A private charity is seeking the New York Legislature’s go-ahead to build housing for critically ill kids and their families on state-owned property. The Legislature’s answer: sure, you can go ahead and build—if you’re willing to pay extra (possibly a lot extra) to our union friends to do the work. Read More
On the whole, New Yorkers can breathe a sigh of relief if the state Senate’s gridlock forces an early end to the 2018 regular session of the Legislature. Otherwise, the next two weeks will still leave plenty of time for lawmakers to get up to no good. Read More
As a 19th-century Manhattan politician once observed, “no man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” Some things never change. On balance, New Yorkers would probably be better off if this year’s legislative session ended ahead of its scheduled June 21 adjournment. Read More
Health insurers’ rate applications for 2019, which became public late Friday, raise red flags about the condition of New York’s non-group market. Read More
In addition to being one of the wedge issues that paralyzed the state Senate this week, the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act is also an insurance mandate. And like the dozens of other mandates pending in Albany, it’s being debated without a clear analysis of costs and benefits. Read More
The Empire Center has issued a 50th anniversary update of its seminal 2007 report on New York’s landmark Taylor Law, which governs labor relations in state and local government. Read More
Marking the Taylor Law's 50th anniversary, this paper reviews the background of the law and highlights provisions and precedents in need of state legislative reform. Read More
Fifty years after passage of the Taylor Law, New York State is home to the nation’s most heavily unionized state and local government workforce. But the landscape of public-sector collective bargaining could be altered by a U.S. Supreme Court rulin Read More