Commentary

Suffolk County lawmakers are shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that someone has been gambling with the county government's fiscal future. It's a full-blown "emergency"! In the words of County Executive Steve Bellone, the resulting problem is "larger than any of us imagined." Read More

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says he's willing to be a "veritable Gumby" of flexibility in negotiating the terms of public pension reform, as long as a new pension plan reduces costs by a large enough amount. Read More

Battle lines have been drawn on public pension reform in New York and some of the fiercest public employee union attacks are focusing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to let future government employees choose between a traditional pension and a defined-contribution retirement savings plan. Read More

To the Editor: As part of his State Fiscal Year 2012-13 Executive Budget, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has included a long overdue initiative to take over the administration of New York’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) state supplemental payment from the federal Social Security Administration. Read More

Reciting a litany of economic challenges facing New York soon after he took office as governor a year ago, Andrew M. Cuomo declared: "We have the worst business tax climate in the nation, period." Read More

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wants to raise the state's minimum wage by 17 percent, to $8.50 an hour, and link it to inflation, guaranteeing more yearly increases. Read More