Public Services, Budgets, and Economic Development

Too often, states and cities pursue economic development strategies that amount to little more than tax giveaways to big corporations. Pushing back on this flawed approach, EARN groups design and promote smart economic development policies that invest in infrastructure, in people, and in the communities where opportunity is lacking.

Smart economic development means strong workforce development programs, such as apprenticeships and sector strategies; infrastructure investments in transportation, schools, broadband, and healthcare; and community development projects that deliver good, high-paying jobs to local residents, especially in communities of color, and other underserved communities.

Federal funds for state and local governments

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Public Services and Employment

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Education

High-quality and equitable education opportunities, ranging across early childhood, K-12, technical education, higher education and apprenticeships, are pivotal for the economic prospects of working people and their children. Read More.

Healthcare

Across the country, 29.8 million people would lose their health insurance if the Affordable Care Act were repealed—more than doubling the number of people without health insurance. And 1.2 million jobs would be lost—not just in health care but across the board. Read More.

Infrastructure

State and local governments account for the bulk of public spending on infrastructure. Infrastructure investments can ensure that we do not leave future generations a deficit of underinvestment and deferred maintenance of public assets. Read more.

Budgets and Taxes

Closing budget deficits is not always the optimal fiscal policy in the short term  or the medium term. Instead, budgets should simply be seen as a tool with which to boost living standards. Read More.

Publications

Invest in New Jersey: Improve Our Roads and Bridges

Fixing New Jersey’s crumbling roads and bridges is vital to energizing the state’s lagging recovery from the Great Recession. Without a sound transportation system that allows businesses to cheaply and efficiently move their goods to market and eases the commute of working men and women, New Jersey’s economy will continue to trail its neighbors. Rather than contemplating a massive new tax cut, state policymakers should invest in this key to our state’s future.

We have a lot of ground to make up: The average commute in New Jersey is 20 percent longer than the national average. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives New Jersey a “D” for the quality of its roads and bridges. It estimates that the 66 percent of roads in “poor or mediocre” condition cost the average driver $601 in added repairs annually. Thirty-six percent of the state’s 6,554 bridges were categorized as “structurally deficient” (651 bridges, or 10 percent) or “functionally obsolete” (1,717 bridges, or 26 percent). And while New Jersey remains a vital connection for truck traffic between Washington and Boston, our interstate highways and local roads are straining under the load.

If New Jersey is to rebound from the ravages of the Great Recession, it must exploit its enormous advantages: its proximity to New York and Philadelphia; scores of pleasant and vibrant communities with convenient transit to the cities and excellent public schools; two globally recognized research universities; and a workforce with a higher proportion of scientists, engineers and researchers than any other state. Instead of advertising these powerful attractions, the state has in recent years cancelled a new rail tunnel to New York; attacked the quality of its own public schools; underfunded its colleges and universities; and failed to protect and maintain its investments in roads, bridges and public transit.

Three Ways Immigration Reform Would Make the Economy More Productive A Fiscal

This report shows that legalizing undocumented immigrants, paired with labor standards enforcement, would boost economic productivity. Reform would remove barriers to advancement for newly legalized immigrants, create a level playing field for businesses, and align our systems of taxation, social services, and social insurance so that they would function as they are supposed to.

“Immigration reform, done right, would be good for immigrants, but it would also be good for all Americans,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, the director of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research Initiative. “I don’t want to overstate the gains—we’re talking about 5 percent of the labor force. Still, those gains are real, and they’re important.”

The New York State DREAM Legislation: A strong return on investment

A proposal is gaining ground in New York State that would allow all students—including those who are undocumented immigrants—equal access to the state’s Tuition Assistance Program. Last year, the Fiscal Policy Institute published an analysis of the costs and benefits of the proposal. This report digs deeper into the fiscal and economic benefits to New York State, and shows that if the proposal were financed through the income tax the cost to a typical taxpayer would be 87¢, the price of a donut.

A “Lost Decade”: Revisiting Kansas’ past, so we can redirect its future

  • February 1, 2013
  • Staff Report

Claims that Kansas’ failed tax-cut experiment was justified as a response to a “lost decade” for the state’s economy aren’t borne out by what actually happened at that time. If anything, there is strong evidence that Kansas’ economic situation is worsening since the tax cuts began to weaken the state’s ability to make public investments in schools and other drivers of job growth and widespread prosperity.