New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) has produced a new TV commercial blaming proposed state budget cuts on "tax breaks for millionaires." In fact, the proposed 2011-12 state budget includes $3.8 billion in projected revenue from the third and final year... Read More
New York's public-sector unions love to bash Wall Street, demanding punitive new taxes on investment banks as the solution to every fiscal problem. In fact, the financial sector "oligarchy" and the "new Tammany Hall" of the public-sector labor movement... Read More
The news out of China about its high-speed rail network shows that cost and time overruns aren't the worst things to happen on big transit and transportation projects. As the Times reports in a piece on China's firing of its railways minister, possibly... Read More
Retail health clinics could play an important role in expanding access to health care in New York State, according to a new study by the Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress. But first, the state needs to break down its existing regulatory... Read More
I want to begin today by commending the state Senate for its passage last month of Governor Cuomo’s property tax cap bill. In years to come, the Jan. 31 vote may be seen as a turning point, a historic first step towards lasting relief for New York’s taxpayers. Read More
Mandate relief priorities to help local governments and school districts cope with failing revenues and a proposed tax cap were outlined today in state Senate testimony by E.J. McMahon, senior fellow at the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
Beginning in 2014, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010, is expected to significantly extend health-insurance coverage in New York by increasing Medicaid enrollment and offering federal subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance. However, there is no guarantee that the newly insured will be able to access the health-care system in a timely fashion as new demand for services outstrips physician supply. Read More
Add the Bethlehem Central School District to the small, but growing, list of public entities taking action to bring spending in line with economic reality. Officials of the Albany area school district that they had implemented a voluntary sala Read More