Blog

For several years now, Governor Andrew Cuomo has been misusing employment statistics to back up claims that his policies have ignited an economic resurgence in upstate New York. It happened yet again today, when the governor was in Binghamton to announce that Dick's Sporting Goods had decided to locate a 650,000 square foot distribution center in the Broome County Corporate Park. Read More

After another year of low inflation, most local governments will again base their tax caps on a growth factor of less than one percent. Read More

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli accentuates the negative in a new audit of the state’s Medicaid managed care program, faulting two participating insurers for “wasting millions of state Medicaid dollars.” But he omits two important pieces of context. Read More

New York emerged as the second-costliest state for employer-sponsored health insurance after its premiums rose at more than three times the national rate in 2015. Read More

The best news to come out of the final days of the 2016 legislative session may have concerned what didn’t pass. Read More

START-UP NY, New York’s signature economic development program, made headlines for creating just 408 jobs in its first two years of operations. However, bigger disappointments may lie ahead. Read More

Yesterday marked the end of a second straight sub-par fiscal year for most of the nation's state and local public pension funds, including all five New York City funds and the New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS). Read More

Some of New York State’s major transportation infrastructure projects are now benefiting from expanded use of the design-build process—but a costly pro-union rider has been attached to proposed legislation extending design-build authorization to public works financed by New York City, and could set a troubling precedent. Read More

New York's Legislature couldn't leave town without making it easier for the music and gaming industries to collect up to $50 million a year in tax subsidies, modeled after the state's existing (and outrageous) giveaway to film and TV producers. Read More

In their latest response to the epidemic of opioid abuse, state lawmakers are indulging a habit-forming practice of their own: imposing mandates on health insurance. Read More

Private sector employment in New York State grew at barely half the U.S. average rate during the 12 months ending in May, according to the latest monthly jobs report from the state Labor Department. Read More

Governor Cuomo’s deal with legislative leaders on expanded access to breast cancer screening falls squarely within three unfortunate Albany traditions: It micromanages the health-care industry in ways that add red tape and drive up costs. It singles out a high-profile disease for special treatment. And it accomplishes less than what’s promised by the press release. Read More