This week, local nonprofits continued to report that they are seeing unprecedented demand for services, including from people who until recently lived comfortable lives.  “There are so many needy New Yorkers who are totally hidden,” Food Bank President and CEO Margarette Purvis told Crain’s New York Business.  In Albany, the state government approved an overhaul to New York State’s income tax that will reduce the rate for millions of middle-class workers.   But Congress has yet to reach agreement about extending payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits – two issues that could impact the household budgets of millions of Americans.  We also learned that a Twinkie has less sugar than some children’s breakfast cereals.

Number of needy New Yorkers growing at alarming rate, Crain’s New York Business, 12/4
The recession has technically been over for more than a year. But social services workers say the situation is getting worse for a growing segment of the city's population. In a city filled with the fabulously wealthy, there's a growing undercurrent of dire need. In fact, food pantries have so many new customers they can't feed them all.  Many of the people who were laid off during the recession were living on unemployment benefits or savings, which have since run out.

Bronx food pantries run by Muslim Women’s Initiative will close as funding vanishes, demand rises, Daily News, 12/8
The Muslim Women’s Initiative for Research and Development has been distributing halal groceries to needy Bronxites since 1997. The tough economy has shrunk donations at the same time that residents’ need is surging, says Executive Director Nurah Ama’tullah.  Triada Stampas, director of government relations and public education for The Food Bank for New York City, which supplies food to MWIRD, said the group is facing the same problem as many other pantries and soup kitchens citywide.  “Their operating expenses really became insupportable within their budget, which is a tragic situation, Stampas said.

Albany Tax Deal to Raise Rate for Highest Earners, New York Times, 12/6
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders announced on Tuesday that they had reached an agreement to overhaul New York State’s income tax, creating a higher tax bracket for the highest-income residents and reducing the tax rate for millions of middle-class residents.  The agreement drew praise from an unlikely combination of business groups, which applauded the governor for devoting himself to job creation, and labor unions, which said the new revenue would help ensure that Mr. Cuomo would follow through with his promise to increase education and health care spending in the budget next year.

Congress edges toward a compromise on spending, Washington Post, 12/11
The payroll tax fight will continue this week as the House votes on a GOP-authored proposal that would link the extension of the tax cut sought by Obama with Republican priorities, including a measure to speed the construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.  Before concluding work for the year, Congress must tackle other major issues as well, including figuring out how to avert a scheduled deep cut in reimbursement rates paid to doctors under Medicare and whether to extend benefits for the unemployed.

Bonbons For Breakfast? Most Kid Cereals Pack Enough Sugar To Be Dessert, NPR, 12/7
A new report by the Environmental Working Group finds that the vast majority of popular cereals marketed to kids — 56 out of the 84 EWG looked at — don't meet the voluntary guidelines proposed earlier this year by the federal Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children.  The top offenders, including Honey Smacks, Apple Jacks, Froot Loops, and Quaker Cap'n Crunch, all contain more than 41 percent sugar (by weight). The guidelines, meanwhile, for ready-to-eat cereals recommend no more than 26 percent added sugar by weight.