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E.J. McMahon debated former state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky last night on The lead up to this debate includes Governor Cuomo's proposed modifications to the pension system in New York (including his proposal for an optional defined-contribution Read More

Just when you thought all the bad ideas had been taken, local publisher and suggests a new one: two minimum wages. In the Daily News, that New York State keep the current $7.25-an-hour minimum wage for people under the age of 2 Read More

State comptroller Tom DiNapoli today to assert the following: Critics of the current defined-benefit retirement plans for state workers incorrectly assert that New York State's pension system is financially sound only because of an unli Read More

OK—I admit it. Those protestors outside our pension reform event in Albany today did get one thing right. I do think people need to “gamble” some of their retirement savings on Wall Street. Read More

One of the most pernicious aspects of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's proposal to hike the minimum wage is his bid to index the future minimum wage to inflation Beginning in 2014, the state would automatically hike the new $ Read More

New York’s combined state and local sales tax rate is the seventh highest in the nation, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. Read More

Following through on Speaker Silver’s promise earlier this month, the Assembly is reportedly about to introduce a bill raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour, with automatic increases thereafter in line with the cost of living. As we’ve noted here before, this is a swell way to reduce job opportunities for low-skilled, entry-level workers — and it’s not a very effective way of helping the working poor, either. Read More

Over at Streetsblog, they’re talking Tappan Zee — wondering why Gov. Cuomo won’t release any new information about the financial plan for the multi-billion-dollar bridge (no, nobody knows how many billions, but probably more than six and less than twenty) until after asking contractors for proposals. Read More

Just-released November indicate that Medicaid spending was within Governor Cuomo's new cap through the first two-thirds of fiscal 2011-12 -- but just barely.The $15.3 billion cap on state-funded Medicaid spending within the Department of H Read More