E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center noted that the study relied on data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, whose methodology he described as "lousy." McMahon further asserted that New York state contains multiple regional economies and differences in tax codes that make such statewide analyses inaccurate. Read More
Government watchdog E.J. McMahon, of the Empire Center, warned that the Amazon ordeal would be noticed by other firms. “The Amazon fiasco definitely sent a signal, and it’s not a good signal from multiple angles,” McMahon said. “Governor DeSantis couldn’t have picked a better time to work on poaching New York businesses, especially high earners in finance. More than a few will no doubt find it tempting to at least listen to Florida’s pitch.” Read More
E.J. McMahon, research director of the conservative think tank Empire Center for Public Policy, told CBS New York and The Associated Press that, if the state splits, the upstate region would feel the economic effects. "Upstate would need to do a really significant reset of the way government is funded and what it spends, and upstate politicians have not exactly been clamoring for the reforms that it would take to make that happen," he said. Read More
Such departures are a longstanding part of the state's history, according to a 2011 study by the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a conservative-leaning, Albany-based think tank. That report found that since 1960, New York had lost about 7.3 million residents to other states. That was partially offset by the arrival of 4.8 million immigrants, for a net decline of about 2.5 million residents. Read More
New York continues to lead the nation when it comes to net outflow of residents to other states. Read More
When public schools across the Empire State open their doors for 2018-19, pupil enrollment will be at its lowest level in nearly 30 years. Read More
Population totals barely budged in New York State between 2016 and 2017, according to the latest annual U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Read More
"Upstate is not creating jobs. And you're not going to hang out in Upstate New York waiting for a job to turn up," McMahon said. Upstate is where the overall net loss for the state is coming from. McMahon, who's been crunching Census Bureau data said the impact is obvious. Read More