The "state funds" share of New York's next budget could rise by about 8.6 percent under the preliminary deal announced by Governor Spitzer and legislative leaders. This would rank among the top 10 budget increases in this category over the last 40 ye Read More
Governor Spitzer’s proposed $120.6 billion budget called for state-funded spending growth of 7.8 percent — three times the rate of inflation — while raising business taxes by roughly a half-billion dollars. The budget also included a significant expansion of state-subsidized school property tax breaks for homeowners, to be phased in over three years. Read More
GOV. Spitzer and his successor as state attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, both have made some early moves to turn their rhetoric into reality when it comes to expanding the accountability and transparency of government in New York. Read More
A panel of state and national education experts gathered at the state Capitol in Albany to examine and debate Gov. Spitzer's historic education reform plan, which aims to hold New York schools more accountable than ever before. Read More
Gov. Eliot Spitzer's historic education-reform plan aims to hold New York's schools more accountable than ever before. But is the state's educational-accountability system equipped to meet this challenge? That question was the focus of a major public-policy forum March 8 at the State Capitol in Albany. The event was co-sponsored by the Empire Center for Public Policy and the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability. Read More
Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s historic education-reform plan aims to hold New York’s schools more accountable than ever before. But is the state’s educational-accountability system equipped to meet this challenge? Read More
Gov. Spitzer's proposed budget "sends the wrong signal to firms that might otherwise consider investing or expanding in our state" by raising taxes on some large corporations, E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy said in testimony before the Legislature's joint fiscal committees. Read More
I'd like to begin with two pointed observations about the 2007-08 Executive Budget and its impact on taxpayers and the economy: The budget will raise state taxes, in several significant respects. The budget will not provide l Read More