New York has the worst economic outlook of any state in the nation, according to the latest index of the economic competitiveness issued by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Read More
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New York has the second most progressive distribution of federal income taxes among the 50 states, according to a new analysis from the Tax Foundation. From the Tax Foundation's Fiscal Fact: Taxpayers earning more than $200,000 earned 40 percent of... Read More
Warren Buffett had this to say before Washington's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission yesterday (via Bloomberg) about the debt of state and local governments: "There will be a terrible problem and then the question becomes will the federal government help... Read More
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not putting money for 2 percent raises for New York City teachers in his proposed budget. Despite that, some teachers will automatically get annual raises as high as 11.6 percent. Read More
Many if not most New York City teachers will continue receiving automatic longevity pay increases despite Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement today that he will "eliminate raises" for them in the next budget. In fact, as illustrated... Read More
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli yesterday issued a happy talk news release touting the state retirement system's 26 percent return on investments in fiscal 2009-10, which ended March 31. “The Fund remains one of the strongest in the U.S.,” DiNapoli said. Read More
The Paterson administration, which leaves office December 31, is preparing a plan to lay off thousands of state workers on January 1. Is this real or a merely a threat to force recalcitrant unions to make concessions to achieve the $250 million in workforce... Read More
Visions of sugar plums dance in the heads of older state workers--amid Albany's $9 billion budget gap. They dream of fatter pensions should Senate approve Governor Paterson's early retirement bill as the Assembly did this week. Although a bonanza for... Read More
The Greek debt crisis has inspired economist Michael Boskin to lay out some fundamental lessons that are equally applicable to our own federal and state governments. Quoting directly from this article by Boskin, the lessons are: elected officials systematically... Read More
Governor Paterson would need the support of the Legislature to freeze wages of state workers. The next governor could partially freeze salaries by letting union contracts expire next year. One would-be governor, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, has proposed freezing... Read More
"The New NY Agenda" is the title of a policy booklet issued yesterday by Andrew Cuomo, the soon-to-be nominated Democratic gubernatorial candidate. If that title sounds familiar, it's because "New, New York" (including that all-important comma after the first "New")... Read More
The broad outlines of Andrew Cuomo's gubernatorial campaign platform are beginning to dribble out as the formal announcement of the attorney general's candidacy approaches. By the time the state Democratic Party Convention opens next Tuesday... Read More