Report: New York’s Economic Recovery Nets Few Jobs. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
September 1, 2011. Union study reveals state’s labor pains. By Erik Kriss, New York Post.
September 1, 2011. Deficit that “Matters” for Most New Yorkers = Jobs. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
September 1, 2011. New York, not so bad? The Capitol Report with Susan Arbetter.
September 1, 2011. Hidden Numbers Show Higher NY Unemployment: Report. By Tara MacIsaac, Epoch Times.
August 31, 2011. N.Y. outperformed most of U.S. during recession, 2 studies find. By Joseph Spector, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
August 31, 2011. NY’s recovery fades, but still exceeds nation’s. Two reports and a survey released Wednesday paint a disheartening picture of the state’s post-recession economy. But most other states are doing even worse, the analysis shows. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
August 31, 2011. Reports: State’s economic woes not as bad as others’. By Joseph Spector, Poughkeepsie Journal. Also in the Journal News, September 1.
August 31, 2011. The Capitol Pressroom: Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute and his staff have completed a study of unemployment two years into the economic recovery. Segment starts at 23:23. Hosted by Susan Arbetter.
August 31, 2011. FPI: Jobs deficit, not federal deficit is what matters most. By Rick Karlin, Times Union Capitol Confidential.
August 29, 2011. Statistics, Beloved by Mayor, Show a Slump in City Services. By Sam Roberts, New York Times.
August 11, 2011. President Obama’s Base Demands Bold Leadership on Black Unemployment and Labor Issues. San Diego County News.
August 8, 2010. Damned lies and self-serving statistics. By Greg David, Crain’s New York Business.
August 3, 2011. Local residents call debt ceiling talks ‘theatrics,’ bill disappointing. By Katie Nowak, Troy Record.
August 2, 2011. Debt deal impact: New York City could lose billions in federal aid. By Kenneth Lovett, Joseph Straw and Lore Croghan, New York Daily News.
August 2, 2011. Report: 7.3M New Yorkers have left since 1960. Think tank blames business climate; labor group skeptical of connection. By Jon Campbell, Ithaca Journal. Also in the Poughkeepsie Journal.
July 29, 2011. NYC Workers Not Faring Well in the Recovery. NYC Workforce Weekly.
July 21, 2011. Research Roundup: Public-Private Partnerships, Start Up Act and Federal Budget Proposals. Progressive States Network.
July 20, 2011. Young New Yorkers powered the recovery. City dwellers between the ages of 16 and 27 recorded almost all of the employment gains in the first year of the city’s recovery, while workers 55 and older suffered, a new report shows. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
July 17, 2011. Study: Men faring better in ‘recovery’; Gender-specific jobless rates going in opposite directions. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
July 17, 2011. South Asian population continues growth in Lower Hudson Valley, and culture follows. By Hema Easley, Journal News.
July 16, 2011. New York City’s losing $13.5B in property-tax breaks. By David Seifman, New York Post.
July 12, 2011. New York Coalition Urges Reps. to Resist GOP Budget Cuts. Political Affairs Magazine.
July 10, 2011. Massachusetts has spent 30 years living with a property-tax cap. By Cara Matthews, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Also in the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin, the Journal News (Westchester and Rockland), and the Albany Times-Union.
In Massachusetts, local governments adopt one budget that includes municipal and school spending. Voters make the decision on all overrides. Proposition 21/2 is less restrictive than New York’s new cap, said Frank Mauro, executive director of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute in Albany.
As a result, the average annual growth in Massachusetts’ property tax revenue was about 5.5 percent a year between 1981-82 and 2009-10, he wrote in a report last month.
New York’s cap “would undermine the quality of the entire array of locally funded public services while providing very little relief, if any, to those homeowners who are most overburdened by real property taxes,” he wrote.
The Massachusetts cap includes some exemptions and a less stringent override provision – a simple majority, Mauro said.
July 7, 2011. Making a Greener Economy a Fairer Economy. A column by Dan Steinberg, Gotham Gazette.
June 30, 2011. Property tax cap proves elusive. Ongoing debate: Some say that it won’t do enough, others believe the concept is too restrictive. By Brian Amaral, Watertown Daily Times.
June 30, 2011. City jobs growing, real wages shrinking. New York City workers are growing in number, but their pay is not keeping pace with inflation, data released Thursday show. Average weekly wages here only rose 1.3% in a year. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
June 30, 2011. Unemployment In Bed-Stuy Remains High, Particularly for African Americans. By Cleon Alert, Bed-Stuy Patch.
June 29, 2011. The 2011-2012 City Budget on “Inside City Hall.” Brooklyn Councilman Lewis Fidler and Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute James Parrott discuss the just-passed $66 billion city budget. Hosted by Errol Louis on NY1.
June 28, 2011. Right In The Middle: Cuomo borrows from fiscal hawks in shifting state to the right. By Jon Lentz, The Capitol.
June 28, 2011. Ulster will continue 1 percent sales-tax hike. By Meghan E. Murphy, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
June 24, 2011. Immigrant Entrepreneurs Powerful Component of Brooklyn Economy. Brooklyn Eagle.
June 22, 2011. Brooklyn tops boroughs in immigrant entrepreneurs. A Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce report said immigrants constitute 50% of all “incorporated employed individuals.” By Jermaine Taylor, Crain’s New York Business.
June 22, 2011. Endangered fire companies, just part of picture. A Talking Point column by Charles Komanoff, Downtown Express.
June 20, 2011. Budget Cuts Could Strangle Sputtering Recovery. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
June 19, 2011. New York State: Gov’t job losses impact region. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
“Both statewide and in the Capital Region, the reduction in government employees is pretty significant, and it’s putting a drag on the local economy,” said Frank Mauro, an economist at the Latham-based Fiscal Policy Institute. The job losses in the public sector almost cancel out the gains, he said. “Reducing government employment doesn’t stimulate the economy,” he said. “There would be more private sector jobs if it weren’t for the government cuts.”
June 10, 2011. Comparing the New York and Massachusetts tax caps. The Capitol Report with Susan Arbetter.
June 9, 2011. UBS may move U.S. investment bank to New York City. By Ilaina Jonas and Lauren Tara LaCapra, Reuters.
June 6, 2011. Cuomo lauds Mass. tax cap; others say comparison to NY flawed. By Elizabeth Cooper, Utica Observer-Dispatch.
Frank Mauro, of the Albany-based Fiscal Policy Institute, said that even with the cap, Massachusetts’ property-tax revenue had increased at roughly the same pace as New York’s.
“If you are looking to Massachusetts for salvation you are diagnosing the problem wrong,” Mauro said. “Growth in New York and Massachusetts have been about the same.”
June 5, 2011. Don’t continue failed policies of IDAs. An op ed by Candace Rubin, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
May 26, 2011. Bus Ridership Dwindles As Subway Gains. By Andrew Grossman, Wall Street Journal.
May 25, 2011. Tax cap deal announced by Gov. Cuomo criticized by those who say it doesn’t provide relief to homeowners. By James M. Odato, Albany Times Union.
May 23, 2011. A New York City ‘Living Wage’? By Nancy Folbre, Economix blog (New York Times).
May 20, 2011. Immigrant Businesses Power Long Island. An op ed by Maryann Sinclair Slutsky of Long Island Wins, Syosset-Jericho Tribune. Also in the Farmingdale Observer, Garden City Life, Glen Cove Record-Pilot, Hicksville Illustrated News. Levittown Tribune, Manhasset Press, Massapequan Observer, Mineola American, Oyster Bay Enterprise, Plainview-Old Bethpage Herald, and the Westbury Times.
May 19, 2011. Fight for Fair Wages. An editorial from the Riverdale Press.
May 18, 2011. Despite Scant Results, Bloomberg’s Anti-Poverty Project Goes National. By Glenn Pasanen, Gotham Gazette.
May 18, 2011. Regional councils must be part of New York’s solution. An op ed by Sarah Bishop and Jonathon Welch, Buffalo News.
May 17, 2011. Appelbaum to Bloomberg: ‘What Kind of City Do We Want to Have?’ By David Freedlander, the PolitickerNY blog (New York Observer).
May 16, 2011. Why New York City Needs a “Living Wage” Law. A column by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Huffington Post.
May 16, 2011. Brooklyn Leads Living Wage Fight. By Diane Krauthamer, Brooklyn Rail.
May 16, 2011. Immigrant contributions to the U.S. Economy. Submitted by Lance Robertson, reposted by WXIA-TV (Atlanta GA).
May 16, 2011. Suketu Mehta on A Caste System That Works. By Reihan Salam, The Agenda (the National Review’s domestic-policy blog).
Newsweek is promoting Suketu Mehta’s short piece on New York as a celebration of the role of immigrants in the city’s revival. But the piece is really a celebration of inequality.
May 15, 2011. The City: New York. By Suketu Mehta, Newsweek.
May 12, 2011. #LivingWageNYC Hearing Takes Place #OnMay12. By Celeste Katz, The Daily Politics blog (New York Daily News).
May 10, 2011. Bloomberg study says ‘living wage’ bill is a job killer; supporters contend bias. By Erin Einhorn, New York Daily News.
May 10, 2011. Living Wage Bill Would Kill Jobs For Some, Report Finds. Reported by Grace Rauh, NY1.
“The single most important thing needed to help the working poor rise out of poverty is an increase in wages. There is nothing in this study that tells us how we are going to get there,” said James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
May 10, 2011. Obama’s Renewed Push for Immigration Reform. By Jason Marczak, Americas Quarterly: The Policy Journal for Our Hemisphere.
May 9, 2011. The Ratings Are In: Credit rating agencies give state budget high marks, but structural concerns remain. By Erik Kriss, The Capitol.
May 9, 2011. Issue Spotlight: Pensions. Brief prepared statements from FPI’s Frank Mauro, Danny Donohue (CSEA), Teresa Ghilarducci (The New School) and E.J. McMahon (Empire Center). The Capitol.
May 9, 2011. Living wage bill would kill city jobs, study says. In expected result, a $1 million analysis commissioned by the Bloomberg administration supports the mayor’s view that mandating higher wages is a bad idea. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
“It is unfortunate that the EDC study failed to look at well-known factors such as the cost of public subsidies received by low-wage workers, or the positive productivity effects of better wages, in assessing how city policies can improve the living standards of low-wage workers,” said James Parrott, deputy director and chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.
May 6, 2011. Detroit should put out the welcome mat for immigrants. An op ed by Andrew S. Doctoroff, a partner with a Detroit law firm, in the Detroit News.
April 26, 2011. State struggles to end STAR tax break for the wealthy. By Joseph Spector and Cathey O’Donnell, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Also in the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, the Elmira Star Gazette, and the Ithaca Journal.
“This is reform at the edges,” Frank Mauro, executive director of the union-backed Fiscal Policy Institute, said of the cap on STAR benefits.
“The fundamental illogic of STAR remains. But the problem is because it gives benefits to almost everyone in the state, it’s a very popular program and difficult to reform.”
April 26, 2011. New York leads nation in spending for social aid. By Cara Matthews, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Also in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (and posted to the blog), the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Elmira Star Gazette.
April 25, 2011. Crime in The Stuy: A Look at the Neighborhood. A three-part series on crime in Bed-Stuy by Junico Simino, Bed-Stuy Patch.
April 24, 2011. Group challenges proposed NYC Wal-Mart. By Melanie Lefkowitz, Newsday.
April 21, 2011. The States With The Worst Income Inequality. By Douglas A. McIntyre & Charles B. Stockdale, 247wallst.com. Blogged as The Empire State’s Third World economy by Rick Karlin, Capitol Confidential, Albany Times Union.
April 19, 2011. DiNapoli Re-introduces Package of Budget Reforms. Reported by Dave Lucas, WAMC.
April 18, 2011. Women Under the Budget Knife. By Katha Pollitt, The Nation.
According to a devastating report by the Fiscal Policy Institute prepared for the New York Women’s Foundation, “A Harder Struggle, Fewer Opportunities,” the Cuomo budget will slash funding for nonresidential domestic violence programs and summer youth employment programs; defund 105 New York City senior centers; cut $7 million in childcare services for welfare recipients; eliminate transitional jobs programs and childcare for low-income college students; and reduce funding for after-school programs as well as the Nurse-Family Partnership home visiting program.
April 17, 2011. Dead Suit Walking: If this isn’t the Great Depression, it is the Great Humbling. Can manhood survive the lost decade? By Rick Marin and Tony Dokoupil, Newsweek.
April 13, 2011. Dems go after GOP’s budget: Under Ryan’s proposal, 300,000 New Yorkers would lose Medicaid. By Marc Heller, Watertown Daily Times.
April 12, 2011. NY, NY: It’s a government town. By Benjamin J. Spencer, crainsnewyork.com.
“We could be seeing the loss of thousands of middle-income jobs in New York City,” said James Parrott, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank based in New York.
Cutbacks in public sector jobs could “act as a brake on recovery,” Mr. Parrott warned, adding that “the reduction in state government contracts for social services, senior services and child welfare that go to non-profit organizations are [also] likely to mean job cutbacks in the private sector as well.”
April 11, 2011. No charges sought against undocumented Detroit activist: Detroiter Dayanna Rebolledo, six other students arrested, later released in Atlanta after demonstration. By Alan Burdziak, The South End (the student newspaper of Wayne State University).
April 10, 2011. Retail adding jobs, but few are careers: Sales positions now often have erratic hours, lower pay. By Ellen Gibson (Associated Press), Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette. Also in the Boston Globe (April 6) and the Philadelphia Inquirer (April 16).
April 10, 2011. Unions spared worst. By Michael Amon, Newsday.
April 8, 2011. Back to Work: Budget Cuts Imperil Brooklyn’s Booming Health Care Business. By Jeremy B. White, Brooklyn Ink.
April 6, 2011. Bloomberg’s Budget Ignores Untapped Revenue. By Glenn Pasanen, Gotham Gazette.
April 2, 2011. Cuomo’s Budget: Following the Lead of Failed Right-Wing Ideology. By Altaf Rahamatullah, Progressive States Network blog.
April 1, 2011. Tax surcharge to die, but debate rages on. By Erik Engquist and Jeremy Smerd, Crain’s Insider.
Mayor Mike Bloomberg opposed the measures, saying rich people would leave. Now he touts the city’s recovery. Job growth has been strong in the past 12 months, and city unemployment has dipped below the national average, a March 21 report by the city comptroller noted. City revenues grew in fiscal 2010 for the first time in three years. And New York had the fastest net earnings growth, 4.1%, of any state last year. “It doesn’t look like there’s any negative from [the increased] rates,” said James Parrott, chief economist of the pro-surcharge Fiscal Policy Institute.
March 31, 2011. Despite an on-time budget adoption, work remains on spending plan. By Joseph Spector, Elmira Star-Gazette. Also in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (4/1), Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin (3/29), and the Ithaca Journal (3/31).
March 31, 2011. Why we shouldn’t close failing schools: Vulnerable young men of color stand to lose. An op ed by Pedro Noguera, New York Daily News.
March 30, 2011. Mexican Immigrants Face Darkest Housing Picture. By Kirk Semple, New York Times. Re-posted, Hispanically Speaking News.
March 29, 2011. Cuomo Shows Obama How to Cut a Budget – and Pass it. By Yuval Rosenberg, Fiscal Times.
March 29, 2011. Governor Cuomo to New York’s Poor and Middle Class: Drop Dead. By James Ridgeway, Mother Jones.
March 28, 2011. Tentative Deal on NY Budget: Economist says Cuts Hit Women & Kids Hardest. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
March 28, 2011. NY Budget Agreement Reactions. Reported by Dave Lucas, WAMC.
March 28, 2011. Five-year plan for funding education in NY. Reported by Greg Fry, WAMC.
March 27, 2011. Hispanic growth alters makeup of N.Y. suburbs. By Leah Rae and Dwight R. Worley, Journal News.
March 26, 2011. Big Apple still bruised, but tops U.S. in private jobs, commercial property. By Joan Gralla, Reuters.
March 25, 2011. New Paltz forum focuses on education in New York state and how it is funded. By William J. Kemble, Kingston Daily Freeman.
March 25, 2011. New York’s Wealthiest Need to Sacrifice a Little Too. An op ed by Kenneth Brynien, Gotham Gazette.
March 24, 2011. Job Prospects Level Off in New York City. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times “City Room” blog.
March 24, 2011. N.Y. Budget Cuts Would Hurt Women and Children, Report Says. By Suzanne Sataline, The Chronicle of Philanthropy “State Watch” blog.
March 23, 2011.
March 23, 2011. Roundtable on a New Approach to Governance. www.empirepage.com.
March 22, 2011. Women’s Foundation Discussion On “Inside City Hall.” Ana Oliveira of the New York Women’s Foundation discusses FPI’s report on the impact of the Executive Budget on women, children and families. Hosted by Errol Louis on NY1.
March 16, 2011. It’s time for Speaker Christine Quinn to do the right thing by workers. By Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News.
“The mayor’s proposed budget calls for dramatic cuts in areas like education and human services, [but] how can we close child care centers and cut services for the city’s seniors yet lavish money on low-wage employers?” said Michele Mattingly, research associate at the Fiscal Policy Institute.
March 14, 2011. Asking State Workers to Make Concessions. A letter by James A. Parrott, New York Times.
March 10, 2011. Opinion: Surcharge doesn’t erode tax base. An op ed by Douglas Massey, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University, and Howard Chernick, a professor of economics at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
March 9, 2011. Will state give away $350M? New Jersey set for windfall if New York tax surcharge ends. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
March 9, 2011. Big job gains seen on Wall Street recently: Securities industry added 2,000 new positions in January, according to latest employment data. City unemployment rate now at 8.9%, state at 8.3%. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
March 8, 2011. Census shows modest growth in Lower Hudson Valley. By Tim Henderson, Journal News.
March 7, 2011. Extension of tax on wealthy sought. By Tom Precious, Buffalo News.
March 6, 2011. In budget battle, lines are being drawn. By Joseph Spector, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
March 5, 2011. Gas-tax cap has fans, critics: Region’s lawmakers wary of idea. By Michael Randall, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
March 5, 2011. Radical Student Union Storms Town Hall Meeting. By Lauren Cioffi, Stony Brook Statesman.
According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, based on inflation-adjusted dollars, New York State funding for the SUNY state-operated campuses is 11 percent higher than it was in 1991, while enrollment is 16 percent higher.
March 2, 2011. Mixed Outcome for Stimulus Program in New York City. By Miranda Neubauer, The Brooklyn Ink.
February 25, 2011. Progressive Vermont Lawmakers Propose Upper-Income Tax Increase. FPI’s Frank Mauro comments. Reported by Pat Bradley, WAMC.
February 24, 2011. Cuomo’s austerity budget will kill N.Y. jobs: Why not tax the top 5% instead of slashing services? An op ed by Frank Mauro and James Parrott, New York Daily News.
February 23, 2011. The middle class is all tapped out: New York State is broke, but Gov. Cuomo joins GOP push to spare wealthy. A column by Juan Gonzalez, New York Daily News.
February 22, 2011. Millionaire’s tax debate heats up in Albany. By Simon Garron Caine, Legislative Gazette.
February 15, 2011. Shift Education Funding To Income Tax Says Assemblyman at Galef-Sponsored Forum. philipstown.info.
February 15, 2011. State Budget Fight Heats Up. By Joseph Spector, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
February 15, 2011. Do Incentives Really Work? Reported by Zack Seward for North Country Public Radio.
February 14, 2011. As Cuomo popularity soars, groups battle over taxes and school aid. By Joseph Spector, Poughkeepsie Journal.
February 14, 2011. Is Wal-Mart Worse? By Courtney Gross, Gotham Gazette.
February 14, 2011. Boom Town and Bust City: A Tale of Two New Yorks. By Lizzy Ratner, The Nation. (This article first was posted on January 27.
February 13, 2011. Cutting state spending is no cause for joy. An editorial in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
There is no question those wealthy taxpayers can afford to do more. The New York Fiscal Policy Institute reports that in 2007, the top 1 percent of state tax filers accounted for nearly 35 percent of all state income – revealing a huge and destructive rich-poor divide. Without some added tax revenue, the poorest students in New York will show up at schools with fewer tools than ever. The poor will struggle – and sometimes fail – to find the medical care they need. With higher tuition in state universities, more students will be priced out of the college education they need to become the productive workers our state needs.
February 11, 2011. Cuomo’s New York Budget Cuts Threatened by Fellow Democrats Pushing Taxes. By Michael Quint and Henry Goldman, Bloomberg.
February 11, 2011. ‘Millionaires tax’ to be topic of debate Feb. 14. By Adam Sichko, Albany Business Review.
February 3, 2011. Labor can support a plan to add jobs. A column by John R. Durso, Long Island Business News.
February 8, 2011. State Budget Debate on “Inside City Hall.” FPI’s James Parrott joins the discussion hosted by Errol Louis on NY1.
February 7, 2011. Make Wall Street Pay. By James Parrott, New York Times. Part of “Room for Debate” – Will City Pensions Be Cut?
February 7, 2011. After Nassau, Other Local Governments Worry About State Takeovers. By Jon Lentz, City Hall.
February 4, 2011. Shaping great debate: Cuomo enlists key political support for cuts as labor, human service groups rally. By Jimmy Vielkind and Casey Seiler, Albany Times Union.
February 3, 2011. Stimu-less for transit. By Bill Sanderson, New York Post.
February 3, 2011. LI school officials warn of cuts, more taxes. By John Hildebrand, Newsday.
February 3, 2011. Budget critics take GrowingTogetherNY on the road. By Casey Seiler, Capital Confidential, Albany Times Union.
February 3, 2011. City cooking up food business hotspot in one of Brooklyn’s low-income neighborhoods. New York Daily News.
February 2, 2011. Eat the Rich: The rich are richer than ever, but don’t ask them for help. By Tom Robbins, Village Voice.
February 1, 2011. State Prisons and Medicaid to Face Cuts in Cuomo Budget. By Danny Hakim and Nicholas Confessore, New York Times.
February 1, 2011. Cuomo exposes dirty budget trick. By Brendan Scott and Fredric U. Dicker, New York Post.
January 31, 2011. Cuomo calls New York budget process a “sham.” By Joan Gralla, Reuters.
January 31, 2011. Cuomo Slams State Budget Process. By Tara MacIsaac, Epoch Times.
January 30, 2011. New York State Unemployment Levels Could Increase Dramatically. By Charles Egan, worldnewsinsight.com.
Janaury 29, 2011. Analysis: Cuomo expected to threaten NY layoffs. By Michael Gormley (AP), Wall Street Journal.
January 28, 2011. The Direction of Economic Development in New York State. The Capitol Report with Susan Arbetter. On WBNG (Binghamton), WFFF (Plattsburgh), WKBW (Buffalo), WROC (Rochester), WENY (Elmira), WSTM (Syracuse/Watertown), WSTT (Erie, PA), WKTV (Utica).
January 28, 2011. The Capitol Pressroom: A Conversation with FPI’s Frank Mauro on New York State’s business-related tax expenditures. Hosted by Susan Arbetter.
January 27, 2011. Economic Development in the Coming Cuomo Era. Reported by Zack Seward for WXXI.
January 26, 2011. Cuomo rejects keeping high-income tax to fight N.Y. budget gap. By Joseph Spector, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Also in the the Journal News, the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, the Elmira Star-Gazette, the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Ithaca Journal, and posted to WGRZ-TV in Buffalo.
“When government resists deep cuts, when we appropriately tax the wealthiest New Yorkers and keep on public employees and keep on supporting the private sector by keeping government intact, we actually see a better and stronger recovery,” said Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, D-Ithaca …
A report last month from the Fiscal Policy Institute, a union-backed group, found that the richest 1 percent of households increased their share of income in New York from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007.
January 24, 2011. Unlikely Allies Fight Cuomo’s Plan for Property Tax Cap. By Winnie Hu, New York Times.
January 22, 2011. Fiscal analyst calls NY deficit exaggerated. By Michael Amon, Spin Cycle (Newsday blog).
January 21, 2011. NYC Employment News: Jobs Engine Coughs After Healthy Year. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
January 21, 2011. Job losses outnumber gains: State government cut more than private firms added in December. By Chris Churchill, Albany Times Union.
January 21, 2011. Economist: New NY Unemployment Numbers Argue “Against” State Job Cuts. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
January 20, 2011. New York City jobless rate falls below 9%. Local unemployment fell to 8.9% in December. New Yorkers haven’t seen that number in 19 months. Still, the latest data suggest the pace of the city’s recovery may be slowing. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
January 20, 2011. Bloomberg Seeks to Show That He Cares. By Clyde Haberman, New York Times.
January 20, 2011. NYC unemployment rate down to under 9 percent. By Stacey Doyle, examiner.com (New York).
January 20, 2011. Some groups tout tax circuit-breaker plan. By Chris McKenna, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
January 20, 2011. FDNY plans to sell uncollected ambulance fees to debt collection company to recoup costs. By Jonathan Lemire, New York Daily News.
January 19, 2011. 14 Shocking Stats On The Rise Of Inequality In New York. By Gus Lubin, businessinsider.com.
January 19, 2011. Gap Between Rich and Poor in NYC Wider Than Ever. gothamist.com.
January 19, 2011. City’s extreme rich-poor income divide. By Bill Sanderson and Amber Sutherland, New York Post.
January 19, 2011. Fiscal Reality: Real Solutions for New York’s Budget Crisis. By James Parrott, The Indypendent.
January 19, 2011. City Talk, CUNY-TV’s talk show on New York City politics and civic affairs. Host Doug Muzzio of Baruch University interviews FPI’s James Parrott.
January 18, 2011. As Incomes Gap Widens, New York Grows Apart. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
January 17, 2011. New Immigrants: Diversity Refreshing the City. By Pamela Rich, examiner.com (Cincinnati).
January 14, 2011. Wall St. Wealthy Must Do Part: Budget Cuts Alone Won’t Solve State’s Problems. By James Parrott, The Chief-Leader.
January 14, 2011. New citizens on path to serve country. By Quan Truong, Cincinnati Enquirer.
January 13, 2011. Independent Contractors: Panelists Say Data Shows Large Problem With Worker Misclassification/Underreporting. By Tripp Baltz, BNA’s Construction Labor Report.
January 12, 2011. Busting the myth, immigrants boost Long Island economy. By Janne Louise Andersen, Long Island Report.
January 10, 2011. Brooklyn Leads Boroughs in Job Growth. brooklyneagle.com.
January 9, 2011. Wealth gap growth a bad sign. By Kris Kotarski, Calgary Herald.
January 6, 2011. New York’s Cuomo Freezes Wages, Taxes in Deficit Plan. By Michael Quint, Bloomberg. Reposted on businessweek.com.
January 4, 2011. NY governor’s speech to mix hard choices, optimism. By Michael Gormley, Associated Press.
January 4, 2011. The People’s State of the State. The Capitol Report with Susan Arbetter. On WBNG (Binghamton), WFFF (Plattsburgh), WKBW (Buffalo), WROC (Rochester), WENY (Elmira), WSTM (Syracuse/Watertown), WSTT (Erie, PA), WKTV (Utica).
January 4, 2011. Cuomo: Cut taxes on the wealthy, and slash school budgets to the bone. By Leonie Haimson, NYC Public School Parents blog.
January 3, 2011. Financial 411: New Year, New Governor. FPI’s James Parrott on WNYC.
January 3, 2011. Fiscal Reality: Practical options for New York’s budget. An op ed by James Parrott, The Clarion.
January 3, 2011. Cuomo’s spending cuts will likely be severe. By Nick Reisman, Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin. Also in the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Elmira Star-Gazette and the Ithaca Journal, and posted to WGRZ (Buffalo).
January 3, 2011. Taxes, salaries and benefits must be on the agenda. An op ed by Erika Rosenberg, Albany Times Union.
January 2, 2011. Across the state, socioeconomic disparities need to be reduced. An op ed by Frank Mauro, Albany Times Union.
January 1, 2011. Don’t stand on the sidelines. An op ed by Mark Dunlea, Troy Record.
December 31, 2010. Solving the States’ Deficit Problems. A letter to the editor by Brent Kramer, New York Times. Kramer, who has extensive research experience with FPI, had a related article published in March 2010: The New York State Lottery: A Regressive Tax.
December 23, 2010. Killing Us Softly: Andrew Cuomo has an opportunity to change the state’s development strategies. Can we survive New York’s economic “development” plans? A column by Bruce Fisher, director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies at Buffalo State College, ArtVoice.
December 21, 2010. Minimum-wage increase will boost families as well as economy. By Rebekah Friend, Arizona Daily Star.
December 21, 2010. What Bernie Sanders Was Talking About. By Rick Green, blogging for the Hartford Courant.
December 17, 2010. New York Incomes Disparity Still Maddeningly Out of Control. By Sergio Hernandez, Village Voice – “Money” blog.
December 17, 2010. A New York State of Inequality. By John Schmitt, Center for Policy and Economic Research blog.
December 17, 2010. Audit Notes: Inequality in NYC. By Ryan Chittum, Columbia Journalism Review.
December 17, 2010. It’s not about Walmart: Debate ignores real issues. A column by Assemblymember Darryl C. Towns, New York Post.
December 17, 2010. Waging War: The maze of counterstudies and conflicts of interest on living-wage fight arrives in New York. By Chris Bragg, cityhallnews.com.
December 16, 2010. Omnibus Consortium offers tax relief solution other than tax cap. News 10, Albany.
December 15, 2010. Survey: Diversity, graduation rates in Dutchess are up. By Sarah Bradshaw, Poughkeepsie Journal.
December 15, 2010. Guatemalans find a home, opportunity in area’s communities. By Tim Henderson, Journal News.
December 14, 2010. New Data: Rich Gain Greatest Share Ever of NY Income. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
December 14, 2010. Black New Yorkers have a harder time bouncing back from unemployment than other ethnicities: study. By Ryan Strong and Lore Croghan, New York Daily News.
December 14, 2010. Living Wage Fight Heats Up As Business And Labor Interests Release Dueling Research. By Chris Bragg, cityhallnews.com.
December 12, 2010. New York’s growing income chasm. The city’s wealthiest have grown rich beyond compare. Now for the other 99%. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
December 8, 2010. Mayor touts NYC job growth as model for U.S. Sounding almost like a presidential candidate, Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls on Washington to “stop demagoguing” on the economy and do things more like, well, he does. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
December 7, 2010. Report: Cut business tax credits. By Adam Sichko, Albany Business Review.
December 7, 2010. Obama defends tax deal; local representatives withhold judgment. Reported by Maury Thompson and AP, Glens Falls Post-Star.
December 7, 2010. Report: Public pensions will clobber LI. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
December 5, 2010. City, state woes bode ill for labor. Public-sector unions face setbacks in 2011 as contracts expire. By Erik Engquist, Crain’s New York Business.
December 4, 2010. With $9B deficit, Cuomo faces hard choices. By Elizabeth Moore, Newsday.
December 3, 2010. Pension-Squeezed Cities May Turn to San Diego’s ‘Radical Idea.’ By Christopher Palmeri, www.businessweek.com.
December 1, 2010. Immigration’s Impacts on the Long Island Economy. A report by David Dyssegaard Kallick published in the Regional Labor Review, vol. 13, no. 1 (Fall 2010), published by the Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy at Hofstra University.
November 29, 2010. NY needs more aid for unemployed, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says. By Kenneth R. Bazinet, New York Daily News.
November 28, 2010. Paterson special session aims to help Cuomo. By James T. Madore, Newsday.
November 28, 2010. Can NY afford its higher education? Schools fear the old state-funded model is broken. By Daniel Massey and Miriam Kreinin Souccar, Crain’s New York Business.
November 26, 2010. Andrew Cuomo getting plenty advice on $9B deficit. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Also in the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin, Poughkeepsie Journal, Journal News, Elmira Star-Gazette, and Ithaca Journal.
Correction: General Fund spending is projected by the New York State Division of the Budget to increase by $9 billion in 2011-2012, a 23.2 percent increase (not 12 percent as reported in the article).
November 23, 2010. New York second in U.S. in October job growth. By Carrie Mason-Draffen, Newsday.
November 19, 2010. The Economic Impact of Long Island’s Immigrant Workers. By Aaron Rutkoff, Metropolis Blog (Wall Street Journal).
November 19, 2010. New York Study Refutes Immigrant Worker Perceptions. By Jon E. Dougherty, newsroomamerica.com.
November 19, 2010. Busting the myth, immigrants boost Long Island economy. By Janne Louise Andersen, Long Island Report.
November 19, 2010. Look again. By Jim Gordon, HV Biz.
Hovember 18, 2010. Study Contradicts Popular Beliefs About LI Immigrants. Reported by Mike Xirinachs, CBS 880.
November 18, 2010. Study: Immigrants Driving One-Third of Growth of Long Island Economy. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
November 18, 2010. New York’s economy third weakest nationally. By Eric Anderson for the Albany Times Union, posted on istockanalyst.com.
November 18, 2010. City unemployment drops to 9.2% in October. Widespread gains in private-sector jobs more than compensate for cuts in public payrolls, state labor department finds; city adds nearly 10,000 jobs for the month. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
November 18, 2010. Study: LI immigrants absorbed into work force. Associated Press, wsj.com. Also posted by Long Island Business News.
November 17, 2010. Panelists: LI immigration study should help calm debate. By Olivia Winslow, Newsday.
November 17, 2010. Long Island Study Rebuts Views on Immigrant Workers. By Kirk Semple, New York Times.
November 17, 2010. Study: Immigrants have positive impact on LI’s economy. Reported by Matt Jablow, News 12.
November 17, 2010. On LI, study sees immigrants as economic boost. By Olivia Winslow, Newsday.
November 16, 2010. Wall Street profits on pace to hit $19B. What recession? Despite headwinds caused by weak recovery, regulatory reform and pared payrolls, New York’s financial industry is on track to post its fourth most profitable year ever. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
November 14, 2010. Cuomo’s tax-cut conundrums. By Erik Engquist and Jeremy Smerd, Crain’s New York Business.
November 12, 2010. Is Cuomo’s Spending Cap the Real Threat to Transit Funding? By Noah Kazis, Streetsblog.
November 5, 2010. Driving diversity toward dollars: Advertisers find thriving new populations. By Jeff Miller, Long Island Business News.
October 26, 2010. Pre-emptive Charges of Bias in a City-Financed Wage Study. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
October 26, 2010. Living Wage coalition to unveil its study of Council bill. By Sally Goldenberg, New York Post.
October 25, 2010. Upstate in quandary over what attention its economy will get: Cuomo’s comment, foe’s antics create air of uncertainty. By Jerry Zremski, Buffalo News.
October 22, 2010. Upper Manhattan Job Fair Overflows With Applicants. By Carla Zanoni, DNAinfo.
October 21, 2010. City unemployment rate dipped in Sept. NYC jobless rate fell slightly to 9.3% last month, but don’t break out the champagne yet, as 17,000 private sector jobs also disappeared at summer’s end; average weekly wage also slips. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
October 20, 2010. High Unemployment Rates in Northern Manhattan Inspires Neighborhood Job Fair. By Carla Zanoni, DNAinfo.
October 17, 2010. Where Paladino stands on the issues. By Chris Mckenna, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
October 17, 2010. Comptroller race getting uglier. By Erik Engquist and Jeremy Smerd, Crain’s Insider.
October 13, 2010. Fact check: DiNapoli’s new ad. By Erik Engquist and Jeremy Smerd, Crain’s Insider.
October 13, 2010. Examining the Empire Center’s Report. CBS 6 Albany.
October 10, 2010. Paladino criticized on state deals, tax breaks. By Nick Reisman, Journal News. Also in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, Poughkeepsie Journal and Ithaca Journal.
October 10, 2010. Paladino vows to slash both spending and taxes. By Chris Mckenna, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
October 6, 2010. Now Obama Seeks to End Homelessness. By Jillian Jonas, Gotham Gazette.
October 6, 2010. NY’s ‘job outmigration’ ranked as worst in U.S. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
October 6, 2010. NYC may try to prune union pensions via bargaining. By Joan Gralla, Reuters. Also: CNBC, WXXI.
October 5, 2010. Paladino vows cuts, but observers say he’s vague. By Michael Amon, Newsday.
October 5, 2010. For thousands of unemployed, job fair is a chance for work. By Daniel P. Bader, Manhattan Times.
October 4, 2010. Proposal establishes corporate tax base. By Robert Swift, Wilkes-Barre (PA) Citizen Voice.
October 3, 2010. Tea Party-backed Carl Paladino gets millions in tax breaks, but creates just a handful of jobs. By Douglas Feiden and Greg B. Smith, New York Daily News.
October 3, 2010. Queens residents edge out BK for jobs. By Amy Zimmer, Metro New York.
September 29, 2010. City Held Firm in Recession. By Joseph De Avila and Sumathi Reddy, Wall Street Journal.
September 29, 2010. Westchester has nation’s highest property taxes. By Diana Costello and Cathey O’Donnell, Journal News.
The U.S. income disparity, as measured by the international Gini index, reached its highest level since the Census Bureau began tracking household income in 1967.
New York, along with Texas and Connecticut, was among the states in which income inequality was greater than that of the U.S. – the gap in Westchester County was greater than the state’s.
The wide disparity in Westchester is not surprising, considering the county’s extreme diversity, said James Parrott, the New York City-based deputy director and chief economist with the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and education organization.
Still, he said, the state and nation have experienced a “dramatic concentration” of income over the past three decades – bringing it back to levels not seen since the stock market crash of 1929.
“If anything, the trend has accelerated in the past 10 years,” Parrott said. “And because of the smaller middle class, there is a less stable economy that is more prone to boom or bust cycles.”
Median household incomes also fell at a greater rate locally than statewide.
September 28, 2010. In tough times, don’t forget those in need. By Mark Hare, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
September 27, 2010. City Poverty Rate Jumped as the Economy Slumped. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
September 27, 2010. Group has warning for middle class: NY groups support eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy. By Aaron Dorman, Legislative Gazette.
September 27, 2010. Economic crisis brutal for Hispanics and Blacks. By Aisha Al-Muslim, Queens Courier.
September 27, 2010. Labor, anti-tax groups work together for tax relief. By Clarisse Butler Banks, NYSUT Communications.
September 26, 2010. A rebound, but without Wall Street: Securities jobs lag lower-paying hires, a first in 50 years. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
September 24, 2010. A Recession’s Effect on Poverty. By Patrick McGeehan, City Room blog (New York Times).
September 24, 2010. Recession sends 100K NYC residents into poverty: Analysis compiled by the Fiscal Policy Institute finds the grim statistic is the second highest in 50 years of recordkeeping. By Erik Engquist, Crain’s New York Business.
September 23, 2010. Mexican New Yorkers Are Steady Force in Workplace. By Kirk Semple, New York Times.
September 22, 2010. U.S. tax cuts can cost state $6B. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
September 21, 2010. Solutions Proposed for Growing Number of New Yorkers in Poverty. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY.
September 21, 2010. True/False: Public Employees Have Too Many Benefits. In this installment of “Wonk Wars,” FPI’s James Parrott discusses labor compensation with the Manhattan Institute’s Steve Malanga. On the web >> and on the air >>
September 20, 2010. Tax cuts for all? Dems’ quandary. By Erik Engquist and Jeremy Smerd, Crain’s New York Business.
September 19, 2010. New York State is doing a poor job with growing poverty rate. By Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News.
September 16, 2010. Big spike in NY’s poverty rate reported. More than 3 million people here lived in poverty last year, the Census Bureau reports. That’s defined as a family of four making $21,954 or less in a year. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
September 8, 2010. Slow Growth in NY Jobs: 1 in 6 still Jobless or Underemployed. An interview with FPI’s James Parrott. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service – NY. Audio >>
September 6, 2010. New York Sees Modest Job Growth, But No Recovery Yet, Report Finds. Philanthropy News Digest.
September 5, 2010. Labor Day again finds very little to celebrate. By David Robinson, Buffalo News.
September 5, 2010. Iffy view on jobs. By Kenneth C. Crowe II, Albany Times Union.
September 4, 2010. Prospects dim for low-income workers: Weak economic recovery misses those on bottom job rungs. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
September 3, 2010. Latest Job Numbers. Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC. Former Congressional Budget Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin and economist James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute break down the latest monthly jobs report.
September 2, 2010. Inflation outpaces NYC wage growth Average weekly wages in the city up a modest 1.1% in July from year-ago period. That’s smaller than both the 1.5% annual rise in consumer prices and the 2.9% increase in wages seen across the U.S. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
August 31, 2010. With New Casino, Funds for Tracks. By Charles V. Bagli, New York Times.
August 31, 2010. NY cracks down on building trade’s “cash” economy. New York state’s construction companies will be subject to new criminal and civil penalties if they misclassify employees as contractors to underpay them or dodge taxes, Governor David Paterson said on Tuesday. Reported by Joan Gralla for Reuters. Also – CNBC, WAMC (Albany), WXXI (Rochester), WRVO (Oswego).
August 31, 2010. New Yorkers Still Doing Better Than Most in Economic Recovery. Daily Intel, New York magazine.
August 31, 2010. Pay Gap Widens as New York City Economy Rebounds. By Olivia Scheck, DNAinfo.com.
August 30, 2010. New York Rebounds From Slump, Unevenly. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
August 30, 2010. Looking to a National Recovery. By James Parrott, New York Times. Part of “Room for Debate” – How Healthy Is New York City’s Economy?
August 30, 2010. Public Pensions: The Pension Fund Elephant is in the Room. Accountability Central.
August 26, 2010. Real Reform Needed. An editorial on property tax reform in the Ithaca Times.
August 20, 2010. State pension system may face lower rate of return. By Randi F, Marshall, Newsday. (Published in print edition on August 21: “Lowering Expectations.”)
August 20, 2010. New York City Sees Job Growth in July. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
August 18, 2010. Budget Blues Seen As Unlikely To Affect State Races: Frustration with Albany spending may be too standard to excite voters, advocates fear. By Laura Nahmias, The Capitol. Also – Huffington Post.
August 18, 2010. Rick Scott says 700,000 illegal immigrants take jobs. St. Petersburg Times “Truth-O-Meter.”
August 11, 2010. If Andrew Cuomo is New York’s next Governor, what can we expect from his policies, his politics and his personality? Susan Arbetter of the Capitol Pressroom hosts a discussion with FPI’s Frank Mauro and columnist, professor, and activist Paul Bray. Also see – The New NY Agenda: A Plan for Action by Andrew Cuomo.
August 11, 2010. Immigrant workers faring better than U.S.-born in New York. By Zachary Goelman, Reuters. Also: CNBC, WXXI.
August 10, 2010. New education-jobs bill would give state $600M. By Meghan E. Murphy, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
August 8, 2010. Stingy on Stimulants. A letter to the editor by James Parrott, Crain’s New York Business.
August 8, 2010. Budget drama makes ‘Albany’ a dirty word. By Elizabeth Moore, Newsday.
August 6, 2010. Immigrants propel Staten Island economy, despite challenges. By Manuel E. Avendaño, El Diario / La Prensa. Translated from Spanish by Emily Leavitt.
August 6, 2010. The Spectulator’s Rebate: New York’s $16 Billion Gift to Wall Street Banksters. By Ralph Nader, counterpunch.org. Also, New York’s Rebatable Bailout, Eurasia Review.
August 6, 2010. State budget cuts hits LI residents, schools, businesses. By Melissa Chan, Mark Harrington, Jennifer Kelleher, Keiko Morris, Ridgely Ochs and Will Van Sant, Newsday.
August 6, 2010. Wilson blasts DiNapoli over pension payment plan. By Elizabeth Moore, Newsday.
August 5, 2010. Report Says New York City Immigrants Have Lower Jobless Rate Than U.S.-Born. Labor Relations Week (Bureau of National Affairs).
August 5, 2010. New York’s Social Services Hurt. By Peter Milosheff, the Bronx Times.
August 3, 2010. Immigrant Unemployment Lower Than Natives’ In NYC. By Lauren Raheja, City Limits.
August 2, 2010. New York Not-for-Profits Urge Leaders To Restore Vetoes And Not Break Their Promise. hamptons.com.
July 29, 2010. New data show immigrants’ economic, political power. By Olivia Winslow, Newsday.
July 29, 2010. Language Lessons For Spa City Police. WAMC.
July 29, 2010. Asian-Americans endure well during recession; but ‘model minority’ theory has some holes in it. By Palash R. Ghosh, International Business Times.
July 28, 2010. Tyner Gubernatorial Bid Falls Short. By Rich Flaherty, Beacon Free Press.
July 27, 2010. Howie Hawkins candidate for NY Governor Says he Supports Immigrant Rights, Joins in Protests Against Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law. hotindienews.com.
July 26, 2010. Many Not-for-Profits Lack State Cash. Reported by Liz Benjamin, Capitol Tonight.
July 24, 2010. Immigrant Employment Gains in New York. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
July 21, 2010. Senate Action Spells Relief for 200,000 Unemployed New Yorkers. Reported by Mike Clifford, Public News Service (New York).
July 21, 2010. Advocates Praise Extension Of Unemployment Benefits. WSJM (St. Joseph, Michigan.)
July 19, 2010. Love him or hate him, hard to ignore him: ‘Living wage’ fight brings both positive and negative attention to retail union chief Stuart Appelbaum. By Daniel Masset, crainsnewyork.com.
July 18, 2010. Panel to predict yield for state pension investments. By Michael Amon, Newsday.
July 15, 2010. City jobless rate dips in June to 9.5% – Sixth straight month of declines for NYC, but future months’ numbers depend on continued growth in corporate profits -and a robust summer tourism season. By Carl Gaines, crainsnewyork.com.
July 13, 2010. New York’s new business tax break program avoids Empire Zone’s mistakes, state economic development commissioner promises. By Rick Moriarty, Syracuse Post-Standard.
July 11, 2010. Double-dip recession fears linger: Experts say recovery, growth depend on private sector jobs. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
July 11, 2010. Pay more. A letter to the editor by James Parrott, Crain’s New York Business.
July 10, 2010. Working New York. James Parrott was interviewed by host Mark Riley. WWRL.
July 8, 2010. NY businesses upset over state’s plan to defer business tax credits three years. By Rick Moriarty, Syracuse Post-Standard.
The Fiscal Policy Institute, the union-backed research group, isn’t feeling sympathy for the business community, however. It released a report in April that said one of the reasons for the state’s fiscal woes was that tax revenues from Wall Street are down – and not because Wall Street firms are hurting for profits.
Wall Street made $61.4 billion last year, nearly triple its previous record in 2000, largely because of a taxpayer-funded bailout, the institute said.
Mauro, the group’s executive director, said Wall Street firms have been able to avoid paying taxes on much of those profits because the state allows companies to use losses in previous years to reduce their tax liability in future years. So Wall Street is using losses from 2007 and 2008 to shield its current high profits from taxes, he said.
“It’s an ordinary part of the game,” he said. “They’re well-accustomed to carrying losses forward and back, so I don’t think this will be devastating to them.
July 8, 2010. Measuring New York City’s Wage Adequacy. An article by FPI research associate Michele Mattingly, Huffington Post.
The findings of the report [The Self Sufficiency Standard for New York City 2010] imply a stark future for the city if most of its largest occupations do not pay median wages that allow an adult employed full-time to meet basic needs, let alone to support a family. Public policy in recent years has stressed the primacy of employment over public support to address poverty, yet too many of New York’s jobs simply do not pay enough for workers to raise themselves and their families to a modest standard of living.
July 5, 2010. Lawmakers: Tax Nonresident Hedge Fund Managers. By Nicola M. White, State Tax Notes, a publication of Tax Analysts.
July 4, 2010. Appreciate Michigan’s immigrant workers. A letter to the editor by Alix Gould-Werth, Detroit Free Press.
July 2, 2010. Stachowski holds up budget bill over stalled UB 2020 measure. Reported by Mark Scott, WBFO (Buffalo).
July 1, 2010. Debate on the New York State Budget. Susan Arbetter of the Capitol Pressroom hosts a discussion with FPI’s Frank Mauro, David Liebschutz of the Center For Governmental Policy and EJ McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy. (Segment begins at about 25:28.)
July 1, 2010. The New York State Budget – The Revenue Bill. FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro spoke to Robert Knight on WBAI’s Wake Up Call. (Segment begins at about 17:00.)
June 30, 2010. New report demonstrates need for policies promoting economic stability. Amherst Bee.
June 29, 2010. New report finds more families in need. Reported by Sabina Kuriakose for YNN.
June 29, 2010. New report details cost for family to meet basic needs. AP.
June 29, 2010. Self Sufficiency Study Breaks Down How Much Income You Need To Make Ends Meet. Reported by Samantha Martinez, WETM-TV (Elmira).
June 29, 2010. Andrew Cuomo Hanging Out With BFF Fred Dicker Not Good News for Other State Democrats. By Wayne Barrett, Village Voice.
June 27, 2010. Paterson’s proposed taxes, fees criticized on all sides. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
June 24, 2010. Paterson: Expect more increases in New York taxes, fees. AP, Syracuse Post-Standard. Also in the Niagara Gazette.
June 23, 2010. In state budget plan, get ready to dig deeper into your wallet. By Nick Reisman, White Plains Journal News. Also in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin and the Ithaca Journal.
Frank Mauro of the left-leaning Fiscal Policy Institute, said states face tough choices during a recession, but a tax increase on top earners is the least damaging option.
“I think a lot of elected officials recognize tax increases aren’t ideal during a downturn, but what they seem to miss is that while tax increases don’t help during a recession, but spending cuts don’t help either,” Mauro said. “They have to come up with the least damaging mix of spending cuts and tax increases.”
June 21, 2010. Spend Now, Deal with Deficit Later? FPI chief economist and deputy director James Parrott participated in a spirited debate on the Fox business program, Varney and Company. (00:6:34)
June 21, 2010. Suavizando los cortes al presupuesto. In English: Soften the budget blows. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa.
June 18, 2010. Job Numbers Show Strength. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
After adjusting for seasonal changes, the city added 77,000 jobs in 2010’s first five months, said James Parrott, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute. “It’s not a glowing report,” Mr. Parrott said. “There is a continued private sector growth, but it was more moderate.”
June 18, 2010. Strike a Fairer Balance In Balancing City Budget: Trim Hedge Funds, Not Services. An op ed by James A. Parrott, The Chief. PDF.
June 17, 2010. NYC’s jobless rate keeps falling. May unemployment dips to 9.6% from 9.8% in April and the city’s workforce climbs to over 4 million as economy rebounds quickly. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
June 16, 2010. Rally Against Proposed Cuts Draws Thousands in New York. By Jack Phillips, Epoch Times.
June 15, 2010. The New York State Budget. Frank Mauro, Executive Director of FPI, spoke with WAMC’s Steve Felano on Vox Pop. Aired on WAMC and Northeast Public Radio stations. Podcast >>
June 15, 2010. Donkey Show. Andrew Cuomo’s Biggest Rival Won’t Be the G.O.P. It’s Shelley Silver and the old-school Dems in his race to Governor. By Wayne Barrett, Village Voice.
June 14, 2010. Even if New York averts government shutdown, its budget woes escalate. New York State lawmakers are likely to approve another short-term fix to prevent a threatened government shutdown. Delay in closing an $8.5 billion budget gap is only making things worse, some analysts say. By Ron Scherer, Christian Science Monitor.
Within the weekly spending measures, however, are glimpses of what the Empire State may look like if state officials ever do bridge a $8.5 billion spending gap, second only to California for the highest in the nation. The snapshot is of a state that will be spending less money on hospitals, education, and the environment. […]
“It most likely means a lower quality of life for New Yorkers,” says Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute in Albany, N.Y. “The way they are balancing the budget now is similar to the 1990s, when there were deep service cuts.”
June 11, 2010. Survey: Tax rich to save schools. State teachers union poll reveals public backs shift of burden to wealthy. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
June 10, 2010. New Studies Paint Surprising Picture of NW Hispanics. By Jacob Lewin, Oregon Public Broadcasting.
June 9, 2010. Wall St. pay plunge. By David Seifman, New York Post.
James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the IBO’s numbers appeared to be correct but were a snapshot in time.
“They tell you more about 2008 profits and don’t say anything about 2009,” he said. “They’re meaningful as a measure of the depths of the recession. They’re not a reflection of the banner year Wall Street had in 2009.”
June 9, 2010. Wall St. Earnings Fall More Than 20 Percent in 2009, Study Says. DNAinfo.
June 9, 2010. Wall Street Pay Down in 2009. Epoch Times.
June 9, 2010. Paterson’s budget tactics criticized by Dems and GOP. By Chris Mckenna, Times Herald-Record.
June 8, 2010. State squeezes LI: Give us $90M more for pensions. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
June 8, 2010. Groups Call On Gillibrand, Schumer To Restore Health Insurance Funding. Fox 40 WICZ-TV (Binghamton).
June 6, 2010. Caps studied as schools take 66% of property tax. By Cara Matthews, Poughkeepsie Journal.
June 2010. City Notes: The Cuomo Agenda. By Theodore Hamm, Brooklyn Rail.
June 3, 2010. The unions are our friends. By Scott Brinton, Bellmore Herald. Also in the Baldwin Herald, the East Meadow Herald, the Franklin Square/Elmont Herald, the Long Beach Herald, the Malverne/West Hempstead Herald, the Merrick Herald, the Oceanside/Island Park Herald and the Rockville Centre Herald.
May 30, 2010. Detractors weigh in on school property tax cap. By Cara Matthews and Meaghan M. McDermott, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
May 28, 2010. Living Wage Fight Revitalized in New York City. By Michelle Chen, Working, a blog of In These Times.
May 26, 2010. New York City Launches Investment Fund for Tech Start-Ups. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
May 24, 2010. NYC Council Members to Push Wage Mandates. By Jack Phillips, Epoch Times.
May 22, 2010. New York State Giving Special Tax Break To Government Retirees. By Aaron Saykin, WGRZ Buffalo.
May 21, 2010. City’s Jobless Rate Drops Below U.S. Rate. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
May 20, 2010. NYC unemployment drops four months straight. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
May 18, 2010. N.Y. Manufacturers Post Jobs Increase. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal.
May 18, 2010. Can a cap fix New York’s high property taxes? By Cara Matthews, Journal News.
May 16, 2010. Mayor Bloomberg under fire for his ‘trickle-down theory’: Spend money to make money. By Adam Lisberg, New York Daily News.
The liberal Fiscal Policy Institute slammed Bloomberg’s reliance on Wall Street, saying he should focus on bringing up the subpoverty-level wages of the poorest working New Yorkers.
“Relying on better wages for every New Yorker makes a lot more sense as an economic recovery strategy than waiting for Wall Street bonuses to trickle down,” wrote FPI economist James Parrott.
May 15, 2010. New York considers ways to provide property tax relief: Several plans call for placing cap on rates. By Cara Matthews, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Also in the Elmira Star-Gazette and the Ithaca Journal.
Frank Mauro, head of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute in New York, said a cap would perpetuate current funding inequities among school districts. “When you apply a percentage cap to change, you institutionalize the disparities and you make them worse,” Mauro said. He said a circuit-breaker system would provide relief to the most overburdened homeowners.
May 14, 2010. New York City’s Chronic Jobless Crisis. By David R. Jones, Esq., President and CEO of the Community Service Society, in the Huffington Post.
May 14, 2010. The intrusion of the rich and powerful into public education. A speech given by Bill Cala, former interim superintendent of the Rochester school district, posted by City Newspaper (Rochester).
May 13, 2010. Obama Talks Jobs, Recovery in New York. By Jack Phillips, Epoch Times.
May 11, 2010. NYC recession may linger for average New Yorker. By Joan Gralla, Reuters. Also posted to CNBC and WXXI.
May 10, 2010. Navy Yard Finds Green In Green-Card Program. By Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal. This story refers to an FPI report, New York City in the Great Recession: Divergent Fates by Neighborhood and Race and Ethnicity.
May 10, 2010. NYC Economy to Bounce Back Slowly, Report Says. By Jack Phillips, Epoch Times.
May 10, 2010. New York City’s Economic Recovery May Be ‘Rocky and Long.’ By Ross Schneiderman, Metropolis blog, Wall Street Journal.
May 10, 2010. Severe Recession Hangs on in Much of the City. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
May 3, 2010. AQE: Bonus tax would offset need for education cuts. By Marcy L. Velte, Legislative Gazette.
May 2, 2010. Experts split on economic toll of illegal immigrants. By Dean Calbreath, San Diego Union-Tribune.
April 30, 2010. Outrage Over Arizona Immigration Law Boils Over in New York. Reported by Mark Scheerer, Public News Service.
April 30, 2010. How to Survive in New York On $0 A Day: Amid crisis-level black unemployment, government benefits, family support and off-the-books labor help make ends meet. By Jarrett Murphy, City Limits.
April 28, 2010. NYC Spends Billions on Economic Development. Do Taxpayers Benefit? By Aaron Rutkoff, Metropolis blog (Wall Street Journal).
April 28, 2010. Bills coming in on Bloomberg’s 7 train extension. By Adam Lisberg, New York Daily News.
April 28, 2010. Wealth Versus Society: Trying to find the words for “us.” By Bruce Fisher for ArtVoice (Buffalo).
April 27, 2010. Immigration Reform Needed Now. By Sal Tripoli. An op ed in the Salem (Massachusetts) News.
April 27, 2010. Lady Liberty to the World: ‘Eines Tages Alles’ or ‘Just Kidding.’ By Michael Ford, Huffington Post.
April 27, 2010. Reform Immigration Now: On the Coming Demonstration in Buffalo. By Cliff Cawthon, Buffalo Independent Media Center.
April 26, 2010. Groups advocate new tax on bonuses. By Marcy L. Velte, Legislative Gazette.
April 25, 2010. Politics trump reason in Arizona. By Edward Schumacher-Matos, North Country Times (North San Diego and SW Riverside counties).
April 24, 2010. Group seeks tax on bonus pay: Wall St. move could fix deficit. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Gazette.
April 24, 2010. Pakistani Americans Largely Unaware of Stimulus Opportunities. Posted by New America Media; originally appeared in the Daily Khabrain.
April 23, 2010. Not so fast on Arizona immigration law. By Mark Lacter, Southern California Public Radio.
April 22, 2010. A Premature End to Federal Assistance, Anti-Predatory Lending Laws, State Benefits of Health Reform & Much More. This issue of the weekly research roundup put out by the Progressive States Network mentions two reports from FPI: Across the Spectrum: The Wide Range of Jobs Immigrants Do and New York Has the Ways and Means: How and Why Wall Street Should Give Back to Main Street. The second report was a joint effort with the Center for Working Families.
April 22, 2010. Census analysis pierces stereotype: 48% of Twin Cities’ immigrants hold white-collar jobs. By Sharon Schmickle, MinnPost.com.
April 22, 2010. Not All Immigrants Work Low-Wage Positions. By Diana Nguyen, Southern Maryland Online.
April 22, 2010. New Report Details How Temporary Bonus Tax, Other Wall St Measures, Could Ease NY’s Budget Crisis & Fund Property Tax Relief For The Most Burdened Households. Queens Times (p. 9).
April 21, 2010. Study shows more immigrants work higher wage jobs. Reported by Kerri Miller, Minnesota Public Radio.
April 20, 2010. With state budget woes, groups and lawmakers have different solutions. By Cara Matthews and Joseph Spector, Gannett News Service, Ithaca Journal. Also in the Elmira Star Gazette, Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin, and (in the print editions) the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Journal News.
April 20, 2010. Bloomberg Roots for Wall Street: The Mayor remembers the Titans, at any cost. By Tom Robbins, Village Voice.
April 20, 2010. Are Goldman Earnings the Answer to New York’s Budget Woes? By Aaron Rutkoff, Metropolis blog (Wall Street Journal).
April 19, 2010. Immigration Miscalculation? By John Phillips, The Word on Employment Law blog. Re-blogged April 20 (New Study Shows Immigrant Population Hard to Stereotype) by Greg Siskind, Immigration Law and Policy blog.
April 19, 2010. New York Voters Back Tax on Bonuses, Siena Poll Says. By Henry Goldman (Bloomberg), businessweek.com.
April 19, 2010. Lawmakers push special tax on banker bonuses. Levy is one of several anti-Wall Street taxes that, if passed, could fill up to two-thirds of state’s $9 billion budget hole, according to liberal policy groups. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
April 19, 2010. Groups Urge Tax on Wall St. Bonuses. By Nick Confessore, City Room blog (New York Times).
April 19, 2010. Pataki’s Policies Haunt Albany: The New York State Budget Crisis. Frank Mauro spoke with Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash, co-hosts of Building Bridges on WBAI. Listen to the podcast >> (Segment starts at about 44:50.)
April 19, 2010. UAlbany Conference focuses on dangers of flexible tuition. By Karla Cruz, Legislative Gazette.
April 16, 2010. Immigration Debate: Nearly Half Of U.S. Immigrants Work In White-Collar Jobs: STUDY. By Ryan McCarthy, Huffington Post.
April 16, 2010. The Week in Immigration News. By Julissa Treviño, the Washington Independent, a webpaper owned by a network of state-based online news sites founded by the Center for Independent Media.
April 16, 2010. Most Immigrants in St. Louis Work White-Collar Jobs, Says New York Times. By Nicholas Phillips, www.dailyrft.com, a blog of the St. Louis Riverfront Times.
April 16, 2010. More big-city immigrants work in white-collar jobs. By Sandy Smith, HULIQ.com.
April 16, 2010. White-Collar Immigrants on the Rise. By John Cheney-Lippold, Truthdig.
April 15, 2010. Immigrants in Work Force: Study Belies Image. By Julia Preston, New York Times. This story is based on data analysis from FPI’s Immigration Research Initiative. Also in the Times:
- Immigrants and Growth graphic.
- After Their Arrival video and photo interviews with four men and women from across the world and the economic spectrum.
April 13, 2010. Newsday Wrong? What’s New? An editorial from the Stony Brook Press.
April 13, 2010. Village of Montgomery’s higher budget for cops raises eyebrows. By Meghan E. Murphy, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
April 12, 2010. Look to Wall Street for help. An op ed by Frank Mauro, FPI’s executive director, and Ron Deutsch of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Albany Times-Union.
With New York, like other states, still reeling from a devastating national recession, Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature are proposing budget plans that rely overwhelmingly on cuts to essential public services. This, they imply, would hurt the economy less than a more balanced approach that includes some economically sensible revenue choices. Nothing could be further from economic reality.
April 11, 2010. Call that a mild recession? Jobs data suggest NYC dodged a bullet. Sure doesn’t feel like it. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
April 8, 2010. Immigration Reform Now. An editorial by Felicia Persaud, founder of CaribWorldNews.
April 8, 2010. Spare charities from the new MTA mobility tax. An op ed in the New York Daily News by Michael Stoller, executive director of the Human Services Council of New York City.
April 8, 2010. Accusations untrue. A letter to the editor by Doug McGivney, Hudson Register-Star.
April 7, 2010. Coalition pushes for closing tax loopholes, soda tax. By Cara Matthews, Albany Watch blog (Journal News).
March 30, 2010. Higher ed advocates say NO to cuts, tuition hikes. By Darryl McGrath, New York Teacher.
March 29, 2010. UB 2020 hinges on SUNY reforms. By Sue Wuetcher, UB (University at Buffalo) Reporter. A reader comments:
Why doesn’t President Simpson advocate for supporting public education, rather than for privatizing it? A modest increase in state income tax rates, aimed primarily at those wealthy New Yorkers whose rates have been cut so dramatically in the past thirty years, would save SUNY and the rest of the state’s public responsibilities.
March 27, 2010. Hello, Mr. Elephant! Some tiptoe around the subject – but the connection between black worker status and immigration deserves to be faced. By Jarrett Murphy, citylimits.org.
March 27, 2010. All Things New York, WWRL. Host Rennie Bishop and David Dyssegaard Kallick discussed the diverse occupations of New York immigrants from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
March 2010. The Economic Impact of Immigrants in Minnesota. By Katherine Fennelly and Anne Huart, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University Of Minnesota.
March 25, 2010. Taxes Through the Looking Glass Can Long Island have its cake and eat it too? An alternate view of property taxes. By Lawrence C. Levy, Long Island Pulse Magazine.
March 24, 2010. To save New York, tax Wall Street: As New York’s rich get richer, public services brace themselves for draconian cuts from which they may never recover. By Sadhbh Walshe, The Guardian.
March 24, 2010. Professors union gathers against budget cuts. By Kyle Morrison, SUNY Albany, Albany Student Press.
March 24, 2010. In Broken Welfare System, ‘Needy Families’ Fund Offers Break for Jobless. By Michelle Chen, Working In These Times.
March 23, 2010. China currency manipulation blamed for New York job losses. By Eric Anderson, The Buzz, Albany Times Union.
March 17, 2010. The Ravitch Plan. Frank Mauro discussed the budget process reforms recommended by Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch with host Bill Henning on “The Communiqué,” on WNYE-FM (91.5 FM), New York City.
March 16, 2010. New York State Budget and Fiscal Policy. Frank Mauro, Executive Director of FPI, and Ken Adams, President and CEO of the Business Council of New York State, spoke with Vox Pop host David Galletly about the New York State budget. They also addressed listeners’ questions and comments. Aired on WAMC and Northeast Public Radio stations. Podcast >>
March 14, 2010. Federal funds impact Finger Lakes. By Theresa Walsh, Auburn Citizen.
March 12, 2010. Studies Show Immigration Reform Could Give a Boost to the Economy. By Julissa Treviño, Washington Independent.
March 12, 2010. Raise Taxes to Balance the Budget. Capitol Tonight. In discussing Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch’s fiscal reform plan, FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro explained why tax increases should be part of a balanced approach to closing New York State’s projected budget gap.
March 11, 2010. Immigrants’ contributions add up. By Camille Bautista, Queens Courier.
March 11, 2010. The Ravitch Plan. Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC. James Parrott, FPI’s Deputy Director and Chief Economist, discussed Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch’s plan to reform the New York State budget process and to borrow money to help solve New York State’s fiscal problems.
March 10, 2010. Maloney Discusses Economy At Town Hall Forum. By Thomas Cogan, Queens Gazette.
March 10, 2010. Budget watchdog group careful who it bites. By Michael Hirsch, New York Teacher.
April 15, 2010. UFT raises heat on lawmakers to stem ed budget cuts. By Michael Hirsch, New York Teacher.
March 8, 2010. $15 billion worth of city stimulus. By Erik Engquist and Daniel Massey, Crain’s Insider.
March 8, 2010. Feeling the Recession’s Impact: The mayor’s proposed city budget, which City Council just began examining, shows a nearly flat spending plan riddled with painful choices. By Neil deMause, City Limits.
March 8, 2010. Phew! NYC economic recovery to start just about any day now. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
March 8, 2010. Dismantling SUNY, America’s Largest Public University System. A column by Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network.
March 4, 2010. Put an end to short-sighted notion of big-box panacea for New Scotland. A letter to the editor by Bri McAlevey, Altamont Enterprise.
March 2, 2010. In New York, Wall Street Bailout Softens the Blow of a Recession. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
March 1, 2010. Budget options aplenty. By Casey Leigh Quinlan, Legislative Gazette.
February 22, 2010. Need money? Tax the rich. By Rick Karlin, Capitol Confidential, Albany Times Union.
February 22, 2010. Labor Groups Propose Budget Fixes, Without Cuts. By Joseph Spector, Albany Watch, Journal News.
February 14, 2010. Forget Paul! Albany lawmakers are robbing Peter to pay general fund. By Jill Terreri, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
February 12, 2010. An immigrant stimulus to the economy. By Justin Akers Chacon, a professor of U.S. history and Chicano studies in San Diego, for the Progressive Media Project.
February 12, 2010. Tax stock transactions on one lawmaker’s mind. By Jim Gordon, HV BIZ.
February 2, 2010. Progressive Tax Reform. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa. In Spanish and English.
New York State and City can minimize the devastating effects of looming budget cuts by ushering in overdue tax reform.
In New York City, a single person with an income of $30,000 pays the same marginal tax rate as a person with an income of $30 million. This absurdity is one of the reasons why organizations such as the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) have called for more progressive taxation – where the tax rate increases with increases in taxable income.
February 1, 2010. Will illegal immigration rebound with the economy? By Hoa Quach and Kristina Blake, San Diego News Network.
“You can see in San Diego, which is a similar story to other places, that although there is a concentration of immigrants in lower wage occupations … there is also a very strong representation of immigrants in the higher end occupations,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, Fiscal Policy Institute’s director of the immigration research initiative. “It shows that immigrants are really pulling their own weight.”
January 26, 2010. FPI releases detailed data on immigrants’ contribution to New York metro economy. The Pakistani Newspaper.
January 25, 2010. Employee misclassification costing New York millions. By Andrew Beam, Legislative Gazette.
January 25, 2010. Jobless rate signals slow recovery. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
January 25, 2010. Sunnyside BID shines light on local merchants. By Camille Bautista, Queens Courier.
January 23, 2010. Impacto Inmigrante. By Catalina Jaramillo, El Diario / La Prensa.
January 22, 2010. Reporte: Inmigrantes ayudan al crecimiento económico de EE.UU. Reported by Jonathan Inoa of NY1 Noticia.
January 22, 2010. States of Pain. The fiscal crises unfolding in legislatures across the country will only get worse in 2010. By Chris Maisano, In These Times.
The budget deficits in New York and other states do need to be brought under control. But is the slash-and-burn approach championed by Paterson and austerity advocates from both parties the only option? James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist of New York’s labor-oriented Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), doesn’t think so.
“The cuts proposed by Paterson will result in an even worse economy with higher unemployment and greater hardship among low-income populations,” says Parrott. The governor and his allies see supposedly excessive social spending and state employee pay and benefits as the root of the crisis, but according to Parrott, “the real culprit is the recession-related revenue falloff” and “excessive tax cuts in the 1990s that have eroded the state’s tax base by roughly $20 billion per year.”
Instead of painful cuts to public spending, Parrott argues that New York’s budget crisis can be solved more soundly and humanely by “pressing for more federal state and local fiscal relief, closing business tax loopholes and curtailing wasteful tax giveaway economic development programs, and increasing reliance on a progressive personal income tax.”
January 21, 2010. NYC unemployment spikes to 10.6%. The city’s jobless rate is up from 7% in December 2008, and at its highest level in nearly 17 years. If you want evidence that Wall Street’s rebound has lifted the local economy, you’ll just have to wait. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
January 20, 2010. Paterson’s ‘Budget of Necessity.’ From New York Now’s live coverage of the state budget release, a brief clip featuring Frank Mauro, the executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, and David Liebschutz, the director of strategic planning and analysis at the Center for Governmental Research. [2:25]. Video >>
January 20, 2010. Brooklyn Foreclosures Highest Among NYC Borough Filings. ethiopianreveiew.com.
January 19, 2010. A Pocket of Work in an Area of Joblessness. By Kareem Fahim, New York Times.
January 17, 2010. Report: Child Care Subsidies Unfair. northcountrygazette.com.
January 17, 2010. Mayor to push immigration reform. By Peter N. Spencer, Staten Island Advance.
January 15, 2010. N.Y. Debt Premium at 15-Month High Before Budget Plan. By Brian K. Sullivan, businessweek.com.
“In a recession, states don’t have any good choices,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Albany, New York- based Fiscal Policy Institute. “States have to balance their budgets in good times and in bad, so what states have to do is either cut spending or increase taxes, both of which put additional drag on the economy.”
January 14, 2010. New York State Budget Fix-up Debate. New York State is in the red. How did the Empire State get into such a financial mess? And could it go the way of California? FPI’s James Parrott and Josh Barro of the Manhattan Institute discuss best ways address the state’s budget problems on Canada’s Business News Network. Video segment [9:04]. Related: BNN speaks to Ken Adams of the Business Council of New York [8:22] and to with Moody’s analyst Emily Raimes [5:55].
January 13, 2010. Immigrants playing a larger role in city’s economy – New arrivals from abroad increased their contribution to the gross city product by 61% from 2000 and 2008, according to the state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. By By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
Two factors are driving immigrant economic output, says David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research Initiative: Immigrants are much more likely to be of prime working age than their U.S-born counterparts, and they work in a broad range of jobs.
“One of the more striking things is how much immigrants are contributing, up and down the economic spectrum,” he said. “Yes, there are a good number of taxi drivers and restaurant workers, but also a large portion of doctors and engineers.”
January 12, 2010. City Universities Are Part of Bloomberg’s Green Jobs Vision. By Michael P. Ventura, Village Voice.
January 5, 2010. Ideas for budget savings listed: Freezing teacher salaries and pork spending are among group’s ideas. By Michael Gormley, Albany Times-Union.
January 5, 2010. $queeze & freeze – Gov urged: Nix raises in fiscal crisis. By Brendan Scott, New York Post.
January 4, 2010. Think Tank Lists Ideas for Big New York Budget Savings. 1010 WINS. Also posted to syracuse.com.
December 31, 2009. Joblessness in Queens below city rate at 9%. By Jeremy Walsh, Times-Ledger Newspapers.
December 29, 2009. Citywide Jobless Map Reveals Blacks Worst Hit by Recession. By John Del Signore, the Gothamist.
December 29, 2009. A Localized Breakdown of Joblessness in New York. By Patrick McGeehan, City Room blog, New York Times. Print version, December 30.
December 24, 2009. Holiday allows for time to pause and recall less fortunate New Yorkers. By Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News.
December 23, 2009. On the Jobless Front in NYC: Now You Can See How Poorly Your Own Neighborhood is Doing. By Elizabeth Dwoskin, Village Voice New York News blog.
December 23, 2009. Unemployment down, but some areas of Queens still struggle with jobless rate. By Lisa L. Colangelo , New York Daily News.
December 22, 2009. Jobless Middle-Class New Yorkers Struggle to Get By: High Unemployment Takes Toll on Once-Thriving Neighborhoods, Where Foreclosures Are Up and Recovery Is Elusive. By Suzanne Sataline, Wall Street Journal.
December 22, 2009. Jingle, jingle all the way for Wall Street. By Martha T. Moore, USA Today.
December 22, 2009. Repopulate Detroit with Urban Homesteading: Aggressively recruiting immigrants to Detroit’s neighborhoods would pay economic dividends. An editorial from the Detroit News.
December 22, 2009. NYC Foreclosures Surge, As Unemployment Goes Into The Teens In Several Neighborhoods. By Joe Weisenthal, The Business Insider.
December 22, 2009. Study Shows Harlem and Washington Heights With City’s Highest Unemployment. By Jon Schuppe, DNAinfo.
December 21, 2009. Property tax fix pondered in N.Y. Senate. By Cara Matthews, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
December 21, 2009. Study Finds Unemployment Rate Varies Across City’s Neighborhoods. New York 1 News.
December 21, 2009. In terms of job losses, Brooklynites battered by recession. By Helen Klein, YourNabe.com. Also in the Park Slope Courier, the Kings Courier, and Flatbush Life.
December 21, 2009. Unemployment Rates Vary Widely in NYC, Says Report. By Jack Phillips, the Epoch Times.
December 21, 2009. Mapping New York’s Recession. By Gail Robinson for the Gotham Gazette’s Wonkster blog.
December 21, 2009. Job Creation Bills to be on Washington’s Agenda in 2010. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
December 18, 2009. Empire Zone catastrophe looms. By Adam Sichko, Albany Business Review.
December 18, 2009. Facts, not noise, can help create immigration policy. An editorial from the Middletown Times Herald Record.
December 18, 2009. Report: Rein in property tax exemptions. Improving efficiencies, consistent policies also urged. By Cara Matthews, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
December 17, 2009. Jobless Rate Falls to 10%, but 400,000 in New York City Still Seek Work. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
December 16, 2009. Hudson Valley immigrants contribute to local economy, says Fiscal Policy Institute study. midhudsonnews.com.
December 15, 2009. Study charts immigrants’ role in Hudson Valley economy. By Leah Rae, Journal News.
December 14, 2009. Report notes LI immigrants’ economic contributions. By Sumathi Reddy, Newsday.
December 14, 2009. Immigration Good for America And Certainly Essential for New York. By Tony Best, the New York Carib News.
December 14, 2009. The High Value of Immigrants to the country’s Economic and Social Well-being. An editorial from the New York Carib News.
December 7, 2009. Pa. Group Says Philadelphia Is Still a Magnet for Immigrants. Reported by Steve Tawa, KYW Newsradio 1060 (Philadelphia).
December 6, 2009. Philadelphia is lagging in immigrant population. By Harold Brubaker, Philadelphia Inquirer.
December 3, 2009. New York Tax Department’s Draft Bill Overhauls Corporate Taxes, Including Banks. By Gerald B. Silverman, BNA’s Daily Tax Report.
December 3, 2009. Immigrants Contributing Significantly To U.S., Report Finds. By Felicia Persaud, caribworldnews.com.
December 3, 2009. Informe examina las contribuciones de los inmigrantes: Crecimiento económico e inmigración van de la mano, según analistas. By Linda Carolina Pérez, MundoHispánico.
December 3, 2009. Imigracja, głupcze. An editorial from Nowy Dziennik.
December 2, 2009. Immigrants here mostly in top jobs. By Kim Leonard, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
December 2, 2009. White House jobs summit raises hopes for employment action in New York City. By Garett Sloane, amNewYork.
December 2, 2009. 研究显示：经济发展必不可少 移民对美利大于弊. chinanews.com.
December 2, 2009. 國際/研究：經濟發展必不可少 移民對美利大於弊. CD News (Taiwan).
December 2, 2009. Imigranci dają Ameryce tyle, ile od niej biorą. Nowy Dziennik.
December 1, 2009. Portland-area immigrants fuel economy in proportion to numbers. By Gosia Wozniacka, The Oregonian.
December 1, 2009. 40萬人沒工作 紐市失業大危機. Sina News (Hong Kong).
December 1, 2009. Report: Immigrants help local economy. By Quan Truong, Cincinnati Enquirer.
December 1, 2009. Pilares de la economía de EEUU: Los hispanos contribuyen al PIB de la ciudad donde radican de forma proporcional al total de los que allí residen. By Carlos Avilés, La Opinión, impre.com.
December 1, 2009. EEUU: inmigrantes son responsables del 20 por ciento de la producción económica. tribunalatina.com.
December 1, 2009. Reevaluating Immigration Reform: What’s it Worth? By Michelle Chen, In These Times ‘Working In These Times’ blog.
December 1, 2009. Michigan State University study recommends luring more immigrants as one way to offset effects of state’s population loss. By Sven Gustafson, The Grand Rapids Press.
November 30, 2009. The boon of immigration: Newcomers to America more than pull their economic weight. An editorial from the New York Daily News.
As documented by the Fiscal Policy Institute, immigration has, in fact, been a vital force in the American economy. Even in tough times, immigrants boost or replenish the labor pool and inject entrepreneurial energy that opens businesses and creates jobs.
…
Clearly, the larger the number of immigrants, the greater the economic activity. But the reverse is also true. Shutting the borders and throwing out those who have built productive lives here would do untold damage to the country. Maintaining the United States as an immigrant-friendly nation is essential to our economic health.
November 30, 2009. Inland area more dependent on immigrant labor, study says. By David Olson, Riverside Press-Enterprise.
November 30, 2009. Report: Detroit area’s immigrant workers responsible for outsized proportion of economy, clustered in high-wage occupations. By Sven Gustafson, The Grand Rapids Press.
November 30, 2009. Cleveland attracts the world’s best, just not enough of them. By Robert L. Smith, The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
November 30, 2009. New Report Says that Urban Immigrants Pay Their Fair Share. By Maegan la Mamita Mala, VivirLatino.
November 30, 2009. Miami Has the Most Foreign-Born Workers in the Country. By Tim Elfrink, miaminewtimes.com.
November 30, 2009. Foreign-Born Workers Support The San Diego Economy. Reported by Tom Fudge, KPBS (San Diego).
November 30, 2009. Immigrants in the NYC-area work force. By Leah Rae, Journal News (White Plains, New York) Beyond Borders blog.
November 30, 2009. Pulling Their Weight: Report Shows Immigrants’ “Robust” Contribution to the U.S. Economy. By Diego Graglia, Feet in 2 Worlds (New York) blog.
November 30, 2009. New report shows immigrants more than pull their economic weight. By Kate Thomas, SEIU (Service Employees International Union) blog.
November 30, 2009. Immigrants Boost Portland’s Economy in Proportion to Their Numbers, Study Finds. Salem-News.com.
November 30, 2009. Study finds immigration and economic growth go “hand in hand.” CAUSA (Oregon’s Immigrant Rights Coalition) blog.
November 30, 2009. Immigrants Contribute Much to the Oregon Economy. By Julia Gray, KBND (Bend, Oregon).
November 30, 2009. A new volley on the deficit: Citing a lack of progress on the budget, the governor outlines unilateral reductions. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
November 30, 2009. NY governor takes $1.6 billion in emergency action. By Michael Gormley (AP). Versions of this story appeared on 1010 WINS (reported by Glenn Schuck), the Saratogian, the Staten Island Advance, the Troy Record, the Glens Falls Post-Star, and the Auburn Citizen.
November 29, 2009. Gov. Paterson acts to trim state deficit by $1.6 billion. Staten Island Advance.
November 27, 2009. State’s creditors always first in line for payment. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
Others, though, have said Paterson was overplaying the Moody’s warning. The labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute and New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness sent a letter to lawmakers noting that Moody’s, in their report, also say they believe that Wall Street bonuses, and their attendant tax revenues, might be higher than the governor has predicted.
November 24, 2009. Boosted by surcharge, tax revenues don’t plunge. Crain’s Insider.
“There is just no meaningful data that show high earners are deserting New York,” says James Parrott, deputy director and chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a think tank that supported the increase. “The Rockefeller Institute data, together with the looming increase in Wall Street bonuses, reaffirm the wisdom of a high-income PIT surcharge.”
November 23, 2009. Broadridge rolling in dough – public and private. By James Bernstein.
November 19, 2009. Worst month of job losses since last December. The numbers for October were dismal: 15,600 jobs shed just about everywhere in NYC – construction, securities, restaurants, retail, even dry cleaners and repair shops. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
On the day the state jobs report was released, the Fiscal Policy Institute put out a report saying that a “tale of two recessions” was emerging in the city. As Wall Street prepares for year-end bonus season, some 40% of the city’s more than 400,000 unemployed have been out of work for six months or longer. And the city’s “real” unemployment rate – which includes discouraged workers and those involuntarily working part time -has hit 16%.
“With each passing day, the disconnect grows,” said James Parrott, the institute’s chief economist. “Wall Street is recovering, but in the boroughs and neighborhoods, unemployment has doubled in the past year.”
November 19, 2009. Poverty rate rises in Westchester, Rockland. By Tim Henderson, The Journal News.
November 19, 2009. Working, or Not Working, in New York State. By Philip Ehrensaft, Shawangunk Journal (Ellenville).
November 18, 2009. School districts waiting for solution on state aid. By Meghan E. Murphy, Times Herald-Record.
“The inconsistency is that the governor is arguing that school districts should use their fund balances but he doesn’t want to use his,” said Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
November 17, 2009. Soup kitchens: ‘Business’ is up 15%. City Harvest says “recession’s aftershocks” are still being felt in New York City communities as more New Yorkers are going hungry. By Miriam Kreinin Souccar, Crain’s New York Business.
November 15, 2009. Huh? NYC work force expands in recession. ‘Unusual,’ economists say – and explanations may surprise you. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
November 13, 2009. Job numbers spike in Bronx. The Bronx was the only NYC boro to see its jobs numbers spike in the first quarter. That’s right: The Bronx. Only three counties in U.S. delivered better numbers. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
November 11, 2009. Wall Street Restructures; Will Commercial Market? By Cody Lyon, GlobeSt.com.
November 10, 2009. Needy New Yorkers don’t need budget cuts, say advocacy groups. By Amanda Cedrone, Legislative Gazette.
November 2, 2009. As Money Runs Out, Can Albany Avoid the ‘Pain’? By David King, Gotham Gazette.
James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute said Paterson’s plan is potentially disastrous for New York’s economy. Parrot estimates that the state could lose 25,000 jobs if the cuts to education and health care funding go through. He said the job loss will not “prime” New York’s economy, as Paterson has said his cuts will do, but hurt it.
November 1, 2009. Bloomberg takes big lead into NYC mayor election. By Edith Honan and Joan Gralla, Reuters.
October 28, 2009. School advocates: Cuts unfairly applied. State formula hurts poor districts, calculations show. By Meghan E. Murphy, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
October 27, 2009. Criticisms Abound at NYS Budget Hearing. Reported by Arun Venugopal, WNYC.
October 26, 2009. Fiscal Policy Institute testimony on budget deficit. By Casey Seiler, Capital Confidential (Albany Times Union).
The bottom line: The FPI feels the governor’s reduction plan will do extreme damage to state’s recovery, and a state spending cap would be even worse. The FPI recommends tapping the “rainy-day fund,” which Gov. Paterson has resisted all down the line.
October 26, 2009. An Innovator Takes a Fairly Conventional Approach. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
October 23, 2009. City Focuses on Recession-Proof Health Care Jobs. By Diane Cardwell, New York Times.
October 22, 2009. State’s fiscal crisis nears climax: stay tuned for biggest losers. By Brooke Richie, examiner.com (New York Public Policy).
Frank Mauro, Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a non-partisan research and education organization focusing on tax, budget, and economic issues, has argued that the Governor’s corrective action plan is a shortsighted policy recommendation that will undermine the State’s attempts at economic recovery. Taking $1.8 billion of demand out of New York’s economy will disrupt recovery efforts by impacting spending on wages, goods, and services.
October 21, 2009. Paterson, leaders talk about deficit reduction plan. Reported by Walt McClure, FOX 23 News, Albany.
October 16, 2009. The High Price of Being Rich. By George Sax, Artvoice (Buffalo).
October 15, 2009. City Unemployment Rises to 10.3 Percent. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times City Room blog.
The official unemployment rate does not count all people who are out of work, only those who are actively seeking full-time jobs. If all out-of-work New Yorkers were included, the city’s unemployment rate would be 15.8 percent, according to James Parrott, the chief economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute, a research group that focuses on tax, budget and economic issues.
October 15, 2009. Bloomberg Has Added Jobs, and Lost Some, Too. By Christine Haughney, New York Times.
October 13, 2009. State lawmakers question property-tax exemptions. By Cara Matthews, Elmira Star-Gazette. Also in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and the Ithaca Journal.
The number of residential property-tax exemptions that the state allows local governments to opt into has grown, said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
“From a tax fairness perspective, I think the issue that needs to be settled is, do residential exemptions overall make the property-tax system more fair or less fair,” he said.
October 11, 2009. Mayor’s economy: Grades are in. Bloomberg gets an A for quality of life, a C for budget. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
October 1, 2009. Report: Recession is killing jobs, wages. By Gersh Kuntzman, “The Brooklyn Paper” of the New York Post.
September 29, 2009. New York lags in jobless payouts. By Hannan Adely, Journal News.
Anthony Rocco gets a $165 weekly unemployment check, not enough to cover the most basic necessities like rent or a bus pass. The 28-year-old Mount Vernon resident, who is taking classes at Concordia College, was among more than 216,400 people who lost their jobs in New York state in the past year. New York lags behind other states in the rate that it compensates laid-off workers, according to a report. (Photo: Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News.)
September 27, 2009. New Islanders. By Lawrence C. Levy, Long Island Pulse.
The plight of these victimized visitors is a small part of the bigger immigrant story. A study by the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), based in Albany, showed that low wage day laborers comprise a fractional part of the growing Latino community, which itself is only the foam on a wave of increasingly affluent newcomers. A broad spectrum of immigrants—including those from India, Korea, China, Haiti, Africa, Iran and many other lands—are transforming America’s oldest major suburb. And it’s not accurate to say they are making merely a positive impact throughout Nassau and Suffolk. They have become the key to our region’s social and economic survival.
September 27, 2009. Furloughs, layoffs may be state’s next steps. By James T. Madore, Newsday.
September 25, 2009. Recession Less Painful in Brooklyn Than Elsewhere, Says Chamber. Brooklyn Eagle.
September 25, 2009. Chamber Reports ARRA Impact On Brooklyn. NYC Workforce Weekly. (PDF, p. 2.)
September 24, 2009. Report: Students A Strong Force In Brooklyn Economy. Reported by Jeanine Ramirez, NY 1.
September 22, 2009. Census: 1 in 9 in region lack health care coverage. By Tim Henderson, Journal News.
September 22, 2009. Amid Talk of Recovery, Jobless Rates Reach Double Digits. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
September 18, 2009. A grim employment milestone: Jobs situation in region and state “continues to deteriorate,” analyst says. By Chris Churchill, Albany Times Union.
September 17, 2009. Recession over? Main Street demurs. By Timothy O’Connor, the Journal News.
September 16, 2009. Recession damage? It’s bad. Real bad. New report tracks record declines in local wages (-4.8%), income (-2.7%) and consumer spending (-8.6%) following last fall’s financial system collapse. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
September 16, 2009. Recession Taking Its Toll In New York, Report Finds. By Karen DeWitt, WXXI.
September 16, 2009. Report: State unemployment rate hits 14.1 percent. By James V. Franco, the Troy Record.
September 6, 2009. Co-op City gets hammered: Joblessness hits 12.3% in working-class area long seen as bastion of stability; not S. Bronx. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
September 3, 2009. Dealing with New York State’s Budget Deficit. Dave Galletly hosted FPI’s Frank Mauro and Michael Breslin, Albany County Executive. On VoxPop, WAMC’s daily call-in talk program.
September 2, 2009. NY ‘shadow government’ debt rises to $140 billion. By Michael Gormley, AP. Also: Syracuse Post-Standard, Legislative Gazette, CNBC, MSN Money.
September 1, 2009. Immigration as economic stimulus. By Craig Mellow, Corporate Board Member.
August 31, 2009. Nonprofits’ outlook after a year of living dangerously. By Anne Noyes Saini, City Limits. Also posted to NewsBlaze.
August 24, 2009. Comptroller: Number of NYC jobless largest since ’92. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
August 23, 2009. For LI, economic hard times are not yet over. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
August 17, 2009. Interest groups warn of ‘deregulatory disaster.’ By Damore Ramwa, Legislative Gazette.
August 14, 2009. Governor Sends Mixed Signals on Environmental Protection, Advocates Say. By Karen DeWitt, WXXI.
August 13, 2009. Groups question Paterson’s power to regulate. By Heather Senison, Gannett News Service, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Also in the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Ithaca Journal.
August 12, 2009. ‘Circuit Breaker’ Could Relieve Property Taxes.
July 30, 2009. Lack of hard data clouds assessment of federal stimulus programs in N.Y. By Brian Tumulty, Elmira Star Gazette. Also in the Elmira Star Gazette.
James Parrott, chief economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute in Latham, said the $26 billion that the state will receive this year and in 2010 is reducing the severity of the recession, even if it’s hard to measure the employment impact.
For example, health care employment has increased in the state, Parrott said. He attributed that to the infusion of federal stimulus aid to help cover the cost of Medicaid. And he said retail and service jobs have been saved by an increase in consumer spending attributable to stimulus money for food stamps and extended unemployment benefits.
July 27, 2009. Federal stimulus a hit-and-miss for Long Island. By Elizabeth Moore, Newsday.
In New York, stimulus money closed 31 percent of the state’s budget gap and headed off a proposed $1.1 billion cut in public school funding and other cuts in health, education and aid to the poor, noted Frank Mauro of the liberal Fiscal Policy Institute.
July 27, 2009. Albany may block tough action on Empire Zone firms: Assembly to consider bill already passed by Senate. By Jennifer Fusco, Utica Observer-Dispatch.
July 26, 2009. For millions of workers, a minimum wage increase still falls short of a living wage. By Albor Ruiz, columnist, New York Daily News.
July 24, 2009. A minimum effort for workers. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa. In Spanish.
July 24, 2009. One thin dime more: New York’s minimum wage increases to $7.25. By Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, Albany Times-Union.
July 24, 2009. Waiters left out of latest minimum wage rise. Reuters. Reposted on the U.S. Daily News.
July 24, 2009. Federal minimum wage will increase to $7.25. By Casey McNulty, WRGB (CBS 6), Albany.
July 23, 2009. About 123,000 NY workers affected by minimum-wage hike. By Cara Matthews, Albany Watch, a Journal News blog.
July 23, 2009. New York City Mayor Is a Force for Philanthropy in Tough Times. New program designed to spur volunteerism and efforts to help charities weather the recession could be a model for other cities, nonprofit observers say. By Caroline Preston, Chronicle of Philanthropy.
July 13, 2009. Job Losses Show Wider Racial Gap in New York. By Patrick McGeehan and Mathew R. Warren, New York Times.
July 13, 2009. Blacks See Wages Shrink. Dollars and Sense blog.
July 9, 2009. Wage Push Pivotal in Armory Benefits Battle. By Jordan Moss, Norwood News.
July 8, 2009. Job losses not as bad as predicted. Metro New York.
The city has lost more than 100,000 jobs in the current recession, but so far that’s been far less than most forecasts, thanks in part to the federal bailout of the financial sector. “It’s had a profound effect in moderating job losses in banking and on Wall Street,” said economist James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
July 7, 2009. Astorino’s comments on immigrants draw fire. By Leah Rae, The Journal News.
July 3, 2009. Armory battle rages: Both sides make pleas to CB 7. By Daniel Beekman, yournabe.com.
July 2, 2009. June’s jobless jump jolts stocks. Employers slashed more workers last month than many expected. How rough is it? In NYC, nearly one in four black males are unemployed or underemployed. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
July 2, 2009. Boost in Jobless Benefits Stalled in Albany. WNYC.
July 1, 2009. NY Missing the Stim Funds Boat For Jobs? By Susan Barnett, WAMC.
July 1, 2009. Schumer backs public health insurance option. By Roger Muehlig, Batavia Daily News.
June 28, 2009. Unemployed swamp fund. New York spends $100M a week as Uncle Sam shores up plan; top benefit is one of nation’s stingiest. By James M. Odato, Albany Times Union.
June 25, 2009. Amid Senate Chaos, Hope Fades for a Bill to Raise Jobless Benefits. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
June 23, 2009. New York State’s Business Climate and Fiscal Health. Alan Chartock hosted FPI’s Frank Mauro and Kenneth Adams of the Business Council of New York State. On VoxPop, WAMC’s daily call-in talk program.
June 22, 2009. Hunger Action: Welfare reforms in need of reform. By T.J. Raphael, Legislative Gazette.
June 18, 2009. A Closer Look at Balancing State Budgets Around the Country. An interview with Frank Mauro, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio.
June 17, 2009. Let the Minimum Wage Increase Stand. A column by Mark Lieberman, the senior economist for the Fox Business Network.
June 16, 2009. New York City Leaders Propose Single Sales Factor, Other Tax Changes. By Nicola M. White, Tax Analysts.
June 9, 2009. The Numbers Are In: Most Americans Want an Immigration Overhaul. By Seth Hoy, AlterNet. Reposted on Immigration News and Updates, July 7, 2009.
June 8, 2009. Bloomberg, Quinn Seek Billions in Breaks for Businesses. By Neil deMause for Village Voice blogs.
June 8, 2009. No Fast Action Expected In Stark Replacement: Finance commissioner post could remain vacant until after election. By David Freedlander, City Hall.
June 7, 2009. NYC pushes $2.7B break for big biz. Tax change may keep HQs here; timing, jobs growth in question. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
Using only local sales to calculate corporate income taxes “will significantly erode the city’s business income tax base, with no apparent benefit,” says James Parrott, deputy director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. He adds that the measure comes with no mandates for job creation, despite officials’ lofty projections.
June 5, 2009. Facts and Questions at Immigration Forum. By T.J. Clemente, Dan’s Papers (Bridgehampton).
June 5, 2009. Finding Common Ground on Immigration Debate. Sag Harbor Express.
June 4, 2009. The Underground Economy. By Carissa Katz, East Hampton Star.
June 2, 2009. Circuit breaker supporters still hopeful despite a lack of funds. By Rick Karlin, Capitol Confidential.
May 28, 2009. Campaign finance reform would really affect people. A Newsday editorial.
May 27, 2009. Experts say boro will grow. Diverse Queens economy helped boro survive recession: Panelists. By Jeremy Walsh, Queens Village Times. Print versions of this story also appeared in the Astoria Times, the Fresh Meadows Times, the Little Neck Ledger, the Whitestone Ledger, the Flushing Times, the Ridgewood Ledger, the Forest Hills Ledger, the Richmond Hill Times, and the Bayside Times.
May 24, 2009. Wall St. job losses not quite adding up: Despite the banking sector’s collapse, Wall Street job losses are significantly less than predicted, at least so far. By Hilary Potkewitz, Crain’s New York Business.
May 19, 2009. The Regressive Effects of a Sale Tax Increase. By Glenn Pasanen, Gotham Gazette.
Interestingly, in New York State from 1975 to 2008, the top personal income tax rate dropped steadily from a high of 15.375 percent in 1975 to 10 percent by 1981, 7.875 percent by 1989 and 6.85 percent by 1997, according to a recent report by the Fiscal Policy Institute. The top rate stayed at 6.85 percent from 1997 through 2008 with the exception of a temporary top rate of 7.70 percent from 2003 through 2005. The Fiscal Policy Institute points out that, were the highest state rate still in effect, the state would have about $20 billion more in tax revenues per year.
May 19, 2009. Call for fiscal restraint by state: Coalition rolls out agenda it says will help New York businesses. By Eric Anderson, Albany Times-Union.
May 19, 2009. Groups Seek to Stop Public Financing of New Towers at Ground Zero. By Charles V. Bagli, New York Times.
May 19, 2009. Civic groups back Port Authority in WTC battle. In an open letter, they argue the agency should halt financing at just one World Trade Center building. By Theresa Agovino, crainsnewyork.com.
May 15, 2009. Region gets older, more diverse, census shows. By Tim Henderson and Leah Rae, The Journal News.
May 15, 2009. Prevailing wage letter way off. A guest column by Marilyn M. Oppedisano, Syracuse Post-Star.
May 10, 2009. Property-tax pain growing throughout the state: As economy stalls and prices rise, more are feeling the squeeze. By Meghan E. Murphy, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
CASE STUDYLisa and Anthony Kimball of the Village of Montgomery bought their home three years ago at the peak of the market. Their budget is now being squeezed by increasing property taxes. Here’s how the three most-discussed property reform bills in the state Senate would impact their taxes.
2008
Income: $85,000
Town tax: $1,827.59
Village tax: $2,426.60
School tax: $5,396.30
Total: $9,650.49
OPTION 1
Bill numbers: S.253/A.7094
What it does: Establishes a circuit breaker credit that covers all property taxes based on property value. Establishes brackets where those making under $100,000 get the largest credit, which gradually decreases so taxpayers making more than $250,000 receive no credit.
Total relief:
2009: $0.00
2010 and beyond: $3,185.34
OPTION 2
Bill number: S.4239
What it does: Similar to S.253/A.7094. Establishes a circuit breaker credit for all property taxes based on property value. The bill phases in over four years to give the state time to shift funding. Taxpayers would see less savings in the first three years. Those making under $100,000 get the largest credit, which gradually decreases so taxpayers making more than $250,000 receive no credit.
Total relief:
2009: $1,400.34
2010: $1,697.84
2011: $2,292.84
2012 and beyond: $3,185.34
OPTION 3
Bill number: S.1849-C
What it does: Re-establishes the STAR rebate checks program beginning in fall 2009 and establishes a circuit breaker credit that covers school property taxes beginning with the 2010 calendar year tax year.
Total relief:
2009: $421.22
2010: $628.63
2011: $698.83
2012 and beyond: $769.04
Source: Calculations provided for the Times Herald-Record by Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute
May 10, 2009. Speak English? If not, city has sweeping plan. By Peter Spencer, Staten Island Advance. Also, an earlier version of the story, posted May 9.
April 30, 2009. Corzine reviews immigration panel report. By Glenn Townes, Amsterdam News.
April 30, 2009. NYC celebrates Immigrant Heritage Week. By Momar G. Visaya, Asian Journal.
April 28, 2009. The Sugar Daddy Melts. By Eliot Brown, New York Observer.
April 27, 2009. Immigration reform is coming. By Jon M. Casey, Country Folks.
April 27, 2009. Where the Jobs Are. New York magazine.
“There are 25 specific industries we track that had more jobs in the first quarter this year than the first quarter last year,” says James Parrott, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute.
April 27, 2009. Experts see recession lingering on. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
April 24, 2009. Property tax cap pushed. By Paul Post, The Saratogian.
April 24, 2009. What the economic experts are saying. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
April 24, 2009. Unveil Tax Relief Plan. Illustrated News, Long Island.
April 22, 23, 25, and 26. City Talk: a program of CUNY-TV hosted by Doug Muzzio of Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs. Guests: E.J. McMahon of the Manhattan Institute and FPI’s James Parrott. Cable channel 75 in New York City. Dates: Wednesday 4/22 (4:30 pm and 9:30 pm), Thursday 4/23 (3:30 am), Saturday 4/25 (3:30 pm), Sunday 4/26 (11:30 am).
April 21, 2009. WAMC’s Vox Pop featured “New York State Fiscal Policy,” with guests Frank Mauro of FPI and Bob Ward of the Rockefeller Institute. Page with link to podcast.
April 20, 2009. City loses fewer jobs than expected. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
April 18, 2009. It’s bad, but not that bad. Viewpoints from “two noted local economists,” FPI’s James Parrott and Ronnie Lowenstein of the Independent Budget Office. Crains New York Business.
April 17, 2009. SUNY: Losing Millions in Funding. Despite cuts in state funds, college moving ahead with $120 million plan to expand and upgrade its science facilities. By Ken Little, Oswego County Business Magazine.
April 17, 2009. Port Authority: WTC Site Faces Decades of Delay. Reported by Matthew Schuerman, WNYC.
April 15, 2009. Hope, but: Immigration reform push resumes but no special Irish visas. By Susan Falvella Garraty, Irish Echo.
April 14, 2009. Is Immigration Overhaul Vital To U.S. Recovery? Reported by Jennifer Ludden for NPR’s Morning Edition.
David Kallick of the Fiscal Policy Institute in New York says when 5 percent of the workforce lacks legal status, the economy takes another kind of hit.
“It means they can start an entry level job, but they can’t really make the step to improve their education, get to the next level,” he says. “And so you’re essentially holding a whole contingent of people back from contributing even more to the economy than they do.”
April 13, 2009. NY lawmakers asked to consider coalition’s circuit breaker tax plan. By Anna Helhoski, Legislative Gazette.
April 13, 2009. Immigration Think Tank Urges Obama to Create Path to Citizenship. By Rob Kuznia, HispanicBusiness.com.
April 13, 2009. Eating the Seed Corn. An editorial from the New York Post.
April 10, 2009. Did we hit bottom yet? Local NYC economy is showing some small signs of life. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
April 9, 2009. Health, Human Services, Cultural Organizations Employ 15 Percent of New York City Workers. Philanthropy News Digest.
April 8, 2009. Tax Hike on Rich Is Apple Dumping. By David Seifman, New York Post.
Frank Mauro, of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a supporter of the tax increase, took issue with the IBO’s findings. He said by his calculations, “at least” 18 percent of the new tax revenue would come from out-of-staters, nearly triple the figure estimated by the IBO.
April 5, 2009. Recession Taking Toll on Better Educated Workers. 1010 WINS.
April 4, 2009. This Time, Slump Hits Well-Educated, Too. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
April 4, 2009. Economic bust takes wind out of LI baby boomers’ sails. By Thomas Maier, Newsday.
April 3, 2009. Budget Glitch Does Not Mean Raise, Judges Told. By Joel Stashenko, New York Law Journal.
April 1, 2009. Deal to Cut Costs Is Close for Builders and Unions. By Charles F. Bagli, New York Times.
April 1, 2009. New York State Budget Analysis: Alan Chartock hosts FPI’s Frank Mauro and E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy. WAMC.
March 31, 2009. Budget critics: save some. Republicans up in arms over quickly draining federal stimulus money. By Patrick Arden, metro.us.
March 30, 2009. NY State Budget Hikes Taxes On NY Wealthy. Reported by Arun Venugopal, WNYC.
March 25, 2009. Tax Us, Please. At least some wealthy New Yorkers have the right idea. An editorial from the Syracuse Post Standard.
Some 80 well-to-do New Yorkers stepped up this week and sent an open letter to Gov. David Paterson and state legislators, asking Albany to raise their taxes. Instead of cutting essential services to fill a state budget gap currently pegged at $14.3 billion, they propose “an increase in income taxes on those who can afford it – which means us.”
One of the signers, retired Albany-area entrepreneur Chet Opalka, said at a news conference in Albany Monday that he’s been pretty lucky in life and doesn’t want the state to “cut in all the wrong places.” Instead, he said, “in these times, it’s important for the haves to take care of the have-nots.”
This public-spirited gesture comes as legislative leaders huddle in search of a budget agreement by the mandated deadline of April 1. A “millionaire’s tax” reportedly is an on-again, off-again proposition.
The liberal Fiscal Policy Institute notes that state tax rates on the highest earners have been halved over the past 30 years – those earning $30,000 now pay the same rate as those earning $30 million. The tax burden has shifted to middle-class taxpayers, and to even more regressive local property taxes and sales taxes.
Though some warn raising taxes on the rich would drive them away, a recent story in The New York Times and a report from the Fiscal Policy Institute suggest otherwise. Douglass S. Massey, an expert on public finance and migration at Princeton, told the Times there is no convincing evidence such a tax boost affects mobility decisions.
The last time New York enacted a temporary tax surcharge on the wealthy, between 2003 and 2005, the number of high-income-earners in the state grew from 250,000 to more than 325,000, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
March 24, 2009. Fourscore rich say ‘tax us more’: More than 80 wealthy New Yorkers ask leaders to boost tax on well-to-do. By Casey Seiler, Albany Times Union.
March 24, 2009. Experts: Taxing NY’s Wealthiest Won’t Chase Them Away. Reported by Mark Scheerer, New York New Connection. Also in the Long Island Press.
March 23, 2009. Personal income tax reform: The least damaging way to close New York State’s budget gap. FPI’s Frank Mauro interviewed by Fred Dicker on his Albany radio show, TALK 1300 WGDJ. (Interview starts at 33:50.)
March 23, 2009. Adjunctification of CUNY: Professors, students speak candidly about effects of budget cuts. By Keith Arora-Williams, The Ticker (Barcuh College, CUNY).
March 2009. Give it Back! Getting New York’s Wealthiest to Pay Their Fair Share. An editorial from the The GC Advocate (CUNY Graduate Center).
March 20, 2009. The New York State budget: proposals to raise taxes and cut spending and whether we’ll have an on time budget this year. FPI’s Frank Mauro interviewed by Host David Galletly on the Capitol Connection, WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
March 18, 2009. Taxing Logic. By George Sax, Artvoice.
March 16, 2009. Union Proposes a Way to Employ More, Spend Less. By Casey Samulski, citylimits.org.
March 15, 2009. The Ordeal of David Paterson. By Rob Gurwitt, Governing Magazine.
March 15, 2009. How to know when economic recovery is under way. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
March 10, 2009. Forum focuses on the benefits of education funding. By Kristen Hamner, Legislative Gazette.
March 8, 2009. NYC: A Nice Place to Be Unemployed? By Richard Wells, Brooklyn Rail.
Right now, New Yorkers earning $15,000 pay 12.6% of their income to the state and to municipalities. Those making $1.6 million or more pay half that. James Parrott and Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute write in the Gotham Gazette that from 2004 to 2008 public spending grew less than 2.9%, barely the rate of inflation. But the tax cutting spree between 1994 and 2000 “reduced the state’s tax revenues by about $10 billion a year.” The Fair Share Tax Reform Act will add three new top level brackets, at $250,000, $500,000, and $1 million. It should go some way to correct the imbalance.
March 5, 2009. Reaping the whirlwind. The Economist.
March 1, 2009. Obama tax hike could hit higher percentage on LIers. By Thomas Maier, Newsday.
February 22, 2009. Raising tax on rich gaining ground. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
“There is increasing support for this in the Legislature,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute in Latham. “There’s a set of reasons coming together, that people are articulating, and that people understand. That’s why there’s increasing public support for a progressive income tax.”
February 18, 2009. CUNY Cuts Not New: Recent Report Sees a Pattern of Cuts. By Cinelle Ariola, The Hunter (College) Envoy.
February 17, 2009. City may have to service Hudson Yards bonds for longer than originally anticipated. By Daniel Geiger, Real Estate Weekly.
February 16, 2009. Fiscal experts: State economy in trouble. By Tom Wanamaker, Hudson Register-Star.
February 15, 2009. Broken dreams: The struggle of NYC working-class immigrants. By Emily Ngo, am New York.
February 13, 2009. Averted $4.2M Ax by State: PSC Says Its Campaign Headed Off CUNY Cuts. By David Sims, The Chief.
February 12, 2009. Education groups want school aid restorations. By Cara Matthews, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Also in the Ithaca Journal and the Albany Times Union.
February 12, 2009. We just can’t afford a ‘shop until you drop’ mentality. By Fred LeBrun, Albany Times-Union.
February 9, 2009. Playing – and Talking – Budgets. By Gail Robinson, Gotham Gazette’s Wonkster blog.
February 5, 2009. Tax opponents implore Paterson. Crain’s Insider.
February 4, 2009. NYS Budget: The STAR Rebate. By Rachel Ward, WXXI.
February 4, 2009. Study: Mismatch between school spending and needs. northshoreoflongisland.com.
February 2, 2009. How to Balance the State Budget. By Frank Mauro and James Parrott, Gotham Gazette.
February 2, 2009. Use stimulus billions carefully, fiscal watchdog groups say. By Chris McKenna, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
February 2, 2009. New senator needs to take realistic look at immigration policy. A column by Betsy V. Palmieri, executive director, Hudson Valley Community Coalition. Journal News.
And Gillibrand might be surprised to find that immigrants are by no means only low-wage workers. Immigrants make up a significant portion of nurses, doctors, accountants, and professors, for example, as well as construction, restaurant, and child-care workers. A study by David D. Kallick of the Fiscal Policy Institute showed that immigrants are responsible for nearly a quarter of New York state’s gross domestic product – they contribute 22 percent to GDP, while making up 21 percent of the population in 2005. Gillibrand should bear that in mind; a recession is no time to throw a wet rag over nearly a quarter of the state economy.
February 2, 2009. Страховете на Ню Йорк: кризата от 70-те [“Fear in New York: The Crisis of the 70s”. Dnevnik (Bulgaria) a.m.
January 31, 2009. New York lobbies for stimulus funds. By Elizabeth Moore and Tom Brune, Newsday.
January 30, 2009. Report Sees a Failure in Educating All Students. By Bruce Lambert, New York Times.
January 30, 2009. Report: LIers like magnet schools, property tax plans. By John Hildebrand, Newsday.
January 30, 2009. PSC: Report Shows Folly Of Further Cuts at CUNY. By David Sims, The Chief.
January 30, 2009. Day laborers weigh options in economic downturn. By Alissa Figueroa, Westmore News – Rye Brook.
January 30, 2009. Say Crisis Not What It Was in Mid-70s, But Neither is Labor. By Tommy Hallissey, The Chief.
January 29, 2009. New York’s unemployment rate soars. By Momar G. Visaya, Asian Journal – The Filipino-American Community Newspaper.
January 28, 2009. Inmigración para principiantes [“Immigration for beginners”]. El Diario La Prensa.
January 28, 2009. LI schools could see benefits from stimulus plan. By Elizabeth Moore, Newsday.
January 28, 2009. Union Membership Rises Amid Economic Uncertainty, Surging Layoffs. By Jeremy Smerd, Workforce Management.
January 27, 2009. Lighten weight of tax burden. A column by James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, in the Albany Times Union.
Both fairness and sound economics should play a role in closing New York’s budget gap.
January 26, 2009. IBM incentives worth cost? Local development official says financial packages are critical, but some states have been excessive. By Eileen Mozinski, Dubuque (IA) Telegraph Herald.
Mauro argues that companies pitting cities and states against one another to nab jobs is a less-than-desirable approach.
“Subsidy competition is unfortunate, and governments should at least write agreements tightly enough to make sure they get what they are paying for,” he said.
January 26, 2009. Governor Paints Grim Outlook in State Address as SUNY Deals With More Budget Cuts. By Frank Posillico, The Stony Brook University Spokesman.
January 26, 2009. Debunking the claim that civil servants are overcompensated in New York, and explaining that increasing wages and benefits for average workers is critical to solving the economic crisis (at about 25:57). Building Bridges, WBAI.
January 25, 2009. Advocates decry SUNY tuition increase. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Gazette.
January 25, 2009. Improving New York with Peter Pollak: Interview with David Dyssegaard Kallick on Funding Public Higher Education. empirepage.com.
January 23, 2009. State Jobless Rate Soars; Benefits Extension Seen. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
January 23, 2009. Jobless rate soaring in area: Region’s unemployment rate hits 5.9 percent as 6,000 thrown out of work. By Chris Churchill, Albany Times Union.
January 22, 2009. City suffers worst job loss in five years: Nearly 50,000 jobs were lost in 2008 as December unemployment rate jumps to 7.4%. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
January 22, 2009. LI unemployment jumps in December. By Laura Glasser, Long Island Business News.
January 20, 2009. Group wants shift in tax philosophy. By Edward J. Carr, Legislative Gazette.
January 20, 2009. In Albany, Higher Taxes for the Rich Expected. By Danny Hakim, New York Times.
Over the last 30 years, the trend has been to pare back income tax rates on the rich, federally and in the state. Since the mid-1970s, the state has cut its top tax rate from 15.375 percent to 6.85 percent. The top income tax rate in New Jersey is 8.97 percent, and in Connecticut it is 5 percent, according to data from the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal research group.
January 20, 2009. Labor Gears up for Lean Times With Wide-Ranging Proposals. By Chris Bragg, The Capitol.
January 17, 2009. A New Report Urges the State Government to Pay Attention to Education as Public Universities Face Increased Enrollment with Inadequate Funding. Sing Tao Daily.
January 16, 2009. New York under-invests in higher education, Report finds. IndiaPost.com.
January 15, 2009. Report: State shortchanging SUNY, CUNY. New York is not funding its public university systems to keep up with rising enrollment, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
January 15, 2009. Advocates push for tax-relief plan. By Heather Senison, Journal News.
January 15, 2009. Report: New York under-invests in education. By Cara Matthews for Albany Watch, a Journal News blog.
January 15, 2009. Report documents SUNY aid cuts. By Allissa Kline, Business First of Buffalo. Also in the Albany Business Review.
January 14, 2009. Groups wants state to relieve middle-class tax burden. By Heather Senison, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
January 14, 2009. Reformers to propose new property tax cap law. By Paul Post, The Saratogian.
January 12, 2009. Building a better model for construction wages. By Janet Murphy, City Limits.
January 10, 2009. In New York, No Crisis for Niche Manufacturers. By Christine Haughney, New York Times.
January 10, 2009. Some area stimulus projects under Obama already funded. By Elizabeth Cooper, Utica Observer-Dispatch.
January 9, 2009. Loss of 524K jobs is highest in 16 years. By Carrie Mason-Draffen, Newsday.
January 8, 2009. The Brian Lehrer Show: Retail Economics. FPI’s James Parrott, with Lynn Thomasson, stock market reporter for Bloomberg News, and Leslie Price of Racked.com, discuss the city’s retail sector: sales, jobs, layoffs. WNYC. (18:06)
January 8, 2009. Overtaxing middle class simply unfair. By Buffalo News columnist Rod Watson.
January 8, 2009. New report says more jobs at risk in city. In a report released Thursday, the Independent Budget Office gave a grim forecast, estimating that 243,000 jobs will be lost in the current recession. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
January 8, 2009. Deep Impact: Budget meeting reveals frightening reality. By Jefferson Siegel, Chelsea Now.
January 8, 2009. Is all the doom surrounding minimum wage increases just a mirage? By Paul Schrag, Lakewood (Washington) Weekly Volcano.
January 7, 2009. State’s Unemployment System Buckles Under Surging Demand. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
January 4, 2009. Stress and the city. New York is gripped by fear. Are we headed back to the bad old days of the 1970s? By Daniel Massey and Miriam Kreinin Souccar, Crain’s New York Business.
January 2, 2009. N.Y. faces difficult decisions to bridge budget gap. By Jill Terreri, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
December 31, 2008. Gloom and gloomier in 2009. By Garrett Sloane, AM New York.
December 24, 2008. Taxation tiptoes around the rich. A column by Tim Louis Macaluso, Rochester City Newspaper.
More than 100 economists from around the state have signed a letter to Governor Paterson, urging him to raise high-end income taxes to close the budget gap, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. And they say that steep cuts in spending as proposed by Paterson will weaken the already struggling economy. It is a view that Princeton University professor Larry Bartels discusses in his book, “Unequal Democracy; the Political Economy of the New Gilded Age.”
December 23, 2008. Retail Employees Lead City’s Low-Wage Workers. By Elizabeth Dowskin for Runnin’ Scared, a Village Voice blog.
December 22, 2008. NYC may lose $2 bln in tax revs from Wall Street. Reported by Joan Gralla for Reuters.
December 21, 2008. Governor’s austerity budget raises opposition of diverse New Yorkers. A statement by Frank Mauro, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
December 19, 2008. Job Losses in the City Cut Across Many Areas. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times. A longer version of this article appeared in the print edition.
December 19, 2008. I © New York … Economists. By Chuck Sheketoff, Blue Oregon.
December 18, 2008. People Behaving Poorly May Be the Ones to Save the State From the Poorhouse. By Clyde Haberman, New York Times.
December 18, 2008. Unemployment climbs to 6.3% in city. As the economy deteriorates, New York is catching up to the rest of the nation in job losses: the city’s private sector employment fell by 17,000 over the last 12 months. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
December 16, 2008. Let the wealthy do their part. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa.
December 15, 2008. Advocacy groups push for millionaires’ tax, end of middle class STAR. By Caitlin Purcell, Legislative Gazette.
December 15, 2008. Activists to Governor: Make Better Budget Choices! Reported by Dave Lucas, WAMC.
December 15, 2008. Status of the State Budget (video). Reported by Steve Flamisch, WGRB CBS 6 Albany. Also on the CBS website, Report: Paterson plan would tax clothing, footwear, non-diet soda (text).
December 15, 2008. Working Families offer a way to raise $5B. By James Odato, in the Albany Times-Union’s Capital Confidential blog.
December 15, 2008. From Wall Street to Taxi Stand: The Recession Trickles Down. By Siobhan Devine, Gotham Gazette.
December 15, 2008. Pain, gain in budget figures: Paterson proposal calls for hike in welfare payouts, billions in cuts to health care, education. By Irene Jay Liu, Albany Times Union.
December 14, 2008. Deep cuts coming in New York budget proposal. By Jay Gallagher, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. Also in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Elmira Star-Gazette.
December 14, 2008. White Collar Workers Feel Blues. By Patrick McGeehan, Syracuse Post-Standard.
December 13, 2008. City Officials Look for More Cuts, Financial Aid. Reported by Grace Rauh, NY1 News.
December 12, 2008. Job Losses in City Reach Up Ladder. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times. An earlier version of this story appeared December 11 on the City Room blog.
December 11, 2008. Study: NYC Unemployment Rate To Rise. NY1 News.
December 11, 2008. New York City Sees Wall St. Bonuses Falling 50%. Deal Book Blog, edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times.
December 11, 2008. City Comptroller raises job-loss estimate. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com. Also at Workforce Management.
December 4, 2008. Economic crisis makes for strange political bedfellows. By Dan Janison, Newsday.
December 2, 2008. Can we talk about taxes? A column by Mary Anna Towler, Rochester City Newspaper.
The Fiscal Policy Institute, a progressive public-policy group, has compiled the evidence … Since 1976, New York State has cut its top income-tax rate from the previous 15.375 percent down to 6.85 percent. That means, notes the Institute, that whether your family makes $41,000 a year or $1 million, your tax rate is the same. “The large multi-year tax cuts enacted between 1994 and 2005 are now reducing state revenue by over $17 billion per year,” says the Institute.
December 1, 2008. How Not to Deal with the Oncoming Depression: The Case of New York State. A column by Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network.
November 30, 2008. City residents feel economy’s pain. Respondents to a recent poll say the city’s economy is in poor condition and 40% fear for their jobs, while 80% say they have already cut back on spending this year. By Matthew Sollars, Crain’s New York Business.
November 27, 2008. Could It Get This Bad Again? By Phoebe Neidl, Brooklyn Eagle.
November 24, 2008. Hospitals and Schools Preserve Jobs. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
November 21, 2008. Everyday New Yorkers hurt most. A column by Amy Traub, Albany Times Union.
November 20, 2008. They’re a part of the Island: Immigrants pay taxes and otherwise contribute to our community. A column by FPI senior fellow David Dyssegaard Kallick, Newsday.
November 20, 2008. Barack, attack labor abuses: Obama must crack down on wage theft. By Errol Louis, New York Daily News.
November 19, 2008. After the Meltdown: New York’s Future. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
November 19, 2008. Economics: The feds have to do more. By Jeremy Moule, Rochester City Newspaper.
November 18, 2008. My View: Access to health care is a life-and-death issue for cancer patients. A column by Sandra Cassese, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
November 18, 2008. Teachers rule again: School jobs steady as others decline. By Elizabeth Lazarowitz, New York Daily News.
November 18, 2008. New battle after Iraq: Veteran secures employment in technology field. By Melissa Grace, New York Daily News.
November 18, 2008. New York’s Budget Battle: A Case Study for Obama? By James Ridgeway, Mother Jones.
November 18, 2008. Progressive income tax would help state crisis. A letter by Peter LaVenia, Albany Times Union.
November 18, 2008. Leaders fail to cut budget in special session. By Lisa Spitz, WSTM Syracuse. Also, Education advocates decrying proposed school cuts in state budget. WCAX Vermont.
November 18, 2008. New Yorkers to state leaders: Cut spending, not raise taxes. By Joseph Spector, Journal News.
November 17, 2008. Budget Backfire: Cuts on the Needy Won’t Help. A column by Ron Deutsch and Mary Brosnahan, City Limits.
It’s sink or swim time for New York state. So let’s get our priorities straight and face the difficult financial situation with a balanced approach that looks at both the spending and revenue side of the budget equation. Reckless cuts alone will only pull us deeper into the recession’s undertow.
November 17, 2008. Health care can’t absorb more cuts. By James J. Barba, president and CEO, Albany Medical Center; Steven P. Boyle, president and CEO, St. Peter’s Health Care Services; James W. Connolly, president and CEO, Ellis Hospital; Gino J. Pazzaglini, President and CEO, Seton Health and James K. Reed, M.D. president and CEO, Northeast Health. Albany Times Union.
November 17, 2008. The Cost of Cuts. An editorial from the Cornell Daily Sun, Ithaca.
November 17, 2008. Education cut could affect CFE resolution. By Cara Matthews, Politics on the Hudson (Journal News).
November 15, 2008. Real money is out there for N. Y. A guest column by Richard C. Iannuzzi, Albany Times Union.
November 13, 2008. Gov. Paterson Announces More NY Budget Cuts. By Katy Mantyk, Epoch Times.
November 12, 2008. Paterson Cuts Deeper, Resistance Gets Stouter. By Jimmy Vielkind, New York Observer.
“He’s doing this entirely from an accounting ledger perspective – he’s not taking the economic impact of his cuts into consideration,” said Frank Mauro, a liberal economist who is executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. Mauro said that Paterson should restrict his actions to the $1.5 billion deficit and use $1.039 billion from the tax stabilization reserve fund.
November 12, 2008. Proposed tuition hike worries students. By Matt McFarland, WNYT.
November 12, 2008. Long Island barely avoiding recession. By Randi Marshall and Emi Endo, Newsday.
November 5, 2008. New Guidelines Have Been Established for Food Stamps. By Glenn Graves, Walton Reporter.
November 4, 2008. Governor Paterson Means Business: Spitzer’s successor disses his bad old radical self. By Tom Robbins, Village Voice.
Paterson appears to have bought the notion that higher personal-income taxes cause the rich to flee. This may be the teachings of The Fountainhead, but there’s no real-world evidence for it. Were it so, New York’s wealthy would long ago have escaped to places like Georgia, where politicians make sure that millionaires pay the same tax rate as day laborers. As Frank Mauro, the tireless pro-union advocate of the Fiscal Policy Institute in Albany, points out, the rich have not even fled their estates next door in New Jersey, which has long taken an extra bite – almost 9 percent – out of the incomes of those making over $500,000.
What does cause people to move or stay away, says Mauro, is a decline in public services. “Our fear is that if you try and close a budget gap of the magnitude that the governor is projecting, you will be inevitably cutting services that are important to low- and middle-income families,” he says. “We know that expenditure cuts put more drag on the economy than high-end taxes.”
November 3, 2008. Immigrants Confront the Recession. By Larry Tung, Gotham Gazette.
November 1, 2008. Budget crisis will cut deep in NYC: Faces $1 billion in losses; schools, hospitals, nursing homes big targets. By Erik Engquist, Crain’s New York Business.
October 29, 2008. Add Some Zeros and Shake Well: A Recipe for a State in Crisis. By Nicholas Confessore, New York Times.
October 28, 2008. Premium Fraud Draws More Attention as Economy Totters. By Bill Kidd, workcompcentral.com.
October 28, 2008. NYC city council supports new tax on carry. A majority of the city council supports a proposal by the Working Families Party, a grassroots political group, to include carried interest under the city’s 4% unincorporated business tax. By Christopher Witkowski, Private Equity Real Estate.
October 27, 2008. Tap immigrant potential. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa.
October 27, 2008. How Congress spells relief. By Erik Engquist and Mike Sollars, Crain’s New York Business.
Congressional leaders are discussing a stimulus package that could send $50 billion in relief to state and local governments. “New York could get 10% of that, depending on how it’s done,” says James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute. “If it’s done through Medicaid, New York would get more.”
October 24, 2008. New York City Council Votes to Allow Members, Mayor to Run for 3rd Terms. By Ted Phillips, The Bond Buyer.
October 22, 2008. U.S. Bank Is Cautious in Report on Region. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times. (In the October 23 print edition.)
October 20, 2008. Toward an Egalitarian Market. GRITtv with Laura Flanders.
October 19, 2008. Forecast: Job losses not as bad this time around. Diverse economy, quality of life should soften the blow of next recession. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business.
October 17, 2008. Young workers in New York now earn no more than their counterparts did in 1979 despite being better educated. Finfacts Ireland.
October 16, 2008. For Young New Yorkers, Wages Stuck in 1979. By Jennifer 8. Lee, New York Times City Room Blog.
October 14, 2008. Lawmakers question proposed raises for social services workers. By Elizabeth Cooper, Utica Observer-Dispatch.
October 8, 2008. More regulation inevitable. Turkish Daily News.
“The financial crisis puts a dramatic failure of unregulated markets directly in front of the public,” says David Dyssegaard Kallick, senior fellow at the Fiscal Policy Institute, based in New York. “There could hardly be a more powerful argument for regulation than the failure of banks that are ‘too big to fail.'”
October 8, 2008. Food stamp benefits increase for many. By Braulio Basaldua, Queens Courier.
October 6, 2008. We Could Better Integrate New Immigrants into American Society – And Should. By Ian Reifowitz, History News Network at George Mason University.
October 3, 2008. Governor wants $2 billion in budget cuts: Gov. David Paterson is calling the Legislature back for another budget-cutting session in November. By Matthew Sollars, crainsnewyork.com.
October 3, 2008. Economists: Inaction on bailout is dangerous. Local experts backing Wall Street rescue effort. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Gazette.
October 2, 2008. A new look, but same mission. By Salle E. Richards, Elmira Star-Gazette.
September 29, 2008. A New Push to Let Non-Citizens Vote. By Larry Tung, Gotham Gazette.
September 28, 2008. Power Shifts From N.Y. to D.C.: After Wall Street’s Quake, Manhattan Braces for Financial Tsunami. By Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post.
September 26, 2008. Los trabajadores latinos y la sindicalización. An op ed by Sonia Ivany and David Dyssegaard Kallick, El Diario / La Prensa. Also posted in English on IPANY’s Voices That Must Be Heard: Latino workers and unions.
September 25, 2008. Lower Hudson Valley taxes among highest in U.S. By Dwight R. Worley, Journal News.
September 23, 2008. The Backstory of the Financial Collapse. Call it Gall Street. How else to describe an industry that applauds nearly $500 million in bonuses for executives taking an entire economy down with them? By Tom Robbins, Village Voice.
September 22, 2008. The End of Wall Street as We Know It. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
September 21, 2008. Experts: Even with plans, economic recovery to take time. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday. Also: am New York.
September 21, 2008. Manufacturing still shows life in region: Local producers work at getting rid of trend. By Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, Albany Times Union.
September 20, 2008. Spreading pain will cost 90,000 jobs: Retailers to be hit hard; tourism may finally weaken. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
September 17, 2008. NY economy may not suffer as badly as thought: Bailouts, mergers and diversity may help it weather Wall Street crisis. By David B. Caruso (AP), msnbc. Also: Newsday, am New York, the Journal News, Business Week, Forbes.com, International Herald Tribune, International Business Times, Yahoo Finance, AOL Money & Finance and others.
September 17, 2008. The Brian Lehrer Show: What Should Washington Do? FPI’s James Parrott and Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute discuss how the government should respond to the latest fiscal crisis. WNYC. (25:31)
September 17, 2008. Hispanic Union Workers. Gotham Gazette’s Report of the Day.
September 16, 2008. Bonanza para latinos agremiados. By Jose Acosta, El Diario / La Prensa.
September 16, 2008. Economists say impact on region tough to forecast. By Christine Young, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
September 16, 2008. Counties brace for tax impact of Wall Street woes. By James Schlett, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
September 16, 2008. Congestion Pricing Is Popular Among Ideas To Boost MTA. By Benjamin Sarlin, New York Sun.
September 15, 2008. Wall Street losses could impact employment. By Elizabeth Moore, Newsday. Also: Are we looking at hard economic times ahead? (Newsday, September 16.)
September 15, 2008. New York economy will feel Wall Street’s pain. Estimates that 33,000 jobs in the New York City securities industry will be lost during the current downturn could be revised upward. By Daniel Massey, crainsnewyork.com.
September 15, 2008. Could Selling Bridges Solve Congestion? By William Neuman, New York Times City Room.
September 15, 2008. Brooklyn Shows Resiliency. Gotham Gazette’s Report of the Day.
September 14, 2008. Bank of America, Barclays look to aid Lehman Brothers, but no promises. By Elizabeth Lazarowitz and William Sherman, New York Daily News.
September 12, 2008. Brooklyn Enjoys Decade of Job Growth, But Losses Expected in Coming Recession. By Phoebe Neidl, Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
September 12, 2008. Brooklyn Could Lose 6,000 Jobs, Report Says. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times City Room.
September 10, 2008. Mayor Seeks to Disband Lower Manhattan Panel. By Charles V. Bagli, New York Times.
September 9, 2008. SUNY leaders plead case to reverse cuts. By Delen Goldberg, Syracuse Post-Standard.
September 9, 2008. Four Places to Seek Help From While Job Hunting. By AnnaMaria Andriotis, smartmoney.com
September 5, 2008. Businesses hold back on fuel savings. New York City companies that added surcharges and hiked prices because of gasoline increases are not in a hurry to roll them back now that the price of fuel has dropped. By Matthew Sollars, crainsnewyork.com.
September 2, 2008. NY Dems come home to find state in an economic mess. By Jay Gallagher, Journal News.
September 1, 2008. Deal with obstacles facing our workers. A Labor Day editorial from the Troy Record.
It is more than time for our leaders in government and private industry to start dealing with the issues affecting our nation’s workers. If they are successful in dealing with this issues, their actions will help put this state and nation back on a solid economic foundation.
August 31, 2008. Not quite a picnic. An editorial from the Albany Times Union.
August 31, 2008. Wage squeeze. By Eric Anderson, Albany Times Union.
August 31, 2008. Incomes here are up, but still lag U. S. By Dave Robinson, Buffalo News.
August 29, 2008. Out of work in New York. By Michelle Chen, Viewsday, a Newsday opinion blog.
If the sea of about 84,000 spectators at INVESCO Field at Mile High seemed like a lot to you last night, imagine how many arenas we could fill with a much less cheery crowd here in New York. About half a million workers across the state were stuck on the unemployment rolls as of July, according to a new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute.
…
The trends signal a troubling change, but not a hopeless one, FPI says. The report urges Albany lawmakers to respond by reforming the state’s unemployment insurance system (which currently doles out about $300 per week on average), to help families ride out the economic slump while softening the impact of eroding wages.
August 29, 2008. More to overcome. An editorial from the Journal News.
… in a week filled with remembrances about a long-ago speech and promises to come, [Martin Luther King, Jr.] would want to remind the celebrants of Denver and St. Paul and all our communities that his life’s work concerned not only racial equality, but also economic fairness and opportunity for all. There is so much more to overcome. The campaign trail should help inform how we – all of us – do just that.
August 29, 2008. Unemployment insurance system strained. By Cara Matthews, Ithaca Journal.
August 28, 2008. Jobless Fund Is Running Out of Money. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times City Room. (Also in print edition, August 29.)
August 28, 2008. Unemployment leaps over 20 percent in 25 New York counties. By Joan Gralla, Reuters. Also, WAMC-Albany.
August 28, 2008. Unemployment Way Up in New York State. By Ilya Marritz, WNYC.
August 28, 2008. A broken safety net. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa. In Spanish: Una malla de seguridad sin fondo.
If New York legislators are interested in heading off a snowballing problem, they should modernize the state employment insurance system.
A report released today by the Fiscal Policy Institute shows that 25 counties in New York State, including Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, are experiencing at least 20 percent increases in the number of unemployed persons.
August 28, 2008. Report: Unemployment-insurance system under strain. By Cara Matthews, Journal News.
August 28, 2008. Big Increase in Unemployment Could Tax State’s Resources. By Peter Kiefer, New York Sun.
August 28, 2008. Wall St. woes drill NYC: After sidestepping national downturn, city’s joblessness on rise. By Patrick Arden, New York Metro.
August 28, 2008. Medio millón de desempleados en NYS. By Alexandra Ochoa, Hoy Nueva York.
August 28, 2008. Labor group: Bad economy putting strain on safety net for jobless. By Cara Matthews, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
August 28, 2008. Report: Local jobless rates worsening. By Tom Wanamaker, Catskill Daily Mail.
August 28, 2008. Study: NYS unemployment rising, system in need of repair. WWTI-Watertown.
August 27, 2008. NY poverty rate drops, leads North; Rate highest among upstate families. Also, Census: Poverty level, rate of uninsured decline. By Cara Matthews, Poughkeepsie Journal.
August 27, 2008. Poverty down, income inequality up in Lower Hudson Valley. By Dwight R. Worley, Journal News.
August 27, 2008. Poverty declining in state, but Rochester’s rate is 29.1%. By Cara Matthews, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
August 27, 2008. Sullivan’s poverty rate among highest in the state. By Matt King, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
August 27, 2008. Census: Fewer Long Island residents below poverty level. By Olivia Winslow, Newsday. Also on TMCnet.com.
August 27, 2008. Census: Poverty level, rate of uninsured decline; income rises. By Cara Matthews, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
August 27, 2008. State poverty rate goes down but is highest of all northern states. By Cara Matthews, Ithaca Journal.
August 27, 2008. The poor gained no ground in 2007: Census Bureau reports poverty rate was unchanged even as household income increased. By Cathleen F. Crowley, Albany Times Union.
August 25, 2008. America’s Invisible Rich: Politicians can’t seem to see any wealthy people when deciding whom to tax. By Sam Pizzigati, AlterNet.
Nationally, the top 1 percent of taxpayers in 2006 collected just over a fifth of all personal income in the United States, 21.1 percent. In ten states, including New York, the top 1 percent claimed an income share over that 21.1 percent level.
These ten states also share something else in common. All ten, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy charged last week, have tax systems that “generally ignore” the considerable deep-pocket presence within their borders.
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“Restoring some of the New York tax system’s lost progressivity,” Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a state research group, noted last week, “should be part of the state’s effort to balance its budget.”
New York Governor David Paterson apparently disagrees. Paterson has no “millionaire’s tax” in his package of proposals to cut the state’s $6.4 billion budget deficit. The governor seems to buy the line, wildly popular on Wall Street, that upping tax rates on the rich will lead to a massive statewide exodus of New York’s wealthy.
That’s what a former New York governor, George Pataki, claimed back in 2003 when lawmakers voted to place a temporary 7.7 percent tax on income over $500,000 and a 7.5 percent tax on any income that couples report over $150,000. Pataki vetoed this tax hike on New York’s most affluent, but lawmakers then enacted the measure over his veto. What happened? Over the next three years, with the tax hike on the wealthy that Pataki vetoed on the books, the number of taxpayers in New York making over $200,000 actually increased by 31 percent.
August 22, 2008. Poll numbers and the property tax: Another take. By Dan Janison, Newsday’s Spin Cycle blog.
August 22, 2008. Organización abre las puertas a inmigrantes profesionales de NY. By Victor Mimoni, El Correo de Queens.
August 20, 2008. Of interest. Plattsburgh Press-Republican.
August 19, 2008. Tax reform group is ‘disappointed’ with Assembly spending reductions bill. Mid-Hudson News.
August 19, 2008. Council of Economic Advisors named. www.empirestatenews.net.
August 18, 2008. Paterson Convenes Economic Council. By Sewell Chan, New York Times City Room.
August 18, 2008. Paterson’s economic council. By Irene Jay Liu, Times Union Capitol Confidential.
August 18, 2008. Paterson Names Economic Team. By Joseph Spector, Gannett Albany Watch.
August 17, 2008. Paterson’s tax cap proposal criticized. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
August 16, 2008. Property tax reform proponents unveil plan: Legislators, group back ‘circuit breaker.’ By John Davis, Poughkeepsie Journal.
The occasion was the unveiling of the Omnibus Bill that would combine short-term tax relief and long-term tax reform. It proposes enacting a “circuit breaker” and, in the long run, shifting costs to the state.
The Omnibus Bill is the brainchild of Frank Mauro, director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, an Albany-based economic think tank.
“We came up with this vision that sort of embraces the best of a number of bills out there,” he said.
August 16, 2008. Bill would offer immediate relief on property tax. By Jeremiah Horrigan, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
August 16, 2008. Property tax reform bill proposed at Ulster conference. Mid-Hudson News. Also in the Catskill News.
August 16, 2008. Ulster lawmaker, institute chief offer property tax reform bill. Kingston Daily Freeman.
August 15, 2008. Job market figures: a murky view. By Michelle Chen, Viewsday, a Newsday opinion blog.
August 14, 2008. State Report Tallying Jobs Finds Glass Half Empty. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
August 14, 2008. Budget battle Deja Vu All Over Again. By Rick Karlin, Times Union Capitol Confidential.
August 14, 2008. Immigrant professionals continue to drive NYC’s GDP. IndiaPost.com.
August 13, 2008. Let the wealthy do their part. An editorial from El Diario / La Prensa.
In closing New York’s projected $26 billion budget deficit, we agree with Governor David Paterson when he says that raising taxes should be the last resort. New Yorkers already pay a lot of taxes. But a proposal for a surcharge on the wealthiest New Yorkers is certainly in order considering the state’s economic woes …
In a state and city with the country’s widest income disparities between the rich and the poor, protecting the underdog is all the more necessary.
August 12, 2008. Capping the Tax Growth. WBNG-Binghamton.
August 11, 2008. New Yorkers among top taxpayers. By Elizabeth Butler Cordova, crainsnewyork.com.
August 10, 2008. Which is the real Paterson? By Alan Chartock, Kingston Daily Freeman.
August 9-10, 2008. “New York State Comptroller’s Take on Budget Crisis” and “Millionaire’s Tax: On the Money?” FPI executive director Frank Mauro was a guest on WLIW’s public affairs show, Crosson and Welles. Other discussants included Thomas DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller, Joye Brown, Newsday columnist, Newsday, and Robert Gaffney, president of Dowling College.
August 8, 2008. Think tank: N.J. tops in taxes, N.Y. ranks second. By Jay Gallagher, Gannett News Service, Journal News. Also in the Poughkeepsie Journal and (on August 11) the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin and the Elmira Star-Gazette.
August 7, 2008. Paying now . . . or later. An editorial from the Journal News.
August 6, 2008. Discussion of state budget and impact of policy on working class (at about 29:38). Wake-up Call, WBAI.
August 6, 2008. NY state voters favor millionaire’s tax – poll. By Joan Gralla and Leslie Adler, Reuters via Forbes.com.
August 5, 2008. The federal minimum wage and lower income workers in New York. 1370 Connection, WXXI, Rochester.
August 4, 2008. Governor Patterson Plays the Depression Card – Proposes Massive Cuts Instead of Millionaire’s Tax. Building Bridges, WBAI.
August 4, 2008. The state of finances: Lawmakers, up for re-election may not be ready to make the $600M in budget cuts the governor wants. By James T. Madore and Elizabeth Moore, Newsday.
August 4, 2008. NY state budget: How bad is bad? By Anne Michaud, Viewsday, a Newsday opinion blog.
August 4, 2008. Immigrants make up large portion of economic output. By Nicole Estaphan, WKTV-Utica.
August 3, 2008. New faces in new places: Immigrant population is increasing, by Jill Bryce. Immigrants make it all work: Some industries depend on international recruiting efforts, by Jill Bryce and Sarah Foss. (These stories cite FPI’s November 2007 report, Working for a Better Life.) Schenectady Daily Gazette.
August 1, 2008. Time to link tax breaks to promises. An editorial from the Middletown Times Herald-Record.
July 31, 2008. Fiscal Woes of the Past Prod Paterson to Act Early. By Danny Hakim, New York Times.
July 31, 2008. Report about dwindling illegal immigration sparks debate. By Dave Marcus, Newsday. Also in the Santa Barbara News-Press.
July 30, 2008. Lean times in Albany. From Viewsday, a Newsday opinion blog.
The landscape is already polarizing as the business-oriented Citizens Budget Commission calls for controlling government spending on social services while the labor-friendly Fiscal Policy Institute urges ramping up taxes for higher income brackets.
July 30, 2008. A special roundtable discussion on New York’s economic health convened by WAMC-Albany in the wake of Governor Paterson’s proposed budget cuts. Hosted by Alan Chartock.
July 30, 2008. New York’s Paterson Seeks Emergency Session as Deficit Balloons. By Henry Goldman and Michael Quint, www.bloomberg.com.
“Increasing taxes on higher-income people is less harmful than cutting government spending,” Renwick said. “It should be a balanced approach that doesn’t put increased stress on people who can least afford to pay.”
July 30, 2008. Paterson’s Speech Already Causing Albany Scramble. New York magazine.
July 30, 2008. Hoping for a Millionaire’s Tax in a Bad Budget Year. By Azi Paybarah for the New York Observer’s Politicker.
July 30, 2008. The Gov’s Fine Talk. An editorial from the New York Post.
July 30, 2008. Home health aide union steps up campaign. 1199 SEIU intends to strike if contracts are not ratified with 25 area home care agencies by mid September, rally planned for Aug. 7. By Daniel Massey, crains.com.
July 29, 2008. Governor Paterson’s speech on the state’s financial situation: outlook and commentary. On the Economy hosted by Bloomberg’s Tom Keene.
July 29, 2008. Recorded at Wall Street. German Public Radio.
July 29, 2008. Valley officials await Paterson’s proposals. By Craig Wolf, Poughkeepsie Journal.
Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan group near Albany, said history offers some choices that can work.
One is the temporary surcharge on higher incomes that was used by New York in 2003, Mauro said. For three years, incomes over $150,000 and $500,000 paid extra in different degrees, helping the state through a crisis then.
The federal government should help states, Mauro said, because it can run a temporary deficit with less harm than if the states try it. This would prevent states from cutting spending and thus adding to recessionary pressure even as federal stimulus payments go out to try to combat recession. The federal government has helped with temporarily higher Medicaid matches and revenue sharing.
July 27, 2008. Across the nation, IBM leaves a trail of broken promises: Big Blue takes public benefits, but cuts jobs, underdelivers. By Christine Young, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
July 24, 2008. MainStreet Explains: Small Businesses and the Minimum Wage Hike. By Lyneka Little, mainstreet.com.
July 23, 2008. Report urges hike in minimum wage. THINK TANK: New York needs to take steps to restore purchasing power of workers’ pay. By Tom Wanamaker, Watertown Daily Times. Also in the Catskill Daily Mail and the Hudson Register-Star.
July 21, 2008. The City Economy: Facing the Nation’s Woes. By James Parrott, FPI’s deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham Gazette’s Economy section.
July 21, 2008. Where the City Can Find $200 Million. By Dan Cantor, Gotham Gazette.
July 18, 2008. $7.15 still not enough. An editorial from the Albany Times Union. Reprinted in a sampling of upstate editorials, AM New York.
July 18, 2008. State delves into health-care coverage issue. By Barbara Pinckney, Buffalo Business First. (Also ran in Albany Business Review.)
July 17, 2008. Jobless rate jumps, Wall Street layoffs hit: As the economic landscape continues to worsen, the city’s unemployment rate hit 5.4% in June; the jobless rate is expected to continue its climb in the months ahead. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s newyorkbusiness.com.
July 13, 2008. Little done to fix Empire Zone tax program: Legislature fails to approve reforms. Tax Department denied benefits only to 7. By Mike McAndrew, Syracuse Post-Standard.
July 11, 2008. Minimum Wage Increases Faster Than Median Wage. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times. This story is related to FPI’s report Restoring the Purchasing Power of New York State’s Minimum Wage.
July 3, 2008. Drivers’ Walkout Has Ripple Effect Across City. By Steven Greenhouse and Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
June 26, 2008. Minimum-wage increase a win-lose proposition. An editorial from the Flint Journal in Michigan.
June 23, 2008. Assembly Dems roll out fuel cost relief package. By Samantha Pawlak, Legislative Gazette.
June 21, 2008. Oil shock reshaping NY business: Companies cut back use of cars, trucks; change routes to maximize efficiency. By Hilary Potkewitz, Crain’s.
June 21, 2008. ‘Hardship Gap’ wider for NYS working families. By Tom Wanamaker, Catskill Daily Mail.
June 20, 2008. Layoffs Show on New York Unemployment Rolls. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
June 16, 2008. Arguments Against a Property Tax Cap. A segment on Capital Tonight with Brian Taffe of Capital News 9, joined by David Little, the Director of Governmental Affairs for the New York School Boards Association, and FPI executive director Frank Mauro.
June 16, 2008. Report: 5.7 Million New Yorkers Getting Pinched in their Pockets. Public News Service – NY.
June 16, 2008. Connections: Helping hands are there when working poor reach out. By Mary Haupt, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
June 13, 2008. Report says ‘anemic’ wages affect 5.7 million New Yorkers. By Jay Gallagher, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
June 13, 2008. Report: 3rd of NY families are hurting. By Jay Gallagher, Journal News.
June 13, 2008. Report says many jobs fail to give economic security. By Jay Gallagher, Albany Times-Union.
June 13, 2008. Wages of 30% of New Yorkers Do Not Cover Minimum Needs. Posted to the PULP Network blog by Gerry Norlander.
June 12, 2008. Report: A third of New York working families are hurting. By Jay Gallagher, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
June 12, 2008. Report: NY Families Hurting. By Sarah Sheridan, WENY-TV (Elmira).
June 12, 2008. Report: Third of New Yorkers can’t afford basic expenses. By Jay Gallagher, Poughkeepsie Journal.
June 12, 2008. Report: A third of NY working families are hurting. By Jay Gallagher, Ithaca Journal.
June 9, 2008. Carried Interest Debate Carried to Albany. By Christopher Faille, HedgeWorld.com.
June 6, 2008. Emergency Food Programs Feed Brooklyn’s Hungry. By Eleanor J. Bader, The Brooklyn Rail.
June 5, 2008. Report: Low-wage workers gain most from organizing. By Lance Howland, New York Teacher.
June 4, 2008. Paterson to propose school property tax cap. By Bob Conner, Schenectady Gazette.
June 3, 2008. Cap called key to tax relief. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
June 2, 2008. Hearing on property tax cap today; Suozzi releases anticipated report. By Maria Brandecker, www.legislativegazette.com.
May 29, 2008. Community Development Done Right. A column by David Dyssegaard Kallick, New York Metro.
May 28, 2008. New Legislation Aimed at Creating New Jobs, Affordable Housing. NewsLI.com.
May 28, 2008. For the record. Unionization translates to higher wages for low-wage workers, according to a joint report released May 15 by New York’s Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. The Chief-Leader.
May 27, 2008. Tax cap report, though late, still stirring debate. By Maria Brandecker, Legislative Gazette.
May 24, 2008. Property-tax cap on the table: Plan faces tough fight in Legislature. By Paul Brooks, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
May 23, 2008. Rocklanders hear and discuss plans for a state tax-decrease program. By Steve Lieberman, Journal News.
May 22, 2008. Report blasts tax-cap idea. By Jay Gallagher, Journal News.
May 22, 2008. Property Tax Commission Report Due June 3rd. From EcuProphets, “weblog of the New York State ecumenical community committed to peace and justice.”
May 21, 2008. Tax cap talk. By Rick Karlin, Times Union Capitol Confidential.
May 21, 2008. How bad will NYC’s economy get? History has some answers. By Garrett Sloane, am New York.
May 20, 2008. Plan would cap property tax hikes: Proposal is one of several recommendations from state commission to be presented June 3. By Jim Odato, Albany Times Union.
May 20, 2008. Learn about ‘circuit breaker’ bill to zap property tax burden. An op ed by Irv Feiner, Journal News.
May 18, 2008. Rockland state legislators to host forum on tax relief proposal. By Sarah Netter, Journal News.
May 18, 2008. State Development Agency Buffeted by Slowing Economy and Internal Rifts. By Charles Bagli, New York Times.
May 16, 2008. Groups Want to Link State Aid and “Living Wage.” Syracuse Post-Standard.
May 15, 2008. Report: Low-wage union workers get 16% more. A new study shows that unionized workers in the lowest wage brackets in New York state earn 16% more than non-union workers with similar education. By Daniel Massey, Crain’s.
May 14, 2008. Wage dispute stalls nonprofits’ tax-free financing. By Jay Gallagher, Journal News. Also, Institutes may lose IDA aid, Poughkeepsie Journal.
May 14, 2008. Albany stalemate over low-interest IDA funding delays WNY projects. By Tom Precious, Buffalo News.
May 14, 2008. Groups: Allow IDAs to help nonprofits. By Bob Conner, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
May 13, 2008. Homeowners might get help: Proposal aims at taxes. By Paul Brooks, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
May 13, 2008. Not For Profits Want IDA Law Renewed. By Karen DeWitt, WXXI.
“We’re not talking about extraordinarily high wage standards here. We’re talking about a living wage level.” – James Parrott.
May 12, 2008. Democrats See Green to Close Budget Gap in Hedge Fund Tax: Proposal strongly supported despite opposition from Bloomberg and Paterson. By Rachel Breitman, City Hall News.
May 9, 2008. NY mayor says Hudson Yards property deal “not dead.” By Joan Gralla, Reuters. Also on WAMC (Albany), WNED (Buffalo), WXXI (Rochester), WRVO (Syracuse), and WSKG (Binghamton).
May 6, 2008. Gillibrand backs alternative funding for schools. By Maury Thompson, Glens Falls Post Star.
May 5, 2008. How Tax Circuit Breaker Would Affect Your Budget. By Delen Goldberg, Syracuse Post-Standard. Also in the Post-Standard: How would a tax “circuit breaker” affect you? Use our calculator. By Douglass Dowty.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a mechanism to keep your property taxes in line with your income? Proposed bill would cap property taxes based on homeowner’s annual income. About 340,000 upstaters could benefit.
May 4, 2008. Cash-sucking machines. An editorial from Newsday.
May 3, 2008. Property tax burden takes center stage in speech by fiscal expert. By Hank Gross, Kingston Daily Freeman.
May 3, 2008. Hearing Examines Immigrants’ Contributions to the Economy. By Donna Lamb, Greenwich Village Gazette.
May 2, 2008. The problem with property taxes discussed. Mid-Hudson News.
April 29, 2008. PILOT would just subsidize resort. An op ed by John K. Mullen, a professor of economics and finance at Clarkson University, in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
April 28, 2008. History Hints a Recession Would Hit City Hard. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
April 28, 2008. Real Estate Slump Hits New York. By Steve Josselson, Gotham Gazette.
April 21, 2008. New Jersey town offers immigration insights. A column by FPI senior fellow David Dyssegaard Kallick, Newsday.
April 20, 2008. Never mind the crunch, Wall Street rich get richer. By Dominic Rushe, London Sunday Times.
April 18, 2008. A Hotbed of Sins, Old or New. By Clyde Haberman, New York Times.
Social inequality and injustice form another sin. A glance around the city and the state makes the point quickly enough.
Underlining that reality is a new study by an Albany-based research group, the Fiscal Policy Institute. It shows that the gap between rich and poor in New York State keeps widening. A chasm is more like it. In the late 1980s, the study said, families in the top 20 percent of earners made about seven times as much as those in the bottom 20 percent. By the middle of this decade, they were making about nine times as much.
April 18, 2008. New York City May Consider Taxing Carried Interest. By Christopher Faille, HedgeWorld.com.
April 17, 2008. Think tank proposes NYC tax on carry. By Amanda Janis, Private Equity Online.
April 17, 2008. The NY Tax Proposal: Pushing More Hedgies to Greenwich? Posted by Shasha Daid, Deal Journal Blog, Wall Street Journal.
April 16, 2008. Businesses Could Leave City Under New Tax, Opponents Warn. By Benjamin Sarlin, New York Sun.
April 16, 2008. Council Members Push for Hedge Fund Tax. WNYC.
April 16, 2008. Big Apple May Go For Bigger Hedge Fund Tax. FINalternatives – Hedge Fund & Private Equity News.
April 16, 2008. Pols call for hedge fund taxation. Bloomberg, New York Metro.
New York – Six New York City Council members endorsed a proposal to extend the city’s tax on unincorporated businesses to include private equity and hedge fund managers, saying it would raise as much as $225 million.
The lawmakers joined with janitors representing the Service Employees International Union, members of the Working Families Party and the laborfunded Fiscal Policy Institute to call for the taxation of performance fees managers take.
April 15, 2008. Plenty of wheeling and dealing. By Stan Bergstein, Daily Racing Form.
April 15, 2008. NYC hedge fund profits show tax system flaw -study. By Joan Gralla, Reuters.
April 15, 2008. City council members endorse plan to extend taxes on hedge fund earnings. Daily News (Bloomberg).
April 15, 2008. A Taxing Debate Gets New Life. Deal Book Blog, edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times.
April 15, 2008. City, State Eye New Taxes on Hedge Fund Managers. By Jacob Gershman, New York Sun.
April 14, 2008. Foreclosure Moratorium Bill Gains Traction in Both Houses: Padavan and Brennan say time is right for Legislature to tackle sub-prime crisis. By Rachel Breitman, City Hall News.
April 11, 2008. Budgeting in Albany in Hard Times. By Clyde Haberman, New York Times.
April 11, 2008. Lighter Tax Burdens – Panel: Circuit breaker, exemptions may relieve property costs. By John Mariani, Syracuse Post-Standard.
April 11, 2008. Gap Between Rich & Poor in NY Grows Wider. Reported by Dave Lucas for WAMC.
April 11, 2008. Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer in New York State, Study Finds. PND-Philanthropy News Digest.
April 10, 2008. Legislators Back Spending Rise in State’s Budget. By Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times.
April 10, 2008. An Agent of Change in an Age of Chaos. A podcast by Sam Roberts, New York Times. In a tribute to Barry Gottehrer, Sam alludes to FPI’s recent report, Pulling Apart, to show that problems facing the city – unmasked more than forty years ago by Gottehrer’s award-winning reporting for the Herald Tribune – still persist today despite greater public order.
April 10, 2008. Gap between rich, poor families in state still widest in nation. By James Schlett, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
April 10, 2008. Fair wage engenders basic human dignity. An op ed by C. Melissa Snarr, Pd.D., in the Nashville Tennessean.
April 9, 2008. Study Finds Third of City’s Income on the Top Rung. By Jennifer 8. Lee, City Room Blog (New York Times).
April 9, 2008. Gap widens between state’s wealthy, poor. By Eric Anderson, The Buzz: Business News Blog (Albany Times Union).
April 9, 2008. Report: NY’s lowest-paid worker’s wages increase faster than average. AP, Plattsburgh Press-Republican. Also on WHAM-TV and R News in Rochester; WSYR-TV and WSTM-TV in Syracuse; WNYT-TV and WXXA – FOX23 in Albany; News Channel 34 in Binghamton; WETM-TV in Elmira; WWTI/Newswatch 50 in Watertown; and WCAX in Burlington, VT.
April 3, 2008. $600M Concord package won’t be in state budget. By Victor Whitman, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
April 3, 2008. NY Labor Unions Helping Fulfill MLK’s Dream of Equality. John Robinson/Don Mathisen, Public News Service – NY. Also ran in Tennessee.
April 1, 2008. Is America becoming a lottery society? An op ed by FPI senior fellow David Dyssegaard Kallick, New York Metro.
March 31, 2008. Bill would repeal mortgage tax. By Adam Pincus, The Real Deal.
March 31, 2008. Global, national factors put squeeze on consumers. By Keiko Morris, Newsday.
March 30, 2008. A state budget built on hope: Increased spending plan relies on revenues that may not materialize. By Jim Odato, Albany Times Union.
March 28, 2008. Job Total Dips in State, but the City Gains a Bit. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
March 27, 2008. What the state budget means for upstate families. Reported by Jasmyn Belcher for WVRO Oswego.
March 27, 2007. Lobbyists push for tax increases to offset budget shortfall. By Valerie Bauman, Newsday.
March 27, 2008. Coalition of New York Groups Calls For Higher Income Tax on Millionaires. By Gerald B. Silverman, BNA’s Daily Tax Report.
March 27, 2008. Schenectady feeling the budget pinch. Reported by Britt Godshalk for Capital News 9.
March 27, 2008. Job cuts shake Wall Street nerves. By Dumeetha Luthra, BBC News.
March 26, 2008. Multistate Business Tax Ruling Will Help New York’s Bottom Line. By David Pomerantz, New York Sun.
March 26, 2008. Don’t break promise of school aid. An op ed by Rosemary Rivera of the Alliance for Quality Education, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
March 26, 2008. Good government groups will analyze the state budget for the public. By Delen Goldberg, Syracuse Post-Standard.
March 23, 2008. $4.9M hole in budget for ’08: Lawmakers have tough task. By Sara Foss, Schenectady Daily Gazette.
March 20, 2008. Great address, near Capitol, tax advantages: Empire Zone status offers businesses breaks just blocks from power. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
March 19, 2008. Ten Reasons We Don’t Have the Economy We Thought We Had. By James Parrott, Gotham Gazette.
March 17, 2008. And Now: The Paterson Administration. By Courtney Gross and Gail Robinson, Gotham Gazette.
March 14, 2008. State must work to fix property tax problem. By FPI senior economist Trudi Renwick, The Saratogian.
March 9, 2008. Film Study Misinterpreted. By FPI deputy director and chief economist James A. Parrott, The Hartford Courant.
March 7, 2008. New York Assembly Democrats Considering Higher Income Tax on Wealthy. By John Buhl, State Tax Notes from Tax Analysts.
March 7, 2008. Meeting explores options for property-tax reform. By Christine Pizzuti, Poughkeepsie Journal.
March 6, 2008. Assembly Plan Would Add to Taxes of More Affluent. By Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times.
March 6, 2008. Immigrant issues growing in county. By Fritz Mayer, Narrowsburg River Reporter.
February 29, 2008. What’s wrong with the CGR critique of prevailing wage requirements. By FPI deputy director and chief economist James A. Parrott, Long Island Business News.
February 28, 2008. Watchdog groups to address state spending: Some want redesign of N.Y. tax structure. By Brian Liberatore, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
February 27, 2008. Economists warn of worsening sub-prime loan problem in N.Y. By Jay Gallagher, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Also in the Poughkeepsie Journal.
February 22, 2008. Bush budget stiffs New York: report. President George Bush’s 2009 budget could cost New York State $1.7 billion in federal support, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. By Tommy Fernandez, Crain’s New York Business.
February 21, 2008. There’s a way to restore aid to education. Commentary by Rod Watson, Buffalo News.
The Fiscal Policy Institute has an easy remedy for Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer’s decision to trim aid increases he promised schools as part of a four-year plan. The institute calculates that the slowdown would cost Buffalo $5.6 million. That’s a lot of teachers, books and other necessities in a district with lots of poor students – in both senses of the word.
The answer: temporarily increasing the top income tax rates on the state’s highest earners, as the Legislature did in 2003 when it passed a three-year surcharge over the veto of then-Gov. George E. Pataki.
Granted, it’s a radical notion, expecting those with the most to help those with the least.
But Frank Mauro, institute executive director, recalled Pataki singing the same “sky will fall” song the well-off always sing when we talk about helping poor kids. The threat was that raising taxes on those who benefit most would slow the economy and make people flee the state.
“Neither of those things happened,” Mauro said at last weekend’s New York State Association of Black & Puerto Rican Legislators conference in Albany.
…
Beyond dealing with the current problem, Mauro said, a permanent surcharge on the highest earners also would reduce property tax pressures on low-and middle-income homeowners. That would be a permanent benefit.
February 20, 2008. New York to lose $1.7 billion in Bush’s new budget. By Irene Liu, Capitol Confidential.
February 15, 2008. Education advocates criticize Spitzer. By Dan Osburn, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Also in the Journal News, the Elmira Star-Gazette, and the Ithaca Journal.
February 15, 2008. Time to short-circuit excessive spending. An editorial from the Glens Falls Post-Star.
The non-partisan Fiscal Policy Institute endorsed the circuit breaker concept as a mechanism for temporary tax relief. But in doing so, it also called on the state to stop shifting the tax burden to local governments and to enact systematic changes in fiscal policy to correct what created the high taxes.
February 14, 2008. Education advocates: Spitzer backing off funding pledge. By Dan Osburn, Elmira Star-Gazette. Also in the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin and the Poughkeepsie Journal.
February 14, 2008. Griffo cosponsors legislation to cap property taxes for homeowners. Rome Observer.
February 12, 2008. Study Sees Non-Hispanic Whites Shrinking to Minority Status in U.S. By Sarah Garland, New York Sun.
February 11, 2008. New kind of property tax cap suggested. By Maria Brandecker, Legislative Gazette.
February 11, 2008. ‘Circuit breaker’ program may ease taxes. By Maury Thompson, Glens Falls Post-Star.
February 11, 2008. Griffo boosts bill to limit property taxes based on homeowner income. Rome Sentinel.
February 10, 2008. Fears of recession for nation, Long Island worsen. By Randi F. Marshall, Newsday.
February 7, 2008. Empire Zone board shake up: Changes prompted in part by citizen activist. By Fritz Mayer, Narrowsburg River Reporter.
February 7, 2008. Little pushes bill to cap property taxes. By Heather Sackett, Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
February 6, 2008. Catholic Charities to host N.Y. budget, economy briefing. Elmira Star-Gazette.
February 5, 2008. Plan to link tax breaks to income: Lawmakers propose “circuit breaker” that gives rebates to those who need it most. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
February 5, 2008. N.Y. lawmakers have plan to limit property taxes. By Jay Gallagher, Gannett News Service. Also in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Journal News, the Poughkeepsie Journal, and the Ithaca Journal.
February 5, 2008. Lawmakers plan to limit property tax rebates. By James T. Madore, Newsday.
February 5, 2008. Little property tax bill gets support. By Maury Thompson, Glens Falls Post-Star.
February 4, 2008. Lawmakers Offer New Property Tax Relief Proposal. Reported by Walt McClure, WXXA Fox News 23 Albany.
February 4, 2008. Galef, Little Bill Would Tie Property Taxes to Income: Legislation gains support of tax groups, Fiscal Policy Institute. Press Release, Office of Assemblywoman Sandy Galef.
February 4, 2008. The Stench of ’89: The last great New York recession was prolonged and deep. And it’s eerily familiar. By Michael Idov, New York Magazine.
February 4, 2008. Real Estate Round-Up. By Jacqui Ryan, Brooklyn Eagle.
February 1, 2008. City Economy Hinges on Multiple Factors: At Jobs Forum, Panelists Disagree About How Deep Slowdown Will Be. NYC Workforce Weekly.
January 31, 2008. Babylon, N.Y.: Pocketbook Issues Are Central. The immigration debate has given way to money matters. By Kirk Shinkle, U.S. News and World Report.
January 31, 2008. 多团体发起移民教育运动. The Epoch Times (Australia).
January 31, 2008. Tax reform long overdue. A letter to the editor by Robin Vaccai Yess, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
Funding schools through property taxes is inequitable, unfair and unrelated to a person’s ability to pay. Until it changes to an income-based tax to fund schools, our seniors and young families will continue to be forced out.
It’s a two-part problem – the funding mechanism and school district spending. If district budgets continue to rise by more than twice the rate of inflation, the tax must continually increase. So, yes, we need a different, equitable method to fund schools, but school spending must simultaneously be brought under control.
The commission should seek help from the Fiscal Policy Institute, the Public Policy Institute and the numerous tax reform groups throughout the state for tax reform solutions that have already been developed. Many members of the Assembly and Senate, who are paid with taxpayer dollars, have drafted proposed legislation.
January 30, 2008. Campaña contra mitos antiinmigrantes. By Judith Torrea, El Diario/La Prensa.
January 29, 2008. ECONOMICS: Spitzer’s budget: SOS from the middle class. By Christine Carrie Fien, Rochester City Newspaper.
January 28, 2008. Trying to make it safer to do a dangerous job. By Jillian Jonas, CityLimits.org.
January 28, 2008. Labor groups, lawmakers ask for IDA reforms. By Heather Senison, Legislative Gazette.
January 24, 2008. An economy wrapped in uncertainty. By Randi Marshall, Newsday.
January 22, 2008. City Comptroller urges IDA reform. By Diane Hess, Crains.com.
January 18, 2008. Wall Street dip threatens state tax revenue. By Jay Gallagher, Journal News.
January 17, 2008. We Want Higher Taxes. [Thanks Jay for the snappy headline. What we really want is to take a fresh look at rolling back all the tax cuts enjoyed by those with the highest incomes – in order to ease the pressure of property taxes as well as income taxes on those of more modest means.] By Jay Jochnowitz, Capitol Confidential.
January 17, 2008. Recession is here or coming, say pros. By Rich Schapiro, New York Daily News.
January 17, 2008. Bloomberg won’t call for property tax hike. By Karla Schuster, Newsday.
January 15, 2008. Assessing the Economic Impact of Immigration at the State and Local Level. From the American Immigration Law Foundation’s Immigration Policy Center.
January 15, 2008. For Bloomberg, recession could be campaign theme. By Karla Schuster, Newsday.
January 14, 2008. Can Bloomberg Save Wall Street? By Andrew J. Hawkins, City Hall News.
January 12, 2008. D.A.’s target employers who skirt labor, tax laws. By David Schepp, Journal News.
January 10, 2008. City Is Facing Big Hike in Property Tax. By Grace Rauh, New York Sun.
January 9, 2008. Tax reform on Spitzer’s agenda for speech. By Tami Luhby and Mark Harrington, Newsday.
January 5, 2008. Anti-immigration fervor casts city out. Nation wants fewer workers, while NYC needs more; political heat intensifies split. By Elizabeth MacBride, Crain’s New York Business.
January 5, 2008. City on tenterhooks: Uncertainty looms. NYC better off than in former downturns, but importance of Wall Street still pervasive. By Tom Frederickson, Crain’s New York Business.
January 5, 2008. School Officials Hear Same Aid Story. By S. Alexander Gerould, Jamestown Post-Journal.
January 4, 2008. Businesses warm to idea of universal health care: Getting there will be contentious journey as groups jostle over competing paths. By Barbara Pinckney, Albany Business Review.
January 1, 2008. Funding special districts: The perks your tax dollars pay for. By Sandra Peddie, Newsday.
December 26, 2007. Immigrants Make Their Mark On New York City. By Richard Gentil Viso, Queens Gazette.
December 24, 2007. On the move: Immigrants an economic force in the suburbs. By John Golden, Westchester County Business Journal.
December 24, 2007. Schools expected to get $47M in state aid. By Paul Brooks, Middletown Times Herald-Record.
December 23, 2007. Estudio: explotan a obreros de construcción. By Maria Vega, El Diario/La Prensa.
December 23, 2007. N.Y.C. ‘Underground’ Construction Economy Costs Workers and Taxpayers. By Mike Hall, AFL-CIO Now News Blog. Also bay area indy media.
December 21, 2007. New York City at year’s end. By Leonard Quart, Berkshire Eagle.
December 19, 2007. Parker seeks an edge for upstate. By Jay Gallagher, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
December 19, 2007. Groups testify to Empire Zone failure: Momentum grows to end costly program that has been unable to produce jobs. By Delen Goldberg, Syracuse Post-Standard.
December 15, 2007. Projection Shows Districts Receiving More State Money. By S. Alexander Gerould, Jamestown Post-Journal.
December 10, 2007. Many New York City Construction Workers Part of Underground Economy, Study Says. By John Herzfeld, Daily Labor Report, Bureau of National Affairs.
December 7, 2007. New Yorkers hit by growing debt. By Elizabeth Lazarowitz, New York Daily News.
December 6, 2007. N.Y. homeowner rebate nears $800M. By Jay Gallagher, Journal News.
December 6, 2007. Construction Workers Off The Books. WNYC.
December 6, 2007. Off-the-books work booms. Report: ‘Illegal economy’ tracks building surge. By Amy Zimmer, Metro New York.
December 6, 2007. The Other Side of Immigration. Queens TimesLedger Newspapers.
Immigration is much more a blessing than a problem in New York. New immigrants have made a marked contribution to virtually every community in Queens. In Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Flushing, immigrant-owned businesses have flourished, creating jobs and raising property values. These businesses pay taxes that enable the city to build schools and pay for health care for the poor.
December 5, 2007. Some 50,000 NYC building workers paid off the books. By Joan Gralla, Reuters.
December 5, 2007. 25% of NYC construction jobs are ‘off the books.’ The fiscal costs to taxpayers were $489 million in 2005 and are likely to reach $557 million in 2008, according to a report. By Tom Frederickson, Crain’s New York Business.
December 5, 2007. Underground Construction Economy Booms in NYC. By Michael Whitely, workcompcentral.com.
December 5, 2007. Epidemic Of Illegal Construction Employment Is Hurting Taxpayers. By Doug Cunningham, Workers Independent News.
December 4, 2007. Cutting consultants key to balanced budget. By Senator Neil Breslin. An op ed in the Albany Times Union.
December 4, 2007. Myth-buster reveals depth of immigrants’ contribution to NY. By Rong Xiaoqing, South China Morning Post.
December 3, 2007. What Three Million Immigrants Do. By Larry Tung, Gotham Gazette.
December 3, 2007. Immigrants Create Nearly a Quarter of New York State’s Economic Output, Report Finds. PND-Philanthropy News Digest.
December 2, 2007. An Immigration Red Herring. An editorial from the New York Post.
FPI’s study concluded that immigrants contributed $229 billion to the New York state economy in 2006; that’s about 22.4 percent of the state’s GDP.
According to David Dyssegaard Kallick, an author of the report, “These figures should wipe away any impression that immigrants are holding the New York economy back; in fact, immigrants are a central component of New York’s economic growth.”
Well, duh.
November 30, 2007. A portrait of immigration: Regional profile adds to the debate. An editorial from Newsday.
November 30, 2007. Spending by MTA on track to soar 43% over ’04 budget, documents show. By Pete Donohue, New York Daily News.
November 30, 2007. La contribucion economica y laboral de los inmigrantes. By Monica Bastidas, El Correo de Queens.
November 29, 2007. Sanctuary Was a Lovely Word. Then the G.O.P. Got Hold of It. By Clyde Haberman, New York Times.
November 29, 2007. The Brian Lehrer Show: An Economy without Mexicans. WNYC. (37:36)
November 29, 2007. Why don’t you teach English? An editorial from El Diario/La Prensa.
November 29, 2007. Latinos son clave para economía de Nueva York. By Jose Acosta, El Diario/La Prensa.
November 29, 2007. Immigrants add billions to NY economy. By Pete Davis, Queens Courier.
November 29, 2007. Immigrants boosting boro economy: Study. By Jeremy Walsh, Flushing Times Ledger.
November 29, 2007. Reports Add Depth To Illegal Immigration Picture. By Sarah Garland, New York Sun.
November 27, 2007. City of immigrants. An editorial from the New York Daily News.
New York’s burgeoning immigrant population is helping to build just what this city needs to prosper: a thriving middle class. So says a new study that examined in detail the economic impact that the foreign-born are having on the Big Apple.
Any way the Fiscal Policy Institute researchers sliced the data, they found the city’s 3 million immigrants – legal and illegal – are pulling their load. The researchers also uncovered how the immigrants have become deeply woven into the fabric of life.
…
The numbers add up to the fact that the 3 million New Yorkers born overseas have had surprisingly positive impacts on a city whose neighborhoods would wither without them. They are opening large numbers of small businesses, and more than half have become U.S. citizens. They can vote and they will surely remember politicians who play on nativist fears.
November 27, 2007. A fuller view of immigrants. An editorial from the Schenectady Gazette.
November 27, 2007. Report Profiles Immigrants’ Impact On New York’s Economy, Workforce. By Gerald Silverman, Daily Labor Report, Bureau of National Affairs.
November 27, 2007. Immigrants help fill upstate college, medical ranks: Their contributions critical to New York’s economy, report says. By Michael Hill, with Chris Swingle, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
November 27, 2007. Immigrants hold many of upstate’s top jobs: 35% of doctors are foreign-born. By Dan Osburn, Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin.
November 27, 2007. Positive Report on Immigrants Fails To Cool a Fiery Debate. By Sarah Garland, New York Sun.
November 27, 2007. Caribbean Migrants Moving Up ‘Down State.’ hardbeatnews.com
November 27, 2007. Immigrants aid state economy: They pumped in $229 billion, report says. By Joshua Rhett Miller, New York Metro.
November 26, 2007. New Report: Immigrant Impact on New York. Reported by Craig Lewis and Mike Clifford, New York Public News Service.
November 26, 2007. Immigrants Contribute $229B to State’s Economy. By Karen DeWitt, WXXI.
November 26, 2007. Immigration Battle: Do They Help or Hurt the Economy? By Richard French and Carolyn Rowe, RNN-TV.
November 26, 2007. A Profile of Immigration. By Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation’s “The Notion.”
November 26, 2007. Immigrants Pull Weight in Economy, Study Finds. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
November 26, 2007. An economic engine in immigration: Study by New York state labor, immigrant groups emphasizes contributions by those born elsewhere. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
November 26, 2007. Report: Immigrants play significant role in N.Y. economy. By Leah Rae, The Journal News.
November 26, 2007. Report: NY immigrants doctors as well as low-wage workers. By Michael Hill, Newsday.
November 26, 2007. Muchos doctores y profesores inmigrantes. By Michael Hill, El Diario.
November 26, 2007. Immigrants are changing the face of New York. By Srirekha N. Chakravarty, India Post.
November 26, 2007. Immigrants Are Seen as a Boon: A New Report Sees Big Impact. By Sarah Garland, New York Sun.
November 26, 2007. New Report Measures Immigrants’ Contribution to NYS Economy. By Marianne McCune, WNYC.
November 26, 2007. Report Finds That Immigrants Are Driving Force In State Economy. New York 1.
November 26, 2007. Study: N.Y immigrants “central component” in economic growth. By Joe Mahoney, New York Daily News.
November 26, 2007. Aliens boost New York economy. New York Post.
November 26, 2007. Foreigners impact on NY economy adds up. Business First of Buffalo.
November 26, 2007. The Faces of Immigrants. By Michael Hill, Troy Record.
November 13, 2007. Proposed fare hike would add to overall rise in living costs. By Pete Donohue, New York Daily News.
November 8, 2007. Economic slump is worst time to raise subway fares – critics. By Pete Donohue, New York Daily News.
October 31, 2007. Mayor Softens On Rangel’s $1T Tax Plan. By Grace Rauh, New York Sun.
October 30, 2007. Advocates for poor call for increase in N.Y.’s welfare. AP, Auburn Citizen. Also via the Syracuse Post-Standard, the Staten Island Advance, WSTM, and the New York Examiner.
October 24, 2007. Bankruptcy Filings Jump Signals Trouble. By Eliot Brown, New York Sun.
October 22, 2007. Paying the Price for Living in New York. By Courtney Gross, Gotham Gazette.
October 22, 2007. Groups urge overhaul of food stamp benefits. By Kyle Miller, Legislative Gazette.
October 19, 2007. City Jobless Rate Drop Is Sharpest Since 1978. By Eliot Brown, New York Sun.
October 17, 2007. Report: LI property taxes based on flawed premises. By Jennifer Barrios, Newsday.
October 13, 2007. Zoo admission costs are beastly for poor families. By Douglas Feiden, New York Daily News.
October 8, 2007. Digging behind the numbers can find where the jobs are. By Tory N. Parrish, Utica Observer-Dispatch.
October 1, 2007. Feeling budget pinch: Spitzer says Wall Street uncertainty and the lack of a budgetary surplus mean frugal times, with fewer programs and less spending. By James Madore, Newsday.
September 24, 2007. Senate Dems ask Bruno to pass family leave law. By Kelly A. Chase, Legislative Gazette.
September 23, 2007. Small-town school at Ivy League cost: Mandates, system of property value-driven tax bills create disparities in spending per student. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
September 23, 2007. Despite the Cognac Index, Futures Are Dim. By John Aidan Byrne, New York Post.
September 16, 2007. Under Bloomberg, Budget and Revenues Swell. By Diane Cardwell, New York Times.
September 11, 2007. Silicon Alley, 6 Years Later. The IT sector in New York City today, with a reference to FPI’s 2005 report, Prospects for Information Technology Jobs in New York’s Finance Sector. By Deborah Perelman, eWEEK.com.
September 11, 2007. Economy here beats the state. By Diana Ladden, The Independent (covering Columbia and southern Rensselaer counties).
September 10, 2007. Gap between rich and poor in America ever-widening: Though many still see this as the land of opportunity, the promise of the good life is fading. By Leigh Donaldson, Maine Today.
September 10, 2007. Worrying About Wall Street. By Courtney Gross, Gotham Gazette.
September 9, 2007. There is some hope on the local job front. By David Robinson, Buffalo News.
September 3, 2007. A day to celebrate America’s laborers. An editorial from the Troy Record.
September 3, 2007. Jobless rate up slightly for Broome and Tioga: Local figure still lower than state, U.S. averages. By Doug Schneider, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin.
September 3, 2007. Upstate economic picture brightens: Wages, job creation figures show 2006 was stronger, report says. By Jay Gallagher, Elmira Star-Gazette.
September 3, 2007. N.Y. workers see a 1.7% wage rise – Report finds a pulse for Upstate; Tompkins fares better than many. By Jay Gallagher, Ithaca Journal.
September 2, 2007. Labor of Love. By Dwayne Kroohs, Kingston Daily Freeman.
September 1, 2007. State Of NY Labor. By Jay Jochnowitz, Capitol Confidential.
The Fiscal Policy Institute today released State of Working New York 2007, its annual report on how workers are faring in the Empire State.
The findings were mixed, with wages, median income, and job growth all up last year, but pay not keeping pace with increases in productivity, wages still not back up to their 2002 levels, top earners benefiting more than those further down the scale and more families falling into the category of working poor.
The report also found employers relying more on independent contractors, the result being that fewer working people are receiving health and other benefits they would traditionally have gotten as employees.
The report recommends raising the minimum wage to $8.25 in 2007 dollars, a level it says would be a “fair permanent standard,” requiring that Industrial Development Agency incentives be keyed to creating good jobs, more focus in economic development on jobs for New York’s well-educated workforce, cutting property taxes and relying more on income tax to pay for government.
It also urges the state to move quickly on ways to trim health care costs and look at universal coverage, rein in the use of independent contractors, and increase unemployment benefits and basic welfare grants.
September 1, 2007. Reports differ on state’s economy: Fiscal Policy Institute says New York’s productivity is best in U.S.; Business Council says state lagging. By Chris Churchill, Albany Times-Union.
September 1, 2007. Wages in New York up by 1.7%: First rise in 4 years; report upbeat on jobs. By Jay Gallagher, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
September 1, 2007. Wages Rise for New Yorkers — finally. By Rick Moriarty, Syracuse Post-Standard.
September 1, 2007. Regional economy is healthy. By Michael Hill (AP), Middletown Times Herald-Record. Also in the Troy Record: Jobs increased, salaries inched up in state.
September 1, 2007. Jobs, wages rise; problems remain: Upstate job growth of 0.9% best in a decade. By Jay Gallagher, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
August 31, 2007. NY economy shows income growth. By Kira Bindrim, Crains New York Business.
August 23, 2007. Should retail stores get Empire Zone benefits? Taxpayers subsidize many big-box stores, but local stores cry foul. By Tory N. Parrish, Utica Observer-Dispatch.
August 15, 2007. Tax breaks on parking Yank group: 2,500 more parking spaces planned. By Bill Egbert, New York Daily News.
July 24, 2007. U.S. hikes minimum wages. The U.S. government raised the minimum wage by 70 cents to $5.85 today, the first increase in 10 years. The federally mandated wage hike is the first of three that will push the minimum wage to $7.25 by 2009. Reported by Jeanne Yurman of Reuters.
July 24, 2007. Businesses back wage raise; state should, too. By Lya Sorano, Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
July 23, 2007. Boost for small businesses. By Steve Fernlund, Daytona Beach News-Record.
July 20, 2007. Newspaper report prompts Lottery to reveal video game receipts. By Bruce Golding, Journal News.
July 11, 2007. Cleaning Up The Brownfields (And Empire Zones And IDAs). By Rick Karlin, Capitol Confidential, Albany Times Union.
July 7, 2007. Selling out workers’ safety. By Mark Ehrlich, Boston Globe. This op ed does not mention FPI by name, but does cite our recent study, The Underground Economy in New York City’s Affordable Housing Construction Industry.
July 6, 2007. Privatizing Medicare at Crossroads: Some groups opposed to Bush plan. By Marc Gronich, Statewide News Service.
July 3, 2007. Alcoa bid for low-cost power called boggling: Per-job subsidy comes to $148,000 a year. By James Heaney, Buffalo News.
July 2, 2007. Don’t hold breath waiting for minimum wage hike: U.S. rate is lower than New York’s – so workers in state won’t see a raise until 2009. By Carrie Mason-Draffen, Buffalo News.
July 1, 2007. Builders, unions aim to cut costs: Pushing changes to regain share of residential market; seek Council’s help. By Erik Engquist, Crains New York.
June 18, 2007. Sealed with a Kiss: The 2008 Budget. By Courtney Gross, Gotham Gazette.
June 15, 2007. School tax elimination proposal widely booed but ignites debate. By Joseph Spector, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
June 14, 2007. Starting at Ground Zero. Reported by Alisa Roth on NPR’s Marketplace.
June 9, 2007. Investigating Mislabeling of Workers. By Steven Greenhouse, New York Times.
June 8, 2007. Empire Zones: A corrupt giveaway? By Karen DeWitt, North Country Public Radio.
June 8, 2007. Empire Zone: Fix it or end it. By Delen Goldberg, Syracuse Post-Standard.
June 5, 2007. Low wages push some out of job market. By Rita Chappelle, Baltimore Examiner.
June 3, 2007. Minimum wage politics. Albany Times Union.
June 1, 2007. Q&A: More for the lowest-paid. Hourly workers get a higher minimum wage, but raise won’t affect New York until 2009. By Carrie Mason-Draffen, Newsday.
May 29, 2007. Help often goes unclaimed. By Charles Fiegl, Glens Falls Post-Star.
May 29, 2007. Living on $3.50 each day for meals: Event aims to illustrate need for more generous food stamp program. By Scott Waldman, Albany Times Union.
May 28, 2007. Danger & ripoffs are on the rise: How hot construction biz brings a black market, scams & death. By Brian Kates, Daily News. Also see Kates’s follow up story (May 29) on Mayor Bloomberg’s reaction: We’ll make quick fix, Mike vows.
May 28, 2007. A property tax outcry, but little else: A push for new solutions is met with entrenched, steadfast resistance. By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union.
May 25, 2007. For New York, Big Job Growth in Home Care. By Patrick McGeehan, New York Times.
May 21, 2007. ‘Food stamp diet’ draws attention to federal program’s shortcomings. By Sari Zeidler, Legislative Gazette.
May 17, 2007. Going Hungry. An editorial from the Times Union.
May 17, 2007. Local leaders tackle food stamp issue. By Jessica Mokhiber on Capital News 9.
May 17, 2007. Hunger advocates: You try eating on $3.50 a day. By Dan Wiessner, The Journal News.
May 15, 2007. NYS tax burden leads nation: report. By David Jones, Crains.
May 14, 2007. Groups demand more bang from IDA bucks. By Ashley Lucas, Legislative Gazette.
May 13, 2007. Promising year for school budgets: State aid offsets proposed programs and salary increases. By John Hildebrand, Newsday.
May 8, 2007. Key Lawmaker Demands: Kick Out Empire Zone Abusers. By Michelle Breidenbach and Mike McAndrew, Syracuse Post-Standard.
May 4, 2007. Business, labor focus on economy: Changes needed to aid upstate, all say. By Mary Chao, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
May 2, 2007. Empire Zones facing probes. By Mike McAndrew and Michelle Breidenbach, Syracuse Post-Standard.
April 30, 2007. Behold, a Mini-City Rises. By Matthew Schuerman, New York Observer.
April 27, 2007. Bloomberg: ‘Las cosas van bien, pero nada es para siempre.’ By Alexandra Ochoa, Hoy Nueva York.
April 24, 2007. Rebates in place, NYC plays the numbers game. By Randee Dawn, Hollywood Reporter.
April 20, 2007. Region’s jobless rate in March: 4.8% … Better than the 5.4 percent in March ’06. By Tory N. Parrish, Utica Observer-Dispatch.
April 18, 2007. Ley intenta salvar vidas. By Judith Torrea, El Diario.
April 15, 2007. City Housing Boom Creating Underground Economy. WNYC.
April 15, 2007. Off-the-Book Construction Jobs Soar in City, Study Shows. By Steven Greenhouse, New York Times.
April 13, 2007. Downtown businesses praise commercial rent break from Albany. By Chris Bragg, Downtown Express.
April 3, 2007. Political World Has Mixed Reviews Of Spitzer’s Freshman Budget. By Josh Robin, New York 1. (This story also ran on Capital News 9 Albany and News 10 Now in Syracuse.)
April 2, 2007. Activists Fight for County Living Wage Laws. WICZ Binghamton.
March 31, 2007. Tax Deal Provides Added Relief to Middle-Income Homeowners. By Danny Hakim and Ford Fessenden, New York Times.
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January 1, 2007. New York’s High Property Taxes Debated. By Karen DeWitt, WXXI.
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January 2006. State budget: Back to the future for tax fairness. The State Legislature must act to provide New York with new revenues – and more equity. By Frank Mauro. The Clarion.
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November 1, 2005. Rich get all the breaks with Mike. By Juan Gonzalez, New York Daily News.
September 5, 2005. Associated Press article on the State of Working New York 2005. (PDF)
September 5, 2005. Gannett News Service article on the State of Working New York 2005. (PDF)
September 5, 2005. Unsolved problem: Upstate just can’t catch a break. Newsday editorial.
September 4, 2005. Stagnant wages mar Labor Day. Commentary on the State of Working New York 2005 by business reporter and columnist David Robinson in the Buffalo News. (PDF)
September 4, 2005. In Manhattan, Poor Make Two Cents for Each Dollar to the Rich. Sam Roberts of the New York Times reports on new analysis conducted by Professor Andrew Beveridge of Queens College, and compares it to findings of the Fiscal Policy Institute and others. (HTML)
September 4, 2005. Little in the Middle. An op ed by FPI Senior Fellow David Dyssegaard Kallick, New York Times.
September 2, 2005. Inside Albany coverage of the State of Working New York 2005. (PDF)
June 4, 2005. Jets stadium vote delayed. By Errol A. Cockfield, Jr., Newsday.
May 31, 2005. Scrutiny for stadium funding: State leaders are questioning whether plan for Jets to borrow more than $1B violates New York City law. By Errol A. Cockfield, Jr., Newsday.
May 26, 2005. Revitalizing Manhattan: Officials outline how they’re spending $800 million in grants set aside after Sept. 11. By Pradnya Joshi, Newsday.
May 25, 2005. Officials allocate $800M for downtown. By Pradnya Joshi, Newsday.
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October 29, 2000. Evaluation of Tax Cut Proposals of U.S. Senate Candidates Rick Lazio and Hillary Clinton. FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro and Governor Pataki’s Chief Economist, Stephen Kagann, reach different conclusions in op eds published together in the New York Daily News. To read what Mauro and Kagann think about the Clinton and Lazio proposals, click here.
June 22, 2000. State Lawmakers Should Boost Minimum Wage. Letter to the editor by Tom Michl and Trudi Renwick, Albany Times Union.
June 2, 2000. Assembly to pass minimum-wage hike. Albany Times Union.
May 23, 2000. Nassau Bailout’s Bleak Possibility. Newsday.
May 1, 2000. Robin Hood in reverse: New York state is taking federal welfare money to pay for middle-class subsidies. Times Union editorial.
May 1, 2000. Approval Expected for Transit Agency’s Spending Plan. By Richard Perez-Peña, New York Times.
May 1, 2000. Private Promoter for Transit Debt: Agency ‘s M.T.A. Bond Sale Designed by Likely Underwriter. New York Times.
May 1, 2000. Street Addict. New York Magazine.
April 30, 2000. Threat to take jobs can pay: Companies can exact public incentives to just stay put. By Claire Hughes, Times Union.
April 30, 2000. State rides wave of Wall Street. By Anny Kuo, Associated Press.
April 23, 2000. Federal Welfare Windfall Frees New York Money for Other Uses. New York Times.
April 17, 2000. Inside the New State Budget: A Welfare Slush Fund. City Limits Weekly.
April 17, 2000. Groups examine schools’ financing needs, cost-effectiveness. Capital District Business Review.
April 12, 2000. Catholic Conference Opposes TANF Raid. Troy Record.
April 11, 2000. Critics call plan raid. Troy Record.
April 3, 2000. A sweet deal: This could make the difference. Capital District Business Review.
March 6, 2000. McCall, agency spar over accountability. Capital District Business Review.
March 4, 2000. New York’s Economy, Through Another Lens. Letter to the editor by James Parrott, New York Times.
February 2000. The Politics of Taxe$. By Robert A. Fois, Empire State Report.
February 1, 2000. Broad Attacks Needed on Income Gaps. An op ed by Trudi Renwick, Newsday.
October 27, 1999. Boost the Minimum Wage? Yes, to raise living standards. By James A. Parrott, Daily News.
September 6, 1999. Workers in New York Fall Behind, Study Says. By Tom Robbins, Daily News.
October 12, 1998. State Think Tanks on the Move. By David Callahan, The Nation.
October 1996. The 6 1/4 Cent Solution. A proposal to reinstitute the stock transfer tax, by James Bradley, City Limits.