While unions of all stripes continue a full court press against the Governor’s pension reforms, the Empire Center for NYS Policy is out with a poll today indicating a majority of public school teachers support at least some of the pension revisions the Governor is pushing for. Tim Hoefer joins us with the details.

More aid is on the way to victims of flooding in upstate NY.

Common Cause’s Susan Lerner returns with redistricting analysis, as well as what she says are the significant differences between the judicially and legislatively drawn maps.

The Senate Democratic Minority says sure it might be Sunshine Week everywhere else, but here in the murky world of Senate Republican power, things have gotten Duma-like. Senator Liz Kruger, the ranking Dem on the Finance Committee joins us to discuss this and other issues including redistricting and reproductive rights.

Students & faculty from SUNY & CUNY are asking lawmakers to reverse the decline caused by 3 years of budget cuts totaling almost 2 billion dollars. NYPIRG’s Bill Mahoney, UUP’s Marc Dearstyne of SUNY Cortland and Buff State student Alex Bornemisza join us with details.

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State’s Growing Budget Hole Threatens NYC Jobs and Aid as Congress Takes a Holiday

“The biggest problem for the state is the enormous, recurring structural budget gap starting next year and into the future,” said E.J. McMahon of the conservative-leaning Empire Center. “Cuomo clearly hopes that starting in 2021, (Democratic presidential candidate Joseph) Biden and a Democratic Congress will provide states and local government a couple of year’s worth of added stimulus. Read More

How Andrew Cuomo became ‘maybe the most powerful governor’ in U.S.

Ed McKinley ALBANY — When the New York Constitution was reorganized nearly 100 years ago to give the governor more power over the budget process,  noted there was a risk of making “the governor a czar." M Read More

Study disputes Cuomo on Trump tax package; experts say it’s complicated

Michael Gormley ALBANY — A new study by a conservative think tank says President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law gave most New Yorkers a tax cut, even as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo insists on repealing the measure because he says it will cost New Yo Read More

Empire Center sues Department of Health over nursing home records

Johan Sheridan ALBANY, N.Y. () — The Empire Center filed a  against the state Department of Health on Friday. “This case isn’t about assigning blame or embarrassing political leaders,” said Bill Hammond, the Empire Center’s Read More

Good news: That New York pork isn’t going out the door after all

The Empire Center first reported Tuesday that grants — 226 of them, totaling $46 million, to recipients selected by the governor and individual state lawmakers — seemed to still be going ahead. Read More

New York Lawmakers Seek Independent Probe of Nursing-Home Coronavirus Deaths

With lingering questions about how the novel coronavirus killed thousands of New Yorkers who lived in nursing homes, a group of state lawmakers is pushing to create an independent commission to get answers from the state Department of Health. Read More

Policy analyst: Cuomo wrong to write-off nursing home criticism as political conspiracy

“The importance of discussing this and getting the true facts out is to understand what did and didn’t happen so we can learn from it in case this happens again,” Hammond said. Read More

EDITORIAL: Nursing home report requires a second opinion

No doubt, the Health Department and the governor would like this report to be the final word on the subject. But if it’s all the same with them, we’d still like a truly independent review. Read More