Founded in 2006 by long-time community activists, veteran union organizers and experienced policy advocates, the Center for Working Families aims to bring innovative ideas into the public debate, to provide elected leaders with the research support to make bold policy proposals, and to strategize with organizations and activists to build effective campaigns to enact them.
By combining policy capacity; our extensive network of relationships with membership organizations, policy makers and experts; and a focus on smart campaigns, we can make real gains to improve the lives of working families in New York.
POLICY UPDATES
Winter Fuels: Quick Fix Needed, but Green Homes/Green Jobs is Long-Term Solution
Expanding LIHEAP eligibility and increasing funding levels is an important step as state policy makers consider how to keep New Yorkers safe and warm this winter. But the skyrocketing price of fuels makes it impossible for a grant program to keep pace with the sustained higher costs of energy, and the increasing need for permanent relief. New York needs its policymakers to think bigger...
Thinking big: energy-efficiency policy now.
Green Residential Retrofits: The Coalition Emerges!
CWF's work on bringing mass-scale green residential retrofits to New York State took major leap forward, as we convened just under 40 organizations, from big to small, over a unified set of principles: that residential greening should be widespread, immediate and accessible to all; and that greening should create quality jobs created for workers from high-barrier/unemployed sectors to skilled and organized trades.
CWF Proposal on Tax Fairness Gaining Ground
The Center for Working Families' proposals for fair taxes for New York State – including a ‘cicuit breaker‘ property tax break for working families, and restoring the progressivity of the income tax are being heard increasingly clearly in the public debate.
Paid Family Leave Takes Wing, Stork Barnstorms NY State
The Center's Paid Family Leave's mascot, the Stork, swooped down on Hempstead, Massapequa and Garden City in Long Island with Paid Family Leave flyers in hand! The policy campaign – now in its second year – is gaining momentum on the ground and in Albany.