A Democratic state lawmaker from Buffalo is urging U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer to oppose President Obama's proposed tax on financial institutions. Assemblyman Sam Hoyt says he believes the tax, which Obama calls a "Financial Crisis Responsibility Fe Read More
The late Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York used to obsess over the flow of funds between the federal government and the states Read More
With the City of White Plains facing a potential 23.5 percent tax hike, you might expect bold action to curb health care costs. Instead city politicians took a timid approach likely to produce small savings this year. Currently, city employees con Read More
The MTA's Jay Walder deserves great credit for standing firm against the transit "advocates" and elected officials who would like him to devote up to $160 million in capital-investment funds for short-term operating expenses, including rising union-l Read More
Advocates of the misnamed “millionaire’s tax” enacted in New York state last year claimed that it would restore “fairness” to a tax code that favored the rich. Read More
Moody's has on $12.2 billion worth of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s debt, in part because money from the new $1.5 billion downstate payroll tax continues to fall far short of what the state expected. That tax gap was $200 millio Read More
"Changes in the timing and structure of financial services sector compensation, which have resulted in lower than expected personal income tax [PIT] revenues" led to a $1 billion state PIT shortfall in January, which in turn has helped add $750 milli Read More
Office expenditures of individual state Senators and Assembly members for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009 have been posted in a searchable format on the Empire Center’s government transparency web site, SeeThroughNY.net. Read More