As part of the White House's $3.8 trillion 2011 , President Obama has proposed making the "Build America Bonds" program permanent. Build America Bonds have offered states and localities a quick fix since Washington created them in the stimulus packa Read More
When New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says Governor Paterson's proposed budget will force him to lay off nearly 12,000 city employees, he appears to ignore his role of negotiating 4 percent employees raises during a recession. Expect similar Read More
Employee compensation in the state and local government sector increased at twice the private-sector rate during the 12 months ending in December, according to national data released todayby the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More
Nicole dissects Mayor Bloomberg's preliminary 2011 budget in . Her key point: while news coverage of what the Times as a "grim budget" has concentrated heavily on the mayor's proposed cuts, Bloomberg actually is relying much more heavil Read More
Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign scored some good points with the Transport Workers Union this week, for taking $50 million and "putting [it] into their capital budget -- money that is desperately needed to keep trains and buses running. Read More
Employee compensation in the state and local government sector increased at twice the private-sector rate during the 12 months ending in December, according by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More
Today, a panel of arbitrators ruled against Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein in many respects on his longstanding dispute with the Port Authority, which owns the land. But the arbitrators also handed Silverstein a big victory -- one Read More
Providing health insurance to retired Utica teachers will cost taxpayers $189 million over the next 30 years, an amount the school board president calls "scary." When it ratified a teachers contract in September 2008, the school board did not know Read More
You'd think the author of aslamming the "too big to fail" doctrine and calling for smarter financial regulations would find something to like in President Obama's . But in , Nicole argues that Obama's latest gambit would leave New York with "the w Read More
Governor David Paterson wants state employees to defer four percent raises and five days of salary until they retire or quit their jobs. Haven't we seen this movie before? What makes Paterson think the outcome will be any different than when publi Read More
Governor Paterson's includes a helpful table summarizing the sources of state spending growth over the past 10 years. The numbers highlight the favored status of education during a period that saw one of the greatest spending run-ups in New York's Read More
Last week, about Governor Paterson's somewhat puzzling implying (seemingly) that his 2011-12 budget would result in a $1 billion surplus that he would use to finance a property tax circuit breaker. "If the governor is saying that the four-year fi Read More