While Gov. Cuomo stumped the state this week in support of (among other things) his proposed cap on local property taxes, Speaker Sheldon Silver said the Assembly would soon introduce its own version of a tax-cap bill -- one with “not too many” exceptions. Read More
Commentary
Another Tax Day brings with it yet another unher alded and unlegislated income-tax increase for middle-income New Yorkers. Read More
The stock-market crash of 2000-02 lit the fuse on a decade long explosion in taxpayer-funded contributions to New York City’s municipal-pension systems. But a new report from Comptroller John Liu shows that roughly half the damage was avoidable -- resulting from the city’s own bad policy choices and mismanagement. Read More
Gov. Cuomo’s budget deal with the Legislature is not quite the “transformation plan” he spoke of just two months ago. Read More
Like Madison, Wisconsin, the scene of so much recent debate, Albany began this year facing an enormous budget gap for fiscal 2011-12. Read More
Filing a Freedom of Information Law request can be a needlessly lengthy and frustrating process for one taxpayer filing just one request. Read More
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s broad challenge to government unions won’t be replicated in New York state anytime soon. Read More
Reducing pension benefits for New York’s next generation of municipal workers, as Mayor Bloomberg proposed last week, would gradually move pension costs to a lower plateau in the coming decades. And despite the union caterwauling that greeted Mr. Bloomberg’s plan, city employees would continue to receive pensions far more generous than those available to private-sector workers. Read More
Gov. Cuomo is framing his state budget proposal as an effort to end Albany’s ingrained habit of unsustainable and unaffordable spending. Read More
On the eve of what could be the biggest state budget showdown ever in New York, Gov. Cuomo has taken a big step toward delivering on the single most important promise he made to taxpayers in his successful 2010 campaign. Read More
As states struggle with enormous deficits and exploding pension costs, some analysts are urging Congress to enact a law enabling states to declare bankruptcy the way municipalities can under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code. Read More
Pension reform is now New York City's "No. 1 priority in Albany," Mayor Bloomberg announced in his State of the City message this week. Read More