#NYCoronavirus: What he had stumbled onto was one of Albany’s dirtiest little secrets — an addiction to taxing health care, which has gotten steadily worse over the past quarter-century. And now there’s a danger that the coronavirus crisis will become an excuse for state lawmakers to hike the taxes and hit consumers even harder. Read More
Although New York is taking the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic – with 43 percent of the nation's known cases and 40 percent of the deaths – the state is due to receive only 5 percent of the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund just established by Congress. Read More
#NYCoronavirus: The negative economic after-effects of the pandemic seem likely to rival if not exceed those of the Great Recession of 2008-09. But as New Yorkers face massive job losses, falling incomes, sagging property values and widespread economic insecurity, they'll have one layer of protection they sorely lacked in the last downturn: a tight cap on local property tax levies, instigated by Governor Cuomo in 2011. Read More
#NYCoronavirus: The $2 trillion federal stimulus bill on its way to passage today does not actually shortchange New York in any general sense—but it does seem to clearly dash Governor Cuomo's vain hopes for a budget bailout, which is why he is so unhappy about it. Read More
For a second consecutive year, New York’s population loss was mainly concentrated downstate, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates. Read More
#NYCoronavirus: With state revenues crashing and joblessness skyrocketing, more than a third of the New York state government workforce is scheduled to get a 2 percent pay raise in less than a week. Read More
#NYCoronavirus: In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, New York's death toll appears to be rising at a faster rate than any other state and most other countries. Read More