Latest
Table may take a moment to load. Read More
Over half of the 668 school districts seeking voter approval for budgets on Tuesday, May 21 are presenting spending plans to increase property taxes as high as the 2011 property tax cap law allows, according to an analysis released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
A new guidebook from the Empire Center for Public Policy will help public employers talk to their workers about how they’re affected by the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, the Center announced today. Read More
A bill passed by the state Senate last week could shift millions of dollars in costs from labor unions to the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) program while making employers indirectly subsidize union strikes. Read More
Residents of the Western New York village of Sloan had the highest effective property tax rate in New York (outside New York City and Nassau), according to Benchmarking NY, the Empire Center’s annual rundown of local property tax burdens. Read More
New York’s public-sector collective bargaining law, the Taylor Law, is unique in that it’s the only law that people risk breaking by discussing it. The Empire Center launched “Dues and Don’ts” to help public employers fulfill their obligation to educate employees about their rights without fear of improper practice charges under the Taylor Law. Visit the Dues & Don'ts website to learn more. Read More
In what's become an annual tradition, New York state lawmakers have re-introduced bills designed to prohibit or restrict changes to expensive continuing health insurance coverage for current and future government retirees—which would effectively lock in a growing unfunded liability of more than a quarter trillion dollars for taxpayers across the state. Read More