Healthy skepticism was warranted back in January, when Gov. Eliot Spitzer first announced he would name a special commission to recommend a cap on school property taxes. Sure, the governor's rhetoric was tough and right on the mark. And he was embracing an idea he'd rejected during his 2006 gubernatorial run - and choosing his primary opponent, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi to chair the commission, ensuring this would at least be a high-profile effort. Read More
Commentary
Retirees' benefits are the fastest-growing part of overall health-coverage costs for New York state and local government. They're already nearly 40 percent of the state's employee-health budget, and they'll consume more than a third of the roughly $3.5 billion New York City will spend on health benefits this year. Read More
Nearly a month after passing the state budget, the state Legislature finally got around to disclosing important details of nearly $150 million in pork-barrel "member item" allocations last week. Read More
After fending off a federal tax hike last year, private equity and hedge funds have been mostly immune from the ongoing carnage on Wall Street. That makes them a bigger target than ever for revenue-hungry politicians and interest groups on the state and local level. Read More
Eliot Spitzer had been governor for less than a month when he addressed a crowd of dignitaries at the state Education Department. The department's historic building was an appropriate setting for a historic proposal: pumping more money into public education than ever before, in return for more accountability than ever. Read More
Even before it was over, this year's New York state budget process had devolved into a giant step backward for fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency. Given Albany's already rock-bottom standards in all three areas, this was quite an accomplishment. Read More
Politicians have a habit of crying wolf over budget cuts - even when the "cuts" actually amount to smaller-than-desired spending increases. But amid all the other noise surrounding the final stage of budget negotiations in Albany late this week, New York's county executives made a strong case against what would be one of the more outrageous intergovernmental rip-offs since the creation of the Medicaid program over 40 years ago. Read More
Energy was one of the few issue areas in which David Paterson was allowed at least briefly to play a visible role during 14 months in the shadows as New York's lieutenant governor. But now that he has succeeded the disgraced Eliot Spitzer in the governor's office, Paterson needs to break with policies that have made energy increasingly expensive and potentially scarce in New York. Read More
The completion of New York State's budget was the greatest challenge awaiting David Paterson when he was sworn into office as New York's governor just two weeks before the start of a new fiscal year, which begins April 1. Read More
Albany's revenue base is rapidly shrinking, but the financial plan left on the table by the former governor, Eliot Spitzer, would allow the state budget to keep on growing as if shares in Bear Stearns were still selling in the low hundreds. With barely two weeks to go before the start of the next state fiscal year, it remains unclear whether Mr. Spitzer's successor will rein in spending before it's too late. Read More
In the long and storied political history of New York State, few things were ever as inevitable as Eliot Spitzer's election to the governor's office. As state attorney general, he already loomed as governor-presumptive before the Republican incumbent, Gov. George Pataki, confirmed in the summer of 2005 that he would not seek a fourth term. Read More
When Eliot Spitzer's entanglement with a high-priced prostitution ring was first revealed Monday afternoon, stock indexes were getting pummeled in the latest manifestation of credit market turmoil. On Tuesday, as the market was enjoying a Fed-induced bounce, The Wall Street Journal reported that "big, painful firings are coming" at investment banks - with as many as 40,000 New York-based jobs potentially on the chopping block. Read More