Reports

The Climate Action Plan Progress Report for the New York State Common Retirement Fund highlights the Fund’s recent efforts to address climate risks and opportunities.

New York will receive nearly $665 million as part of recent federal investments to improve broadband data, affordability, access and availability. New federal funds present an opportunity for the State to improve the availability of reliable, high-speed service to unserved and underserved areas, and the State must now craft a plan that is ambitious, actionable and accountable for meeting this objective.

The number of New Yorkers earning less than $20,000 with a broadband subscription rose from 64% to 76% between 2019 and 2021 as a result of two federal programs created to address disparities in access to high-speed internet. More than 1.3 million New York households are receiving affordable broadband subscriptions with federal support. In total, more than 90% of all New York households had access to broadband in 2021, up from 86% in 2019.

New York’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides paid time off for eligible employees for bonding with a newborn, or newly adopted or foster child or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Payments under PFL rose steadily between 2018 and 2021 as the amount of allowable time off and weekly cash benefits increased. Almost eight million workers were covered under PFL, with $872 million paid on approximately 156,000 claims in 2021.

The surge in federal spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic significantly improved New York’s per capita ranking in the federal balance of payments from 49th in 2019 to 30th in Federal Fiscal Year 2021. For every dollar New York sent to the federal government in tax receipts, it received $1.51 back in federal spending, as compared to a national average of $1.70. This report is the seventh in a series by the Office of the State Comptroller that examines the flow of funds between the federal government and the states.

Interactive Map | Excel file with supporting data

The COVID-19 pandemic led to soaring unemployment rates for people with disabilities, and these rates have not declined as quickly in New York as they have nationally. This report highlights the continued need for solutions that facilitate increased employment for people with disabilities in New York.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced New York’s schools to take on the extraordinary challenge of quickly shifting to remote learning formats. Recent national data show student performance dropped significantly in 2022 from 2019, with New York experiencing even greater declines than the nation in fourth grade math and reading. School districts need to swiftly invest significant resources in helping students that are most in need to make up for learning loss, while pandemic relief funds for education are still available.

Approximately one in ten, or about 800,000, New York households experienced food insecurity from 2019 to 2021, and an increasing number say they face food insufficiency since summer 2021. This report is the second in the “New Yorkers in Need” series. It details recent trends in food insecurity, explains policy interventions by the federal and State governments, and demonstrates a clear need for a continuing commitment to reduce the incidence of food insecurity.

Last year the New York State Thruway Authority proposed a multi-year schedule of toll increases to begin in 2024. This report provides a summary of the Thruway Authority’s current and forecasted revenue and expenses, factors that have impacted its finances over the past several years, the toll increase proposal, and considerations to help guide the assessment of the proposal.

The Corporate Governance Program supports and facilitates the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the Common Retirement Fund’s due diligence process, investment decisions, and performance monitoring program, and provides active stewardship of the Fund’s public equity holdings.

New York had the 13^th highest poverty rate among states in 2021, and has surpassed the national average since 2014. These rates have been persistently higher among some groups, including children; New Yorkers of color, and those with less than a high school education. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted an expansion of the safety net by the federal government that effectively reduced poverty, and some parts of that should be continued. State government should also ensure resources are equitably targeted and a cross-agency focus is maintained to alleviate poverty in a sustained manner.

New York’s labor force is one of the nation’s largest, but it decreased by 1% between 2011 and 2021 while the rest of the nation increased by 5.1%. DiNapoli’s report assess the pandemic's impact and long-term trends in the workforce, including by age, education level, race and ethnicity, disability, and unionization status. While New York’s labor force is large, diverse and well-educated, attention should be paid to its underlying structure to attract and retain workers.

Drug overdose fatalities surged during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York State, with opioid-related overdose deaths increasing by 68% to nearly 5,000 individuals from 2019 to 2021. The surge is largely due to a sharp increase in deaths from opioids related to illicit fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids. This report outlines long-term trends and recent developments in the battle to save lives from being lost prematurely to substance use disorder.

Homeownership can provide economic benefits, but New York State has the lowest homeownership rate in the nation, driven by low rates in New York City. New York also has a racial and ethnic ownership disparity that is higher than the rest of the country. Reducing inequities in real estate practices and boosting homeownership should be important priorities for maintaining New York’s competitiveness as a place of opportunity.

Employee ownership (EO) arrangements provide employees with a defined stake in the companies they work for and can impact business owners and individual workers positively. This report examines the prevalence of employee-owned firms in New York and provides options for policymakers to consider for educating businesses, workers, and communities on the benefits and drawbacks associated with EO.

New Yorkers and consumers across the nation are experiencing growing household debt. The average household debt in New York climbed to a new high of $53,830 at the end of 2021. While New Yorkers trail the national average debt burden ($55,810), student loan and credit card debt per capita were well above the national average, with student loan balances 335% higher than they were in 2003.

The agriculture industry supports jobs and communities throughout New York State. The COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown led to job losses across almost all industries in New York, but the agricultural sector proved to be among the most resilient, losing just 1 percent of jobs in 2020 compared to a statewide annual employment loss of 8.7 percent. Both employment and wages in the farming sector grew in 2021 to reach new highs.

The Climate Action Plan Progress Report for the New York State Common Retirement Fund highlights the Fund’s recent efforts to address climate risks and opportunities.

The devastating number of job losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in residential customers owing money to their utility companies. Over the course of the pandemic, the amount in arrears increased significantly for all utilities and more than doubled on a statewide basis. In March 2022, one in eight residential customers were in arrears—more than 1.2 million customers statewide, with $1.8 billion owed to utility companies across the State.

Outdoor recreation in New York provided $21.1 billion in economic activity in 2020 and supported over 241,000 jobs. While New York ranks fourth in the nation on GDP generated by outdoor recreation, outdoor recreation represents a more significant part of the economy in nearly every other state. Efforts to bolster tourism and protect the outdoors are important for spurring greater economic activity and enhancing access to and utilization of these amenities.