That's the question the New York Times asks today in its online "Room for Debate" series. I'm up there with a contribution (answer: "maybe"). Harvard's Jack Donahue puts the right answer most succinctly: Some things government should do itself. Read More
Did someone say "mandate relief"? The Suffolk County Legislature is actually begging the state for another potentially costly collective bargaining mandate. Read More
New York State will spend at a rate of more than $250,000 per minute under its newly adopted budget for fiscal 2011-12, which begins today. Read More
Among the several hundred "teachers, public workers, renters, health care advocates and college students" who clogged the State Capitol in a last-ditch budget protest yesterday was Maria Pacheco, a Spanish teacher in Rotterdam-Mohonasen schools, who complained that cuts in state education aid will force her Albany area district to lay off 44 teachers. Read More
Gov. Cuomo’s budget deal with the Legislature is not quite the “transformation plan” he spoke of just two months ago. Read More
Like Madison, Wisconsin, the scene of so much recent debate, Albany began this year facing an enormous budget gap for fiscal 2011-12. Read More
In a major victory for taxpayers, New York State's highest court has ruled unanimously that Buffalo teachers are not entitled to catch-up longevity pay step increases for the 38 months when their wages were frozen by the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority. Read More
Nassau County's Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) has imposed a wage freeze on county employees. The freeze, which will save at least $10 million this year, "is not only necessary but also a reasonable response to the county's fiscal distress," the authority said. Read More