Events

Is it time to consider potential changes to New York’s state budget-making rules? At its inaugural Governor Hugh L. Carey Policy Forum in Albany on May 30, the Empire Center will assemble leading experts with hands-on experience in the budget process to explore answers to those questions. Read More

The Empire Center for Public Policy invites you to a policy forum: NY's Cannabis Question: Debating Pros, Cons & Practicalities of Marijuana Legalization Read More

The Empire Center hosted a conference examining the New York Health Act, a proposal to create a state-run single-payer healthcare system. Videos of both panels can be viewed here. Read More

Fifty years after passage of the Taylor Law, New York State is home to the nation’s most heavily unionized state and local government workforce. But the landscape of public-sector collective bargaining could be altered by a U.S. Supreme Court rulin Read More

Manhattan’s world-famous institutions notwithstanding, New York’s hospitals collectively rate as below-average on benchmarks of quality, accessibility, efficiency and cost. What can be done to improve the Empire State’s dismal hospital perfo Read More

The Empire Center and the Manhattan Institute co-hosted a forum examining the FY2018 executive budget proposal to offer free tuition at New York State’s public colleges and universities. Read More

On November 14th, the Empire Center will host a forum examining Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “Clean Energy Standard,” under which New York ratepayers will subsidize certain renewable and upstate nuclear power plants. The forum will feature informed presentations and a panel discussion with experts who have been both supportive and critical of the proposal. Panelists will discuss the standard’s costs and benefits, as well as how it will impact carbon dioxide emissions. They will also examine the process by which the standard was enacted and the overall feasibility of Governor Cuomo’s “50 by 30” goal to have half of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. Read More

Governor Andrew Cuomo has embraced the “fight for $15,” pledging to make New York the first state to impose a $15-an-hour minimum wage on virtually its entire private-sector workforce. How would a universal $15 minimum wage affect employment prospects for New York’s poor and unskilled? Read More

Some of the nation's leading transportation policy experts will gather in Albany on November 19 for timely discussion of New York's highway infastructure needs -- and of how to best meet those needs. Read More

Delays, accidents, and other expenses caused by deficient, congested or unsafe roads and bridges cost New York drivers an added $20 billion a year, according to a recent study. The need for infrastructure investment is obvious– but even in an era of tight budgets, federal data indicate the Empire State is failing to get maximum value from its highway and bridge dollars. How do we compare to other states? Could we get more for less? Read More

Upstate New York has been declining economically for decades, relative to both the rest of the state and to the nation as a whole. Upstate cities, reeling from a significant long-term loss of jobs and people, are among New York's most fiscally distressed municipalities. What do the latest economic data tell us about the path of the upstate economy? What are the prospects for a revival of the region and its cities? To what extent might natural gas "fracking" boost growth? We invite you to join us for the presentation of a pair of Empire Center reports delving into those questions -- culminating in a keynote from an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth. Read More