Three Nassau County police officers just retired with severance packages exceeding $632,000--each. In New Jersey where the New Brunswick police chief accumulated $376,234 in unused sick time, the Legislature is considering $15,000 cap. As the Trenton Times writes... Read More
Updated school labor contracts for 77 teacher unions and 112 school superintendents were posted today on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
From the end of 2007 through 2009, more than eight million jobs were lost. The national unemployment rate rose to more than 10 percent for the first time in nearly 30 years. Read More
At today's Bloomberg LINK Cities & Debt Briefing in TriBeCa, Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin moments ago offered a different perspective on why public-pension funds should perhaps ease up on trying to achieve 7-8 percent annual returns. Leaving aside the drier academic argument over whether 7-8 annual return targets are unrealistic... Read More
Yesterday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell threw the debt-laden capital city of Harrisburg a lifeline -- but the lifeline is made of razor wire. To help Harrisburg avoid a default on a general-obligation debt payment this week, Rendell will advance... Read More
At least 27,000 individuals, including ex-spouses of government workers, carried NYSHIP cards in their wallets--although they did not qualify for taxpayer-financed health insurance. That number will grow this fall if government employees fail to verify... Read More
New York's state highway system continues to rank near the bottom among all states in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness, as measured by the indicators in the Reason Foundation's 19th Annual Highway Condition Report. Here's a chart of my own... Read More
Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada (D-Bronx), spent $880,201 on his legislative office operations and staff in the most recent six-month period reported by the Legislature—nearly $273,000 more than former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Brunswick) spent during a comparable period in 2008. Read More