Not to be confused with DC Fiscal Policy Institute, a division of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities focusing on the District of Columbia.

The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) is a labor union-supported think tank based near Albany, New York that advocates pro-labor union and other left-of-center policies in New York State. FPI is affiliated with two national networks of liberal state-level organizations: the State Priorities Partnership, coordinated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Economic Analysis and Research Network, coordinated by the Economic Policy Institute. ¹

FPI was founded in 1991. It has $845,083 in annual operations and employs nine people. ²

The majority of FPI’s Board of Directors and senior staff have direct ties with labor unions, and FPI is frequently described by mainstream media as a “labor-backed think tank.” ^{3 4} FPI distributes research studies that support the labor union agenda, advocates for increased taxes⁵ and spending,⁶ and promotes expanded immigration. ⁷

Funders

Fiscal Policy Institute is funded by liberal institutional foundations and labor unions. The Ford Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Hagedorn Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York have all funded FPI. ⁸ Labor unions that have supported FPI include 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, AFSCME, the United Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers, Communications Workers of America, and RWDSU. ⁹

FPI receives funding from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a left-wing think tank that organizes the State Priorities Partnership of which FPI is a member. ¹⁰

Initiatives

Taxes

FPI advocates increasing many state taxes despite New York having the highest state tax burden in the nation. ¹¹ FPI advocates extending and increasing the income tax on higher-income New York taxpayers. ¹²

A recent decline in New York City’s real estate market has been attributed to increases in the state’s real estate transfer tax and a new “mansion tax” imposed in July, 2019. ¹³  FPI supported those tax increases¹⁴ and advocates an additional tax on higher-end residential property used as secondary homes. ¹⁵

The State of New York caps annual increases in citizens’ property taxes to two percent. FPI supports elimination of the cap. ¹⁶

State Spending

FPI issues reports, media statements, and engages in activism supporting increased social program spending¹⁷¹⁸ and higher state education spending. ¹⁹

Union Interests

FPI supports laws that favor unions, such as a 2019 law regulating farm worker hours and facilitating farm unionization. ²⁰

FPI supports a proposed law to mandate higher labor costs on construction projects. Current New York State law requires higher union-level wages on government construction projects, but the proposed law would extend that mandate to almost any project that receives any form of government assistance. ²¹

FPI supports increasing the state minimum wage, and reportedly received funding from the Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice associated with Governor Andrew Coumo (D-NY) to advocate for higher mandated wages. ²²

Immigration

FPI is very active on immigration issues, recently supporting a law requiring New York State to provide drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. ²³

FPI advocates increasing state spending by 125% for the New York State Enhanced Services to Refugees Program that provides assistance to recent immigrants. ²⁴

FPI supports expanding taxpayer-paid health care programs to cover a greater number of illegal immigrants. ²⁵

Board of Directors

Kate Breslin chairs the board. ²⁶ She is president and CEO of the left-of-center Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy. Breslin was a former appointee of Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo (D). ²⁷ In 2001, Breslin directed the labor union-funded California Budget Project (now the California Budget and Policy Center) ²⁸ which provided research and messaging assistance to aid the advocacy efforts of left-wing organizations in California. ²⁹

Vice Chair Brian McDonnell is the political and legislative director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) of New York, a large government worker union. ³¹

Treasurer Jean Ross is a senior program officer for the left-of-center Spitzer Foundation Charitable Trust. Previously, Ross worked for the Service Employees International Union and as executive director of the labor union-funded California Budget Project. ^{32 33}

Secretary Sybil McPherson is an attorney and assistant director of state legislation for AFSCME District Council 37, the largest public employee union in New York City. ^{34 35} McPherson contributed financially to the presidential campaigns of Democratic Party candidates Al Gore and John Kerry. ³⁶

Mike Burgess is a consultant for the senior interest group ‘Generations of New York’ and former director of the New York State Office of the Aging, appointed by former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer (D). ^{37 38}

Debipriya Chatterjee, PhD is a senior Economist for the Community Service Society of New York, a community-based nonprofit organization focused on poverty relief in the New York State area. ^{39 40 41} Prior to CSS, she served as a Senior Research Associate with the Poverty Research Unit in the New York City Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (also known as NYC Opportunity), a NYC-based agency part of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Operations focused on reducing poverty and its social conditions. ^{42 43}

Nancy Rankin is vice president for policy, research and advocacy for the Community Service Society of New York⁴⁴ and a vocal advocate for increasing state taxes. ^{45 46}

Peter Savage is the deputy director of legislation for the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), a left-of-center labor union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. ^{47 48 49}

Fran Turner is the director of legislative and political action for the Civil Service Employees Association, a government worker union. ^{50 51} The union has reportedly donated more than $400,000 to New York state politicians since 2018. ⁵² Turner is a vocal supporter of rules that block government employees from being provided information about their legal right to not join the union. ⁵³

Elie Ward Is the director of policy and advocacy for the American Academy of Pediatrics. ^{54 55} Ward is a vocal advocate for restricting e-cigarettes,⁵⁶ banning tobacco sales at pharmacies,⁵⁷ banning “conversion therapy,”⁵⁸ banning appealing dishwasher soap packaging,⁵⁹ mandating strict gun storage regulations,⁶⁰ mandating furniture be more difficult to tip over,⁶¹ increasing taxes on beer and other alcoholic beverages,⁶² and substantially increasing taxes on soda. ⁶³

Kay Alison Wilkie is the Secretary-Treasurer for the New York State Public Employees Federation, a worker union representing over 50,000 “Professional, Scientific, and Technical” employees in New York State. ^{64 65 66}

Senior Staff

Jonas J.N Shaende, PhD is the Chief Economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute. ⁶⁷ Previously, Dr. Shaende served as director of data analysis and strategic planning at the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs as well as a research scientist at the NYC Department of Finance, Tax Policy Division. In addition, he has taught undergraduate and graduate economics at Long Island University as well as both graduate and advanced economics at CUNY and SUNY colleges. ⁶⁸

Bren Kramer, PhD is a part-time senior economist with the Fiscal Policy Institute. Previously, he worked as a technician at Verizon and received his doctorate in economics at the City University of New York Graduate Center in 2008. ⁶⁹

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