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Nobel Economist:
Millionaires' Tax Is Economically Preferable
In a March 27,
2008 letter to Governor Paterson, Majority Leader Bruno and
Speaker Silver, Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz makes a compelling case that the
millionaires’ tax is “economically preferable” to raising regressive fees or
cutting state spending. Stiglitz, the Univeristy Professor of Economics at
Columbia University, doubts that the tax would prompt high income New Yorkers to
desert the state. He concludes that the millionaires’ tax is an important step
toward overhauling New York’s tax structure and that it “makes good economic
sense given the state budget gap and an economy that is not firing on all
cylinders and is headed uphill.”
More >>
Budget Cuts vs. Tax Increases at the State Level: Is One
More Counter-Productive than the Other During a Recession?
In this 2001 essay, Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, University Professor of Economics at
Columbia University and one of the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Prize in
Economics, and Dr. Peter Orszag, who is now the Director of the Congressional
Budget Office, explain why budget cuts and tax increases are both
counterproductive during a recession and how economic reasoning can help state
policy makers in selecting the least damaging mix of budget balancing strategies
during economic downturns. More >>
Working for a
Better Life: Immigrants in New York's Economy
What
role do immigrants play in the New York State economy? This profile of
immigrants in the state economy shows that
in 2006, they added $229 billion in economic
activity - fully 22.4 percent of the state's gross domestic
product. FPI also examines what countries immigrants come
from, where they work and how well they are doing. The report includes detailed
analysis of the role of immigrant workers and families in three distinct
regional economies: New York City, the downstate suburbs, and upstate.
 An
Agenda for Shared Prosperity
With a new governor in Albany for the
first time in 12 years, New Yorkers have high expectations for the future,
seeing a rare opportunity for the state to reevaluate its policies in a wide
variety of areas.
Explore
One New York
to learn more about FPI's contribution to this much-needed effort, from November
2006.
Danger & ripoffs are on the rise: How hot construction biz brings a black
market, scams & death. A series of stories in the Daily News
describes the human side of FPI's recent report,
The Underground
Economy in NYC's Affordable Housing Construction Industry.
Also see the
follow up story on Mayor Bloomberg's reaction:
We'll make quick fix, Mike vows.
Corporate Tax Policy and the Right to Know: Improving State Tax Policymaking by
Enhancing Legislative and Public Access (PDF).
Prepared for the
Fiscal Policy Institute in 1993 by
Richard D. Pomp, the Alva P. Loiselle Professor of Law at the University of
Connecticut's School of Law and the former Executive Director of New York
State's Legislative Tax Study Commission.
BEHIND THE NEWS: What is the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative (RGGI) and how can it be most effectively implemented? To better understand the economics
of the implementation of the RGGI, which was adopted in
December 2005 by the Governors of seven Northeastern states under
Governor Pataki's leadership, read the following paper by J. Andrew Hoerner
of Redefining Progress: Regional Initiatives to Reduce Greenhouse
Gasses: The Crucial Importance of Auctioning Permits for Jobs,
Competitiveness, and Equity
(PDF).
Also worth reading on this subject are the
Preliminary Oral
Comments of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on the
Allocation of Carbon Dioxide Allowances Pursuant to the Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative Cap-and-Trade Program
(HTML) as delivered
by New York State Assistant Attorney General J. Jared Snyder to a
meeting of the RGGI's Stakeholder Group in Hartford, CT on May 2, 2006.
The
Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job
Creation
by Greg LeRoy (published July 21, 2005 by Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, Inc.) Available in most local bookstores and online through
all book selling services.
Charlotte Cuno et
al., v. DaimlerChrysler et al. (PDF). In a landmark decision issued on
September 2, 2004, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the
State of Ohio's investment tax credit violated the Commerce Clause of the US
Constitution. Rather than immediately appealing this decision to the US Supreme Court,
DaimlerChrysler asked the Sixth Circuit to take the unusual step of rehearing the the
case en banc.
Click here for
Appellants' Memorandum in Opposition to Petitions for Rehearing En Banc in the Case of
Charlotte Cuno et al., v. DaimlerChrysler et al. (PDF)
The Sixth Circuit subsequently declined this request and
DaimlerChrysler then asked the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of the
Sixth Circuit's decision. That request was granted and DaimlerChrysler
et al. filed their briefs with the Supreme Court on December 5, 2005.
The plaintiffs/respondents filed their briefs by January 23, 2006. The
Fiscal Policy Institute was among the various organizations that filed
amicus briefs with the Supreme Court in this case.
Click here for a copy of the
amicus curiae brief filed by the Fiscal Policy Institute together with
Connecticut Voices for Children and Good Jobs First. Oral
arguments were heard by the Supreme Court on march 1, 2006. If the
Sixth Circuit's decision is upheld by the Supreme Court, it would serve
to substantially de-escalate the current economic war among the states;
in effect, serving to save the states from themselves. For a
general discussion of this issue see
Ideas for Ending (or, At
Least, De-escalating) the Economic War Among the States (PDF), a
paper presented by FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro at symposium on
the Economic War Among the States co-sponsored by FPI and Good Jobs
First at Georgetown Law Center, June 26, 2003.
Chapter 40 of the Laws of 2004 of the
State of New Jersey (PDF) In this new law which was approved on June 28,
2004, New Jersey increased its top income tax rate, for tax years beginning on and after
January 1, 2004, from 6.37% on the portion of taxable income above $75,000 for single
individuals and $150,000 for married couples to 8.97% on the portion of taxable income
above $500,000 regardless of filing status. This represents a significant shift in
the traditional relationship between the top income tax rates in New York and New
Jersey. For the first time in history, the top New Jersey rates are now
substantially higher than the top New York rates. New York State's
temporary top rate
of 7.7% on taxpayers with taxable incomes of $500,000 or more is schedule
expired on December 31, 2005. New York's current top income tax
rate is 6.85% for married taxpayers with taxable incomes above $40,000 and single
taxpayers with incomes above $20,000. The 6.85% top rate is more
than 55% lower than the state's top income tax rate in 1974.
Rethinking Growth Strategies
(HTML). Professor Robert Lynch's comprehensive review of all the academic research
on How State and Local Taxes and Services Affect Economic
Development (HTML). Published in March 2004 by the Economic Policy
Institute. Robert Lynch is Chair of the Economics Department at Washington College in
Chestertown, Maryland, and former chair of the Economics Department at SUNY
Cortland.
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For the latest about FPI, please visit
FPI in the news.
May 6, 2008.
New Report: Fed Directive Threatens to Cut Funds for New York
Children’s Health Coverage. A report from the Center for Children and Families
at Georgetown University shows that the Bush administration bypassed Congress to
issue a directive that will cut children's health insurance funding in New York
- at a time when residents and taxpayers can ill afford it. Report co-released
by FPI, New York Children's Action Network and
Medicaid Matters New York.
May 2, 2008. Testimony
on the The Economic Situation of New York City's Low- and Moderate-Income
Households. Presented by chief economist James Parrott to the Rent
Guidelines Board. A picture of a shallow recovery, high housing cost burdens and
a shrinking middle class - plus a local economy in recession.
May 1, 2008.
How Will the
Economic Downturn Affect New York City’s Nonprofit Sector? As public funds
and private donations come under strain, and uncertainty clouds the horizon, New
York's nonprofits can respond not only by cutting costs, but also by presenting
cogent facts about the impact of recession on society. Presented by chief
economist James Parrott
at 2008 NONPROFIT DAY: Proactive Responses to the Economic Downturn, for
Manhattan, Bronx & Westchester. Sponsored by the Nonprofit Connection and Citi
Foundation. Brochure.
Additional presentations planned for May 7
(Queens) and May 14 (Brooklyn).
April 15, 2008.
City Could
Raise Revenues and Level Playing Field for Business. FPI examines the
business tax treatment of "carried interest" earned by private equity fund and
hedge fund managers, and finds that closing the carried interest loophole could
raise $160-$225 million in new revenue for New York City - while leveling the
playing field for New York businesses.
Press release,
full report.
April 9, 2008. Pulling
Apart in New York: An Analysis of Income Trends in New York State. New York
has the dubious distinction of having the widest income gap between the rich and
the poor of all 50 states, according to this report released by FPI in
conjunction with a national study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
and the Economic Policy Institute. The report also shows that inequality in New
York City is even more extreme than in the state as a whole.
Press release,
full report. CBPP/EPI’s full
report, press release and state fact sheets are available at
www.cbpp.org.
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.
Honoring Dr. King’s Commitment to Unions: 40th Anniversary of Assassination in
Memphis while Supporting Strike. To commemorate Dr. King’s commitment to
unionization, FPI and the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) are
releasing new data about unionization among blacks in the nation and in New York
State. Press release
and data tables
(unionization rates
and union membership by race, 50 states).
March 27, 2008.
State Budget Experts Present Ideas on the State Budget.
March 26, 2008.
Over 100
Organizations Call Upon Leaders to Listen to the Public and Support the
Millionaires’ Tax. FPI is a member of the
Better Choice Budget Campaign.
Additional materials from the press conference:
Op Ed on
Better Choices by Ron Deutsch;
Siena poll showing overwhelming public support for millionaires' tax
(question 23); Fact
Sheet from New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness laying out short and long term
solutions to burgeoning property taxes. Also, the new
Tough Times radio
ad from New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness -
blogged by Liz Benjamin.
March
19, 2008.
Ten
Reasons We Don't Have the Economy We Thought We Had.
By James Parrott, FPI's deputy director and chief economist, who writes regularly for Gotham
Gazette's Economy
section.
March 12, 2008.
New York’s unemployment insurance system: A vital safety net for New York
workers and their families during economic downturns. The unemployment
insurance system serves as government’s first responder to economic problems. In
a volatile economy with frequent layoffs and job changes, a strengthened
unemployment insurance program will help boost the economy of every county in
the state.
February 29, 2008.
What's wrong with the
CGR critique of prevailing wage requirements. In a letter to the editor of
the Long Island Business News, FPI deputy director and chief economist
James A. Parrott explains what's wrong with the recent report on prevailing wage
requirements by the Rochester-based Center for Governmental Research.
February 27, 2008.
Presentation
by FPI Deputy Director and Chief Economist James Parrott before the New York State Economic and Revenue Consensus Forecasting Conference.
Parrott was one of five economists invited to speak at the conference,
which gave Budget Director Laura Anglin and
leaders of the Senate and Assembly fiscal committees the opportunity to hear testimony from
leading state and national economic experts. By March 1, the
legislature and governor must issue a joint report containing the
consensus economic forecast and estimates of receipts for the 2008-09 fiscal
year.
February 20, 2008.
President’s
budget reflects wrong priorities for New York. FPI's release showing the
detailed impact of President Bush’s $1.7 billion cut to New York for 2008-09.
February 19, 2008.
Pay fair wages, get quality work. A column about IDA reform by FPI chief
economist James Parrott and Jesse Lenney of Metro Justice, Rochester Democrat
and Chronicle.
February 14, 2008.
Testimony on the Cost of Affordable Housing Construction in New York City.
Presented by FPI chief economist James Parrott to the Assembly Committee on
Housing. Significant fiscal costs arise from the rampant practice
in affordable housing construction of illegally misclassifying workers as
independent contractors or off the books. Also, paying prevailing wage can
actually decrease costs, by attracting more productive workers.
February 14, 2008. Paying good wages
shields taxpayers from waste. A column about IDA reform by FPI executive
director Frank Mauro and Micaela Shapiro-Shellaby of the Coalition for Economic
Justice, Buffalo News.
February 14, 2008.
Will Education
Funding Promises be Broken? FPI prepared the data for this report from the
Alliance for Quality Education - showing that
the proposed cuts in foundation aid in the executive budget disproportionately
hurt students from poor households. The districts outside of New York City with
the highest proportion of poverty (districts in which, on average, 60 percent of
students live in poverty) face 20 percent of the proposed cuts despite having
only 15 percent of all students in the state. New York City students (of whom 76
percent live in poverty) face 53 percent of all cuts in foundation aid despite
representing only 36 percent of all students in the state.
February 11, 2008.
Testimony on
the 2008-09 Executive Budget - Economic Development and Taxes. Submitted by
FPI executive director Frank Mauro to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means
Committees. Given
the many signs that we are in a recession, state leaders must be especially
careful about the way they close the state budget gap. Some gap-closing
strategies could actually exacerbate the downturn.
February 11, 2008.
Getting bang for our
buck: Economic development in New York State. Despite the billions currently
spent on economic development, we have relatively little to show for it. The
appropriate guiding principle is building the middle class - thus increasing the
already impressive productivity of New York workers. Logical next steps include
scrapping Empire Zones, reforming IDAs and more.
February 11, 2008.
Property Taxes in New York:
A State Problem Calling for a State Solution. Why are property taxes so high
in New York? State fiscal policies have created the bind. A look at four reforms
that would help - and could be funded in a way that makes the overall tax system
fairer. In the meantime, a middle class circuit breaker would ease the pressure
on the property tax much more effectively that the Middle Class STAR program.
February 6, 2008.
New York’s unemployment insurance system: A vital safety net for New York
workers and their families during economic downturns. [FPI updated this report
with new data on March 12, 2008.
New report.]
February 5, 2008.
Testimony on the 2008-09 Executive Budget
- Human Services. Submitted by FPI
senior economist Trudi Renwick to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means
Committees.
Renwick explains several important policy opportunities for New York: increase
the basic welfare grant; liberalize
the earned income disregard; finance the Earned Income Tax Credit from the
General Fund; and take child care funding out of the Flexible Fund for Family
Services (FFFS), to ensure that adequate resources go for this essential work
support. Renwick includes a series of charts and tables describing TANF spending
in New York.
January 29, 2008.
Stimulating the Economy.
By James Parrott, FPI's deputy director and chief economist, who writes monthly for Gotham
Gazette's Economy
section.
January 24, 2008.
Statement of Trudi Renwick, Senior
Economist Before the Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education
regarding the advantages of a career pathways job training program as part of a
comprehensive strengthening of New York's postsecondary education system.
January 22, 2008.
Family's
experiment with welfare grant shows need for a boost in funding. A letter to
the editor by FPI senior economist Trudi Renwick, Albany Times-Union.
January 20, 2008.
What to Know
Before Analyzing the State Budget. This brief provides information about the
state's economy, its finances, and three policy issues (property taxes, economic
development and economic security) that are sure to receive significant
attention during this year's budget debates. It also touches on the federal
stimulus package now being debated in Washington, and how that package may help
or hurt in the balancing of the state budget. For more detail, see FPI's outlook
presentation below.
January 15, 2008. New York
State's Economic and Budget Outlook for 2008-2009. Economic and fiscal
context for the 2008-09 Executive Budget, including an analysis of the property
tax crisis and alternative property tax relief mechanisms.
December 24, 2007.
FPI Comments on
NYSERDA's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Rulemaking. FPI
comments urging NYSERDA to amend the proposed rule to include low-income
protection as an explicitly mandated purpose for the proceeds of the auction of
the RGGI allowances and to add at least one low-income advocate to the list of
stakeholders to be included in the advisory group to oversee the expenditures of
the auction proceeds.
December 19, 2007.
Immigrants boosting N.Y. middle class. A column by FPI senior fellow
David Dyssegaard Kallick, Metro New York.
December 18, 2007.
Could
Wall Street's Woes Be Good for New York?
By James Parrott, FPI's deputy director and chief economist, who writes monthly for Gotham
Gazette's Economy
section.
December 18, 2007.
Testimony on
economic development in New York State.
Submitted by FPI's chief economist James Parrott to the New York State Division
of the Budget. New York's trillion dollar economy has the potential to be a
dynamic economy that rewards all New Yorkers, but challenges abound, including
volatility on Wall Street. And there is little to show for the billions of
dollars spent
on economic development
in 2007 by state and local governments. New York needs a new approach
that is strategic, diverse, coordinated and accountable.
December 13, 2007.
Testimony of
Frank Mauro before the NYS Division of the Budget Public Hearing on Property
Taxes. Description of the special problems faced by New York localities
with relatively weak tax bases compared to their needs.
To a large extent, state fiscal policies have caused great pressure on property
taxes in needy cities, counties and school districts, including decisions: to
reduce revenue sharing; to decrease the share of local school budgets covered by
state aid, to divide the non-federal share of Medicaid costs without considering
ability to pay, and
to allocate STAR benefits in a way that exacerbates fiscal disparities.
December 5, 2007.
Building
Up New York, Tearing Down Job Quality: Taxpayer Impact of Worsening Employment
Practices in the New York City Construction Industry.
Workers, taxpayers and honest employers pay the price - $489 million in
2005 and are likely to reach $557 million in 2008 - as construction employment
practices deteriorate in New York City. FPI's new report
looks at the
50,000 construction workers (one in four) employed
off the books or as so-called independent contractors - at substantial cost to
themselves and to taxpayers in general.
December 5, 2007.
The Health Care and
Social Costs of the Uninsured in New York State.
Using analysis from the Urban Institute and data from the New York State
Department of Health, FPI estimates the
distribution by county of full-year nonelderly uninsured, the cost of
uncompensated care, and the social costs of uninsured.
December 5, 2007.
Testimony of Frank Mauro before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Real
Property Taxation. Using data from the American Community Survey, FPI
estimates the cost, number of beneficiaries and average benefits of the
circuit breaker credit, as proposed (Galef/Little
A.1575/S.1053)
and with several
modifications.
For earlier FPI publications, please see the
archives. |
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