A new report shows social workers are not being paid equal to similar professions.

The report, from the National Association of Social Workers New York Chapter finds 34% of social workers surveyed are at the same salary they were when they started their job, which on average began one to five years ago.

Many feel this is one piece of a larger puzzle contributing to social workers leaving the field. Report author Olivia Knox - BSW and policy assistant with the NASW's New York Chapter - said stagnant wages could make people leave the field for something different.

"Only 90 people received a merit increase," said Knox. "So, if social workers aren't receiving salary upgrades there's a huge potential and risk that they'll leave the profession for a more equitable field."

She added that this would be alarming given the current state of mental health in the U.S.

According to Mental Health America, 19.86% of adults, or 50 million Americans, are experiencing a mental illness.

Samantha Fletcher - MSW, Ph.D, and Executive Director of the NASW's New York Chapter - said she feels one challenge to addressing this from a legislative perspective is that social workers are involved in other fields.

But, she said she's confident this will be handled since part of Gov. Kathy Hochul's State of the State address spoke about allocating funds to mental-health staffing.

Another issue has been the recent cost-of-living increases. Given social workers are often underfunded, it's causing people to leave the field to find something that can sustain them.

This has particularly been hard on nonprofits, which often help people unable to afford private-practice clinics. Adrienne LoPresti, MSW and executive director of the YES Community Counseling Center, said this trend is leaving a void in care for people who need it most.

"Those that cannot afford and may go toward a nonprofit organizational setting are not getting the care," said LoPresti, "because everyone is fleeing that setting where those that need cannot afford and those that are supposed to fund, like the government and private practice, are not properly reimbursing."

LoPresti added that there's also a lack of a pipeline for graduates to join nonprofit social work since they're quickly going to positions with higher salaries.

She said she feels educating more people about what social workers do, and how it translates into other areas is needed to help keep people in the field.

Some longtime social workers feel their need for additional education than those in similar professions should be a reason they should earn higher salaries.

Martha Schultz - LCSW and northeast division director with the association's New York Chapter - said she finds nurses with associate's degrees are making much more than her, despite her much more rigorous training.

She said she thinks it's time social workers receive their due.

"The money exists to pay social workers," said Schultz. "I think we need to be a bit more accountable to institutions that employ social workers to push that the money exists, you're just finding other ways. You've gotten funds from the federal government to pay people. It's time that we actually pay social workers what they deserve."

While she said she loves her work and the field she's in, issues with pay need to be resolved to ensure people aren't just encouraged to join the field - but incentivize them to stay.

President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have promised to pass a new tax bill, and a new report breaks down the expected winners and losers.

Joe Hughes, senior policy analyst with the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says based on Trump's campaign proposals, the top one percent - those making more than $900,000 a year - will see their tax bill go down by more than $36,000, on average.

"The top 5% of households make more than $360,000 a year. They will likely see their taxes go down. For the other 95% of Americans, they will likely see their taxes go up," he said.

Hughes added that Americans earning between $55,000 and $94,000 a year would have to pay over $1,500 more in taxes. The combined increases would further shift the tax burden - to pay for bridges, schools, health care and highways from corporations and higher-income individuals to low- and middle-income families. Trump has claimed, without evidence, that increasing tariffs on foreign goods would cover revenues lost due to tax cuts.

Hughes says because companies pass the costs of tariffs along to consumers, Americans will also be hit with what is essentially a national sales tax. He added the incoming administration's proposals, if enacted, could increase the national debt by as much as $15 trillion over the next decade.

"The proposals to increase tariffs are not going to raise enough revenue to offset the tax cuts that he's proposed to give to high-income individuals and to corporations," Hughes continued.

Trump has called the election results a mandate for his policies. But Hughes noted a strong majority of Americans support a tax code that's fair, one that asks those who can afford it to contribute more. They don't think billionaires such as Elon Musk should pay less than working families.

"Most Americans, even a majority of Republicans, support higher income taxes on the wealthy and on corporations," he said. "So, there is some disconnect here between the candidate that they voted for and the policies that actually poll well with voters."


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Montana citizens and environmental advocates have sued the state for withholding documents that have, for decades, been considered public information.

The division that provides bill drafting and other support to the Montana Legislature has announced a new policy that requires a legislator's approval before releasing documents to the public.

That includes all the correspondence and communication that goes into drafting a bill, including lawmakers conferring with lobbyists and other legislators.

Upper Seven Law's Founder Rylee Sommers-Flanagan said Montana's Constitution protects residents' right to know about and participate in the legislative process.

"The right to know is meant to protect our ability to examine the documents of any public agency," said Sommers-Flanagan. "This includes all Executive Branch agencies. It includes all aspects of the Legislature. Anything that relates to their official business belongs to the people of Montana."

A Helena judge over the summer ruled that correspondence used to draft bills - so called "junque files" - are not public record, reversing a 25-year-old policy.

Sommers-Flanagan argued the move undermines transparency, which she said has been the backbone of Montana's lawmaking process, and calls into question interactions between lawmakers and lobbyists who often work together to create a bill.

"We could literally be deprived of opportunity to see bribery happening in writing," said Sommers-Flanagan. "And, of course, I doubt that our legislators are engaged in bribery - but what this does is, it protects them fully from any sort of disclosure around what they might be exchanging."

The rule was implemented when a district court ruled in favor of a state senator who argued that junque files related to a gerrymandering law should not be made public.




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The state Supreme Court has upheld a law giving Nebraskans with prior felony convictions the right to vote once they have completed their sentence.

Proponents of the measure are calling it a hard-fought victory to restore full rights to citizens who have paid their debt to society.

State lawmakers challenged a clause in the state's 1875 constitution disenfranchising people with felony convictions for life.

Steve Smith, director of communications with the group Civic Nebraska, said the ruling ends a decades-long legal battle.

"Had the court ruled the underlying statute is unconstitutional, those folks would have been out of luck," said Smith. "And so, the stakes were pretty high. In a state the size of Nebraska, that's close to 10% of the electorate. It's about 100,000 voters."

Smith said eligible people must register in person by 6 p.m. on Oct. 25 at their county's local elections office.

Smith said the ruling negates an order by the secretary of state blocking county officials from registering former felons despite a bipartisan bill that eliminated a two year waiting period for people with convictions.

He said the requirements to register have been simplified.

"It is fully completing your sentence. And so, the term is 'off-papers,'" said Smith. "And most folks who have been justice-impacted understand what off-papers mean. They've served any term of incarceration. They have completed any terms of parole, probation or supervised release, and they have not reoffended."

Smith said his organization and other are urging people who are now eligible to register and to vote, calling it both a civil right and a civic duty.

"For those of you going, 'I don't know if I want to do this,' know that the Supreme Court, the highest court in our state, has said, 'You are good to go, and you should vote with confidence,'" said Smith. "If you're on the fence about not voting, think about how hard some people tried to keep your vote away from you, and then wonder why that is."

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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