Pensions averaged $68,334 for teachers and other professionals who retired in school year 2015-16 after working at least 30 years in New York State public schools. Read More
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Lawmakers should allow the state's surcharge on high incomes to expire because of its volatility as a revenue source and its impact on the state's competitiveness, E.J. McMahon, the Empire Center's research director, testified. Read More
The Empire Center’s unique online “Explore Your State Budget” app has been updated to reflect data in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed Executive Budget for the 2018 fiscal year, which begins April 1. Read More
Imagine that the government, instead of distributing food stamps, wrote checks to grocery stores to reimburse them for giving stuff away. Now imagine that the government gave lots of that money to Zabar’s and Whole Foods while stiffing the bodegas and supermarkets where poor people actually shop. Such a system would be considered a travesty. Yet that, believe it or not, is how the state of New York finances health care for the uninsured. Read More
A close look at Cuomo’s plan to contain prescription drug costs – which relies on heavy-handed price controls – raises doubts as to its fairness, effectiveness, workability, and even legality. Read More
Taxpayers beware: the annual push to water down New York’s property tax cap is underway in the state Legislature. Read More
The names, titles and salaries of all 283,117 individuals who worked for New York’s state government in 2016 have now been posted as a searchable database at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More
The checklist's reforms would reduce the state’s cost burdens and improve its climate for growth. Read More