New York state and local government workers could save at least $112 million a year if a pending U.S. Supreme Court case puts an end to compulsory fee collections for government unions, according to a new report from the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
This report provides an overview of the current landscape of union representation, finances, lobbying and political activity in New York State. It concludes with recommendations designed to strengthen the rights of government workers and the oversight of union nances that are ultimately derived from taxpayer-funded salaries. Read More
New Yorkers pay the price for class action lawsuit frivolity — through “higher auto insurance rates, higher health care costs and higher taxes,” says a report by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
The governor said he’d explore the feasiblity of “a major shift” of New York’s state tax burden from individuals (who will be losing federal deductions) to businesses (which will be keeping them), via a new statewide payroll tax on employers. The idea might sound plausible on the surface. But on closer inspection, replacing even part of New York’s personal income tax (PIT) with a payroll tax would be fraught with mind-bending complications — and not very feasible at all. Read More
For Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the idea must seem like sweet payback for the pains inflicted on his state by the new federal tax plan: an elegant workaround whereby New York could replace its state income tax with a payroll tax and leave Washington, not Albany, on the hook for billions of dollars in lost revenue. But like so many white-paper plans, the proposal — while still in its larval stage — is already running headlong into a barrage of practical questions about how precisely such a switcheroo might work. “The more you think about this,” said E.J. McMahon, a conservative economist and founder of the Empire Center for Public Policy, “the more it makes your head spin.” Read More
MEMORANDUM TO: Governor Cuomo Members of the Legislature FROM: E.J. McMahon Research Director, Empire Center for Public Policy SUBJ: St Read More
Wonder why New York pays through the nose for everything from health care to construction projects to auto insurance — and taxes? A new report from the Empire Center has a one-word answer: lawsuits. Read More
New York’s civil liability laws should be brought closer to the national mainstream with a series of reforms designed to balance more fairly the rights of plaintiffs and defendants, according to a report released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More