The financial-market implosion and the coming transformation of the securities industry will expose the fundamental flaw in New York State’s woefully overextended public finance model. The state budget is today geared to run on an ever-expanding stream of high-octane revenues from a Wall Street that no longer exists—and the rest of New York’s economy isn’t nearly robust enough to make up the difference. Read More
LAST week's state Senate approval of Gov. Paterson's proposed cap on school property taxes seems to have induced a nervous breakdown in the powerful statewide teachers' union. Read More
“The Empire Center has created a model for active taxpayer involvement in promoting fiscal transparency. Websites like SeeThroughNY are the future of good-government efforts at the national, state and local level. Improved fiscal transparency w Read More
New Yorkers will get a clearer view than ever of how their state and local tax dollars are being spent, thanks to a new transparency website launched today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. The website – � Read More
GOV. Paterson has pledged the state will "learn to do more with less" in closing a projected $6.4 billion gap in the 2009-10 fiscal year. Read More
MEMORANDUM filed with Senate Bill Number 8077, entitled: "AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to expanding excused leave for certain purposes" APPROVED This bill completes a legislative process that has resulted in five enacte Read More
When Nelson Rockefeller was born 100 years ago today, New York state was America's economic powerhouse - with its best years still ahead. Read More
Healthy skepticism was warranted back in January, when Gov. Eliot Spitzer first announced he would name a special commission to recommend a cap on school property taxes. Sure, the governor's rhetoric was tough and right on the mark. And he was embracing an idea he'd rejected during his 2006 gubernatorial run - and choosing his primary opponent, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi to chair the commission, ensuring this would at least be a high-profile effort. Read More