Now that a whole herd of horses has galloped out of New York's budgetary barn, Governor David Paterson has proposed shutting the door with an inflation-level cap on state spending. Read More
Blog
Mayor Bloomberg's 2010 Executive Budget proposal is being portrayed as "" -- but while the media and politicians focus on proposed spending reductions, a key measure of spending is actually rising at over twice the inflation rate. Read More
Earlier this afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg presented his updated budget proposal for next year, which starts in July. One thing that stands out, besides his request that Albany hike the city sales tax by half a percentage point: it's likely that over Read More
Nicole and I both have op-eds in the Post today. dissects the MTA's latest desperation move -- an unprecedented 18-month budget. focuses on the projected expansion of New York State's Medicaid caseload, which by 2013 may include one ou Read More
Union leaders, contractors and real estate developers are trying to reach a new "project labor agreement" (PLA) to cut costs on private construction projects in New York City. But while Mayor Blomberg is anxious to participate in a news conferen Read More
Nearly a full month after the Legislature’s adoption of the 2009-10 state budget, Governor David Paterson’s Division of the Budget (DOB) today issued its since January. The bottom line: New York State’s long-term financial outlook has signif Read More
A couple of weeks ago, the Citizens Budget Commission released accruing to recent retirees from the New York City government, from firefighters to teachers to administrative assistants. How much would it cost you -- if you're a private-secto Read More
New York City and state continue to lose Wall Street jobs in disproportionate numbers compared to the rest of the country. Read More
Peterson Foundation president David Walker made a salient point today at the Regional Plan Association's : we don't spend enough on infrastructure, but we probably spend too much on other stuff. Read More
In yesterday's column, Daily News Errol Louis quotes Lillian Roberts, the head of the city's civilian DC-37 union, saying that "When our people retire, the average one will receive something like $20,000 a year." Read More
New York State and City continue to put faux pressure on municipal unions to win cost-savings concessions on pensions and healthcare costs for state and city taxpayers. Coincidentally, bond-raters at Moody's have just come out with a report that says Read More
Small towns are losing millions of dollars on derivatives bets just when they can least afford to lose money. Why are we surprised? Read More