At least 27,000 individuals, including ex-spouses of government workers, carried NYSHIP cards in their wallets--although they did not qualify for taxpayer-financed health insurance. That number will grow this fall if government employees fail to verify... Read More
New York's state highway system continues to rank near the bottom among all states in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness, as measured by the indicators in the Reason Foundation's 19th Annual Highway Condition Report. Here's a chart of my own... Read More
Three employees of the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District were laid off in May, only to be rehired in June, so they could take advantage of the state's early retirement program. In addition, the district's board offered retirement incentives to... Read More
It's official: after a decade in which the New York State pension fund's annual return on assets averaged less than half its target rate, the fund will need to jack up its taxpayer-funded contribution rates next year, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced today. Read More
Don't look now, but the feds are dropping more cash from helicopters -- and the Empire State is already grabbing a big handful. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius announced yesterday that 2,000 employers throughout the country had applied for a piece... Read More
In 2008, Barrett was paid a total of $1,500 to speak at two separate events in West Virginia, the money coming from federal grants. He was paid a total of $2,850 by the Schenectady school system for four appearances, while also collecting... Read More
Last month, the state-run MTA said that it might raise the price of a 30-day subway and bus pass from today's $89 to $104 -- a pretty hefty 17 percent increase. That's still the case in the MTA's latest on-line literature about fare hearings, too. Read More
New York's state comptroller reportedly is going to reduce the state pension fund's discount rate from 8 percent to between 7.5 percent and 7.75 percent, Bloomberg News just reported. The lower the discount rate, the higher the required tax-funded... Read More
New York's state budget gap for 2011-12 -- the first year of the next gubernatorial administration -- is now projected at nearly $8.2 billion, according to the 2010-11 Enacted Budget Report released today by Governor Paterson's Division of the Budget (DOB). Read More
It's not clear whether the Japanese scandal was caused by pension fraud, faulty government bookkeeping or "disintegrating family ties," reports the New York Times. Read More
InvestmentNews says that more residents of high-tax states, mindful of looming federal tax hikes as well as higher state taxes, are moving south. As Ernst & Young tax partner Greg Rosica tells author Hilary Johnson: We haven't had a situation like... Read More
The Financial Times reports today (log-in required) that Wall Street banks "are bracing for a slump in trading profits." As we said a few weeks ago, second-quarter profits for banks like Goldman weren't great. July wasn't much better, even slower than... Read More